Avoiding her gaze, Danny kissed her on the cheek and moved around her on his way to the bathroom. ‘In a minute, for your own sake,’ he chuckled. ‘Sorry, it’s been a long day and I really need a shower. I, uh… just hit the gym.’
Beth nuzzled Brinkley’s neck and thought about his words, feeling slightly crestfallen that he’d gone somewhere else instead of being home early like he’d promised. ‘I thought you were working late at the office? How did you find time to head down to the gym?’
Danny shrugged out of his shirt and threw it into the laundry hamper. ‘I was so stressed from work, I needed to blow off some steam. A new place opened just a few blocks away. Actually, I almost slipped on the ice trying to rush home.’
Beth followed him into the bathroom as he undressed and started the water. A moment later, with steam billowing from the bathtub, he opened the shower curtain and slid in. While she had always been an admirer of Danny’s toned physique she had to admit lately there was something different about him.
‘Have you been working out harder recently? Or dieting even?’ she asked.
He stuck his head out of the shower and considered her words. ‘Me – diet? Nah. Just doing the usual. If anything, I’m eating more junk at the desk lately.’ His head disappeared once again and Beth thought about it. He looked leaner, as if he had definitely been working out harder, or eating less. ‘Why do you ask?’ came the question from the shower.
She shrugged. ‘You just look like you’ve lost some weight lately. Nothing major. I was just wondering if you were doing something different at the gym. Getting pumped up or something, trying to impress the ladies…’ she added, chuckling.
There was a brief pause from the other side of the curtain. ‘No, nothing different. It’s probably just stress, to be honest.’
Beth nodded and pushed the thought from her mind. It was true that while she had the tendency to put on a few pounds when she was worried about something – finding comfort in ice cream and chocolate – Danny usually went in the other direction.
Typical, she thought, men shed pounds when they’re stressed or busy with work. Whereas she tended to pack them on, especially at this time of year.Only today at lunchtime, she’d popped over to Lindton Fifth Avenue, where they routinely handed out free Lindor truffles for the holiday season. That would have to stop, or she’d soon end up looking like one of those spherical chocolates herself.
She smiled and put Brinkley down on the ground, where he immediately went about sniffing Danny’s discarded clothes.
‘Get out of there, silly. I’ll take care of those.’ Beth bent down to pick up his trousers at the same time Danny stuck his head out of the shower again.
‘Hey, leave those,’ he said abruptly. Taken aback by his vehemence, Beth stood and quickly dropped his clothes back onto the floor. ‘I mean, there is some stuff in my pockets still,’ he explained in a softer voice. ‘I’ll take care of it. It’s just… I don’t want anything to get lost.’
‘I can go through the pockets for you—’
‘Don’t worry,’ he insisted. ‘I’ll do it. I’m finished here anyway.’ At that moment, the water stopped and Danny grabbed a towel from the rack next to the bathtub. A second later, he emerged from the tub, still wet, and grabbing his clothes, swept quickly past Beth and out of the bathroom.
Perplexed by his curious behaviour, she followed him into the bedroom to find him emptying his pockets, shoving assorted pieces of paper and other flotsam into his briefcase. He then wadded his discarded trousers up and tossed them into the hamper where he had put his shirt minutes before. Then he turned to Beth and smiled sheepishly. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to be tetchy, just some business cards and stuff that I couldn’t lose. Meant to leave it all at the office.’
Beth regarded him sceptically. She was not a sensitive or suspicious person, but then Danny had never given her any reason to be. He was never secretive, nor was he one who didn’t like others touching his things. He always left stuff lying around – would allow his phone to remain unattended on the kitchen counter and his laptop open on his desk. But then she realised uncomfortably he’d been doing less of this of late.
Danny slipped on a pair of pyjama pants, then he approached her holding his arms out. ‘So what about that hug?’ he asked with the smile that had always melted her heart. ‘I’ve missed my favourite girl today,’ he added quietly as he enveloped her in his arms.
Breathing in his freshly showered scent, Beth let the tension that had crept into her body ease away as she allowed herself to be held.
A moment later Danny broke the embrace and swung her legs up, carrying her like a bride as she chuckled in his arms. Collapsing them both onto the bed, he kissed Beth before whispering into her ear. ‘If I remember correctly, you said you were lonely last night. Here’s to making up for lost time.’
Chapter 4
‘Here you go, Miss Dempsey,’ Beth said on Monday morning, handing the 16-year-old blonde a huge Carlisle’s glossy bag containing at least a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of footwear. ‘It has been a pleasure to help you today, as always.’
Sitting on the plush red velvet sofa surrounded by discarded shoes and boots, the young socialite didn’t make eye contact, but snapped her gum and twirled a lock of her hair as she stared at the screen of her phone.
‘Right. Well, yeah, but like it would have been better if you had those Jimmy Choos I wanted in a size eight. I guess I’ll have to go to Saks now. Inconvenient. Ugh.’ Another snap of gum and Beth resisted the urge to sigh. Marley Dempsey was, to say the least, a challenging customer, but she was also one of the biggest spending ones.
‘Well, as I said, I would be happy to order them in for you. It should take only a day or two—’
‘Whatevs,’ the younger woman said, rolling her eyes. ‘Not going to help me; I catch a plane for London with Daddy later. And besides, there’s probably better stuff on the other side of the pond. New York is so meh during the holidays. What a waste. I can’t believe anyone hangs around this city right now. Old, cold and sooo many tourists.’
The blonde uncrossed her long legs and picked up the shopping bag. She bent down to get her purse and flipped her long (extension-filled) locks over her shoulder. When she stood back up again she looked around and took in someone who’d just walked into the shoe rooms.
‘Whoa. Total hottie, twelve o’clock,’ she muttered under her breath as she started to take her leave. Beth looked up and smiled.
Ryan Buchanan.
As Marley passed him on her way to the lift, she threw a come-hither glance over her shoulder that Ryan seemed oblivious to. Beth snorted back laughter and then felt uncomfortable as she recalled the strange reaction he’d provoked in her a few days before. Their paths had crossed a couple of times since then and, much to her relief, she had managed to keep her cool and behave halfway normal around him.
