“I wasn’t pulling away,” he promised her.
“Yes, you were,” she said because she knew the signs. She’d seen it before with Jerry. When she’d felt Danny do it, she’d decided to leave before he could hurt her. She hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of going through that with Danny.
“I would never leave you, Tinkerbelle,” he said, gently cupping her chin and tipping her head so that she was looking up at him. “Never.”
“Then what were you doing?” Jodi demanded, wanting to know what kind of bullshit reason he could come up with for the way that he was acting. He said that he hadn’t been pulling away from her, but-
“I was planning your abduction,” Danny said, blinking innocently down at her.
She opened her mouth but couldn’t quite find the words to respond to that declaration.
“I had to make a few phone calls and call in some favors to get the ban temporarily lifted from Vegas just long enough for me to drag you off and marry you before you got a chance to run away,” Danny calmly explained as she continued to lay there, staring dumbly up at him.
“I’m sorry, what?” she finally managed to get out.
“We’re getting married,” Danny said, shrugging like what he’d just said was no big deal.
“I told you that I didn’t want to get married,” she reminded him.
Another shrug. “I chose to ignore that.”
“Okay…” Jodi said, because really, what else was she supposed to say to that?
“As soon as they release me, we’re getting married,” Danny announced and yeah, now she was wondering if they’d missed a head injury when they’d examined him.
“And why exactly are you so determined to marry me all of a sudden?”
“Because I love you,” Danny said with another shrug as he nodded towards the cup of water. “Can I have another drink?”
“D-Did you just tell me that you love me?” Jodi asked, staring at him because now she was pretty sure that he was suffering from a brain injury. It was either that, or the drugs in his system were making him say this.
“Yes,” Danny said, closing his eyes. “Figured it out the day at the reptile zoo. It pissed me off that you didn’t love me back, but I figured in ten years or so, with enough mind-blowing sex, you’ll end up falling head over heels in love with me, so it’s okay.”
She chuckled, she couldn’t help it. “You’re planning on using sex to make me fall in love with you?”
“Mmmhmmm,” he mumbled sleepily. “I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”
“Wow, you’re a giver,” Jodi said, smiling down at the man that she loved.
“That, I am,” Danny said, smiling that sexy grin that drove her crazy. “And you’re marrying me. Soon,” he said, firmly even as he started to nod off.
“I am,” she said, nodding her head solemnly in agreement, sniffling as tears started to roll down her face, “because I love you.”
He stilled for a minute, that sexy grin of his turning into a frown. “What about all the mind-blowing sex?”
Smiling, she leaned down and kissed him. “I’m still willing to have all the mind-blowing sex.”
“That’s very big of you,” he said, grinning against her lips.
“It really is.”
“She finally fell asleep, huh?” his father asked softly as he glanced down at Tinkerbelle, who was snuggled up by his side.
“Yes,” Danny said, smiling down at the woman who loved him.
Not that he was surprised, he was a fucking catch, after all.
“Looks like we finally found the right combination of pills,” his father said, picking up a blanket off the other bed and carefully placed it over both of them.
