Tidal (7 page)

“Dragons aren’t the nicest parts of the stories,” Daniel countered, and she smiled crookedly. “But you don’t need to worry about the monsters. I’ll protect you.”

A breeze came up, bringing the sweet scent of the roses with it, and a lock of Harper’s hair came loose and blew in her face. Daniel brushed it back, but let his hand linger on her cheek for a moment as she stared up into his hazel eyes. The way he looked at her made heat swirl in her belly.

She was hoping he’d kiss her, but instead he dropped his hand and took a step back.

“Are you ready to come inside and see what I’ve done with the place?” Daniel asked and moved backward to the cabin door.

“What did you do?” Harper asked, tilting her head.

He smiled. “Come here and you’ll see.”

SEVEN

Anniversary

When Daniel had moved out here two weeks ago, Harper had helped him, but she hadn’t been able to visit him since. Then, the house had been in disarray as he tried to unpack and fix up some of the damage the sirens had left.

He leaned back on the front door now, reaching behind himself to turn the handle, and he stepped backward with it as he opened it. Harper stepped inside cautiously, unsure of what to expect.

She’d expected him to clean it up but she hadn’t known he would redecorate. The walls had been left their natural wood color, but Daniel had painted over them with a varnish, making them look brighter, cleaner, and more modern.

The countertops in the kitchen had been old and cracked, and he’d replaced them with dark stone counters. Bernie’s old furniture had been traded in for a soft couch, and for a coffee table Daniel used an old steamer trunk.

Somehow he’d managed to make the place look fresher and more contemporary, yet still maintain its rustic, seaside appeal.

“This looks amazing,” Harper said and turned around to look at him. “How did you do this? How could you afford all this stuff?”

“I’ve got my ways,” Daniel said. “I did some work for people and collected hand-me-downs and thrift store stuff. Then I just put it all together.”

“This is incredible.” She looked around the cabin again. “You’re really good at this. The sets for Gemma’s play are going to look
amazing
.”

“I know.” He smiled. “So do you wanna hear what I have planned for our anniversary dinner?”

“It’s not really an anniversary dinner,” Harper said, mostly because she felt a little silly celebrating a one-month. “That was technically two days ago. I think. We did decide that we officially started dating on the Fourth of July, right?”

“Right. It sounds more romantic that way.” Daniel grinned. “We kissed, and then there were fireworks, and we’ve been together ever since.”

She laughed. “There were literally fireworks.”

“That’s the point,” he said. “Now go have a seat. I’m making you dinner.”

“You’re making me dinner?” Harper tried not to look skeptical. “I thought you said you couldn’t cook.”

“I can’t. Now go have a seat.”

He put his hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her over to a small table that separated the kitchen from the living room. A tablecloth was draped over it, with two white candles set in the center.

“So how is this gonnna work, then?” Harper asked after she sat down. “You making dinner if you can’t cook?”

“I have a very simple plan,” he said as he went back to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” She leaned on the table, watching him open the fridge.

“I know. I want to. I wanted to do something nice and normal.”

“Normal?”

He took out a large Tupperware bowl. Harper could make out green leaves with red cherry tomatoes on the side, like he’d cut up and mixed together fresh salad greens earlier. He set the bowl on the counter, then went over to the cupboard.

“Yeah,” he said and pulled plates out of the cupboard. “I’ve never really gotten to take you out on a proper date. The one time I did take you out, it turned into a battle with sirens.”

“We’re not supposed to talk about that,” she reminded him.

He smiled. “Right. Well, you know what happened anyway.”

“So … why does this mean you have to cook for me?” She propped her chin with a hand and fought the urge to get up and help him. It felt wrong having someone else wait on her.

“It doesn’t. But it’s something that guys do,” Daniel explained.

“I can cook for you.”

“I know you can. You’ve done it before, and the food was very tasty, thank you.” He smiled at her, then dished out the salad onto plates.

“I can help you, at least,” she offered.

Daniel stopped what he was doing so he could face her directly. “Harper, I want to do something for you. Will you let me do that?”

“Yes. Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I would love it if you made me dinner.”

“Thank you.”

“So … what are we having?” Harper asked.

Daniel carried two plates over to the table. He set one down in front of her and one at his place across from her. Fresh arugula, spinach greens, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers were the only things on her plate so far.

“Well, I thought we’d start with a salad, with homemade vinaigrette,” he told her. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe, and it is delicious.”

“Ooh, sounds intriguing.”

“It is.” He went back into the kitchen and grabbed a small decanter of the vinaigrette from the fridge. “Then, for our next course, I thought we would have a bowl of Pearl’s famous clam chowder.”

“Pearl paid you in a bucket of soup again, didn’t she?” Harper asked as he sat down across from her.

“She did, but it’s amazing,” Daniel admitted. “For dessert, I have not one but
two
flavors of ice cream. Is your mind blown yet?”

She smiled. “Yeah, it kinda is.”

“So, yeah. That’s my dinner.” He stared expectantly across the table from her. “What do you think?”

“I think it sounds wonderful, and I appreciate the thought you put into making it. It’s very sweet.”

“Sweet enough to earn me a make-out session after supper?” Daniel asked with an arched eyebrow.

She pretended to think it over. “Depends on how full I am.”

“We could always skip the soup,” he suggested, causing Harper to laugh. “The salad might be filling enough.”

Harper dug in, eating a mouthful of salad, and nodded. “This is really good.”

“Thank you,” he said, sounding a little relieved. “The vegetables are fresh from the garden out back. It was a bit overgrown when I moved in, but I think I’ve got it under control now. The dressing is really simple, and it’s one of three things I actually do know how to make.”

“Your gramma taught you how to make it?” Harper asked between bites.

“She did, yeah.” He nodded. “She passed away a while ago. I was really close to my grandparents. They basically raised me and my brother.”

“What about your parents?” She watched him for his response.

“What about them?” Daniel asked and didn’t look up from his food.

“You never really talk about them.”

“Oh.” He poked emptily at his food for a few seconds before going on. “There’s not a lot to tell. My dad was a drunk, and he wasn’t the nicest guy. He used to beat up on my mom and stuff. He finally left when I was ten. I thought things would get better after that, but they didn’t.”

Harper had been about to take a bite, but she stopped. Daniel hardly ever talked about his family life or his childhood, and she hadn’t any idea that he’d grown up in an abusive home.

“Why not?” Harper asked finally.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. It was weird because my mom was so miserable when he was around, but it was like, after he left, she didn’t know what to do when somebody wasn’t telling her what to do or putting her down.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said and took another bite, mostly so Daniel wouldn’t think that she didn’t like his meal.

“It’s okay. Eventually she found someone to fill that void, and they got married. My brother died, then my grandparents died and left her some money. She didn’t see any reason to stick around here anymore, so she and the new husband moved out to Vegas.”

“And you stayed here?” Harper asked.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly invited to join them, but I don’t think I would’ve gone anyway. My boat’s here, and that’s about the only thing I really owned. And I grew up here, so…” His voice trailed off.

“I’m glad you stayed.”

He looked up at her finally and smiled. “Me, too.”

They finished their salads, and moved on to dinner and dessert. Harper tried to wash the dishes, but he wouldn’t let her. He insisted that it was a romantic evening, and the cleaning could wait until tomorrow.

Daniel let her pick the movie from his rather modest collection, and she chose
Edward Scissorhands
. It wasn’t her favorite, but given a choice between that and
Jaws
,
Mad Max
, or
The Godfather,
she thought it seemed like the most romantic.

They started out sitting on the couch next to each other, but it wasn’t long before Daniel was lying on his back and Harper was curled up with him. Her head was on his chest, and he had one arm wrapped around her.

Normally, Harper would lie awake in bed for hours before she could fall asleep. Her mind would race through all her concerns, almost all of them involving Gemma, sirens, or college, and when she was really in a mood, she could stay up all night worrying about her mom, her dad, Alex, Marcy, really anything and everything.

But something about being with Daniel like this, feeling safe and secure as he held her to him, the sound of his heart beating slowly under her ear, was putting her to sleep.

For his part, Daniel had been working incredibly hard over the last few weeks. When he wasn’t at the theater trying to get the set together or doing odd jobs, he was fixing up the house.

So within minutes both of them were sleeping soundly on the couch.

She woke up first, and she knew she should’ve felt some panic at waking up in a strange place, but she couldn’t muster the anxiety. Lying with Daniel felt too good. Besides, the clock on his wall said it was only a quarter after eleven, so Gemma probably wasn’t even home yet.

He was still asleep, but he must’ve woken up at some point because the television was off. The only light was the moon pouring in through the open windows. It wasn’t full yet, but it was bright enough that Harper watched him sleep for a minute.

If he woke up and caught her, she’d be incredibly embarrassed, but he looked so peaceful and handsome as he slept. His unshaven scruff made him ruggedly sexy, and she had a feeling that if he shaved it completely, he might look too pretty. His skin was smooth, and his mouth had a sexy, sinful quality to it.

The urge to kiss him overtook her, and she decided that she’d better wake him first. They hadn’t had their after-dinner make-out session yet, and to set the mood, she wanted to wake him in the right way.

“Daniel?” she whispered in his ear, doing her best to sound sultry and seductive. “
Daniel?
”

He didn’t stir at all. Not even slightly, and she was speaking right into his ear. She instantly began to panic, and she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. When she’d fallen asleep she’d heard his heartbeat, but had she heard it a few minutes ago when she awoke?

“Daniel?” Harper asked again, and by now she was certain that he’d died while she was asleep. “Daniel?”

He moved his head. “Hmm?” He turned to look at her, opening his eyes slowly, and she let out a deep breath. “What?”

“You didn’t hear that?” she asked. She sat up a bit, and he moved his hand to her back.

Daniel still appeared groggy and didn’t seem to completely understand the situation. It must’ve been apparent that she was upset, because he rubbed her back to comfort her.

“What?” Daniel asked, becoming more alert.

“I was saying your name. I was whispering right in your ear.”

He furrowed his brow. “Why were you whispering in my ear?”

“I was trying to wake you up all romantic-like.”

“Aw.” He smiled. “That’s very sweet of you.”

He tried to pull her down, either to kiss her or so she’d lie with him again, but she resisted. She was still confused and anxious.

“Yeah, but why couldn’t you hear me?”

“The accident.” He sat up a little bit, since he’d begun to realize that Harper wasn’t going to let this go.

“You mean the boating accident you were in with your brother?”

“Yeah. It messed up my back. I don’t have complete range of motion in this shoulder, and I have all these nifty scars.” He rolled his right shoulder, trying to show it didn’t move so well. “But it hurt my ears, too. It didn’t damage the outer part, but it messed something up so I can’t hear certain octaves. I’m not deaf, but just some stuff I can’t hear.”

“Did it mess up both ears?” Harper asked.

“Yeah, the right is worse than the other.” Daniel motioned to the ear she’d been whispering in. “I almost lost my hearing completely in it, but I had a surgery, and it’s pretty much fine now. The other one was never that bad to begin with. But there’s a nasty scar running across the back of my skull. If I ever go bald, it’ll be gross.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Harper asked, and she knew her tone was more pointed than she wanted it to be, but she couldn’t help it.

“I showed you the scars before,” he reminded her.

“But you didn’t tell me about your hearing.” She sat up completely now, pulling away from him, and that only made his confusion deepen.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I didn’t think of it. Why does it matter?”

“That’s got to be it. The sirens, Daniel. That’s probably why you’re immune to them.”

She leaned down, kissing him on the lips, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. He moved, rolling her over so she was on her back, and he kissed more deeply. Harper felt the scruff of his face on her cheeks, and something about it seemed so perfect. The way Daniel kissed her summed him up perfectly—a little rough on the edges, but so sweet and sexy.