Chapter 9
MELLY
I groaned. I closed my eyes and, like a little kid, hoped that if I couldn’t see Daniel, he wasn’t really there.
Oh my God. I should have stuck to my one glass of wine rule! Mallory was a horrible influence because I sat tucked right in front of Daniel Pearson.
I’d told him about my vibrator as an insult to his dick. Now I had to talk about it, not on the phone, but right to his face which was only inches away. I was in a bar full of people, but I was alone with Daniel Pearson. For the third time today.
I’d never seen Mallory and Bridget leave a bar so fast. Well, maybe that time Bridget screamed when she realized she’d sent Maverick the answers to that sex quiz. They’d run out of here that night just as fast.
Now, they’d intentionally abandoned me with Daniel. And he was going to drive me home! They wanted me to sleep with him.
I grabbed my wine and took another sip. I was tipsy, but not drunk and with what was left in the glass, that wasn’t going to change.
“I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t have called you,” I admitted, looking up at him from my glass.
While his dark gaze still radiated intensity, it wasn’t filled with the same anger or frustration it had earlier.
He was calm, his body relaxed, and he wasn’t growling.
His hands rested casually on top of his thighs, but his thumbs touched mine.
I eyed their size–his whole hands, not just the thumbs–the ruggedness of them from hard work.
He had on the same shirt, a deep blue and dark gray plaid flannel.
Now, the sleeves were rolled up to show corded forearms sprinkled with dark hair.
The shirt wasn’t tight, but it was snug, as if he had trouble finding a size that fit him.
His beard made him even more rugged and a little wild.
I picked up on his scent. Dark and manly and potent.
He and Danny looked alike. Similar coloring, but Danny was built differently.
Leaner. Daniel was solid. Like the sturdiest trees in the forest. And had a beard.
They were both handsome, but I was only attracted to Daniel.
In fact, I wondered what those hands would feel like on my skin, if beard burn really did happen or if it was only a fantasy found in romance books.
“Yes, you should have,” he countered, his voice almost gentle. “I’m glad you did.”
“You do not need to know about my vibrators.”
“Hmm… vibrators. Plural,” he mused.
I took another slug of wine.
My confessions–multiple–confused the hell out of me.
Why had I really called him? Why was I sitting here turned on and flustered by this specific man?
Why was I not attracted to men my age when the one man who’d driven me away from all of them in general was older?
Why was I desperately craving Daniel Pearson when he was everything I tried so hard to avoid?
Daniel was older. Experienced. Not looking for anything serious because he was leaving town. Leaving. As in not staying in Hunter Valley.
I was settled in this town. I had no interest in going anywhere or seeing the world. I’d done it once and made it as far as Idaho and that was enough. I was safe here. Happy. Content.
Except I was also horny. Mallory would call it that. There was no reason to call it anything else.
I was horny for Daniel Pearson and for the first time ever, I had a feeling my vibrator wasn’t going to satisfy. And that made me angry and frustrated. And why I called him. I was mad at him for making me that way.
“That’s why you’re here? Because it was my turn to say stupid things?” I cringed because not only had I mentioned sex toys, but I’d also told him I was a virgin. Maybe he didn’t hear me say that or he forgot. Or that we talked about his dick fitting in me.
“I’m here because you didn’t like–”
“I never talk about vibrators,” I assured him.
“Just my point, and I wanted to make sure you’re safe. But nothing you said was stupid.”
I gave him a look, one that said I didn’t believe him. At all. Everything I told him was embarrassing and… God. I told him I was a virgin who used vibrators probably larger than his dick.
“Fine, you were honest, then.”
“Too honest,” I admitted, frowning. “Wine makes me lose any kind of filter.”
“Good, then everything you said was true.”
I wasn’t a liar. He knew the truth because I called him. Not the other way around. So I nodded.
He gave me a small smile, tipped his chin down. “I like you without a filter, sweet girl. I think–”
“Hey, man. What can I get you?” Arlo came around the table and stopped beside Daniel. They shook hands in a way that indicated they were good friends, or at least well acquainted.
Daniel looked to me, my glass. “Another wine and I’ll take a cup of coffee.”
I should have told him no to more wine, but I was stuck on him calling me sweet girl.
“On it. By the way, I’m eager to get the patio project going. Hoping the weather holds next month for you to get started.”
Daniel nodded. “Have you received a contract yet?”
“Yup. All signed. Your brother said it’ll be done before the summer and I’m holding him to it. I’ll get those drinks.”
He disappeared between the tables.
“Sorry about that,” he said, focusing back on me and moving his right hand from his thigh to mine. God, his fingers curled almost all the way around and heat seeped from his palm. Scorching. His eyes flared as I gasped at the contact.
He cleared his throat. “Arlo’s having the back patio enlarged so he can have more service outside when it warms up. Pearsons is doing the work. Now then, why did you–”
“I’m still mad at you,” I blurted, not wanting to circle back to vibrators or virginity or his dick. Okay, I was interested in his dick, but this wasn’t the time or the place to talk about that. But when and where was?
Oh yeah, never. Stupid wine.
“I’m sorry. I was an idiot and that made me a jerk. I’m not a jerk. Not really. There’s something about you though that makes me go crazy.”
I was stunned because… what? I made a man go crazy? Impossible. “I doubt that.”
“I think it’s mutual,” he said, his dark eyes roving over my face. His thumb slid back and forth on my thigh and it was distracting. And very nice feeling.
“Is not,” I countered.
“Is, too,” he said back, as if we were seven.
“Prove it.”
He leaned in real close and his breath fanned across my ear. I shivered. “You’ve been thinking about my dick. Imagining how big it is. Comparison sizing to your vibrators. Plural. Now I’m thinking about your virgin pussy and watching you play with yourself.”
A waitress brought over our drinks and I startled. Daniel pulled back but didn’t move far. My eyes held his.
“Thank you,” he said to the waitress without looking away. He reached out, picked up the fresh glass of wine and handed it to me.
“Trying to get me drunk?” I asked.