‘Honey?’
Nose-crinkle.
‘Babe?’
‘I’m not sure we can pull off babe…’
‘Pudding, pumpkin, baby cakes?’
Daisy was giggling again and he loved it. That sound, the way her whole body participated, her cheeks flushing pink.Beautiful.
‘Maybe we skip pet names?’ He couldn’t imagine calling Daisy ‘love,’ or ‘sweetheart,’ or ‘darling’ and not mean it. He would start to mean it. And then where would they be?
‘Agreed. I think that’s for the best.’
They were smiling at each other over the table and an alarming thought flashed through Elliot’s mind.
I could get used to this.
He could get used to talking late into the night with Daisy, laughing and joking with empty mugs and cookie crumbs between them. And he realized what he was doing. It was just like when he met Leigh in college, and he’d been sorelievedto find someone to be with, to share things with, to have a buddy, that he’d latched onto her and never let go. He’d married the first girl that paid him any attention, and in the end, it had been the wrong choice.Hehad been the wrong choice forher.
Isn’t that what Leigh had said when she announced that she wanted a divorce? That they’d rushed things, gotten serious too fast, that she regretted not dating more in college? While he was so happy to never have to worry about being alone again, his wife was wondering who else was out there.
And here he was doing it again, fantasizing about spending the rest of forever with a woman he barely knew. A woman who was here with him for exactly one reason and that was to save her business. He needed to remember that. Daisy had her own share of heartache, and he was sure she didn’t want to add more. He was sure she wouldn’t choose him under normal circumstances. She wouldn’t have chosen him for this fake relationship, either, if he hadn’t been the one to walk into her flower shop at the exact moment her ex did. It was all just an accident. She would have grabbed whoever had come into the shop that morning. It had just happened to be him.
‘I should probably go.’ He stood and Daisy followed him the few feet to the door.
‘What about PDA?’ she said.
He turned abruptly at her question, and they nearly crashed, her hands landing softly on his chest. He felt the touch down to his bones.
‘PDA?’
‘Yeah,’ Daisy said with a shy smile. ‘Public displays of affection. I just meant, should we… do that?’ She dropped her hands from his body like she was embarrassed they were still there, and he could breathe again. Just barely.
‘Uh… I’m not…’ He could breathe but not think. Not about anything other than her hands returning to his chest. Heachedat the thought.
‘We don’t have to,’ Daisy rushed in to say. ‘I just thought we should discuss it first. You know, like if we should hold hands or anything like that.’
‘Holding hands is good,’ he said too quickly, but Daisy’s smile grew.
‘Okay, great. Holding hands is on the table.’
He reached out and she slid her fingers through his. Shit, he was so screwed. Because as soon as her hand was in his, he was fantasizing again. Wishing he could have more.
‘We could probably hug… you know… when we run into each other out in the world.’
Elliot swallowed hard. ‘Right, hugging would be a normal way to greet each other.’ He restrained himself from pulling her in, from pressing her against him right now.
‘Kissing, though…’
Kissing Daisy. Just the thought was killing him.
‘…that probably wouldn’t be necessary,’ she finished, her voice breathy, her eyes flicking to his mouth.
‘Probably not,’ he rasped.
Her gaze locked on his in the soft glow of her apartment.
