Teague didnt exactly interrupt her, but he acted as if he had no interest in hearing how happy the rest of her family was. I get it, he said. You didnt want your family to know because of pride.
She scowled. All right. So I have a little issue with pride.
Little?
Okay. Big. Cripes, shed have denied it if she could. Unfortunately when it came down to it, except for all the designer clothes and accessories, she pretty much didnt have a pot to pee in. And pride or no pride, she felt the oddest sense of relief to finally tell someone. Someone not her family.
And Teague could have judged her. Instead he just seemed to keep taking in information like a sponge. The point isnt your pride, sweet pea. The point iswhere youre going from here.
Well. Like I told you, Im living free above the café, because Harry was hot to have someone in the place. Foods free, rents free, electricity-it isnt costing me a dime to be here. On top of which, Im a little short on wheels temporarily.
You had a car, he said with a frown.
A rental car that I picked up at the airport. And thats the thing. I dont need a car at all for a few weeks if I live here. I can walk anywhere in town and eat downstairs.
In return for which, Harry hired you on as a cook?
Not exactly. Harry said he hasnt got enough business at this time of year to hire anyone full-time. But we made a deal. Most days, I open and close the place for him-which is easy for me to do, living upstairs this way, and that way he can sleep in and leave early. And Im putting in a few hours-as many as hell give me-baking. French pastries, fancy stuff. He said hed give it a try, and even if its only been a week, it seems to be working to bring in new customers.
But he cant give you more than part-time hours?
No, she admitted. On the other hand, with zero expenses, Im putting everything away. It shouldnt be that long before I can put a down payment on a used car. Then I can look at moving somewhere theres some job potential.
But for right now, youd like more money?
She looked at him. That quiet, intense expression-Teague could be very hard to read. Obviously, she wanted more money. She just wasnt sure exactly what he was asking. But before she could even try leaping to a wrong conclusion, he filled in what he was thinking.
I told you, Daisy. I need help. Exactly the kind of help you could give me. Ive got more carpentry work than I know what to do with, but Im lousy on the decorating end. For a while, when you wanted to, you could work as a consultant. Even better, you could work when you had free time, because the specific hours wouldnt matter to me.
She stiffened. Trust me. I dont do charity.
Im not talking charity.
She pushed off the edge of the bed and started pacing-not that there was more than a few feet potential to pace with. The most walking she could get in was a circle around the couch. Come on. You told me flat-out that you had trouble working with other people. You said that was how you ended up in White Hills, because you wanted a place where you could make a one-man business work. Trying to do a partnership didnt work out for you, you said. You always want to be boss, you said. You-
Yeah, yeah, I know all that stuff I told you. And its all true. Im a pain in the butt. Domineering. Single-minded. And it doesnt help that Im always right.
She had to grin at his arrogance, even if she still couldnt relax enough to quit pacing.
But this is different, he said.
Yeah, its different. Because I admitted being broke right now, so you got the idea I needed a white knight. Only I dont do white knights. And I didnt tell you so youd feel sorry for me. Im not having any trouble living poor for a while, so dont waste your breath thinking I need your charity.
Its not charity Im offering. Now he was on his feet, pacing, too. There was something strikingly alert in his eyes suddenly-like she shouldnt have mentioned not doing white knights, as if she had once, as if he were taking in that information like a robber learning a bank code. He didnt make anything of that, though. Didnt ask. He just started firmly arguing. I need help, whether you do or not.
Sure you do, she said dryly.
Im serious. And I told you straight, that I failed playing well with others in the sandbox in pre-K. But our situations different. I know youre not going to stay in White Hills for long, so its not as if either of us have preconceptions about a long-term future. And for right now-you dont know anything about carpentry, so youd have no reason to fight with me about how I do things. And I have no interest in interfering with any ideas youve got about style or decorating whatsoever, so youd have a free rein. It seems like a workable plan to me. You wouldnt have to be pinned down to a set schedule. You could just work whatever hours you had free.
Probably because she was looney, it was starting to sound like a good plan to her, too. Of course, shed fallen prey to persuasive men before, and knew better than to just blindly trust her own judgment. She plunked her wineglass down by the minisink on one of her pacing rounds circling the couch. It still wont work. I dont have a car, Teague. How would I get to wherever you were working?
He plunked down his wineglass, too, which was still full. He really wasnt a wine man. Just like her, though, he seemed to instinctively pace when he was thinking. Hmm. Well. Ive got both a car and a work truck. I need the work truck.
I hear a but in your voice.
He scowled. Because there is one. I do have a spare vehicle. So in principle itd make sense to let you use it for a while.
I still hear that but in your voice.
Because its a Golf GTi.
Shed never heard of the car, but she knew men and their toys, and he had one of those Guy Looks on his face. Ah. Your baby.
Its not like an old Jag or anything that expensive. In fact, I picked her up last year for a song. But as old as she is, shell still go another seventy thousand miles if I take care of her. And shes the MK 1 version. Cross-spoke BBS aluminum wheels. The golf ball gear lever-
Daisy cut to the chase, her tone sympathetic. You just cant let anyone drive her but you.
He didnt immediately respond, probably because both of them were distracted. When Teague put down his wineglass, hed seemed to forget their pacing pattern and reversed his direction. As a result, they found themselves facing each other in front of the couch-with no passing lane for either of them to get by.
She could have backed up. So could he. But suddenly they were barely inches apart. Close. As physically close as theyd been that wild night of the blizzard. Maybe they were both fully dressed this time, but for her, the same sensations welled up. She felt alone in the universe with just him. No one else in sight or sound.
No one else who mattered.
She saw his hand rise. Saw the fire in his eyes kindle-and then smoke. She knew, inside, that he was going to reach for her even before he did it, and she had ample time to pull away.
Instead her arms swooped around his neck at the same time his wrapped around her waist. His lips met hers halfway.
Ignition was faster than nitro exposed to a match.
She knew he was wrong for her. She just forgot why. In fact, why she was afraid of being with him disappeared faster than a sixteen-year-old with the car keys. Wicked heat seeped from his kiss to hers. Sinful hopes communicated from her tongue to his. Her pelvis so naturally ground provocatively against his groin. He shot up, hard, in the nestling privacy between her hips.
That single kiss darkened, richened. She couldnt see, couldnt think. No matter what he thought, shed never taken up with a stranger, not like she had that night in the blizzard. No matter what anyone thought, shed never been the wild girl everyone thought her to be, growing up in White Hills. Shed never even been the wild girl she wanted to be.
Except with him.
Something about Teague-the taste of his kisses, the sneaky stroke of his tongue, the scent of him-set off explosions of bad, bad ideas in her mind. And between her legs.
His mouth liftedprobably because both of them were gasping for breath. His eyes found hers, loved hers, expressed hunger and a fury of frustrationyet his voice was as lazy as a summer morning.
Okay, okay. You can drive my Golf GTi. But its a hell of a concession. And dont think Ill just give in every time just because Im dying from wanting you.
Okay, okay. You can drive my Golf GTi. But its a hell of a concession. And dont think Ill just give in every time just because Im dying from wanting you.
She tried to recoup as fast as he did, tried to laugh, but her legs were shaky and her heart even more so. Are you trying to suggest that kisses are part of this work deal?
Hell, no. I dont make deals about sex. If theres a deal about working together-all Id say is lets be careful to put all our cards on the table. If an arrangement works for you and me, lets do it. Sex is nothing like that.
You dont put your cards on the table about sex?
He raised an eyebrow, managing to look as if he were almost breathing regularly againeven if his pelvis was still rocking against her pelvis. You know anyone whos completely honest about sex?
Yeah. Me, she said.
He chuckled. Me, too. But the fact is-I dont know how to promise guarantees on something as intricate as two people. From where I stand-I want to sleep with you. In fact, Id like to have another two-week blizzard where no one could reach you in the entire universe but me. In fact, Id like to spend the next five years in your bed nonstop. But who knows if that would be a good idea for you.
Quit making me nervous, Teague.
He stopped smiling. Gently touched the side of her jaw with his thumb. Somehow I dont think many men have made you nervous. Maybe its good for you to be nervous. Maybe being thrown off base might be terrific for you.
He wanted her to tease back, Daisy sensed. And she wanted to flirt. Wanted to play the way theyd been playing, wanted to want the way she fiercely, wildly wanted him.
But Teague had no way to understand. Being nervous wasnt a joke for her. She simply couldnt let a man throw her off base. Ever again.
Seven
Three days later, Teague hiked toward the café, feeling edgier than a porcupine with an itch.