Chapter 31
The sun was almost setting by the time Libby reached the grocery store that sold milkshakes.
Karim hadn’t napped. Their routine was shot to pieces today.
Giving him a milkshake now would spoil his appetite for dinner, but she’d just have to feed him later, even though that would make his bedtime late too.
Anxiety churned her stomach. She was questioning everything again, overthinking the simplest of things, and all because Daniel Freaking Jones had turned her world upside down.
He’d gotten too much under her skin. The safe fantasy had become an unsettling reality, and it was time she took back control of her emotions and stopped her stupid pulse from racing every time she was near him.
All she had to do was treat him just like any other friend—someone like Rick—who she might work with.
Very soon, they’d finish working together anyway.
They only had Part Five left to record. Tomorrow, she’d call Dan and head over to Are Moana and shoot whatever he had to say about his future and be done with it.
As she got her phone out to pay for the milkshakes, she saw a message from Dan.
Wonderful.
He’d thought the same thing, that the quicker they got all five parts live, the quicker their special friendship would end.
Tears stung her eyes.
“Come on, sweet cheeks.” She tried to keep the wobble out of her voice. “Let’s head home.”
Slowly, they made their way back to the hut.
It was dark when they finally walked through Tia Rosa’s backyard. Guiding Karim up the path, she took solace from their chatter about the beautifully scented flowers, and…stopped dead.
The lights were on.
And there was Dan, in the kitchen, his back to her…chopping vegetables?
Not quite believing her eyes, Libby pulled open the door. Karim ran straight to him.
“Hey, kiddo!” Dan caught her baby as he crashed into his legs and scooped him up.
“Your clothes are all wet still. Did you have a nice time at the beach?” He listened to Karim tell him about the seashells and then handed him a thin slice of bell pepper.
Her baby took one bite and pulled a face so displeased that Libby couldn’t help but smile.
“At least you weren’t afraid to try it, kid,” Dan said as he lowered him to the ground.
He then slowly looked her way. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other.
Two people trying to figure the other one out.
“Hi, Libby.”
“Hello, Dan.” Her stupid pulse. Her stupid heart. “What are you doing here?”
“Cooking dinner. We’ve got a deal, remember?” With his eyes still on hers, he slowly held out a slice of bell pepper to her, too. An olive branch? She took a bite, and he turned to the pan on the stovetop and slid the sliced vegetables into it. “We’ve also got to upload Part Four tonight.”
Was that why he was here? Was he throwing her words back in her face? About work being what they needed to concentrate on?
“All right.” Libby eyed him curiously as he continued to cook. “I got your Part Five thoughts.”
Dan looked at her for a few moments then turned back to the stove, leaving her words dangling in the air.
“But you haven’t watched them yet,” he said eventually.
“No.”
How did he know?
“I’ll watch them later,” she said. When she was alone and could cry like a love-sick teenager. “I’d better get Karim changed.” She picked her baby up and nuzzled his neck. The contact fortified her to ask, “Why else are you here, Dan?”
“We still didn’t get to talk about us earlier.”
“There is no us.”
“But you proved that there was the minute you tested me,” he said. “Why else would you do that if there was no us?”
“Misguided curiosity?”
“How about fear?”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“No, but you’re scared of having feelings for me, aren’t you? You’re scared about letting me into yours and Karim’s life, like I’m going to ruin it. But I’m not a turd like Elliot.”
“I… How… How do you know you’re not?”
“Because I’d never, ever ask a woman who was crying in front of me to leave my home. Especially if that woman was pregnant with my child.”
The restrained outrage in his voice, his protective tone like a promise, made her eyes sting with tears again. But she’d never thought Elliot would be like that either, so how could she ever really know for sure?
When Dan continued with his cooking, giving her space and time to digest his words, she sensed he’d heard her cautious thoughts.
“This will take another fifteen minutes,” he said, stirring the vegetables that were sizzling in the pan. “Is that enough time for you to sort Karim?”
“Yes, thank you.” She headed toward her room.
“And Libby? There are plenty of reasons.”
She stopped and turned. “For what?”
“Me staying here. In fact, I can think of at least three.”
“Three?” She cocked her head.
He nodded. “One, we’re still working together. Two, all my stuff is still here, and three…” His gaze wandered lazily up and down her body. “I like having you in my bed.”
Dan finished cooking the stir fry just in time for Karim’s return from getting cleaned up. It wasn’t the most elaborate meal he’d ever made, but it was packed with goodness, and the task had given him a solid purpose for heading straight back to the hut. Despite what Libby had said at the bungalow.
Surprise had flickered in her eyes when he’d given her his list of reasons for staying here.
It seemed making promises that he’d never be a turd scared her as much as letting him into her life did, so he’d pushed aside their earlier argument and reverted to keeping their relationship about sex.
Hearing promises she didn’t believe he’d keep would only put that weary look in her eyes again, but she couldn’t deny that they were great in bed together.
They both knew that part of their relationship worked.
Because a relationship was what they were having. Whether or not Libby embraced it as much as he wanted to was the question.
Karim climbed onto his chair.
“He hasn’t napped,” Libby told him. “And I’m not sure how much he’ll eat.”
“It’s no problem. The meal won’t go to waste.” Dan put their plates on the table.
Libby took one look and let out a little laugh, just as he’d hoped. The breathy sound was like a dose of pain relief.
“I’ve got a smiley face on my plate,” she said. “What do you have, honey?” She leaned over to look at Karim’s. “A fish! Oh, that’s cute.” Then she looked back at Dan and shook her head. “You’re silly.”
He’d be silly every day of the week if it earned him a smile from Libby.
“My sisters sometimes make shapes with their kids’ dinner.” He joined them at the table with his own plate. “Although Karim’s was supposed to be a land crab.”
“Oops.” She gave him another smile, but it quickly faded into something more serious. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“There’s no need to be sorry.” He reached for her hand. “And I didn’t mean that stuff about us not really knowing each other.”
“But you’re right, we don’t.”
“We know enough.”
“For what?”
“To want to keep being friends. To work together. To see where things could lead.”
Her eyes shifted to his hand covering hers. “Before you say anything else,” she said, “I need to know. Are you still in love with Isabella?”
It was a fair question and one he’d been expecting.
“No, I’m not.”
“How can you be sure?”
“You mean, how can you believe me?” He slowly removed his hand but kept his eyes on hers. “You’ll have to believe it yourself, Libby. All I can say is that no, I’m not in love with her anymore.”
“But you still care for her.”
“Yes, I do. I can’t just stop caring for the woman I once wanted to marry, and despite how it might seem, Isabella is a good person. At least, I still believe she is. Is that wrong of me?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. Maybe it was wrong of me to presume otherwise? I just thought you’d despise her, like I despised Elliot.”
“You were right to despise him. He emotionally abused you, Libby. He made you feel like you were worthless.”
A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. She quickly wiped at it, but he’d seen enough to know that dark clouds loomed around her too sometimes. It was his turn to be the sunshine. “Forget that turd, Libby. He’s not worth your tears. He’s not even worth your hate. He’s gone. The end.”
“He’s been gone a long time, but…”
“The fear you might go through that again stays with you?”
“It’s more the fear that I’d be such a fool again,” she said.
“But you weren’t the fool last time. He was.”
“I guess.” She gave him a little smile and then picked up her fork.
“This looks great. Thank you.” She ate a little and helped Karim with his food between mouthfuls.
Once he was managing with his spoon, she studied her plate, and her brow wrinkled.
“Now, I need to tell you something. I asked my friend Rick to find out if Alicia Hunter really is on her way to London.”
Dan swallowed his disappointment that they were back on the subject of Isabella and Hunter. “Why?”
“Finding stuff out like that is Rick’s thing, and I was going to contact her through her socials somehow. I wanted to give her a heads-up.”
“I already did,” Dan said.
“Oh. Right. Of course, you’re still in contact with her.”
“Not much. She’s messaged me a few times, that’s all. I’m sorry I didn’t say.”
“Look, it’s totally your business.” Libby stabbed her fork into her rice. “You don’t need to tell me everything.”
But he had the strangest compulsion to do just that.
“Hunter will look after her,” he said.
Libby scoffed. “You think they’re in love?”
“That’s what she said when she broke up with me. Hunter is making arrangements to leave his wife, and as soon as his existing prenups are settled, they’ll divorce.”
“Whoa.” Libby whistled. “That’s big news.”