Page 47 of Planned Seduction
“’Bye, Amy. ’Bye, Daniel, and remember…don’t give up.”
He winked at her, and they left the room.
Daniel led her to the doctors’ room, where he sagged into a chair with a heavy sigh. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “She looks awful. Worse than she did in the middle of her chemotherapy.”
“Her face lit up when she saw you. She adores you.”
As do I.
In that moment of silent confession, something shifted in Amy’s chest, like a cog clicking into place. Her heart had melted at the way he’d acted toward the young girl.
He’d treated her like an adult, showed her absolute respect and handled her with such gentleness, affection, and care. And it was obvious the girl was crazy about him.
Amy was pretty crazy about him herself.
The warm fuzzies from earlier converged into something more solid, more tangible, an unexpected pressure pushing against her ribs. Watching Daniel and Vicky together had touched something deep inside her. Watching Daniel now touched something even deeper. A place he’d never touched before.
“Yeah, well, I adore her, too,” Daniel said. “It’s amazing how much she taught me about life.”
“She’s learned a lot in her short one.” Amy regarded Daniel thoughtfully. “What was that whole conversation about? What did Vicky inspire you to do?”
“You don’t know?”
“You were both so cryptic in there, I didn’t have a clue what you were talking about.” Nevertheless, her heart began to pound.
Daniel’s blue eyes shone bright with intensity. “It’s all about you.”
Amy placed a hand over her thudding heart, trying to ease the mounting pressure there. It wasn’t an uncomfortable pressure, exactly, just unexpected. It made breathing a whole lot more difficult than usual. “What about me? What did you discuss?”
He smiled a mysterious, appealing smile. “We spoke about the important things in our lives.”
“And what are they?” A memory intruded then, of the two of them sitting at Tamarama the day after he finished his shoot. What were the words he had used then?
Vicky forced me to look at my life and my behavior. I’m not happy with where I am right now.
It was all connected. Whatever he was about to tell her, it was exactly the thing he’d felt he wasn’t ready to discuss back then. And it was about her. “Danny? What did you say about me?”
The door opened, and Leona walked into the office. She looked at them in surprise. “Oh. I thought you’d have left by now.”
Amy nearly moaned out loud. Leona’s timing couldn’t have been worse.
“I’m glad you haven’t.” She looked coquettishly at Daniel, oblivious to Amy’s turmoil. “I wanted to discuss tonight with you. I thought we could get together.”
What the…?
Leona had seen Daniel kissing her at least twice now, and still she couldn’t take a hint. Apart from that, Daniel looked harassed. He was visibly upset by his visit with Vicky. The last thing he needed was Leona bugging him.
To top it all, the doctor had interrupted a very private, very pivotal moment.
She checked her watch. Time was running out. She had an appointment with a client in less than half an hour. Daniel wasn’t going to get a chance to tell her his big secret. And the pressure around her heart hadn’t eased at all.
Damn the woman.
Enough was enough. “Daniel has plans tonight with me.” He didn’t, but Leona didn’t need to know that. “So, no, I don’t think you’ll be getting together with him. Not tonight, nor any night soon. Okay?” She turned to Daniel and softened her tone. “My place, around seven?”
Daniel nodded. His dimples flashed as he tried to hide a grin. “Don’t forget, I’m cooking.”
Aware of a glowering Leona beside her, Amy gave him a slow smile. “You sure were last night.” With that, she planted a tender kiss on his lips, and her heart raced into overdrive.
