Page 104 of Ghost Note

“I don’t care who knows, but I’ll do it for you.” With a kiss, he snatched his keys off of the small table by my front door, and he went to move his car.

It didn’t take him long before he was pushing back through the front door, running a hand through his hair and smirking at me. I was rubbing my lips together after applying a small coat of red lipstick and throwing my phone into a shoulder bag when I came to a halt and took him in.

“All set?” I asked, quickly scowling and pointing at his cocky smile. “Wait. What’s that face for?”

“What face?”

“Thatface. That smug, I-know-something-I’m-not-meant-to-know, face.”

Danny shrugged, glancing from side to side and turning his smile upside down, but I wasn’t buying it.

“Daniel Silver… what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head, reaching out for me and pulling my hips closer to his. Our bodies banged together, and I leaned back, studying his face. “I just find it really cute how you pretended you hadn’t bought the blue Scirocco, when the window to your garage shows a very sparkly, unused car that looks exactly like a blue Scirocco parked inside it.”

My face fell. “Oh shit… I didn’t… that’s not what you…”

“You are sobusted.”

“I barely drive it,” I said in my defence. “It… it wasn’t like I bought it to remind me of you or anything. They’re a good car. Reliable. I like reliability.”

“Sure.” He nodded, pushing his bottom lip out.

“You can be a real jerk when you want to be, can’t you?”

Danny laughed and swept me up in another kiss. “I’m not trying to be a jerk,” he mumbled against my mouth. “I find you fucking adorable, that’s all.” His hands roamed to my arse cheeks. “Adorable, sexy, irresistible, and—”

“If you carry on, we’re not going to make it out of the house.”

With a groan, Danny pulled back, readjusting himself in his trousers quickly before he stood me back on steady feet. “Sorry. I’m finding it hard to not think about being inside you every second of every day.”

“Let’s go, superstar.” I jerked my chin and pushed him towards the door. We were outside in no time, and I locked up behind me before pushing my keys into my bag. “Where are we headed?”

Danny pushed his hands into the pockets of his skinny black jeans. “Well…” he started, “how do you feel about heading to The Hideaway for a drink?”

The Hideaway was the livelier place to socialise around here. It occasionally turned itself into a live music venue with unknown indie bands offering performances to a small crowd. The local musicians earned good tips off the tourists, apparently. The building sat right off the beach, only fifty yards or so away, and it was somewhere Danny and I used to love going to when we’d been together.

Walking in there together would make a statement. It would also draw eyes to Danny from every angle.

“Unless you don’t want to.” His smile rose, and those strong shoulders curled into his chest, making the muscles in his forearms pop. “I’m not exactly Mr Popular around here now. It could be awkward for you.”

Stepping towards him, I hooked my arm through one of his, and I pressed myself against him. “You’re popular with me, and that’s all I care about.”

* * *

Sure enough, it hadn’t taken long for heads to turn and the whisperings to start once Danny and I stepped through the doors of The Hideaway. The guy behind the bar took one look at Danny, and his eyes sparkled at the realisation that the lead guitarist from Front Row Frogs was there in his establishment. Danny didn’t seem to mind, but unease rested in my gut at the way money signs lit up in people’s eyes whenever he was around. He’d almost become a brand, and everyone within reach wanted a piece of it. They were unable to see him as a person—a human, now. He was nothing more than a cash machine, and I hated the thought of anyone not seeing how real he actually was.

The barman served us quickly, offering up a table in a corner, but Danny waved him off and said he’d find his own… politely, of course. He didn’t want any special treatment around here, and he said hey to anyone who greeted him with a smile or came over to shake his hand.

It wasn’t long before a small crowd had formed around him, and I was getting pushed farther and farther back, clutching my glass of wine against my chest while the men looked at Danny in awe, and the women looked at him like he was a Sunday roast dinner they wanted to gobble up.

Tourists,I thought. No way would the locals behave that way.

Danny remained polite until he caught sight of me drifting, and he leaned through two guys to reach for my hand, guiding me to him when I took it. Wrapping an arm around my shoulder, he pulled me to his side, and I saw the look of disappointment flash across some of the women’s faces.

This kind of attention made me uncomfortable, and I looked up at Danny with flaming hot cheeks and pleading eyes.

This was a bad idea.

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