I bite my lip as his brow furrows in concentration, his fingers gently picking across the strings. I have heard him sing before, but this is different. This is all him.
Danny doesn’t look up at me once whilst he sings, concentrating on his guitar and the words sliding out of his mouth like butter. As he hits the last note, his voice trails off and he glances in my direction. He can’t meet my eye.
He clears his throat and rises with his guitar.
I realize I haven’t said anything. “Danny”, I croak.
He runs a hand through his hair as he glances at a spot over my shoulder.
I grab his hand and tug until he collapses back on the couch. “Danny,” I repeat, “That was–that–”
“It’s okay, you can say the truth,” Danny says, picking imaginary lint off his jeans.
“Danny, that was beautiful.” His head rises.
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m not. That was incredible. You need to do this. This is what you’re supposed to be doing. You sound like that and youwritelike that.”
He looks like he wants to argue, but I swing my leg across his lap and straddle him. His hands grasp my hips and rocks me towards him. The hardness I can feel sends a jolt of lightening up my body. I grab his head and tilt his face back. “I mean it.”
Danny rests his forehead against mine. “Thank you,” he whispers, before catching my lips in his.
I can’t help the moan that escapes as he wraps his arms around me. Our kiss heats up, our tongues furiously dancing as we cling to each other. I let him go, trailing kisses down his neck and smiling at the strangled noise that escapes him.
“Danny,” I say, into the juncture of his neck.
“Hmm?”
“Play me another.”
He tilts my face back to his. “Later,” he murmurs around my lips as he lifts me seamlessly and walks to the bedroom.
Chapter 26
ANYA
The shoot is starting to wind down. Danny has nearly finished his scenes, reduced to just a number of hours a day or occasionally no days at all. I’m not needed on set when Danny isn’t there and days we’re not, I notice a day less pay in my paycheck. It’s hard to complain when I’m making more money than I’ve ever seen in my life, and spending my extra days off in a five-star hotel room with a man I’m pretty sure I’m falling too hard for.
It’s becoming exceedingly rarer to stay at The Belle Palais mainly because Danny wants to be as far away as possible from Callum at all times. But today I am not in the mood to wait the extra half an hour after wrap for Danny to get over to my place. I follow him out of the car with much fanfare, loudly discussing ‘logistics’ as I trail him through the lobby.
As soon as his hotel room door closes behind us, I’m on him.
He laughs against my lips as his arms come up to my hips. “At least buy me dinner first.”
“Shut up,” I say, tugging at his shirt. We stumble back to the bed, hands roving.
“I’m not complaining,” Danny says when I finally pull his t-shirt over his head.
The sound of the door knocking causes us to disconnect like snapped elastic. I look at Danny through wide eyes.
“Jaques?” I hiss.
He shrugs helplessly as he tugs his shirt back over his head. I stand and quickly flatten my hair, readjusting my crinkled top.
I watch Danny as he peers through the peephole. He sighs before he glances at me. “It’s my sister.”
Hissister? That is very much worse than Jaques. I spin in place, desperately looking for a way to look casual and not like I was seconds away from nudity. I end up near the en suite door. Maybe it will look like I’ve just popped in to use the bathroom. Which is potentially more embarrassing than the nudity.
