“I’m not wearing perfume,” she said, letting the grumpiness out.
“Really?” He looked genuinely astounded, as if he’d meant it about Hawaii smelling like her.
She resisted an impulse to give her armpits a quick, subtle sniff. And then she realized that she was having this intimate conversation while lying upside down with a baby on her tummy.
She scrambled to sitting, juggling Jake. Her hair was flying all over the place, hissing with static, and she ran a self-conscious hand through it, trying to tame it.
He took another sip of his coffee. “Maybe it’s your hair that made me think of Hawaii.”
The flattery was making her flustered. A different woman, which she suddenly found herself wishing she was, would know how to respond to that. A different woman might giggle and blink her eyes and talk about skinny-dipping in the warm waters of the Pacific. With him.
Even thinking about skinny-dipping made her blush. Thinking of skinny-dipping anywhere in the vicinity of him made her feel as if she should go to confession. And she wasn’t even Catholic!
Besides, she was sworn off men. And romance. And most certainly off skinny-dipping! Though it did seem like a bit of a shame to swear off something before even trying it.
Having thoroughly rattled her, he smiled with cat-that-got-the-cream satisfaction.
“I’m having some breakfast sent up,” he said. “Fruit, yogurt. Any other requests?”
“I have to have Huggi Bears for breakfast,” Susie told him.
“She doesn’t,” Dannie said firmly. “Yogurt is just fine. If you’ll excuse us for a minute, I’ll make myself presentable. And the children. Of course.”
“I thought you were quite presentable. Don’t feel you have to dress for breakfast. I want you to feel at home here.”
“Why? We’re leaving.”
“Until you do,” he said smoothly, and then shut the door quietly and left them alone.
A few minutes later she had the children washed and dressed. Dannie actually found herself lamenting the lack of choice in the clothing she had brought, but wore the nicest things she had packed, a pinstripe navy blue blazer and matching slacks. Like most of her clothes, the slacks were protesting her weight gain and were just a touch too snug. Thankfully the blazer covered the worst of it! The outfit was decidedly businesslike, almost in defiance of his invitation to make themselves at home. At the last moment she added a hint of makeup, ridiculously grateful there was some in her bag left over from her last trip.
He was being particularly charming this morning. That would come naturally to him. She needn’t be flattered by it. Or worse, wonder what he wanted. She had nothing a man like that would want, even with the addition of mascara!
When she came out, the breakfast bar had been set up with platters of fresh fruit and croissants. Several child-size boxes of cereal, including Huggi Bears were available. There were choices of milk, chocolate milk or juice, the coffee smelled absolutely heavenly.
What would it be like to live like this? To just snap your fingers and have a feast including Huggi Bears delivered instantly?
It would make a person spoiled rotten, she thought. Emphasis on the rotten.
Or make them feel as if they had died and gone to heaven, she thought as she took a sip of the coffee. It was even richer and more satisfying than it had smelled.
It renewed her commitment to taking the children home. Before she was spoiled for real life. Before she started wanting and expecting luxuries she was never going to have.
“Let’s take it out on the terrace,” he suggested. He took the baby from her with more ease than she would have expected after just one day. When she joined him outside, he was spooning yogurt into Jake who was cooperatively opening his mouth like a baby bird waiting for a worm.
Susie had chosen one of the tiny boxes of Huggi Bears. It was the annoying kind that claimed it could be used as a bowl, but never quite worked properly. Still, Susie insisted she had to have it out of the box, and by the time Dannie had it opened along all the dotted lines and had poured the milk, she was cursing Joshua’s charm and good looks, which made her feel as clumsy as if she were trying to open the box with elephants’ feet instead of hands!
She made herself focus on the view, which was spectacular in the early morning light. The sea breeze was fresh and scented. She wondered what Hawaii smelled like.
She ordered herself just to enjoy this place and this moment, but it proved to be impossible. She needed to know what happened next. It was just her nature.
“So, may I ask what arrangements you’ve made for the children and me?” The thought of traveling again so soon exhausted her. The thought of staying here with him was terrifying.
It gave new meaning to being caught between a rock and a hard place.
“Well,” he said, and smiled widely, “I have a surprise for you.”
Danielle was one of those people who did not care much for surprises. It was part of being the kind of person who liked to know what was going to happen next.
“I’m flying out to look at a property for a few days. It’s called the Moose Lake Lodge. Susie mentioned camping, so I thought she’d love it. All of us. A vacation in the British Columbia wilderness.”
“We’re going camping?” Susie breathed. “I love camping!”
“You don’t know the first thing about camping,” Dannie said.
“I do so!”
She was staring at Joshua with a growing feeling of anger. So this was why he’d been so charming this morning! Smelled like Hawaii, indeed. Her hair made him think of Hawaii. Sure it did!
“Are you telling me or consulting me?” she asked dangerously.
He pondered that for a moment. “I’d really like for you to come.”
It was an evasive answer. It meant he hadn’t booked them tickets home.
“The real question is why would you want to drag two children and a nanny along on a business trip?”
“It’s not strictly business.”
She raised an eyebrow and waited.
“You know as well as I do Melanie will kill me if I send the kids home after I promised her I’d give them a holiday.”
It still wasn’t the whole truth. She could feel it.
“Say yes,” Susie said, slipping her hand into Dannie’s and blinking at her with her most adorable expression. “Please say yes. Camping.”
Everything in her screamed no.
Except for the part of her that screamed yes.
The part of her that begged her to, just once, say yes to the unexpected. Just once to not know what the day held. To not have a clue. To just once embrace a surprise instead of rejecting it.
To leave the safe haven of her predictable, controlled world.
What had her controlled world given her so far? Despite her best efforts, she had ended up with her heart broken, anyway.
“What do you mean, you’re flying?” she asked, looking for a way to ease into accepting, not wanting to say an out-and-out yes as if the promise of an adventure was more than poor, boring her could refuse.
Not wanting to appear like a staid nanny who’d been offered a rare chance to be spontaneous.
“I have a pilot’s license,” he said. “I fly my own plane.”
There