Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
~MAC~
“Need a ride home?” Danny rises from the booth he’s been occupying for the last few hours.
After we had our verbal little sparring, he retreated to the back of the bar.
And thankfully he did, because I’m not sure Phil would have noticed I was being harassed if Danny hadn’t been there to strong-arm the guy.
And he’s remained in the back of the bar all night long.
Amelia and Cassie headed out a little bit ago.
I took longer getting my portion of the side work done and told them to go.
After grabbing my stuff, I start to head out.
“Mac?” Danny calls after me. “Can I give you a ride home?”
I turn and wait for him to catch up to me. “It’s just a quick walk.”
“Well, can I walk you home, then? It’s, uh, late and all. I thought you might enjoy some company?”
I like how he’s fumbling for his words. It’s a complete contradiction from the way he usually speaks. It makes me wonder if this is the real Danny. The Danny who is less guarded and whose tongue isn’t quite as sharp.
“I thought you just asked me if I needed a ride,” I tease him. “Now you plan on walking me. How will you get back to the bar to retrieve your car?”
“Since it looks like you’re refusing to let me drive you, I thought we could walk together. It’s a nice night, after all.”
“Then you’ve gotta walk back all alone,” I say, grinning at him.
“Why are you so focused on that?” he asks, shaking his head as he holds the door open for me.
He’s right, though; it is a nice night. Not too warm yet here in Tampa. At least, not at one in the morning. I’m told the humidity of a Tampa summer will carry into the evening hours. It looks like we’re not there yet.
“I don’t know. Just trying to point out the hypocrisy of you walking me home. It’s late. That man you strong-armed may be waiting somewhere to kick your ass, and he may be less than pleased with you.”
We stop and face each other on the sidewalk outside the bar. He shakes his head and looks around like he’s not really sure what to say next.
“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” he finally says.
“You know Phil offered to give me a ride home. But I chose to walk.”
“Let me give you a ride home.” His blue eyes are pleading.
I watch him for a moment. I want to throw a smart-ass comment in his face or say something rude so that he lets me go on my way without him. I’m tired, and it’s been a long day. Instead, I sit down on the curb and wait for him to join me.
“What are you doing?” he asks me, bumping my knee with his.
“I thought I’d sit down for a moment and try to figure out what’s happening here.”
“What’s happening is that it’s nighttime and you should be getting home, but you’re not letting me help you with that.” He knows what I mean but he’s going for the lighter answer.
“You know I can get myself home just fine.”
“You needed me earlier,” he reminds me. His voice drops an octave, his words all low and velvety.
My cheeks heat and a shiver runs down my spine. I try to move a bit to put some distance between us, but he holds on to my knee.
“Don’t pull away from me.”
I sigh. “Why do you do it?” I finally ask the question that has been burning on my tongue since one of our more civil interactions.
“Why do I do what?” he asks.
“Why did you challenge me that first day in the pressroom?”
He laughs. “It’s what I do. Haven’t you ever seen my work?”
“So, it had nothing to do with me?”
“Nope. I always do that. I’m always hard on people,” he admits.
“Then why are you so nice to me?” I ask him.
“Because I don’t have to be an ass all the time.” He bumps our knees again and then asks, “Why are you so mean to me?”
I laugh. “You get what you give,” I tell him proudly.
“Your mama teach you that?” He laughs along with me.
“No,” I admit. “She didn’t teach me much of anything.”
He nods and doesn’t say anything for a while. “We kinda have this love-hate thing going on. I’m guessing you don’t like it.”
I turn to him, smiling widely. “I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just that I’m trying to figure it out. Do you really hate me and the team? Are you going to write a fair article?”
He just nods. “I told you that you could read it before publication.”
“When do we start?”
“Are you trying to start now?”
“No, it’s late and I’m tired. I’m just wondering. It’s all so new, and I’m trying to figure everything out. Put the team in a good place and navigate this whole mess with you.”
“I’m something you refer to as a mess?”
“Yeah,” I say, turning my body so that I can face him. “You show up freaking everywhere. I’m never sure if I’m going to get the nice Danny or the Danny who has these witty one-liners. I guess with all the pressure, I would just like to know where I stand with you.”
We’re both quiet for a while. “That sounded like I was trying to say that we have some kind of a relationship,” I continue. “I know we don’t, okay? I know there’s nothing here or whatever, and you’re just being you—”
He stops my ramble by grabbing my face and placing his lips on mine.
I don’t know what to do at first. His lips are so soft and tentative, like they’re questioning their actions right now.
My lips move of their own accord, slowly moving along with his, parting just a bit so that his tongue can slip in.
I moan and he moves so that he can pull me into him.
My knees fall and my body follows. I’m pressed up against him, and I arch my back like I’m trying to get even closer to him.
Our tongues are battling for dominance; he wins, though, and starts moving our bodies like he’s going to lay me down. It’s then that I come to my senses.
Pulling back, I’m panting and breathless.
“Wow.” The words escape my mouth before I realize it, but it really was wow.
He’s a great kisser. I enjoyed it—probably more than I should have.
I’ve been attracted to the man since I saw him.
It’s a shame I hate forty percent of the words that come out of his mouth.
“I’ll take that wow as a compliment,” he says with a snicker.
“Oh, come on, you’ve felt it too.” I stare him down and dare him to admit otherwise.
He nods. “I did. And I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”
“Ever since John asked me to put my phone number into his phone so that he can take me to dinner?” I tease him.
He shakes his head. “I don’t think he’s a good guy for you.”
“You just don’t like that he’s interested in me, because whether or not you want to admit it, there are things you would like to do to me,” I say in a low, sultry voice. I lean into him so that our chests are almost touching. “And you wouldn’t be alone in that.”
He smiles, his body and mouth moving closer to mine, his lips slowly parting like he’s going to lean in and kiss me. “Come home with me.”
I move back just a bit so that I can really look at him. “What? Are you asking me to come home with you?”
Running a hand down my arm, he says, “I would like to take you home with me. And I think you would like it too. Work off some of that stress you’re feeling.”
I want to say no; it’s on the tip of my tongue, but something else comes out. “Let’s do it. Take me home.”
A wide smile breaks out on his face, like he’s just won the lottery. “I think we should go right now, before you change your mind.”
Danny springs to his feet and grabs for my hand, pulling me to mine. I giggle and he pulls me into him and places a kiss on my lips. “You won’t regret it.”
Those are the only words he says to me while leading me to his smooth black ride.
Inside his black Tesla, we ride in silence.
The night is quiet and so is his car. Not a sound comes from us or the car as he leads me through the Tampa streets.
It’s almost like we’re both afraid to talk because we think it might ruin the moment—or make one of us come to our senses.
We make it to his house faster than I thought we would. He has a rancher in a nice-looking neighborhood. I don’t get much of a look at the inside, though, because he leads me straight into his bedroom, dropping my hand so that he can close the door.
“Do you have roommates?” I ask him when the door clicks closed.
“No,” he replies, looking at the closed door. He shrugs and stalks toward me.
I walk backward until my legs hit the cold wood of the bed frame. I lean back into it.
“Wanna hop up?” he asks.
I do as he asks and pull myself up and over the frame so that I’m sitting on his bed, legs draped over the edge.
I run a hand over the softness of the black comforter.
He’s smiling at me. I wait to see what he’ll do next, but I don’t have to wait for long.
He pulls his fist up over his head to reveal a toned swimmer’s body, grabbing at his shirt as he moves. I grin at the sight of him.
He tosses the shirt over his head and goes for the button of his jeans.
“Are you trying to leave me with nothing to do?” I ask him, my voice coming out bolder than I feel in this moment.
He chuckles. “I’m not worried about you unwrapping me.
I want to unwrap you.” He discards his jeans and stalks over to me in his black boxer briefs.
There’s very little light in the room, and I wish I could see more of his toned, defined body.
I’m going to have to let my hands do more of the exploring than my eyes.
Climbing onto the bed, Danny backs me up so that I’m sitting at the head of his bed. I want to take a moment to look at my surroundings, but the most delectable man is crawling my way. He grabs my ankle and pulls me so that I’m lying in the center. I yelp in surprise.