Page 74 of Ghost Note

“You could always put a shirt on.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun for you.” He winked. “Hurry up. I have eggs to scramble and an adorable Devonshire girl to stare at.”

He turned to leave, and I watched him and those perfect muscles in his broad back disappear.

“He’s making me eggs,” I said quietly to myself. “Of course he is.”

It didn’t take me long to get up and throw on some leggings, a T-shirt, and my grey fluffy dressing gown. By the time I’d found my slippers and trudged downstairs, I was still only half awake.

The radio was playing softly in the corner, and it wasn’t until I sat down at the small kitchen table and looked over at a shirtless Danny parading around in front of the stove, with a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other, that I realised it had been a while since this kitchen had sounded so… alive.

If it ever had.

Music and romance filled the air, sweeping me up in a cloud of what could have been as Danny’s head bopped along to the track that was playing.

He slid across the floor, moving from place to place with ease, doing whatever he needed to do, and acting like he knew where everything was. He looked like he’d lived here with me for the past two years. Like this was his home, and as I watched him and those damn back muscles go to work, I realised that he didn’t look like he belonged here at all. Everything about him, his face, his attitude, his talent, his aura… they were too big for this small world of mine. I fit into this life of cold, tiny kitchens, and reading a magazine by the plain little lamp in my living room. I was content with silence and Groundhog Day. But Danny…

No.

He’d been made for so much more, and it had never been as obvious to me as it was right there and then, as I watched him pouring milk into a pan, biting down on his bottom lip as his head bopped and jammed to the music.

When he spun around to face me, his smile erupted and took my breath away.

“Music?” I said, making it sound like a question my brow raised.

“That a problem?” he asked, rolling his head from side to side.

I laughed, unable to stop my giddy heart from finding joy in his happiness. “Apparently not. Make yourself at home.”

“You can join me for a dance if you like?”

“Without coffee first? What are you? Some kind of madman?”

“Right.” He spun smoothly on the heels of his feet, reaching around to grab a hot, steaming cup of coffee, before he danced his way over to me, his every move matching the beat of the music even when he passed it over to me and dropped a kiss to my forehead. Reaching to cup my cheeks, he held my face in his hands and unleashed perfect white teeth through a smile. “Good fucking morning, Daisy Piper.”

“Good morning.” I beamed.

“Fuel up. Once that’s gone, we dance.”

“Dance?”

“Yeah, you know… move your feet, shake your body, even let your arms have a little fun,” he teased, demonstrating some moves as he went.

“I never realised how bossy you were.”

“People only say someone’s bossy when they’re jealous of their determination to get shit done.”

“Sure, sure.” When he turned away, I rolled my eyes.

“Roll your eyes all you want. That dance is happening.”

The hot coffee I was about to swallow came tumbling back out into my mug. “How the hell did you see that?”

“I don’t have to see it to know it’s happening. It may have been five years, but you haven’t changed that much.” Danny laughed softly and shook his head, his shoulders moving back and forth as the song picked up pace. “Fuck, I love this tune.”

“What is it?” I asked after taking a successful drink and dropping my mug back on the table.

“I should be offended by your lack of music awareness, but I’m going to slide over that issue and begin to educate you. This, my Zee, isSunshine of Your Love,by a beautiful British rock band called Cream.”

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