“Would it be better or worse to bring her along on our date tonight?”
“Worse. Definitely worse.” He raised his head to eye me curiously. “You’d be okay with her coming along? On our date?”
I frowned at the question. “Of course. Where else is she going to go?” As far as I could tell, Daniel seemed like he was used to doing everything on his own. I’m sure he had a babysitter on speed dial somewhere, but why call them in on such short notice when there was no need?
A wry smile spread over his face. “You’re remarkable, you know that?”
“Absolutely.” I made a show of swiping at my shoulders while I preened. I didn’t agree with him, of course, but I wasn’t about to argue with him. It was always nice to feel appreciated.
My phone chose that time to ring again—this time from my mom.
“Gotta take this, sorry.” Daniel was nodding and already moving away from me as I swiped to answer the call and pushed off the countertop. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, sweetie. Any update?”
I walked over to the sofa on the other side of the large open space and sank down into the plush cushions. I watched Daniel busy himself with the last of the tidying up, a twinge of regret pinging my senses that I’d distracted him before we got it all done. “Yeah, the mechanic just called. He said it’ll be at least a week before they’re able to replace the windows.”
“It was only the windows blown out? That was lucky.” I could hear low voices in the background, which told me she was in the office. “A week’s not so bad. Do you have somewhere to stay?”
“I think so.” I found myself smiling as Daniel looked up and caught my eye. “A local offered me his spare room yesterday, but I haven’t had a chance to ask him about extending that yet.” I watched Daniel frown at my words. “Actually, it was his twelve-year-old, Rose, who offered up his spare room. I don’t think he really had much of a say in the matter.”
“Really?” Mom asked, laughing to herself. “That sounds….”
I was only half paying attention to her as I watched Daniel toss the dishcloth to the sink and make his way across the room to sit on the sofa opposite me. “You can stay as long as you like, Marshall.”
“Hang on, Mom.” I pulled the phone away and hit Mute. “Are you sure? I didn’t want to assume. I can move to the motel—”
“Rose would kill me if you left now.” He chuckled. “We like having you here. There’s no urgency on our side for you to move anywhere else.” The smile dropped as doubt filled him. “Not unless you want to, that is. I don’t want you to feel like we’re holding you prisoner or anything.”
I reached over the coffee table to pat his knee. “Trust me, I’d rather be here. As long as I’m not getting in your way.” I unmuted the phone when silence fell between us as I tried to convey without words how much I wanted to stay here with him and Rose, how much I was looking forward to going on our date. As much as I needed a place to stay, I could also sense that Daniel needed someone around that he could talk to other than Rose. Even if I could only offer that for a few days, I wanted to be that person for him.
Some of what I was feeling must have gotten through to him because his eyes softened and he nodded. “You could never be inmy way,” he murmured before covering my hand with his, then lifting it to press a kiss to my palm, his eyes never leaving mine.
Ohsnap.Be still my melting heart. I stroked my thumb against his cheek before jolting when I heard Mom’s voice on the forgotten call.
“He sounds lovely. Is that your benefactor? Is he gay and single?”
As I cringed in embarrassment, he laughed. “Dear God.Mom.”
“What? It’s a mother’s right to ask these sorts of questions. Put me on speaker, sweetie. Let me meet this mystery man.”
“Fuck my life,” I muttered under my breath, then placed my phone on the coffee table between us and hit Speaker. “You’re on speaker now, Mom. Keep things PG, for God’s sake.”
“Hello, mystery man” came my mother’s clear voice. “My name’s Evelyn, and I’m Marshall’s mom.”
“Yeah, I think he got that from me calling youMomso much,” I grumbled.Way to point out the obvious.
Daniel grinned at me like he was delighted to see how Mom and I interacted. “Nice to meet you, Evelyn. My name is Daniel. I’m the one happy to host your son.”
“Oh, youdosound lovely! Daniel, are you gay?”
“Mom!You can’t ask those sorts of questions! Jeez!” I shot a horrified look at Daniel, ready to apologize immediately for my unfiltered mother.
He just laughed. “Actually, ma’am, yes. I can confirm that I’m gay.” His eyes twinkled as he watched my reactions. “And in answer to your other question, yes, I’m single too.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me playfully.
I shook both my head and finger at him. “You don’t know what can of worms you just opened up, mister.”
“Oh, I have a fair idea,” he said before he winked at me.
