In fact, right then he didnt want to be kissed, hugged or flirted with by anyone except Daisy.
But, man, he was risking everything he had-everything he was-and he knew it. Valentines Day didnt have to be the crunch, but a crunch was imminent. Once Daisy had enough money to take off, that was still her plan-unless a better plan surfaced damn fast.
He was hoping shed think he was a better plan.
When he climbed back in the truck, he damn near forgot to shut the door-he was that exhausted. He got home. He knew he got home, because he heard the phone ringing. And ringing. And ringing. He seemed to have made it to the bed, seemed to still have his boots on, didnt care about the boots or the phone.
He suspected it was Daisy. Shed left messages before. Increasingly annoyed messages.
He just couldnt get it all done-his work, the surprises. Not and pull it all together before Valentines Day. Besides which, he was a coward. Unless he could prove to Daisy that life in White Hills-life with him-wasnt going to be ordinary or dull, a life where she could get back that pride in herself shed lost with the French Creephe knew he was going to lose her. He couldnt accept that. And for damn sure he couldnt face it until he had to.
So he let the phone ring. In fact, by that time, he didnt even open an eye. In his mind he heard her talking to him. These last few days hed fiercely missed working with her. Missed sleeping with her. Missed talking with her. Missed her hoity-toity clothes and the way she arched her right eyebrow when she was teasing him. He missed the way she walked. He missed the shape of her mouth.
Even from the depth of sleep, Teague seemed to be replaying the obvious-not the obvious dream but the totally obvious truth.
He couldnt imagine living without her.
Daisy answered her cell phone only because someone rang three times already-which meant that someone obviously couldnt take a hint. She was busy. What? she spit into the receiver.
Daisy! Youve got to come down to the restaurant right now!
Come on, Harry. This is the first day I asked to have off. Jasons back. You dont need m-
Its not that. I dont need you to work. I just need you to come down. Now. Fast.
She had her hands absolutely full with Teagues present, but to appease Harry-who after all, had been good to her-she shoved on shoes and sprinted downstairs.
She saw the crowd gathered at the front door, not a crowd in line for the restaurant but a crowd facing the stairs to the apartment, so her immediate thought was uh-oh. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she counted heads. Not every single body in White Hills was sardined into the restaurant lobby, but it had to be close. Faces stared at her, wearing expectant expressions. Nosy expressions. Strangely worried expressions.
Daisy didnt need any internal conscience warning her uh-oh this time. She spun around to escape back upstairs-fast-and she would have made it, if Harry hadnt lumbered through the crowd and grabbed her hand. She assumed the point of all this lunacy was for her to see something in the restaurant, but instead of tugging her inside, Harry tugged her outside.
She was wearing navy wool slacks and a Valentinered sweater, respectable inside clothes, but naturally no coat or jacket. The wind blistered her ears before shed taken the first step. A woman was waiting at the curb, wearing a skirt short enough to risk her rear end getting frostbite, a showy smile on her face. To her right were two townspeople holding cameras. The local newspaper-a weekly-had a snot-nosed kid holding a businesslike camera on her left. Obviously everyone was counting on her to react in some spectacle-like way, but for an instant Daisy couldnt pin down what on earth she was supposed to react to.
Then she got it. Or kind of. Behind the lady with the showy smile waswell, she had to squint to identify what it was. A vehicle, for sure. But not exactly a car or a truck or an SUV.
And then she remembered. It was one of those things the guys took to war. A Hummer. A used Hummer-truth to tell, it looked like a reinforced used Hummer-painted daisy yellow with a big red Valentines Day bow tied prettily on the steering wheel.
Daisy closed her eyes tightly for a good long millisecond, thinking no, this couldnt be happening. She thought shed loved him. She actually thought shed loved him. But this
Daisy closed her eyes tightly for a good long millisecond, thinking no, this couldnt be happening. She thought shed loved him. She actually thought shed loved him. But this
This was the end of the line for Teague.
Teague knew he was dreaming. On the other side of his closed eyelids, there seemed to be bright light-which couldnt be, since hed stumbled into bed just a few minutes ago in the pitch-black. But he figured the bright light was symbolic. Dreams were goofy like that. And the only time he dreamed at all was when he was so wasted tired that he couldnt make sense of anything, anyway.
Still, this dream was different. Powerful. Gripping. Whether it was symbolic or wishful thinking or plain old need, Daisy was there. He heard her whispering, Teague? Teague! in that exotic, sexy voice of hers. And her perfume wafted around him, the scent that always shot testosterone straight to his brain.
He wasnt completely surprised that Daisy was there, of course. He knew the Hummerd do it.
The heart-hed definitely wanted to give her the heart, but bottom line, giving your best girl chocolate on Valentines Day wasnt exactly a headline-news idea. He needed the opposite of ordinary. He thought the birthday banners on Main Street was a better idea-partly because he couldnt believe her Jean-Luc would have done such a thing. Also the rest of the town would get off on it, he knew, so that Daisyd be exposed again to how honestly nice people were in White Hills. It was nice to live in a place where people knew you, paid attention, watched out for you. It wasnt skinny-dipping in the Riviera, no. But they could do that kind of junk on vacations if she wanted. Daisy knew what it was like to live with strangers and no one she could count on. He couldnt believe that would be her first choice ever again.
Hed heard feedback that the banner thing had gone over big-which was good-but Teague had known upfront that wasnt enough. Hed needed to come up with something to really give her a jolt. Dais had to be close to saving enough for a car down payment by now-had to be close to leaving. So the Hummerwell, it was a long way from the cool sports cars shed likely driven in France, but the thing was, hed driven with her. She needed to be surrounded by steel. She didnt need cute; she needed a vehicle that could get itself out of ditches, that could go uphill when nothing else could go uphill. He fully realized that Daisy wasnt worried about issues like that. It was his problem, that she drove like a bat out of hell.
Her issue, though, was that she wasnt an exotic flower. He knew she wanted to be-that shed always wanted to be. But the truth was, his Daisy was no-nonsense to the bone. She loved working. Real work. She loved making something out of nothing, loved feeling challenged, loved getting her hands all messy in stains and varnishes, loved cooking herself rather than being waited on.
Teague couldnt imagine telling her that her self-image was goofy, that her dreams didnt fit her at all. But he thought, really thought, that the Hummer was perfect for her. She could go anywhere in blizzards or storms. Carry tools or wedding cakes. Daisy, being a doer in every way, didnt need a sports car that required constant attention, but a vehicle that enabled her to take off on any wild ambition she had.
Besides which, a Hummer so wasnt ordinary.
He smiled in the dream. Hell, it was hard not feeling high as the sky. When hed gone to bed, his whole world looked precarious, the fear of loss hanging over his heart like a lead pendulumbut now everything was coming right.
Daisyd quit talking. The warm body snuggled next to him made him smile all over again. He could feel her slow, soft tongue. Licking his cheek. Then his nose. Then his mouth.
She was hot for him. Really hot. It seemed like all his life hed been dreaming about her warm, lithe body, about her warm, wet, lithe tongue. Almost like this. Not exactly like this, but almost.
Suddenly the almost part of the dream struck him as a tad disturbing. Because a cold, wet nose suddenly nuzzled his cheek.
And Daisy sure as hell didnt have a cold, wet nose.
His eyelids shot wide-open. The daylight pouring in the windows almost blinded him. From somewhere he could smell fresh coffee. And the affectionate female body lying in bed with him wasnt Daisy, but a dog. A young, scruffy mutt with black-and-white fur and brown eyes and no heritage to brag about-or several heritages to brag about, depending on ones point of view. The instant she discovered he was awake, her long, feathery tail started thumping at several thousand miles an hour. Someone had put a bushel basket next to his bed, filled to overflowing. Teague saw a powder-blue collar, a powder-blue leash, balls, pull toys, carpet cleaning products, kibble, andhe squinteda powder-blue bowl with HUSSY II engraved on it.
What the hell? Teague muttered groggily, which made the puppy respond with ecstatic enthusiasm, leaping on him to lavish his entire face with kisses. Arent you a darling? But whoa, baby, take it easy, take it easy
Only one person in the universe would have given him a pup named Hussy, and he promptly forgot the dog-because his real-life hussy was suddenly standing in the doorway.
Some guys fantasized about a woman in corsets and black lace. His fantasy woman was dressed in overalls, no shoes, thick floppy socks, and her thick, elegant hair looked determined to escape a ponytail. He couldnt speak for a second, because she was so darn beautiful she stole his breath. When it came down to it, she was so beautiful she was probably always going to steal his breath. Today, though, it was more than those gorgeous bones and lush mouth and exotic, sexy eyes. It was the vulnerability in her expression, the anxiety she couldnt quite hide-although God knew, she tried.
Youre in trouble up to your eyebrows, Larson, she said sternly.
Im in trouble? Im in trouble?! What is this dog?!