Page 76 of Ghost Note

“What does it matter to you if he does?” I asked, my voice too cautious and quiet.

Danny reached for the plates, grabbing them by the edges with a tea towel slung over his shoulder as he brought them over and slid them onto the table. He didn’t answer, and his lack of words created a tension in the room that was suffocating as he walked back for his mug of coffee before he eventually slipped into his seat opposite me. He dragged the tea towel from his shoulder, placed it on the table and dropped his elbows down, his chin resting on the fist he’d created. Then Danny stared right at me, holding my gaze intensely.

“Does he stand a chance, Daisy?”

I shook my head. “No.”

His lips twitched, and Danny’s eyes softened before he dropped his arms from the table and reached for his knife and fork. “Then have a great lunch date. Be back here and ready for five o’clock.”

“Ready for what?” I scowled.

“I told you… I’m taking you somewhere.”

“Am I allowed to know what’s going on?”

“No.” He shook his head, shoved a forkful of bacon into his mouth, and he smirked as he chewed.

“Goddamn you, Danny Silver. You’re such a pain in my arse. You know that, right?”

“As sure as eggs is eggs.” He winked, before taking a mouthful of those, too.

Twenty-Five

“Ithink this is the first occasion in all the time I’ve known you that you’ve ever done that,” Ben said, eyeing me over the glass of orange juice he was pressing to his mouth. “It’s also the first time I’ve seen you almost clear your plate before mine.”

My lobster ravioli sat in front of me, close to being finished. I’d eaten all of my breakfast, even asking for seconds, to which Danny had obliged before he kissed me and left for me to get ready for Ben. Now I’d eaten my lunch as though I hadn’t been around food for the last seven days. My appetite was roaring, and I couldn’t seem to fill that stomach of mine.

“First of all,” I began, trying hard not to blush with awkwardness, “no one is going to miss the shop that much for a day.”

“Don’t let Gina hear you say that.”

“She’s had to go to Plymouth today. Something to do with Jackson’s private tutor needing them to go over for a meeting. She’ll never know.”

“Are you kidding?” Ben laughed, dropping his juice back down. “This is Hope Cove. You wear a different brand of knickers, and someone will find out and put it in the local Herald. You can’t get away with a change in routine around here, and if you try, they’ll shoot you down for it.”

“Well, then I’ll tell them it’s an early birthday treat to myself. I turn twenty-six in a few weeks. Not that I need an excuse to shut my own shop for the day.”

“They’ll assume business is booming for you to go part-time.”

“I don’t answer to them.”

Ben raised a brow. “And what if they assume that this has something to do with the rock star?”

The mention of Danny made me falter, and I dipped my chin to look down at the napkin I was fiddling with and rearranging in my lap.

Ben laughed, making me look back up at him in warning. He held his hands in the air in surrender. “I’m just saying. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together and get four.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on. You’ve shut the shop. You’ve done nothing but yawn and tell me you’re exhausted. Yet, there’s that twinkle in your eye again. The one that’s been missing for, fuck… forever. Your cheeks are on fire, and you keep looking over my shoulder and drifting off into a daydream. Add in the fact that you can’t get enough food in your stomach, and sprinkle all these clues with you admitting to kissing Danny last night—”

“He kissed me,” I interjected, holding up a finger.

Ben dropped his hands and smirked over at me. “He came over, didn’t he?”

“Jesus, Ben.” I sighed, flopping forward and pushing my face into my hands. A groan soon followed, and I stared at my friend with concern. “If you can see it, how the hell am I going to hide it from Gina?”

“Don’t. Why would you want to?”

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