Chapter 15
“I-I’m not afraid of you,” Jodi argued, stepping away from him.
He tilted his head to the side as he considered her. “No, you’re not,” Danny murmured softly. “But you are afraid of what’s going on between us.”
She snorted. “There’s nothing going on between us.”
“Really?” he asked, moving closer.
“Really,” Jodi said firmly, and he would have believed her, except he didn’t want to. He refused to believe this insane attraction that he was feeling was one-sided.
“Then prove it,” he said, moving closer until there were only a few inches separating them.
“I don’t need to prove anything,” Jodi said on a tired sigh as she pushed past him and went to the bed.
“Then why are you running away?” he asked, watching as she picked up the large bowl of popcorn and set it on the nightstand.
“I’m not running away,” she said, sighing heavily as she pulled back the covers and climbed in.
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m going to bed,” Jodi said, and with that, she turned over and curled up.
“You’re afraid of men,” he said, sitting on the bed by her side.
“No,” she said, shifting away from him, “I’m not.”
“Uh-huh,” Danny said, not really believing her as he reached over and gently swept her long hair back onto her pillow.
“Yeah, that would explain why most of my friends are guys,” she drawled, reaching back to slap his hand away.
“I see,” Danny said because he did. It all made sense now, the comments that she’d made while drugged out on Benadryl, her reaction to him and her choice of friends. “You’re afraid of sex,” he blurted out before common sense could take over and help him keep his mouth shut.
“I’m not afraid of sex!” Jodi snapped, sitting up to glare at him.
“Look, I’m sor-”
“I’m just not into sex, okay? Are you happy now?” Jodi demanded angrily and it was at that point that he decided that he’d already fucked up past the point of redemption so what was one more fuck up?
“You have absolutely no idea what you’re into because you were with a man who had absolutely no idea how to please a woman,” Danny pointed out.
Her mouth moved, but no sound came out as she registered his words and he realized something rather important.
She didn’t remember what she’d said to him the other night.
Well, if she wasn’t pissed at him before, she definitely was now.
So, there really was no point in apologizing at this point, not when he’d ruined any chance he’d had with her.
Not that he’d ever really had a chance with her, Danny realized.
“Look, men just aren’t attracted to me. They go out on one date with me and by the time the appetizers arrive, they start looking at me like I’m the sweet little sister that they never had, but suddenly realize that they want.
There’s never going to be anything between us, because sooner or later, you’re going to realize just like every other guy before you that I’m just not the kind of girl that drives a man crazy. ”
He blinked down at her…just blinked, because really what was there to say?
Except maybe…
“You’re an idiot.”
“What the hell?” Danny demanded just as she nailed him in the face with the pillow.
“I’m an idiot?” Jodi demanded, pulling the pillow back and with another swing, nailed him in the face again before he managed to grab the pillow away from her. “You’re the idiot!”
“I’m the idiot?” Danny asked, tossing the pillow aside.
“Yes!” she hissed, grabbing another pillow and-
“Really?” he calmly asked as he picked her up and placed her on his lap, adjusting her until she was sitting sideways with her legs hanging over the side of his legs. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to allow her to move.
“Really!” Jodi snapped, trying to shove his arms away, but he simply ignored her and kept his arms where they were.
“You’ve been standing me up all this time because you think that I’m not really attracted to you,” he mused with a rueful shake of his head and a chuckle that she really didn’t appreciate.
“All this time…” she repeated back slowly, shaking her head in disbelief. “You only started to bring up this asinine idea of going out with me a few days ago!”
“True,” Danny murmured, leaning down so that he could brush his lips along her jaw, startling her. “But I most definitely don’t see you as a little sister,” he said with a chuckle as he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer so that she could feel-
“Oh, my God,” she whispered around a choked gasp.
“Definitely. Not. A. Sister,” Danny said, stressing each word as he turned his head and pressed a kiss against her neck, robbing her of the ability to speak or think, for that matter.
“So,” Danny continued pressing kisses along her neck and jaw, “why don’t we finish our date and at the end of the night, you let me show you just how enjoyable a goodnight kiss can be.”
“What the fuck just happened?” Danny asked as he stood there, staring at the door and wondering where he’d gone wrong.
He’d had Tinkerbelle in his arms, brushing his lips against her soft skin, and was saying all the right things one minute and the next…
He’d been unceremoniously kicked out, the bowl of popcorn shoved in his hands and the door slammed shut in his face.
She’d even ignored him when he’d inquired about that goodnight kiss.
He stood there for another minute until he accepted the fact that she wasn’t coming back and he realized that he was starting to look like an idiot standing there.
“Shit,” Danny muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he reluctantly turned around and headed back to his apartment.
He paused in front of his broken door long enough to pick it up and lean it against the doorway, making a mental note to fix it tomorrow along with his wall and furniture.
Greedy bastards, Danny thought, shaking his head in disgust as he kicked the remains of what was left of his entertainment center out of his way and headed towards his bathroom.
What the hell was wrong with him? Danny couldn’t help but wonder as he forced himself to stand beneath ice-cold water ten minutes later.
The first woman that he’d been attracted to since he woke up from the coma wasn’t interested in him.
She didn’t want him, didn’t like him, and he was a fucking moron for not seeing it sooner. He should probably move on, but…
He wasn’t going to give up, but he was going to back off for a few days and start all over again, Danny decided as he shut the water off and stepped out of the shower.
He’d force himself to keep his hands to himself and take his time getting to know her, but more importantly, he’d give her the chance to get to know him.
He’d fucked up, made a horrible first impression and had startled his Tinkerbelle.
It was going to kill him to take this slowly, but he was going to do it, Danny decided, resigning himself to more ice-cold showers in the future.
He crawled into bed and pulled the sheet up over his lap, ignoring the way that the cool cotton sheet brushed over his straining erection.
He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
It was going to kill him to keep his hands to himself, but he would do it because he had a new game plan.
He was still planning on wooing her, but now he was going to have to be sneaky about it.
He’d give her a few days to cool off and when she stopped giving him looks that caused his balls to tighten up in fear, he would approach her, start with small talk, grab coffee, drinks after work, and when she finally let her guard down, he’d go in for the kill.
For now, he’d just bide his time.
He would-
“Tinkerbelle?” Danny asked, sitting up as he watched her walk the rest of the way into his bedroom. “Is everything okay?”
“I need to know something,” Jodi said as she toyed with the ends of the belt holding her terry cotton robe closed, shifting nervously as she looked anywhere but at him.
“What’s that, sweetheart?” Danny asked, leaning back against the headboard even though everything in him was demanding that he get his ass off the bed and pull her into his arms to make sure that she was okay.
“I need to know if you’re toying with me?”
At his blank look, she sighed. “I just want to know if this is a game for you,” Jodi clarified.
“No,” Danny said, shaking his head, “I’m not playing with you.”
“So, you’re suddenly interested in me?” Jodi asked, looking up and meeting his gaze head-on.
“Very.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” Danny asked, not sure what she was trying to get at.
She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh as though it should be obvious. “Why are you suddenly interested in me?’
“Would you like the polite answer or the truth?”
Frowning, she slowly said, “The truth?”
The polite answer probably would have been a better choice, but…
What the hell?
“Are you sure?”
She nodded once, firmly.
Shrugging, he admitted, “Because I can’t stop fantasizing about you.
I can’t walk into a room without thinking of at least a hundred ways to fuck you in it.
I can’t stop fantasizing about how your body would feel against mine, how hard your nipples would get in my mouth, how good your skin would taste on my tongue, how it would feel to run my hands all over you, how good it would feel to slide deep inside you, how wet you would be when I-”
“I get the picture,” Jodi said, cutting him off with a blush and…was that a pleased little smile that she was trying to hide? “Why don’t we try the polite answer?”
“Fine,” he said with a shrug, “I like you, Tinkerbelle. I’m attracted to you and I want to get to know you better.”
She nodded absently. “Is this just about sex?”
“No,” Danny said softly, watching her reaction.
“So…then what do you want?” Jodi asked, cocking a brow in question.
He thought that over for a moment. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to make love to her, to piss her off so that he could see that cute little murderous glare of hers, he just wanted…
“A chance,” Danny answered. “Just a chance.”