Page 46 of Meet Me at the Grand

“It’s okay.” Dani’s voice was quiet, soothing. “You don’t have to tell me.”

He just sat there, staring at the table, blinking. Because it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her enough to tell her. It was just that, well, what was the point? Liam cleared his throat. “So, what about you? Are you and your mom close?”

“We used to be.” Dani stood and tossed her ice cream bowl and spoon into the nearest trash can. “Not so much anymore.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Standing, he threw away the rest of his cone and pile of napkins. “What about your dad? And you said you had six siblings, right?”

“I do.” Dani hauled it out of the parlor like she was being chased. Then she turned in the hallway that led to the lobby, cocked her head. “But you don’t want to hear about my family drama.”

“Actually, I do.” And he found that he meant it. He wanted to know more about what had made this woman into the fascinating, loyal, passionate person she was. And he wanted more than that. Wanted to draw her to him, to soothe away any pain others had caused her. That he’d caused her. Liam took a step closer. “Ireallydo.”

Her vanilla scent wrapped around him, and she looked up at him with wide eyes. Dani’s mouth opened, closed, and for a moment, both of them were still.

Liam leaned in just a hair.

But Dani blinked and drew back, breaking the spell. “Um, hey, so, I’m pretty tired right now. I think I might head to bed if that’s all right. But thank you for sharing about your mom.”

He shook himself from his stupor. “Thanks for listening.”

“Sure.” They stepped onto the elevator and rode in silence. When they reached Dani’s floor, she stepped off and turned to face him, arms folded over her chest. “Night, Liam.”

“Night.”

And then she was gone.

What had just happened? He’d wanted to kiss her, that was what. More than he’d wanted to kiss anyone in a long time. No woman since Tiffany had even come close to capturing his interest, and he’d known Dani exactly a week.

He needed to get focused. Did he like Dani? Yeah, fine, okay. But that was a non-factor. Because he was needed back in LA. and was leaving in a week.

There was no future here.

And yet, even as he hit the button for the ninth floor, a part of him stayed back with Dani on the sixth.

ChapterNine

There was nothing so iconically Jonathon Island than a horse-drawn carriage ride through Blueberry Hill Park.

Even if there was only one horse instead of two. And a four-wheeled contraption that hadn’t been used in probably a decade.

All she needed now was Liam.

Oh, Liam.

“When is he supposed to get here?” Mia pushed Maggie on the park swings beside the path where Pegasus—who was one of the only horses still on the island and had been personally loaned to her by the reclusive Quinn nephew, Asher—waited patiently.

Meanwhile, Finn ran hooting and hollering along the playground set with another boy about his age. Dani had been surprised when her cousin had shouted a hello a few moments before, but then again, lots of families were at the park today, enjoying the sixty-degree weather that had decided to show its face.

“Any minute now.” Dani took a sip of her coffee.

“Okay, so then there’s not much time for you to spill. What happened between the two of you in the Twin Cities? You look different. Almost nervous.”

“I do?” She dug the toe of her tennis shoe into the playground sand. “I don’t know, Mia. He gave me a tour like we’d planned. We ate dinner and ice cream like we’d planned. He told me a little bit about his family, about his goals for the future.”

“Ah, so you got personal?”

“He did.”

“And let me guess.” Maggie squealed as Mia pushed her extra high in the toddler swing. “You stayed close-lipped because ‘he’s an outsider’?”

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