Chapter 20
PRAIRIE
“ Y ou didn’t say goodbye to the King boy in person?” Mom gasped, incredulous. “Prairie, get back there and be polite.”
“Mom, you don’t understand, I—”
“Go. Now. We will not be known for our daughter’s lack of manners.” Mom never raised her voice in the slightest, so this must be serious.
Slouching back to the ice rink, I looked around for Daniel. It was easy to spot him, since he was so tall, but he seemed to be having a close conversation with someone.
As I got closer, I saw it was Lila.
“You backstabbing lowlife,” Daniel growled at her. “How the hell could you be so rude and cruel to your own cousin?”
I’d never heard Daniel angry before, and as I tiptoed closer I saw Lila’s face fall.
“But she’s no good for you,” Lila said. Her voice was getting close to a whine.
“She’s an artsy chick who just moved here.
You need somebody who knows Holly Valley, and how things work here. And someone who looks…you know…”
“Don’t you say another goddamn word,” Daniel spat.
“Prairie is gorgeous just the way she is, inside and out. It’s not her fault she turned out to have an ugly, conniving little worm for a cousin.
I cannot believe that someone I thought was my friend was sitting here making the love of my life feel bad about herself. ”
Lila’s eyes flicked over to see me standing behind Daniel. I could see tears beginning to fill her eyes, then she turned on her heel and ran.
Daniel spun to see what had scared her off, his expression transforming from rage to joy in a blink. “Baby,” he whispered, opening his arms. I ran into them, loving the way his large hand cradled the back of my head, stroking my hair.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured. “I thought she was just a friend. I didn’t realize that she’d been trying to get me to ask her out.”
Nodding against his chest, I murmured, “It makes sense. She always has to have the best of everything.”
“I didn’t even pick up on it,” he said, giving me a squeeze. “Every time she told me that she wanted to fix me up with someone, it was her way of finding out whether I was ready to date a Holly Valley girl.”
He leaned back a few inches to look into my eyes. “She had no idea that I was waiting for the ultimate Holly Valley girl to magic her way into my life. The most beautiful girl in the world.”
Reaching up, I cupped his face in my palm. “You sounded so angry. It was a bit scary,” I admitted.
He gave his head a shake. “It scared me too. I wanted to pick her up and take her out back to pitch her into the frozen pond.”
Laughing together completely broke the tension. “I’m sorry I freaked out,” I said.
His eyes widened. “No, baby. I don’t want you to ever keep anything inside. I need you to tell me. Any time you’re worried, or afraid, or confused, just come to me. I’m still working this relationship stuff out too, so we’re going to have to be a team here.”
I loved how open he was. Playing back the conversation in my mind, it struck me that he had referred to me as the love of his life.
Stretching up to kiss him, I didn’t care now that people milling around might see us. His kiss turned from comforting to raw desire in precisely three heartbeats.
“I need you.” His voice was a dark rasp that made the back of my thighs quiver.
As he held me close, I could feel the thick outline of his arousal pressed against me. Sensing his desire flooded me with feelings of lust I didn’t even know that I possessed.
“You already have me,” I said, looking up and crooking an eyebrow suggestively.
As he smiled down at me, I realized that I felt incredibly sexy in his arms. But also, loved. Complete.
Daniel not only made me feel like a woman, he made me feel wanted.
I needed to share this new overpowering level of desire with him right away, before I accidentally spoke words to match all of the feelings racing through my heart.