Page 56 of Dream Date With the Millionaire
Dolly pulled her into a hug. “And it feels a lot more homey when you girls are here with me. That’s for sure.”
Emotion welled within Dani. For so long, she’d been searching and dreaming about finding a place to call home when, in fact, she’d had one all along.
Home wasn’t something you bought, but the place where you were surrounded by love. Whether a house or a beat-up station wagon or an old two bedroom, one bath single-wide trailer.
She was home.
An unfamiliar contentment filled her.
And this was the perfect place to pull herself together and figure out what she wanted to do next.
“Your father’s here,” Joelle said from the doorway to Bryce’s office. “Do you want me to send him in or tell him you’re busy?”
Peter Delaney visited the office when he wanted Bryce to act as a go-between with his mother. The two only spoke when attending the same social event, where they limited their exchanges to polite platitudes. Bryce had assumed the mediator role as a child, but dealing with one of his parents’ endless battles when he felt so broken up inside didn’t appeal to him in the slightest.
“Did he say why he wants to see me?” Bryce asked.
“Only that it was important,” Joelle said.
He stared at the code on his monitor. He’d thrown himself into work for over a week now, but the long hours hadn’t made him feel any better over what had happened with Dani. If anything, work made him feel worse. They’d met through the Web site. Every time he logged on, he thought about her.
Dani would never admit she needed anything, not even love, if that meant she had to rely on someone except herself. She hadn’t wanted his help. She hadn’t wanted him. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Not unless he wanted to be accused of trying to “control.”
“Boss?” Joelle asked.
Maybe talking with his father would take his mind off her. Something had to. Bryce saved and closed the file. “Send him in.”
A minute later, his father sauntered in, checking out Joelle’s backside as she walked away. “How’s it going, son?”
“Fine.”
Peter sat. He studied the stacks of papers on the desk, grimaced and looked at Bryce. “Your mother’s worried about you.”
“Caitlin called you.”
“No, Maeve called me herself.”
Bryce straightened.
“That’s why I’m here,” Peter admitted. “She’s very concerned about you, Bryce. You haven’t returned any of her phone calls.”
Bryce wasn’t ready to tell his family he was no longer dating Dani. He hadn’t wanted the questions or the company. “It’s been a hectic week.”
“You haven’t been home. Your mother and I stopped by your house last night.”
“You and Mother together at my place. I hope I still have a house to go home to.”
Peter frowned. “We may not be the best parents, but we’re adult enough to put aside our differences for our children’s sake.”
A bitter guilt coated Bryce’s mouth. Even he could see his father was here trying to help. “Sorry. Rough week.”
“Were you with Dani last night?”
“No, I slept here at the office,” Bryce admitted. “I’ve been putting in more hours lately.”
Not that he’d been getting anything done.
The lines on his father’s face relaxed. “Your mother will be relieved.”
“You seem relieved, too.”
“We like Dani, but you haven’t been together long. Your mother is worried you might be rushing into something. She thinks you might be thinking about following in Edward’s footsteps and eloping to Las Vegas.”
Bryce winced. “Not going to happen.”
“But if things do get more serious, you have to start thinking about a prenup.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have to worry about that.”
Not now.
“One of these days, you will,” Peter counseled. “You have so much to lose, including half of your share of this company.”
“I—”
“Hear me out, Bryce,” Peter said. “You said Dani was a smart woman.”
“She is.”
“Her brains match her body.”
“They do.”
“Your mother is like that.” Peter’s eyes narrowed. “Women like your mother will take you for everything you’ve got.”
“Dani’s not like my mother.”
Peter raised a brow. “How do you know?”
“I trust her.” And he did, Bryce realized in spite of everything. “Dani wants to be independent. She won’t take anything from me.”
