14. Anthony #3
“I don’t know. It was a bit funny. I’ll have to tell the grandmothers.”
I jerked my head back. “Tell them what?”
“Nothing,” Bella said quickly, averting her gaze.
“Bella… did they ask you to spy on their behalf?”
She gasped. “Spy? They didn’t say that! Oh… but that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it?”
“I have no idea. You tell me.”
“But the spy never says what they do, isn’t that right? I’ve read a few books with spies.”
“No, they don’t,” I admitted, “but this is different. We’ve not yet established that you’re spying for your grandmothers. Have they asked you to keep an eye on me?”
“Not exactly. Just to tell them if I notice anything out of the ordinary.” She sighed. “I’m not good at this.”
I laughed. “No, you’re not. But that’s fine.”
I always thought the grandmothers had a sixth sense about things like this, but it turned out they simply had multiple sources of information.
When we turned onto Bourbon, I scanned the area with a critical eye.
“There are so many bars here. You know, I’ve only been here once before, with Uncle Xander.”
I blinked. “He brought you here?” That was against everything I knew about my brother.
“We just popped into a small shop selling hot chocolate. It was delicious. And then we immediately went back to Royal.”
I laughed, but then it got stuck in my throat because strolling down Bourbon was none other than Daisy.
I unabashedly drank her in. She wasn’t looking my way, so no harm done.
Besides, we were finally out of the office.
She was wearing yet another dress. I hadn’t allowed myself to register the details this morning, but now I wanted to memorize everything: the way it hugged her curves, the conservative V-neckline that highlighted how fucking gorgeous she was.
“Daisy!” Bella exclaimed.
She turned to us and beamed. “Hi, you two.”
“Done for the day?” I asked. Say yes. Say fucking yes. Then I’d have the green light to flirt with her all I wanted.
“No, I’m heading out to the festival after this, but I wanted to grab a drink first. Chad said there’s a place with nice hot chocolate around here.”
“Yes, I know it. I was just telling Uncle Anthony about it,” Bella said. “Can we all go? I want a hot chocolate too.”
“Sure!” I was fucking exhilarated at the prospect of spending some time with Daisy.
“I know where it is,” Bella said as she pointed farther down Bourbon.
The three of us headed toward the small coffee shop.
Daisy’s ass looked fucking fabulous in this dress.
Then again, this woman was attractive no matter what she wore.
I still remembered her Western outfit. She’d been so bold and unique wearing it, and I’d fucking loved it.
She was never afraid to be her own person, and I liked that a lot about her.
When we arrived, there was a line in front of the shop.
“I can go inside and tell you what’s on the menu,” Bella told Daisy.
“Sure, go ahead.”
The next second, Bella darted into the coffee shop.
“Hot chocolate another one of your favorites?” I asked Daisy.
“Generally, yes. We’ll see about this one.”
I leaned in until my mouth was close to her ear, hovering with my chin over her shoulder. It would be so easy to lower my head and kiss her neck.
“If it’s not to your liking, I’ll hunt down every shop in town offering hot chocolate until I find the best one.”
She tilted her head up, looking straight at me. I wanted to kiss her mouth. Those lips were beckoning me.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I can. And because I know it would make you react just like that. Your smile is unbelievably cute and beautiful. And huge.”
She put her hands on her cheeks. “I didn’t even realize I was smiling like this.”
“Apparently, hot chocolate really does it for you.”
“So do you.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Be very careful how you answer, Daisy.”
She quickly licked her lips before turning around to face the door. The person in front of us probably thought we’d lost our minds.
“No, no, the workday is absolutely not over.”
A gust of wind blew, pushing her hair to one side.
“Ouch,” she said, putting a hand to her ear. Her hair had tangled in an earring.
“Allow me,” I offered.
“I can do it,” she insisted, fumbling with it.
“You can’t see, Daisy. ”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “I think I’m just making it worse.”
She had indeed, as she’d tugged in the wrong direction. I reached over and worked on disentangling her hair. I rubbed my thumb along the upper part of her ear, drawing it along the contour.
“Anthony,” she murmured.
She was shuddering just from this light touch. I immediately dropped my hand.
“I’m trying my very best to be on good behavior,” I assured her.
“Mm,” she whispered. “I almost can’t tell.”
“Oh, I think you can.”
Just as I finished, Bella came out and recited six different types of hot chocolate beverages in one breath.
“I’ll have the one with caramel,” Daisy said.
“It’s my favorite too.” Bella looked between the two of us.
Thank fuck I wasn’t caught; otherwise, Bella would suspect us. Then again…
She glanced from Daisy to me and back to Daisy. Was that a smug smile on her face? Damn. My niece was truly turning into a teenager.
“Daisy, how do you like the perfume the grandmothers made for you?”
Daisy’s eyes went wide. “They told you about that?”
“Of course!”
Daisy looked at me a bit helplessly. “I love it. I’ve called to thank them.”
“Do you wear it often? Are you wearing it now?”
I was having trouble fighting the urge to laugh.
“Do you think it’s working?” Bella asked, but she was looking at me now.
“Bella!” I chastised.
She winced.
“I enjoy the perfume quite a lot, and yes, I’m wearing it now,” Daisy said slowly .
“Bella, tell the grandmothers that if they want to know something, they can call me.”
Bella’s smile fell. “Oh, come on, Uncle Anthony. I was practicing my spy skills. Why did you have to give me away?”
Daisy chuckled. “I feel lost.”
Bella turned around, grumbling. Since I’d already given us away, I decided to lay out all the cards for Daisy. At least that way, she’d know what she was walking into.
“Grandmothers asked Bella to spy on us, see if the lilac is working or not.”
Bella turned around abruptly, looking alert. “You told her about the lilac? Uncle Anthony, you’re not supposed to do that. I don’t think it works if you tell them.”
“Here’s a small secret, Bella. It doesn’t work at all, okay? Your grandmothers just like a good story.”
She folded her arms over her chest, looking so much like Celine that it was scary. I’d never made the connection. She had the same soft face but stern expression that only Celine could pull off. Her brow was knitted, but she didn’t quite manage to look severe.
“I won’t tell them that. They’ll be very upset.”
The corners of my mouth twitched. Coming from Bella, they probably would feel upset. They were used to us boys completely mistrusting the story by this point.
“I’m sorry, Bella. I didn’t mean to blow your cover,” I said honestly, and she smiled. I’d disarmed her just as fast as I always managed to disarm Celine.
I was still having issues cracking Isabeau’s code, but I did well with Celine.
“Apology accepted, Uncle Anthony.”
Daisy was still looking between the two of us like she couldn’t possibly understand what was happening.
“We owe Daisy an apology, too,” I said, “for putting her on the spot like this. ”
Bella nodded. “I’m sorry, Daisy. I didn’t realize it would make you feel uncomfortable.”
Daisy smiled at her. “It didn’t. I mean, a bit. But you don’t need to apologize for it. This is just the most bizarre conversation I’ve ever been a part of.”
I winked. “That’s the thing with us LeBlancs. You’re not necessarily part of the conversation. There’s simply a conversation, and sometimes it includes you, whether you want it to or not. Like a tornado.”
Our turn came finally, and they both ordered the caramel drink.
“All the flavors sound delicious. I could taste all of them,” Daisy whispered.
I knew on the spot how I’d spoil her the upcoming week, no matter how the weekend went.
Daisy was going to get a hot chocolate every day. Hell, she was going to get a hot chocolate and a coffee every day just because I felt like it.
As the three of us stepped out of the store, Bella lowered her cup and exclaimed, “I’m ready for the bar.”
Daisy’s eyes bulged.
“Long story,” I informed her just as Bella started walking away. Before chasing after her, I leaned into Daisy. “Enjoy the hot chocolate.”
“Pity you don’t even want to taste it.”
“The only way I’ll taste it is off your gorgeous body.”
She gasped before licking her lower lip. “Anthony!”
I winked at her. “Enjoy your drink, Daisy. And I’ll enjoy thinking about all the things I’d do to you with it.”