Chapter Twenty-One
Isabella woke slowly the next morning, deliciously achy, her nightshirt brushing her skin like an echo of Danny’s touch.
Trip lay snoozing on the floor next to the bed. Danny had taken pity on him in the middle of the night and opened the bedroom door.
The dip in the mattress and slow, steady breath at her back told her that Danny had stayed.
Happiness streamed in like the golden morning sun peeking through the slats of her blinds, illuminating parts of her she’d muted for years.
She rolled over, taking care not to jostle the bed, until she faced him.
He lay on his stomach, utterly out of place among the pink sheets, floral duvet, and delicate twinkle lights strung across her white headboard.
His right hand lay tucked beneath his pillow, hair falling in a messy tangle around his face.
Sleep softened his hard edges, giving him a youthful appearance despite the shadow of blond stubble around his mouth and jaw.
A rosy flush warmed her cheeks. That stubble had scraped against her inner thighs more than once last night.
He was unfairly attractive, in a masculine, dangerous way. She had a sinking feeling he’d captured more than her body last night when they’d made love.
Then there’d been his confession afterwards—one she had a feeling he’d never made to anyone else. To think he’d carried guilt all these years because a part of him had been relieved when Jaynie died.
Her fingers inched toward him, desperate to feel the smooth skin of his shoulder beneath their tips.
She hadn’t realized how much of his life had been spent in the background because all the attention was on Jaynie and her cancer.
The popular, athletic boy who’d gotten along with everyone had carried a pain he’d allowed no one to see.
Until the night of Jaynie’s funeral. And Isabella had been too young—too na?ve—to understand that pain.
He was still the easygoing, fun-loving Danny, but how much of that was real, and how much was the mask he’d perfected? She was learning how to distinguish between Danny’s genuine smiles and the grin he’d trot out to deflect.
His real smiles made her weak. She wanted to hoard every one of them, tucking them away in her heart like precious treasures.
She knew the boy he’d been.
The man beside her was still full of mysteries.
Because despite what he’d said last night about trying to stay in one place, she wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t eventually grow restless and move on.
Men like Danny thrived on danger. On the next mission.
Eventually, this city—and her—would feel too small.
“Morning.” Danny’s voice was a sexy, sleep-roughened rumble that made her limbs heavy and her core ache. His eyes opened, blue as a Carolina sky. “Whatever’s going on behind those beautiful eyes, it’s too early.”
She looked past him, bunching the pillow nervously beneath her head. “Just going over gala details.”
In truth, she hadn’t given much thought to the gala since the walkthrough on Friday, which wasn’t like her.
He didn’t respond, and she didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes in case he saw through her lie.
His finger traced her cheek, then drifted down her neck to her collarbone.
A shiver ran through her.
“Any regrets?”
“About us?” Her breath hitched. Did he have regrets? Was that why he was asking?
She made herself look at him. “No. You?”
His lips tilted in a soft curve, his eyes warming. “No. I told you I’m willing to try. For you. Only you, Bella.”
Only her. Lightness. Hope. They flooded her. She gave him a cheek-splitting smile that he returned.
Reaching for her, he found her lips, his body pressing her into the mattress.
She shifted beneath him, gliding her palms over his back. Muscles rippled beneath the pads of her fingers as he braced his weight on one forearm and let his other hand smooth down her pink nightshirt to where the hem brushed her thighs.
His fingers slid beneath the silk, his voice dropping to a low rasp. “Mmm. No panties. And you’re wet.”
Her back bowed as need surged. “Danny.”
He rubbed her clit. Sparks of arousal took flight, dancing like fireflies through her blood. Already, it wasn’t enough.
I need you inside me.
“Not yet,” he whispered.
Had she spoken aloud?
His fingers moved faster, driving her up until every muscle in her body balanced on a tightrope of tension. Then he drove two fingers deep inside, and she shattered, coming in wave after wave while he continued to pump.
Her body refused to be sated. She reached down, wrapped her hand around his cock. “I need this. Now.”
His head fell back with a groan.
She had the ridiculous urge to bite at his throat, a primitive claiming that screamed to the world.
Mine.
He thrust into her fist. “You keep that up, honey, and I’m gonna come all over your hand instead of inside you.”
“We can’t have that.” That slow, sexy drawl came from her mouth. She shifted her hips to align him with her center.
“Bella. Condom.” A pained expression twisted Danny’s face. “I don’t have any more.”
“I’m on birth control.”
“Just got checked out. I’m good, too.” His gaze intensified as if he had her under a microscope. “Are you sure?”
She opened her mouth to tell him that yes, she was sure, and he needed to get inside her when Desperado wailed from the nightstand on the other side of the bed.
Danny went still.
“Fuck.” His head dropped. When he raised it, the desire in his eyes had cooled to something harder. “That’s Caleb. I have to answer.”
He rolled away and reached for his phone, already moving before it stopped ringing, while she admired his bare back and the sculpted muscles of his ass.
“Your timing sucks,” he growled into the phone.
Whatever Caleb told him had him tensing. “Give me an hour.”
Isabella sat up as he bent to retrieve his clothes from the floor. But it was the gun she hadn’t noticed before on the bedside table that commanded her attention.
She pointed to it. “Why is that here?”
He glanced at the gun as if just now realizing it was there. “I always keep my weapon nearby.” A curtain dropped over his emotions. “It’s who I am, Bella. My job is to keep you safe.”
Keep her safe.
With one sentence, he’d placed their relationship back to bodyguard and client.
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. The same hands that had touched her with such tenderness were equally capable of ending life.
Something inside her deflated. Her lover from last night was gone.
A brief flash of regret shadowed his eyes. “Caleb and I need to meet with hotel security and our police liaison. Tavari will stay here with you while I’m gone.”
“Why?” She slid from the bed, her fingers curling into the mattress before she forced herself to stand. “What’s happened?”
“A national activist group with Antifa ties has filed for a protest permit for the night of your father’s gala.”
“Oh, crap.” She dropped back onto the mattress. “I need to talk to my dad.”
Danny moved to crouch in front of her. He’d managed to get his pants on, but his shirt lay slung over his shoulder. The gun had disappeared. “We’ll handle it, honey. My company deals with things like this all the time. It’ll be okay.”
He reached for the back of her neck, pulling her down for a kiss before he let her go. “Get dressed.” His gaze heated as it traveled down her body. “No one gets to see you looking this sexy but me.”
Then he strode out the door, Trip padding after him, while she tried to recover from the puddle she’d melted into at the possessiveness in his voice. Her room already felt different. Empty.
She had it bad for Danny Mayhew—she had since the first day Jaynie introduced her to her big brother.
After a quick shower, she checked her phone for messages.
Annalise had posted photos in the family group chat of Brooks in his high chair trying spaghetti for the first time.
Isabella laughed at the sight of the baby covered in red pasta sauce, a fistful of noodles clutched in one chubby hand and a huge grin on his face.
There was also a message from Talia.
Thinking of you. I’m working from home today if you need a friendly face.
Isabella smiled. She messaged her friend back.
Any chance you can come over? Danny has a meeting uptown, and one of his colleagues is babysitting. I could use the company.
What time?
Isabella’s shoulders loosened. Talia had always been good at showing up exactly when she needed a friend.
An hour? Danny’s leaving around then.
Perfect. I’ll come by after he heads out. You make coffee, I’ll bring bagels.—T.
By the time Isabella made it downstairs, Danny was already in the kitchen, sipping coffee and talking on his phone. He’d dressed in gray slacks and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up, his hair tied back behind his head.
Halfway across the room, she stopped.
God, he looked so handsome. So in control. All she could think about were his hands and mouth on her body. The way he’d made her come. The feeling of him inside her.
Last night already felt like a dream.
Catching sight of her, he winked before letting his gaze wander, her skin tingling everywhere it touched. “Yes, Senator, Bella has been informed of the recent development. She’s right here.”
Ugh.
Not before coffee. She lifted both hands, shaking her head, but it was too late.
Danny grimaced. “Yessir.” With a look of apology, he held out his phone. “Your father wants to speak with you.”
Giving Danny a baleful look, she took the phone. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Isabella, are you okay? You haven’t been returning our calls. Your mother is worried.”
Her shoulders curved inward at the concern in her father’s voice. “I texted you guys. I’ve been busy with gala preparations.”
A mug appeared in front of her. Coffee, prepared exactly as she liked it.
She accepted the offering with a shy smile. “And Danny’s here, keeping me safe.”
“Thank God for that,” her father muttered. “I always liked that boy.”
Boy.
She sucked in her lips to contain a nervous giggle. If her father only knew what she and the “boy” had done last night, he’d probably choke on whatever number cup of coffee he was on and…
Assign her a new bodyguard.
Her spine stiffened.
That wasn’t happening.
“We should have had you step back after the incident in Greece, but I thought this would be an opportunity for you to…” Her father, normally never at a loss for words, trailed off.
“Come out of my shell?” She huffed. “Step into the limelight? I agreed to help you put on this gala to kick off your re-election campaign, but I’m perfectly happy living my life out of the spotlight. It doesn’t make me broken.”
Her family had spent eighteen years trying to protect her.
Greece had only made it worse.
Her doorbell rang, saving her from having the same argument they’d had hundreds of times. “Look, Dad, I have to go. Danny’s colleagues are here.” She hung up after promising to call her mother later.
“You’re not broken.” Danny stepped into her, a warm wall of solid muscle at her back, his arm sliding around her waist.
Her heart warmed at the thread of anger in his tone. “I know, I just get tired of him treating me like I’m still twelve. Go answer the door.”
The tip of his nose traced a path behind her ear and down her neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “They can wait.”
The door rattled beneath a heavy fist.
A low growl vibrated through Danny’s chest, but he dropped his arm and went to let his teammates in.
She felt the loss of his body heat, and the quiet strength he’d lent her during her conversation with her father.
Caleb and Tavari stepped into the living room. Danny returned to Isabella’s side. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Listen to Tavari.”
When she nodded, he leaned in as if to kiss her, then stopped short. His expression tightened. He brushed a finger along her cheek instead, before turning to Caleb. “Let’s take my car. Consuela needs to stretch her legs.”
Isabella followed them to the door, lingering to watch through the glass as the Mustang backed out of the driveway. When it disappeared down the street, she turned and contemplated her babysitter.
Tavari was taller than Danny, with black hair cropped close to his head in natural curls and a short, neatly trimmed beard and goatee. His light blue-gray eyes were striking against his tawny skin, but what caught her attention was the way they seemed to notice everything around him.
According to Danny, he and Tavari had served on the same SEAL team. She desperately wanted to quiz him, but he seemed like the kind of guy who held secrets better than Fort Knox and wasn’t one for casual conversation.
“Danny asked me to stay close,” he said. “If you need anything, just say the word.”
She gave him a polite nod. “Thank you.”
Talia would arrive soon. Between her temporary bodyguard and her friend, she wouldn’t have time to dwell on the cliff she’d just jumped off with Danny.