She stares at me, blinking a few times, but she doesn’t move. “You hang up on me, and now you’re telling me to get in your car?”
“Yeah.” I smirk.
No matter what she’s saying, I know she’s going to get in. She can act offended all she wants, but I know it’s a front. The way she kissed me said everything I needed to know when it comes to Daphne Gallo.
“It’s not safe for me to be here. So, get in the car so we can find someplace more private to talk.”
Daphne glances around, looking into the darkness. I planted the seed, and that’s all I needed to do before she marches around the back of my car and slides into the passenger seat.
“I’m here,” she announces as she slams the door and then clears her throat. She folds her hands in her lap and stares out the front window, practically ignoring my presence.
I pull onto the street, heading toward my place where I know there’s no one watching. “We’ve got to talk.”
“I thought I said everything I needed to at the airport.”
God, she’s such a hard-ass. The woman doesn’t give in about anything, especially when it comes to her feelings.
We’re sitting at a stoplight, and she still hasn’t glanced in my direction. “You didn’t mean it.” Those words make her turn, and I could give two shits if it’s out of anger. I have her attention now. “We both know that.”
“I promised you a date. I gave you what you asked for, and I kept my word. We both know we’d never work. So, why force it?”
I don’t answer her question as I pull away and maneuver through the streets of Chicago. I spend a few minutes planning my next move, my next words, and how I’m going to proceed with Daphne to get her to admit what she’s feeling.
I don’t need a profession of love, but knowing we’re both on the same page physically would be nice. Everything else can be figured out later.
Since neither of us is involved in our father’s businesses, there’s nothing stopping us from seeing where this goes.
Once I pull into the secure underground parking below my building, I stop looking in the rearview mirror to see if we’ve been followed and finally relax. “Are you seeing someone else?” I ask as I park the car in my reserved spot and cut the engine.
“That would infer I’m seeing you, which I’m not. I’m seeing no one.”
I shake my head and smile. I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone as maddening or stubborn as her. Why I enjoy her sharp tongue is beyond me. There’re plenty of women who would enjoy being with me, and hell, they wouldn’t put up this much of a fight.
Maybe that’s why I like Daphne so much.
She isn’t easy.
She doesn’t give a rat’s ass who I am or what I have, unlike some of the women I’ve had in my life.
“Come up for a bit, and then I’ll take you home,” I tell her as I open my car door, trying to at least get her into my place. Once I have her, I know she won’t be so fast to leave.
She stares at me for a moment, not saying anything. I figure she’s about ready to tell me to fuck off and take her ass home. Everything that’s coming from her mouth is hinting in that direction, but she surprises me. “No kissing. Only talking. Got it?”
“Of course. I’ll be a complete gentleman,” I promise her.
She’s out of the car before I am, stalking toward the bank of elevators just a few feet away. Her hips sway with each step, shaking her ass at me in a silent tease. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She knows she drives me wild.
“Don’t you miss the old neighborhood?” Her back is to me as she looks up, watching the floor numbers ticking by as the elevator descends.
“Sometimes.”
Daphne and I grew up only a few blocks from each other. Back then, our fathers weren’t enemies and life was less complicated. I remember her brown hair, pulled tight in pigtails, blowing in the wind as she’d ride her bike down the street, terrorizing the other kids. She was a pistol then and hasn’t mellowed with age.
She gives me the side-eye as she glances over her shoulder. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just remembering you as a little girl.” My smile widens. “You haven’t changed all that much.”
“That’s funny,” she says, turning back around as the elevator dings. She steps inside, walking all the way to the back before facing me again. “I can’t seem to remember you.”
