Naughty in November (Spring River Valley Book 11) (2 page)

BOOK: Naughty in November (Spring River Valley Book 11)
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Embarrassment flamed in her face, which was probably turning as red as her hair. It wasn’t like she’d never taken the initiative with a guy before, and it wasn’t like she’d never accidentally picked one who fit into one of those off-limits categories and been politely rebuffed.

She could handle rejection, but for some reason, the idea that Taylor wasn’t on board with her idea stung a little more than she’d anticipated.

A moment ago she’d wanted to crawl up the considerabl
e length of him and make a meal of the well-toned muscles contained in his sexy T-shirt. Now she just wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out until spring thaw.

“I’m sorry,” he said, which made her mortification even worse. “That was a horrible thing to say. What I mean was,
Hell, yes
, but—”

She held up a hand. “You don’t have to justify yourself. I’m forward. I know that. It takes some people by surprise. I’m not one to waste time or play games. I like you, a lot, and I would love to get to know you at any pace you prefer. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, cross any boundaries
, or step on anyone else’s territory, so if you—”

“I’m not anyone else’s territory.”

Good
. She wanted to say good, but she still wasn’t quite sure if her turn of phrase had offended him. He didn’t look angry, but he still looked utterly nonplussed. “Well, it’s out there, then. The ball’s in your court.”


I like you, too. I just— I don’t know how…or rather, I know
how
, I’m just a little rusty.”

“I don’t mind rusty.”

“Maybe rusty is too optimistic a word.”

Dani leaned forward, a carefully constructed smile in place to hide the fact that his clumsy but sweet attempt to let her down gently hurt like a dirty arrow through the heart. “I understand, and it’s fine. Like I said, it’s out there. Do with it what you will, or feel free to never mention it again. I’m cool with it either way.” Still grinning like a fool, she scooped up her half-finished coffee and stood. “Thanks for the
snack. I’ve got to be at work super-early tomorrow for a seminar on 401(k)s, so I’ve got to jet. I’ll see you at rehearsal on Thursday night. I’m bringing a bucket of cold water to throw on the love birds if they get too riled up, so you might want to give them a heads-up.” She waved off his protests and beat a hasty retreat out of the nearly empty café, certain she’d never be able to look Taylor in the eye again.

 

* * * *

 

“I must be out of my mind.” Taylor stared into the depths of his half-empty coffee cup and shook his head. Not even twelve hours had passed since Dani had fled the café and left him with the certain knowledge that he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life. He’d lain awake most of the night, mentally kicking himself, and then compounded his embarrassment by telling his brother Tanner the whole pathetic story.

His mirror image stared back at him from across the breakfast table.
Only minutes younger, his identical twin wore an expression no doubt similar to the one Taylor had worn after Danielle’s invitation the night before. “You’re not just out of your mind, you’ve packed up and left no forwarding address. This is the new girl in the band, right, the crazy-hot redhead?”

“Whoa, I thought you
had
a girlfriend.” Tanner had been dating
Spring River Valley Herald
reporter Evie Prentice for months, so to hear his brother describe Dani in such enthusiastic terms was a bit of a shock.

“I’ve still got eyes. Dani’s very attractive. And she basically invited you to sleep with her
, and you said no?”

“No.” Taylor held up his hands in surrender. “I never said
no
. In fact, I said yes.
Hell, yes
, to be precise, but it was already too late by then.”

“Too late? Was it a
limited-time offer?”

“No.” Taylor poked a fork at the eggs on his plate, but he had no appetite. “My first reaction was to say I was flattered.”

“Oh.” Tanner nodded, dropping his half slice of buttered toast onto his own plate. “That’s harsh.”

Taylor raised his hands in supplication. “I know, but yet, just exactly how? I mean, it’s true. I
am
flattered. Flattered is a good thing, right? By definition it’s a good thing. So how come when I said I was flattered she looked at me like I said I’d rather have a root canal? I was flattered, surprised, excited, interested, a little shocked, happy, stunned. It’s not like I, you know,
retched
or anything. So why did she run out of the café like I’d sprayed her with some kind of repellant? Am I
that
out of touch with how to talk to women?”

Tanner shrugged. “After two years as a hermit…”

“I’m not a hermit.”

“In the dating world, you’re a hermit. Two years might as well be two decades.”

“So what should I have done? Swept our coffee off the table and pounced on her right there?”

“You might have led with something like…I don’t know…
‘Shall I drive?’ Or ‘The Inn’s two minutes down the street.’”

Leaning back in his chair, Taylor pushed his unfinished breakfast away. “As much as part of me wanted to do that, you know it’s not my style.”

“You have a style? How do
you
have a style? Not to bring up bad memories, but you started dating Joyce when you were sixteen, and she left when you were twenty-six. The only style you had for ten years was whatever made Joyce happy.”

The mention of her name still made Taylor cringe, and that was the crux of
his problem. He no longer loved his high school sweetheart—who’d made a very nice life for herself with a hotel manager in Dayton, Ohio, last he’d heard—he just had no overt desire to have his heart broken again. “My style,” he said pointedly, “is to look before I leap and make informed decisions. I believe in taking things slow.”

“Slow is on
e thing. You’ve been stuck at dead stop for two years. It’s time.”

“So what do I do now?”

“She told you the ball is your court, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Dude, it’s time for you to score.”

Chapter Three

 

 

“Thanks for letting me borrow your book,” Dani said as she placed the well-worn copy of Dr. Eliza Frasier’s
Getting Serious about Casual Sex
on Brenda Samms’s desk.

Grinning, t
he legal secretary quickly slid the book into a drawer and raised a brow. “What did you think?”

Hogwash
, Dani thought, but she kept her knee-jerk reaction to herself. Instead she hitched a hip onto the corner of Brenda’s desk and sighed. “I don’t think it’s a concept that’s going to work for me.”

“Why? What happened?”

Her shoulders drooping in defeat, Dani met Brenda’s concerned gaze. “Taylor said he was ‘flattered.’”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.” Dani’s coworker tapped her fingernails on the edge of her desk. “I’m actually really shocked. I saw the way he was looking at you at Colette’s
even before you joined the band. I thought it was pretty obvious he was interested.”

Ever since Dani had invited the crew at Esterhause
, Brady and Danziger to come and watch Love Notes perform, her friends at the firm had been telling her that the hunky veterinarian/keyboardist was hot for her.

When she’d told Brenda she wanted to make a move but didn’t want to scare him away with the specter of commitment, her friend had offered the popular psychologist’s book about the rules of ultra-modern dating.

Despite paying special attention to the underlining and notes Brenda had made in the book, Dani had clearly missed some key concept necessary to forge a satisfying no-strings relationship with a man who was as risk-averse as Taylor. “Hey, I gave it a shot. I mean, he said he wanted to say yes, but…”

Brenda leaned forward. “But what?”

“That’s it. He sort of just trailed off, and the next thing I knew I was out on the sidewalk jogging to my car. I didn’t want him to feel like I was putting him on the spot, but I guess that’s exactly what I did. He doesn’t need a reason to say no. Not interested is a perfectly valid answer, and I don’t need to know the specifics of why.”

“Maybe you do.” Brenda pursed her lips.

Dani waved away the implication. “No, seriously. I don’t. I get that a lot of men don’t like aggressive women. And a guy like that isn’t right for me because, let’s face it, I’m not a traditional girl. I like to—”

“Whoa, take a breath. I wasn’t implying there was something wrong with
you
that you need to hear. I meant, maybe the reason he was just ‘flattered’ is something personal.”

“He’s not dating anyone. I asked around.”

“Yeah. I don’t know all the gory details, but I’ve heard a couple of things about Taylor’s ex. She hurt him pretty badly, so don’t just assume it’s you that—”

“Ugh.” Dani dropped her head into her hands. “That makes it worse.”

Brenda laughed. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. If I saw what I saw when I saw you two together, he’ll figure out how to get out of his own way soon enough, and he’ll make the next move.”

“I pretty much told him he had to.”

“Then sit back and relax. You’re on the right track.”

“Then why do I feel like a runaway train?”

 

* * * *

 

“These smell good enough to eat.” Taylor leaned over the box of organic dog treats his receptionist Samantha Wilton
had just unpacked at the front desk of the Croft Veterinary Clinic. The bone-shaped cookies may have been liberally flecked with dog-friendly vegetables, but they smelled amazing.

“Try one.” Sam offered him one of the smaller-sized treats. “Cassandra says they’re one hundred percent organic, made with all
-natural ingredients and safe for human consumption, plus they’ll give you a shiny coat.”

Taylor laughed. “I’m tempted, but I think I’ll pass. I’m trying to cut back on my alfalfa consumption.”

“Suit yourself. Aiden loves them.”

“Your boyfriend eats dog treats?”

“He buys them for Barkley, and yes, I’ve caught him sneaking one now and then. They’re actually really good. You should taste the stuff Cassandra makes for people. It’s out of this world.”

“So I hear. In fact, I think my friend Grant is going to hire her to cater the welcome home party for James Galloway. He’s due back from the Middle East in a couple of weeks.”

Samantha eyed him sidelong, and she paused in the middle of transferring the biscuits from the box to the glass jars they kept in each exam room. “Seriously?”

“Why? What’s wrong with that? If her food is so good—”

“It is. It’s not that. It’s just…you
know
they used to date.”

“Who?”

“Cassandra Hall and James Galloway.” Sam’s expression told him this news was of grave significance.

“Okay. So?”

She sighed, a sound of feminine exasperation.

He may have been out of the relationship pool for a while, but he still remembered that sound meant he was being a clueless male.


So
, from what I hear, it ended badly. I’m sure Grant knows the whole story.”

“Well, he’s the one who suggested Cassie for the dessert menu. So I guess whatever happened between them has blown over.”

“I hope so. Cassie’s really nice. Maybe they’ll get back together.”

Now Taylor sighed, careful not to emulate Sam’s tone. “Romantic entanglements are not my area.” He grabbed one of the dog treats remaining in the box and sniffed it. “I’ll stick to animals. They’re easier to figure out. Oh, before I forget, what time is the last patient tonight?”

“Five o’clock. Why?”

“Nosy, aren’t we?”

“Sorry, I just—”

“It’s all right. I’ve got plans, so I’ll be out of here as soon as I’m finished
with the last appointment. Do you mind locking up?”

Sam smirked. She’d been working with him long enough to be able to get away with a little good-natured teasing. “Does the good doctor have a hot date?”

He shrugged, not quite sure exactly how his plans for the evening would work out. “Let’s just say, I’ve got a lot riding on the score tonight.”

Chapter Four

 

 

The text from Taylor came just after noon as Dani was leaving her desk for lunch.

Here’s the serve: How about dinner at Taverna Fiora tonight at 7?

Hiding a satisfied grin as she stepped off the elevator, she ducked into an alcove near the company cafeteria to formulate her answer. Her first instinct was to type,
Hell yes
, but she’d already tried the hot-to-trot approach, and it hadn’t gone over well. Now that Taylor was doing exactly what Brenda had said he would do, she wanted to maintain a certain level of decorum.

BOOK: Naughty in November (Spring River Valley Book 11)
2.06Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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