Page 12 of Twister

The mechanic, who I still couldn’t remember the name of no matter how hard I tried, sighed heavily in annoyance.

“Fucking hell. I am surrounded by fucking imbeciles.” There was a slight scraping sound, which I assumed was him maybe scratching his chin at the injustice of having to talk to someone who couldn’t follow his train of thought.

“What. Do. You. Want. To. Do?” he asked slowly, like he was talking to a three-year-old.

“Oh!” I smacked the back of my hand against Daniel’s chest again as his chuckles became laughter, which of course set me off giggling. “Just the windows, please. I don’t mind the dents, because—”

“Of course you don’t mind the fucking dents. Why would anyone fucking care about looking after their own fucking property for more than five fucking minutes these days? I swear to fucking God….” His voice drifted away before the dial tone sounded.

Frowning, I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at the screen. “I think he hung up on me.”

Daniel roared with laughter. “That’s Kajir for you.” Kajir! I was so close! “I’ve only known one person who’s been able to wrangle him with any success.”

Pocketing my phone, I raised an eyebrow in question. “Uh… his girlfriend? His boyfriend? His significant life-affirming partner?”

“None of the above, I’m afraid,” Daniel replied, still laughing. “You actually met him yesterday. Gabe? From the gas station?”

Even though I was utterly confused how a surfer dude could control a cursing pirate, I nodded ever so slightly to show I remembered.

“Somehow, Gabe figured it out but has never been able to pass on the skill to anyone else. So, now, if we need anything from Kajir, we try to go through Gabe.”

Grinning, I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. I guessed this was the type of thing that happened in small towns.

“Was there anything still in your Jeep that you needed to get?” Daniel asked, his face turning thoughtful as his cheeks flushed just slightly.

His hands still drifted aimlessly up and down my thighs, like he couldn’t bear to stop touching me.

I had no problem with this at all and hoped it continued.

It was much better than the hands-off denial he’d been under until now.

“If there was, we could go into town and grab dinner after picking it up.”

My grin widened. “Are you asking me out on a date, Daniel?”

He dropped his gaze to the floor, his blush deepening. “Maybe?”

Oh my God, this man was utterly adorable. I hooked my fingers in his belt loops and dragged him forward so I could gently press my lips to his. “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

A look of shock that I’d agreed flitted over his face. “You would? Really?”

Tilting my head to the side, I cast my eyes over him approvingly before I let my tongue peek out and then bit my bottom lip. “Absolutely.” When his astonishment didn’t fade, I smirked and held his cheeks, patting one gently and saying, “We’re going to work on your self-confidence, honey.”

He held my eye contact, his gaze searching mine until the disbelief slowly fell away, replaced by a tentative smile.

His pupils dilated, and just as he was tilting toward me to kiss me again, the sound of the glass sliding door opening broke the moment.

He stepped back, but it was too late to prevent Rose from seeing how close we’d been before she and Bucky had come in from the deck.

“Don’t stop on my account,” she sang happily as she skipped past on her way through to her room, Bucky scrabbling along behind her. “Pretend like I’m not even here.”

Daniel groaned and dropped his forehead to my shoulder while I laughed; then I dragged him back into my loose embrace until he relaxed a little.

“She seems happy enough about this,” I said.

Was I fishing for confirmation? Maybe . It would help to know if I was reading the situation correctly so I could adjust things if I wasn’t.

He groaned again before his head swayed from side to side, his forehead still connected to my shoulder. “She’s going to be insufferable about this.”

I tipped my head back and laughed at the resignation in his voice. “It’s better than the alternative, though, right?”

“I guess,” he grouched, which just fed my amusement.

“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 in my way,” he murmured before covering my hand with his, then lifting it to press a kiss to my palm, his eyes never leaving mine.

Oh snap. 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 you Mom so 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, you do sound 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.

“Is he good-looking, Marshall?” Mom asked cheekily to Daniel’s laughter. At least he was taking this in stride. “I bet he’s good-looking. He sounds good-looking.”

Mortified, I felt my cheeks heat and pressed my lips together, refusing to answer.

“He’s blushing, Evelyn,” Daniel responded with a chuckle after it became obvious that I wasn’t going to say anything. “I think that’s your answer.”

“Ooh! Wonderful!” Mom said enthusiastically. “Marshall tells me that he’s in your care for a week until his car gets fixed. Is that right?”

Finally, we could get back on track. “Yes, Mom. That’s what the mechanic told me.”

“Perfect,” she said slyly, which immediately put me on high alert. “Plenty of time for you two to—”

“Nope!” I said, cutting her off in alarm, much to both her and Daniel’s continued amusement. “We’re not going to talk about that.”

“Talk about what?” Rose asked, making me and Daniel turn our heads to see her skip over to us, Bucky, as always, trailing after her, his nails tapping noisily on the floorboards.

“Ooh! Another voice!” Mom said happily. “Who’s this? Is this Daniel’s daughter?”

The color drained from Daniel’s face as all humor left him.

Aha! Now he could get a taste of his own medicine! I laughed evilly before I said, “Yes. This is Rose.” I looked at Rose before I nodded to my phone. “Rose, this is my mom.”

Happy as a lark, Rose bounded over to kneel on the floor next to the coffee table. “Hi, Marshall’s mom!”

“Hi, sweetie! You can call me Grandma!”

“MOM!”

Rose collapsed into a fit of giggles at my reaction while Mom tried to hide her own laughter. “What? You know how much I want grandchildren, Marshall.”

“Yes, but I really wish you’d stop introducing yourself to anyone under the age of sixteen as Grandma . I’m supposed to be staying here for the next week, Mom. You’re not making it easy for me.”

“Oh, piffle. If they don’t have a sense of humor, they’re not worth your time.”

I groaned, my hands covering my face as I leaned back on the sofa to stare at the ceiling. Fuck my ever-loving life.

“Hi, Grandma!” Rose said cheerfully, much to my continued mortification. “We have so much to talk about!”

“Rose, no!” Daniel said in warning as I heard movement.

I lifted my head to see Rose getting up with my phone in her hand, holding it away from her dad, who was trying to get to it.

“Wait,” I said, scrambling to get off the sofa. “Rose, stop!”

“Ooh! This sounds exciting!” Mom said, her eager amusement still beaming through the speaker. “What’s going on?”

Rose only giggled in response, pushing off the floor and making a run for it.

“Rose!” I flung myself off the sofa to follow her but got blocked by Bucky, who was barking and jumping around in front of me, thinking the commotion was a huge game. “Come on, Bucky! Move!”

Daniel had a slightly better time of it than I did. He was able to avoid Bucky but wasn’t quick enough to catch up to a cackling Rose as she ran down the hallway, heading straight for her room.

I heard her door slam, and by the look and sound of Daniel jiggling the handle, then slapping the door to gain entrance, she’d locked herself in.

With my phone.

And my mother.

With Bucky circling my feet and looking up at me adoringly, I let my hands drop as I stumbled to a stop at the top of the hallway. I stared down at the dog at my side and absently scratched his ears. “We’re so fucked. Aren’t we, boy? Yes! Yes, we are! So very fucked!”