Daemon ran a hand through his hair, the gesture stretching the thin material of his long-sleeved shirt over his bicep. He exhaled long and hard. “First we need to find out if Will actually has intentions of coming back.”
Irritation spiked. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“That I haven’t figured out.” Daemon flashed a weak grin. “But I will.”
I sat up, frustrated. Logically, we had time. Not an endless supply—days or a week if we were lucky—but there was time. I just didn’t like the idea of keeping her in the dark.
“What were you doing all day? Chasing Dawson?” I asked, letting the topic drop for now. When he nodded, I felt for him. “What was he doing?”
“He was just roaming around, but he was trying to shake me. I know he wanted to get back to that office building and if I hadn’t followed him, he would’ve. The only reason I feel safe leaving him alone right now is because Dee has him cornered.” He paused, looking away. His shoulders stiffened as if a terrible weight had settled on them. “Dawson… He’s going to get himself captured again.”
Chapter 5
Color me surprised when Daemon swung by early Saturday evening and wanted to go out. Like, brave snow-slick roads and do something normal. A date. As if we had the luxury of doing such a thing. And I couldn’t help but remember what he had said to me when I’d been in his bed and so ready to give him the go-ahead.
He’d wanted to do things right. Dates. Movies.
Dee was currently on Dawson-babysitting duty, and Daemon felt confident enough to leave her with him.
I dug out a pair of dark denim jeans and a red turtleneck. Taking a few extra minutes with my makeup, I then bounced down the stairs. It took me about a half an hour to weasel Daemon away from my mom.
Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about her and Will. Maybe I needed to worry about her and Daemon. Cougar.
Once inside the comfy interior of Dolly, his SUV, he kicked on the heat and slid me a grin. “Okay. There are some rules about our date.”
My brows rose. “There are?”
“Yep.” He eased Dolly around and started down the driveway, careful to avoid the thick patches of black ice. “Rule number one is we don’t talk about anything DOD related.”
“Okay.” I bit down on my lip.
He glanced at me sideways, as if he knew I was fighting a stupid love-struck grin. “Rule number two is that we don’t talk about Dawson or Will. And number three, we focus on my awesomeness.”
Okay. No fighting my grin. It spread ear to ear. “I think I can deal with these rules.”
“You better, because there is punishment for breaking the rules.”
“And what kind of punishment would that be?”
He chuckled. “Probably the sort of punishment you’d enjoy.”
Warmth infused my cheeks and veins. I chose not to respond to that statement. Instead, I reached for the radio station at the same time Daemon did. Our fingers brushed and static raced down my arm, spreading to his flesh. I jerked back, and he laughed again, but the sound was husky and made the roomy SUV seem way too small.
Daemon settled on a rock station but kept the volume low. The trip to town was uneventful but fun…because nothing crazy happened. He picked out an Italian restaurant, and we were seated at a small table lit by flickering candles. I glanced around. None of the other tables had candles. They were covered with cheesy red-and-white-checkered mats.
But our wooden table was bare except for those candles and two wineglasses filled with water. Even the napkins looked like real linen.
Considering the possibilities as we were seated, my heart did a flip-flop. “Did you…?”
He propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. Soft shadows danced over his face, highlighting the arch of his cheekbones and the curve of his lips. “Did I do what?”
“Arrange this?” I waved at the candles.
Daemon shrugged. “Maybe…”
I tucked my hair back, smiling. “Thank you. It’s very…”
“Awesome?”
I laughed. “Romantic—it’s very romantic. And awesome, too.”
“As long as you think it is awesome, then it was worth it.” He glanced up as the waitress arrived at our table. Her nametag read Rhonda.
When she turned to take Daemon’s order, her eyes glazed over—a common side effect of being around Mr. Awesome, I was learning. “And what about you, sweetie?”
“Spaghetti with meat sauce,” I said, closing the menu and handing it over.
Rhonda glanced at Daemon, and I think she might have sighed. “I’ll bring your breadsticks out immediately.”
After we were alone, I grinned at my date. “I think we’re going to get extra meatballs.”
He laughed. “Hey, I’m good for some things.”
“You’re good for a lot of things.” The moment that left my mouth, I blushed. Whoa. That could be perceived in many ways.
Surprisingly, Daemon let it slide and started teasing me about a book he’d seen in my bedroom. It was a romance novel. Typical barrel-chested alpha male cover model with sixteen-pack abs. By the time our heaping pile of breadsticks arrived, I’d almost convinced him that he’d be a perfect cover model for one of those books.
“I don’t wear leather pants,” he said, biting into the garlicky and buttery goodness.
And that was a damn shame. “Still. You have the look.”
He rolled his eyes. “You just like me for my body. Admit it.”
“Well, yeah…”