Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Logan

Danielle’s eyes close in a long blink, and she reaches for her drink again. It’s her go-to method when she’s stressed.

“We…we could…uh…sit at, the uh, beach.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want to do.”

“It would be relaxing.” Danielle’s gaze goes to her parents. Being around her family is bringing up all her insecurities. It’s hard sitting here and doing nothing when I see the vulnerability reflected in her eyes. Don’t go falling in love with me, Dawson. Her own words echo in my head.

I can’t pull her close and hold her tight. I can’t put my lips to hers, drinking her all in and telling her how she shouldn’t worry about comparing or measuring up because she’s one of the single most amazing women I’ve ever met.

“What about that Bamboo Forest you were talking about?” I ask.

Her lips start to curve in a smile. “You’d like to go?”

“Hell yes, I’d like to go. I looked up pictures online about it, and it looks pretty fucking cool.”

“Yeah, it does. And it’s only about an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from here.”

“Doesn’t that mean we need to rent a car?”

She brings her drink to her lips and takes a small sip. “My dad rented a car. He won’t be using it today since he’s golfing. I can either ask or just go and take it. He won’t even notice it’s gone.”

“Look at you almost committing grand theft. Maybe you are going to start a life of crime.”

“Told you.”

“We should have gone to Mexico instead.”

She laughs. “That’s too obvious.”

“Ah, so it was all part of your plan?”

“Of course. I thought this all out, and you’re either with me or against me.”

“Oh damn.” I lean back, shaking my head. “I’m with you. All the way. If not, you’ll have to kill me, right?”

“Right. And then I’d throw you in the ocean and let the sharks take care of your body.”

“You’re ruthless, Danielle.”

She narrows her eyes and nods her head. “Damn straight.” She smiles and the wind blows her hair around her face. We’re on an outdoor terrace, shaded from the sun. The crashing waves of the ocean echo behind us, along with happy chatter and laughter from other vacationers.

“You’re spacing out,” Danielle says, nudging her foot against mine under the table. I blink and tear my eyes away from the ocean, only to look at something even more beautiful.

Danielle.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks.

“How I might leave the bar in Owen’s hands and never go home. It would be nice to have this year-round.”

“Midwest winters can be brutal. But wouldn’t you miss the change in seasons?”

I sweep my hand out at the ocean so blue it blends right in with the sky. “Not if I had this.”

“Christmas and the cold just go hand in hand to me. It would be weird not to have snow around the holidays.”

“We didn’t have any snow last Christmas. It was forty-five degrees.”

“True,” she laughs. Our food comes, and we both dig in. It’s the first real meal I’ve had since the pizza at the airport, and I’m starving. I finish everything in record time.

“It’s a shame you’re not joining us for golf,” Peter says, coming around the table.

“I’m not much of a golfer.” I set my fork and knife on my plate. “And I want to spend time with my fiancée.” I take Danielle’s hand again, smiling when I look into her eyes.

“You’re a good man to follow her around shopping and getting her nails done today.”

“I’m not shopping,” Danielle tells him. “We’re going to walk through the Bamboo Forest.”

“Oh, that place looks so cool!” the bridesmaid sitting next to Danielle twists in her seat. “I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about it, and I’d love to hike it.”

“Come with,” Danielle offers. I don’t think she really meant it and was more asking to be polite while expecting her offer to be turned down. Anyone is welcome to join us, but I didn’t realize how much I was looking forward to being with just Danielle until now.

“I wish,” the bridesmaid tells Danielle. “We’ve had these appointments for over a month, and it’s what Diana wants to do.”

“I heard my name.” Diana’s eyes widen as she looks down the table. “Talking about me?”

“Always,” Danielle replies. “All gossip, of course.”

Her sister laughs, smiling as she looks at Danielle. I can feel the strain between them, the slight competition I’m willing to bet was put there by their own parents without really meaning to. I understand why Danielle left, and it’s almost creepy how everyone is acting like things are perfectly fine between them all.

Peter hit on Danielle at their place of work. When Danielle threatened to call him out, he proposed to Diana. And then when the truth came out, everyone sided with Peter, acting like he can’t be held responsible for his actions because he’s a man and Danielle should have known better than to wear something so tight and revealing to work. It hurt Danielle so much that she left without saying goodbye.

And now the whole gang is sitting here, drinking mimosas on the beach, acting like none of that ever happened. I guess when appearance is everything, you’re willing to overlook a few glaringly obvious fucked-up things.

It’s even weirder to think that Carol grew up in Eastwood, graduating a few years after my own parents did. Danielle doesn’t talk about the fallout her mother and grandpa had, but I know things got messy after Danielle’s grandmother died of cancer when her mother was a sophomore in high school. Her grandpa had a hard time dealing and drank a lot. Carol went to stay at her aunt’s house in New Jersey, and things were never the same from there.

“We were talking about the Bamboo Forest trails. You know, the one with the waterfalls,” the bridesmaid explains. “And how we have our nail appointments to go to instead.”

“Right,” Diana says with a nod. “But the trails are all muddy. So not my thing.”

“And your thing is everyone’s thing,” Danielle says under her breath. The bridesmaid hears her and tries not to smile. “So, Diana says you just got engaged.”

“Yeah.” Danielle’s eyes flick to mine. “Just a few weeks ago.”

“Congrats! That ring is gorgeous!”

“Thanks. He did a good job.” She wiggles her fingers. “I’m lucky.”

The bridesmaid looks at me. “Yeah, you are.”

“I’m the lucky one.” I reach across the table and take Danielle’s hand. It feels like the natural thing to do…but then again, so does kissing her. I force a smile and shove everything I’m feeling to the sideline where they’ve always been.

And I think they always will be.

*

“I was a little worried Diana would pick hideous dresses.” Danielle does a twirl in front of the mirror. “But these are really pretty. I’d totally wear this for real.” She’s wearing her bridesmaid dress, and it looks beautiful on her. Though I’m pretty sure she could wrap herself up in a shower curtain and still look amazing.

The dress is a sea-green color, matching her eyes, and is shorter in the front than in the back. It’s flowy and swirls around her legs as she spins.

“Looks comfortable too.”

“It is, and it won’t be too hot for tomorrow, which is nice.” She looks down at the dress once more. “I should change, though. We need to head out if we want to make it to the Bamboo Forest. And I got the keys from my dad.”

“You took them, or he gave them to you?”

“Took them.”

“What a rebel,” I tease.

“This is just the start. I’m thinking about swiping that really soft robe from the hotel closet too.”

“I think they just charge it to your room.”

“Oh.” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, I’ll enjoy the freebie robe for like a few hours then until they realize it’s missing.” Opening the dresser drawer, she grabs her clothes and goes into the bathroom to change. My stuff is still in my suitcase where I’ll keep it the rest of the trip.

“Shit,” I hear Danielle swear from the bathroom.

“Everything okay in there?” I call.

“My hair is stuck in the zipper.”

“Need help?”

“Yes, please.” She comes out of the bathroom, holding the dress up over her breasts with one hand and turns around. The zipper made it about halfway down before she ran over her hair. “I tried zipping it back up, you know, like undoing what I did. And now it’s worse.”

I gather her hair up in my hand, separating it from the little section that’s caught in the zipper. I go to move it over her shoulder, and my fingers sweep across the soft skin on the nape of her neck. Swallowing hard, I look at the tangle of hair, trying to figure out the best way to get it out of the zipper without breaking off the long locks.

But now I’m looking at a little freckle she has on the back of her shoulder. She has tan lines that run down her back, disappearing beneath the light blue fabric of the dress.

“How bad is it?” She turns her head back, looking over her shoulder. She arches her back a bit, trying to get a better look, and her ass brushes against me, causing my cock to stir. I grit my teeth and look back at the zipper.

“Not that bad.”

“Good. Because that’s too much hair to cut. Also, I’m fairly certain if I broke the zipper on the dress, I’d be the dead body in the ocean. Diana won’t get her hands muddy, but she has no problem getting them bloody.”

“She’s very, uh, focused on the wedding,” I mumble. Heat radiates off of her, and being so close yet so far is the most infuriating thing in this whole fucking world. Shifting my gaze from her ass to her hair, I carefully move the zipper down, freeing a few strands of hair. A few pieces snap off, but the zipper keeps coming down, moving past the spot where it was stuck.

I should stop.

Let her finish unzipping the dress.

But I’ve lost control over my hands, and the zipper keeps moving down farther and farther until my fingers are hovering above the little dimple she has on her lower back. She reaches up, holding the dress with one hand, and feels her hair.

“How’s the zipper? I’m almost scared to look.”

“I think it’s okay.”

“Can you test it?” She looks over her shoulder again. “I’ll make sure to keep my hair out of the way this time.” Gathering her hair in one hand, she twists it and holds it out of the way. I pull the dress together, fumbling with the tiny zipper between my large fingers.

My mouth goes dry, and never in my life would I have thought zipping up a dress would be as much of a turn-on as unzipping one.

“Oh, thank God,” Danielle says with a sigh once the zipper goes up to the top. She takes a step away and looks in the mirror hanging on the wall outside the bathroom. “I’ll live to see another day.” She comes back over and turns around. “Do you mind? I don’t want to have another issue with my hair.”

“Not at all.”

She pulls her hair out of the way again and turns around. I stare at the little zipper, hesitating before reaching out and picking up the metal tab. I blink and see myself unzipping the dress and then spinning Danielle around. She’s holding it up with hands, but when I grab her and kiss her, she lets it fall.

“Thank you, Logan,” she says, stepping away. “You’re a good friend.”

I flash a grin. “I know. I’m the best.”

She laughs and goes back into the bathroom. Once the door is closed, I sink onto the bed, mentally yelling at myself. I am a good fucking friend.

But I’d make an even better lover. And I’m going to prove that to her today.