Perfect.
“I’ll be back in time,” Danny promised with a satisfied sigh as he walked out of her apartment, quickly making plans to salvage this date.
“I’m an idiot,” Jodi muttered, watching the steam rise off the homemade macaroni and cheese casserole that she’d cooked for Danny, who had apparently ditched her at the first opportunity.
She’d been ditched before, but wow, did this hurt.
It was foolish, but she’d actually been enjoying herself. This was the first date that she’d ever had where she could have honestly said that she’d had fun. Her usual first dates consisted of drinks, coffee, food, and maybe a movie. Even dating Jerry had been incredibly dull and boring. They’d dated for almost two years, two very boring years with boring unimaginative dates that ended with really boring, uncomfortable, unsatisfying sex.
Well, sometimes. Most of the time, Jerry wasn’t in the mood, which had been okay with her, mostly. She’d been a virgin before she’d met him, a very frustrated virgin and once she’d given herself to him…
She’d become even more frustrated.
The first time he’d taken her to bed, she’d been excited and eager to take that step, but barely a minute after he’d started, he’d rolled off her, covered in sweat, panting heavily and she’d laid there, disappointed and trying not to cry. She’d barely felt anything besides a tiny pinch of pain, some jostling and his large stomach crushing her. It had been one of the most depressing moments of her life, and unfortunately, it only got worse after that.
When he’d broken things off, she should have been relieved, but instead, it had depressed her that someone like Jerry didn’t want her. It also scared her. She couldn’t hold out much hope that a nice guy would want her when she couldn’t even manage to keep the interest of a man like Jerry. It had also confirmed her previous belief that men were incapable of seeing her as anything more than a little sister. Apparently, Danny had come to his senses an hour and a half ago and decided to cut his losses.
She should have expected it, had expected it, but she’d hoped that things could be different. It had been foolish to let herself hope for anything more with Danny, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. She liked the way that he looked at her, the way he touched her and even though he still annoyed the crap out of her, he had the ability to make her smile.
Unfortunately for her, this date, like many dates before, had ended poorly. It also had the added bonus of making things even more awkward because she’d stupidly agreed to go out on a date with her neighbor. She closed her eyes and dropped her head in defeat. This had been a mistake, one that she should have known better than to repeat after Jerry, but here she was in her kitchen, alone with an extra-large pan filled to the brim with mac and cheese.
“Well, this is going to make things easier,” Danny said softly, sounding amused just as she registered the feel of silk touching her face. “No, just leave it, Tinkerbelle,” he said when she reached up to push the blindfold off.
“What are you doing?” she asked when she felt Danny’s large hand wrap around hers.
“Moving on to the second portion of the date,” he explained as he gently pulled her to her feet.
“Where did you go?”
He sighed heavily seconds before she felt his lips brush against hers, which pleased her bruised ego. “I’m sorry that I’m late. It took longer to pull this together than I’d thought.”
“Pull what together?”
“You’ll see,” Danny said, sounding a bit excited, which actually made her nervous considering who she was dealing with here.
“Is it going to leave a permanent scar?” she half teased.
He sighed heavily. “It might.”
“Should I send up a silent prayer for help?” Jodi asked, smiling as she allowed him to lead her through her living room.
“I’d send up two.”
“Maybe I should put up a struggle?”
“It wouldn’t help.”
“Should I leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind so that I can find my way back later after I escape?” Jodi asked as she heard him open her front door.
“It would be gone in less than ten minutes.”
“Birds?”
“My cousins,” Danny answered with a soft, shiver-inducing chuckle.
“I see,” Jodi murmured, loving their playful banter. “Then, perhaps I should put up some sort of resistance?”
“You could, but then you wouldn’t get your surprise,” he teased as he guided her to sit down.
