Laughter spills from between her pretty lips. It disappears when I don't join in.
"Penn," she says, fear shrinking her voice. "Please tell me you didn't say yes."
"I didn't say yes."
"But you're thinking about it?"
A cold knot forms in my stomach. "It's not the money. I promise you, it's not that."
"Then what is it?"
"You, Sunshine." I toy with a lock of her hair, twirling it around my finger.
"What about me?" Her voice is small again. I hate that I'm the one who made it that way.
"Glenn Hampton seems to think my presence in town is causing you grief."
"It is."
Her honesty is a sucker punch. My twirling freezes, and Daisy's hair unwinds itself from my finger. "The last thing I wanted when I came back was to be a problem in your life. To make anything hard for you. I even thought I couldavoidyou."
Daisy rolls her eyes, hand trailing over my stomach. "You're doing a great job avoiding me." She sits up, reaching over the side of the bed to gather the comforter that found its way to the floor during the past hour.
"Spectacular view from behind," I tell her, and she shakes her ass.
"Don't tempt me," I warn.
"Tits and ass after we talk," she chides, wrapping the comforter around herself like it's a towel. She gets herselfsituated, then begins. "It's true your presence is causing me grief, but only in agoodway. You're a problem I needed to have. I'm so sick of playing the role of perfect Daisy St. James. With you, I can be myself. I like saying what I'm thinking, and feeling how I'm feeling. I like being intimate with you, just simply existing and giving myself over. There's no role to play when I'm with you. I'm me, and that's it."
I'm about to add how special that is, but she continues.
"I was jaded, and I needed to be reminded love exists. True love." A blush steals over her face, but I'm quick to sit up, running my hands over her cheeks.
"Don't blush," I instruct, and when she opens her mouth to speak, I'm quick to say, "And don't even think of taking it back."
"I won't," she promises.
"Daisy, you already knew true love existed before I came back. You only needed reminding." I tuck her hair behind her ear. "Think about what you're doing for your mom. What do you call that?"
"Insanity."
I breathe a laugh. "It's true love."
"Oh." She looks genuinely surprised. "I didn't think of it that way."
"True love doesn't have to be romantic."
She drums her fingers on her mouth, letting that sink in. "Where does that leave us?" she finally asks, so soft. So vulnerable.
I wish we could run away together, like she suggested. It's a fantasy, maybe even a delusion, and entertaining it is pure agony.
"Unless you're planning on canceling your wedding?—"
"And you're planning on telling me why you really left?—"
"—we're right where we've always been," I finish.
Daisy's eyes fill with tears, but she holds them at bay.
