Chapter Twenty
Daniel woke Tasha again and again in the night, for sweet, drugging kisses, to touch her and make her sigh and moan and gasp with pleasure, to fill her gloriously with his body, banishing her loneliness.
But now the one night she’d given herself to break free was over. With the sun shining brightly in her eyes, Tasha was struck by stark terror, her stomach literally lifting and dropping.
Even before she’d exiled herself to the mountains, any pleasure she’d previously experienced was nothing compared to what she now felt with Daniel. He didn’t believe she needed to atone for any sins—but she was stricken anew with the sense that the happiness she’d found in his arms was yet again a betrayal of the people her family had hurt.
And there was Daniel himself. He was a billionaire, for God’s sake. Despite his easygoing nature, never shoving his wealth in anyone’s face, he still belonged to a world she’d only read about in magazines and books.
It was so tempting to run again. The way she’d been running for months.
But running was no longer the answer. Not even from this wellspring of emotion that was bigger than anything she’d ever known.
She scrunched her eyes shut, wishing it were night again, wishing she could stay burrowed in Daniel’s warm, strong body forever. But no matter how desperately she wanted that, she couldn’t ignore the fact that he’d be gone soon.
The thought of Daniel returning to the Bay Area and his home-improvement empire made her heart ache, even though she understood why he couldn’t stay in the mountains. There were too many employees, friends, and family counting on him.
She would cherish the memory of their blissful night forever, but the demons she battled were still too big for her to believe that she and Daniel could become anything more than mountain lovers. And friends—she wouldn’t cheapen what they’d shared by denying that they were friends too.
When he was gone, she would have to push past the ache inside her to focus on finding not only any outstanding victims of her family’s scams who needed financial reparations, but also on locating her brother and father. She had to be sure they never played their dirty tricks again. She hadn’t saved their past victims, but she would make certain there were none in the future.
As though they could feel her pain, the puppies started to whine, their cries wending along the hallway.
She pried the covers off, but Daniel was quicker. “You stay here. I’ll let them out.”
“I’ll come with you.”
But he was kissing her cheek, her ear, her hair, her shoulder. “I have plans for you and this bed. Lots more.” He grinned that gorgeous, wicked smile of his as he slid away from her and left the bedroom.
It was obvious when he reached Spanky, Froggy, and Darla, because their excited yipping sounded like that of ten puppies instead of three.
She glanced at her watch, the only thing she’d worn in his bed. How the heck could it be nine a.m. already? She owed him hours and hours of work on his house to pay him back for all he and his friends had done for her.
Her clothes hung over the footboard—he must have brought them in last night after putting the puppies to bed—and she pulled on everything, intending to get fresh things at her place before returning here to work. Without a toothbrush or a comb, the best she could do was to put some toothpaste on the end of her finger to rub onto her teeth, and run her fingers through her hair to get out the worst of the tangles.
Only to stop as she remembered exactly how those tangles got there. His hands in her hair, his mouth on hers, the delirious abandon as she threw her head back against the pillows while he kissed and caressed her.
Her lips felt swollen from his endless kisses. Her whole body felt relaxed, sated. She closed her eyes and stretched, rolling her shoulders, letting her head fall back, reliving with every movement all their luscious lovemaking.
She didn’t realize he’d entered the bedroom until his arms wrapped around her from behind. “You look just like you did last night, every time you came for me.” He dropped kisses in her hair, the sensitive spot in the crook of her neck, making her tremble for him all over again. “Now that the puppies are settled, let’s get back into bed.”
“But it’s already nine o’clock. I promised to work on your house with you.”
“I’ll show you exactly what we can work on,” he whispered seductively, “right there, in that bed.”
She was so languid and warm, she might have let him toss her right back under the covers. But her stomach growled. So loudly it was practically the roar of a lion.
“Hmm, sounds like I’d better feed you first.” He waggled his eyebrows, so cute and absolutely too seductive. “We need to keep your strength up.”
* * *
For Daniel, their night together had been flawless, dazzling. Tasha was inside him now, part of him. Even while they finished their breakfast outside on his deck, he wanted to pounce on her and have his wicked way with her in the glorious sun and the fresh air.
He could still taste her on his tongue, seducing his senses with her scent, and relished the memory of how she’d trembled against him. Even better, he understood there was no way Tasha would have allowed herself to make love to him if she hadn’t felt at least an inkling of forgiveness and acceptance. Surely by now a part of her had to believe that not everything about her family’s con was her fault.
All he could think as she got up to clear their plates was that no one had ever made dishwashing sexy. Until Tasha.
He was such a goner. And he couldn’t have been happier about it.
“So,” she said, “what can I help you with today?”
A good half-dozen naughty responses leaped to his tongue. He was still picking his favorite when she held up her hand, clearly reading his dirty mind. Probably because she had one too—he’d confirmed that last night to the best of his ability, after all.
“While wearing a tool belt,” she clarified.
Oh yeah. There were of plenty of fun things they could do together while she had on a tool belt. In fact—
He leaned forward to tap the bill of her cap. “We need to get you a special ball cap that says I do everything better with my tool belt on.”
“Daniel.” She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow like a schoolmarm. The sexiest damn schoolmarm on the planet. And she was trying so hard not to smile. “We should work on your house.”
Yesterday, he’d convinced her to take a little time off, but he obviously wouldn’t get away with it twice. Still, even doing carpentry, he planned on getting away with plenty—teasing her until she begged, touching her on the sly, kissing her until she was delirious.
“Okay, we can get to work. But let’s head up to your place, since finishing the paneling in your cabin is a two-person job and I’ve only got a day or two left before I need to head back to the office.”
Tasha paled at his words, and though he never wanted to cause her pain, his heart gave a little kick at seeing her react to the idea of his leaving.
“I’m amazed you’ve been able to get away for this long.” She was attempting nonchalance, but from where he stood, it seemed like she couldn’t quite take in enough air.
He hated the thought of leaving her. Then it hit him: What if she came with him?
He’d spent his whole life looking for perfect, assuming that was where he’d find real happiness. Yet he’d found his greatest joy in the middle of what anyone would call a big fat mess.
A week ago he’d thought messes were to be avoided at all costs. Yet now he wanted that messiness with everything he was. Maybe the road was supposed to have bumps. Maybe working through those bumps together made you stronger.
The one thing he knew for sure was that Tasha belonged with him.
The only question was, how the heck to convince her to go back together?