“Nitro... Mother!”
Elaina shrugged. “I needed a hobby.”
“Mrs. Mc...” Dani started, but Elaina held up a hand.
“No dear, if you’re going to marry this one, you call me ‘Mother’.”
“I... uh, thank you... Mrs.—Mother. We’re at the stop sign, where to now?”
Elaina sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Well, I’d suggest that you park, but I don’t know if my opinion carries any weight anymore.”
Dani looked around. She tapped Luke’s arm and pointed to a building next to them. “I take it that’s the church?”
“Lovely, isn’t it?”
Dani had to admit it was. A deceptively large building, though between the clever architecture and the way the vines and shrubs grew around it, it was difficult to tell its true size from the road. Only the sign in the front identified it from the row of houses and medical offices that lined the street. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, and a bright cascade of flowers framed the doorway.
It was utterly charming and beautifully maintained.
It also appeared to be closed.
Not one to trust appearances, Luke sprang from the car as soon as it was in park and was at the front door in moments. “There’s no one here!” Luke gave a frustrated pull on the door’s handle. It was his third such pull, as though the very act of yanking on the handle repeatedly would change the situation somehow.
Dani rolled her eyes and slumped in the seat, cringing with embarrassment.
“Why would there be someone at a church on a Thursday?” Elaina reasoned, arms crossed and standing on the sidewalk before he’d even gotten back to the car. “We don’t do bingo.”
“Find something to break one of the windows,” Edwin suggested, joining her on the sidewalk, his head tilted to the side speculatively as he regarded the building.
“You will NOT!” Elaina stomped right up the sidewalk and whirled around, hands on her hips, planting herself firmly in front of one of the stained-glass windows that flanked the front door. “This is a church! Do you have any idea how much this window costs? Do you? Because I don’t, but it’s probably very expensive. Dani, get over here and guard the other one.”
Dani slunk still further down in the seat, thankful there wasn’t a soul she knew in Florida to see this.
Elaina threw up her hands and rounded on Edwin, abandoning her post to wag a finger in his face. “Do you think you’ve led such a good life that you can desecrate a church?”
“I would never dare to do such a thing.” Edwin rose to his full height. Just under six-foot he reached his full height rather quickly, but his smile and demeanor seemed to soothe Elaina. Somewhat.
Her eyes were wary, but she backed off. “Good.”
“But we need...”
“Yes, dear, you need the statue; I heard you the first fifty times. You’re just going to have to wait, aren’t you? The sale starts tomorrow at nine. I know that means you’re stuck with me, and I’m going to ruin your plans... whatever they are. But you’re just going to have to deal with your disappointment like a grown man.” Elaina walked off while speaking, circling the parked car and, heading back around to the driver’s side, waed her arms in dismissal of children in general. She turned at the street and held out her hand. “May I have the keys to my car now?”
Not liking where this was going, Dani scrambled out of the car and found a place next to Luke on the sidewalk; he gave her a look that said quite clearly he thought she was a traitor. It was all she could do to not stick her tongue out at him just then.
“I can drive—” Luke started to say, but Dani’s thumb under his rib stopped him mid-sentence.
“But you’re the one who kept pointing out that everything was in walking distance. I’m sure you would enjoy the stroll. And it would do you a world of good, too.” The last was said rather darkly as Elaina leaned across the hood and snatched the keys from Luke’s hand and climbed into the car. Edwin quickly climbed into the passenger seat. Marcus looked like he was getting in the back, but a gesture from Edwin sent him backward onto the sidewalk where he stood, impassive and professional though Dani swore she heard him sigh.
The Cadillac roared to life again and Elaina pulled away from the curb, and turned the maneuver somehow into a U-turn. The turn radius barely cleared the available space, but when she was pointed the right way she lay down about four yards of rubber and smoked the rear tires.
“So...” Luke said in the silence following the squeal of melting tires. “That’s my mom.”
“Charming woman,” Marcus said flatly, and shook his head.
Luke did a double-take, apparently not having seen that they’d been appointed a bodyguard. He looked at Dani, who could only shrug.
I finally get some time alone with him and we get a chaperone.
Dani reached over and took Luke’s hand, trying to absorb his touch, to make the casual grasp somehow make up for the whole stupid, ridiculous day. The tension radiating off him should have come with a hurricane warning. Somehow being around his mother made her want to batten down the hatches. But was she really so bad?
Maybe if they weren’t all so frantic about that stupid thumb drive. Dani sighed, and laced her fingers through his own, relishing the feel of skin against skin, even if it was only two hands united. She’d been frustrated since they’d been so badly interrupted—was that only yesterday?
I need him. I physically need him. And it turns out he’s got mommy issues.
She sighed, leaning her head against his arm. He stared down the road, deep in thought. Did he even know she was there? Officially engaged, and the whirlwind romance was all wind and no whirl. She tugged his arm in the direction of his mother’s place and he followed, his fingers flexing in her hand, entwining around hers.
He knew she was there after all.
Suddenly she started giggling. She hated when she giggled, it sounded too much like a little girl, but she couldn’t stop it either. She was just so very...relieved. They were together. The sky was blue. Birds sang. Why not laugh?
“Just exactly what’s so funny?” Luke asked, taking a deep breath and looking at her like she was nuts.
“This.” Dani waved in the general direction of herself and him and Marcus slowly walking behind them. “When I was in high school, if I was with a boy, or worse, walking with a boy, Father would invariably send David out with me as chaperone.”
Luke glanced over his shoulder. He looked back at her smiled. “Give him a quarter,” he whispered, “see if he’ll go away.”
“Why should I give him a quarter? You’re the boy! You’re supposed to pay for the date.”
“He’s your bodyguard!”
“So?”
Luke barked a short laugh and grabbed her, pulling her under his arm. “I want you so bad,” he said under his breath, “I’m about to take you right here, on the street.”
“Now you know why Marcus is along with us,” she teased, and made a grab for his crotch. “For your protection.”