“I guess so,” she agreed, sauntering toward him with a sinful sway of her hips. “I’ll try not to complain too much.”
“I’ll try to not to give you anything to complain about.”
“You can start right now.” She twined her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. “By giving me one of those expert kisses.”
His hands glided under her shirt to touch her warm, soft skin. “Happy to. But I thought you wanted chocolate.”
“You’re better than chocolate.”
And that, Daniel decided as his mouth settled over hers, was one hell of a compliment coming from the Queen of the Chocogasm.
7
THE NEXT TWO weeks passed so quickly, Carlie felt as she’d merely blinked and they were over. Valentine’s Day dawned bright and clear and she spent the morning working her shift at the Delaford spa, then visiting a client on the way home. At two o’clock she stowed her portable massage table in the trunk of her car, then slid into the front seat. Her regular weekly session with Mrs. Fanning had gone very well, especially considering that during the entire hour, Carlie’s mind had stubbornly wandered from the task at hand to the one thing she’d spent the last two weeks thinking about.
Daniel Montgomery.
She closed her eyes and a veritable slide show of Daniel-induced memories flickered through her mind. Daniel, smiling, his dimples flashing at her. Pushing his fantasy-inspiring glasses up his nose. Falling asleep on her sofa with her puppies sprawled across his stomach. Lying in all his naked glory on her bed as she gave him a massage. The two of them feeding each other his chocolate truffles. Playing with P.B. and J. Walking hand in hand through downtown Austell. Playing Frisbee in the park with the dogs then enjoying a picnic lunch. Renting a James Bond flick and snuggling in with a bowl of popcorn. Talking, laughing, sharing childhood memories over pizza and late-night cappuccinos. Daniel gazing at her, his eyes dark with want. Whispering her name. Touching her. Over her. Under her. Buried deep inside her. His hands and mouth…everywhere.
And it was all about to end. Moving day was tomorrow.
Skulking beneath her happiness of the past two weeks was a sensation that had grown each day, until it now sat like a rock in her stomach. She’d tried to put various euphemistic names on the feeling, but the way it squeezed her right now, there was only one word for it: desolation.
Throughout the past two weeks she’d felt as if an egg timer were counting down the minutes of their time together, an incessant internal ticking clock that she’d forced herself to shove to the back of her mind. But there was now no more room to shove because as of tomorrow morning he’d be gone. Another wave of desolation washed over her, this one nearly drowning her.
An image flashed through her mind of how she’d last seen him before departing his house this morning: in the shower-a heart-stopping sight she was now very familiar with-water sluicing down his lean, muscular, aroused body. Just the memory shot tingles down to her toes.
The man occupied every corner of her mind. Occupied? Ha. More like he’d pitched a tent, settled himself in a comfy chair, and taken up permanent residence in her brain cells. Which was bad enough. But she greatly feared the situation was far worse than that-that he’d managed to take up permanent residence in her heart as well. Which, given his imminent departure from Austell, was really bad. She needed help. A pep talk. Pronto. Since there wasn’t a twelve-step “Fight Your Daniel Addiction” program listed in the phone book-and she’d looked-she settled for the next best thing. Digging her cell phone out of her purse, she quickly dialed.
“Hello?” said a familiar voice.
“Hi, Mom.”
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Carlie couldn’t help but laugh. “I literally said two words. What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“I’m a mother. I know these things. And based on your voice, I’m guessing that whatever’s wrong involves a man, most likely your neighbor Daniel you briefly mentioned when we spoke last week.”
Briefly? She’d said his name. And only because Daniel had been there when her mom had called and she’d heard his voice in the background while he’d played with P.B. and J. “Okay, you’ve always been good at guessing, but this time you’re scaring me. What do you have-a crystal ball?”
“No, just the ‘I know when my baby needs me’ chromosome that never goes away, no matter how grown-up that baby might be. So tell me what’s wrong.”
“Maybe I’m just calling to wish you a happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Thank you. Same to you. Now what’s wrong?”
Since there was no point in trying to deny she was troubled, Carlie blew out a long breath, then tried to put into words the unsettling thoughts spinning around in her mind, grateful she and her mother could discuss anything.
“Over the past two weeks, Daniel and I have been, um, seeing quite a lot of each other.” Literally. Another image of him naked flashed through her mind. “And things have been…terrific,” she continued, although “terrific” didn’t even begin to do justice to what they’d shared. “He’s very…nice,” she grimaced at the lukewarm word, “and I don’t mean just between the sheets. Which is really the problem. And I guess that’s why I’m feeling so…out of sorts. He’s moving tomorrow, and well, I’m just…sorry he’s leaving. I…I’m going to miss him.” To Carlie’s dismay, her bottom lip trembled and moisture pushed behind her eyes. “Which is something I hadn’t anticipated. I knew going in that our time together had an end date tattooed on it. We both did. And that was fine with me. Believe me, the last thing I was looking for was a man to clutter up my life. You know that I’d sworn off serious relationships, at least until school is finished.”
“I recall you telling me that, yes.”
She raked her free hand through her hair. “But Daniel turned out to be so…different. So unexpected. He makes me laugh. He’s talented and smart. Kind and generous. Easy-going and patient to a fault with P.B. and J. He’s nice to his family. On top of all that, he’s spent hours designing and building me this fabulous, professional website, that I’d never be able to afford, to advertise my massage therapy services. Our time together was supposed to be no-strings but instead I find myself tied up in big, huge knots.”
“And why do you think that is?”
“I guess because I…like him.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and forced herself to admit the frightening truth that she could no longer deny. “Problem is, I think that maybe I like him a little too much. Certainly more than I wanted to.”
“Hmmm. And what are you planning to do about that?”
“Planning?” Carlie, frowned then shook her head. “Uh, well, nothing. There’s nothing I can do. He’s leaving for Boston tomorrow. This was nothing more than a fling. For both of us. My life is here. His life is there. I don’t have the time or energy to devote to a long-distance relationship. And even if I did, he hasn’t given me any indication he’d be interested in doing so.”
“Have you talked about it?”
“We agreed we’d ‘keep in touch,’” she made air quotes her mom couldn’t see, “but you know what that means. We’ll exchange a few e-mails or phone calls that will turn painfully awkward once he starts dating someone else. Which I bet won’t take long once the women of Boston discover him.” An unpleasant sensation that could only be called jealousy slithered through her, making her want to slap the entire female population of Massachusetts.
“And also awkward when you start dating someone as well,” Mom said.