I felt myself nodding, my thoughts jumbled. “Pro emeritus, he said that,” I whispered. “My partner treats the Harvard team. They play there. He’s also a member, so he connected me with Peter,” I tried to explain in a thoughtful manner.
“If you needed some golf pointers, you could have called me.” His mouth tickled the top of my head as he spoke.
“You didn’t call me. Oh God.” I jammed my forehead into his shoulder and clamped my mouth shut. “I sound like an absolute idiot. I didn’t call, you’re right.”
“Look at me,” he said softly. I did as he asked because he was Daniel. “I came on too strong. I wanted you to want me as much as I wanted you. In your space, in mine, all of the above.”
“I do, but the whole prospect of it is scary.”
“I understand. I’m sorry I made you feel that way, and I recognize showing up here unannounced doesn’t really screamthat message…but hearing you were all chummy with another golf pro had me crazy.”
“Come in,” I said. It was kind of cute how jealous Daniel was, but I didn’t think this was the moment to call his attention to it.
As we started walking toward the back of the house, the doorbell rang again.
“That’s my sushi,” I explained.
“Damn. I was going to ask if you wanted to go to dinner…”
“It’s after eight.”
“I’m still on West Coast time.”
The delivery person knocked this time. “Let me get that.” I sidestepped around Daniel, threw open the door, thanked the driver, took the food and got back to the man in my hallway. “We can share. And I can make some brownies?”
Daniel waggled his eyebrows at me.
“Not that kind. I don’t do that… Do you?”
He shook his head, taking the sushi bag from my hands. “No, you’re just too fun to mess with.”
“Let’s go.”
Inside the kitchen, Rourke hopped around at our feet as Daniel lifted the wine bottle, clearly noting with a raised eyebrow that it was the brand we’d shared together. He found himself a goblet and poured himself a glass, moving about my kitchen as if he’d lived there forever.
Taking a sip, he took his time, swirling it in his mouth, slowly allowing it to travel down his throat before he spoke. “I’m guessing that showing up at a woman’s house, a few thousand miles away, after a fit of jealousy isn’t the way to apologize for pushing too hard or fast.”
“When you put it that way,” I said through a burst of laughter.
I gathered myself and started rummaging for brownie supplies as Daniel unpacked the sushi.
“I mean it. I’m sorry.” He stopped what he was doing and spoke. “I also don’t regret being here. Happy Valentine’s Day. Is that better?”
“It’s tomorrow, but I don’t do Hallmark holidays. Actually, I was sitting at home, missing you and trying to figure out what my next move should be. So maybe I willed your visit into existence.”
“How am I not surprised you don’t do V-day? But maybe you do, and that’s why you manifested me.” He approached and pulled me in for a kiss, his arm wrapping around my waist, holding me close. “I’m sure glad you ordered me right up,” he said when he was done making love to my mouth. “But let’s be honest from now on. If something I say is too forward, you need to say so. On the other hand, if you want to talk, text, ask me something, you should. We don’t need to play games, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I echoed his sentiment. “This is uncharted territory for me.”
“Me too.” We didn’t dwell anymore on my mistake or the past. Daniel’s lips grazed mine before he said, “Brownie time. Get to work.”
“It’s just a mix…”
“I forgot, we both don’t cook. Funny, after giving me such a hard time?”
“Maybe a little. I cook some. Mostly I work and order sushi or Mediterranean.”
“Fascinating. Tsk, tsk,” he taunted.
