Unfortunately for her, this date, like many dates before, had ended poorly. It also had the added bonus of making things even more awkward, because she’d stupidly agreed to go out on a date with her neighbor. She closed her eyes and dropped her head in defeat. This had been a mistake, one that she should have known better than to repeat after Jerry, but here she was in her kitchen, alone with an extra large pan filled to the brim with mac and cheese.

“Well, this is going to make things easier,” Danny said softly, sounding amused just as she registered the feel of silk touching her face. “No, just leave it, Tinkerbelle,” he said when she reached up to push the blindfold off.

“What are you doing?” she asked when she felt Danny’s large hand wrap around hers.

“Moving on to the second portion of the date,” he explained as he gently pulled her to her feet.

“Where did you go?”

He sighed heavily seconds before she felt his lips brush against hers, which pleased her bruised ego. “I’m sorry that I’m late. It took longer to pull this together than I’d thought.”

“Pull what together?”

“You’ll see,” he said, sounding a bit excited, which actually made her understandably nervous considering who she was dealing with here.

“Is it going to leave a permanent scar?” she half teased.

He sighed heavily. “It might.”

“Should I send up a silent prayer for help?” she asked, smiling as she allowed him to lead her through her living room.

“I’d send up two.”

“Maybe I should put up a struggle?”

“It wouldn’t help.”

“Should I leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind so that I can find my way back later after I escape?” she asked as she heard him open her front door.

“It would be gone in less than ten minutes.”

“Birds?”

“My cousins,” he answered with a soft shiver-inducing chuckle.

“I see,” she murmured, loving their playful banter. “Then perhaps I should put up some sort of resistance?”

“You could, but then you wouldn’t get your surprise,” he teased as he guided her to sit down.

“Will the surprise be worth a kidnapping charge?”

He chuckled as he double-checked her blindfold. “Absolutely.”

“Then I suppose I could wait a few minutes before I start screaming for help.”

“I would appreciate that,” he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. “Stay still and try to behave while I’m gone.”

With that, he was gone and she was left sitting in what she assumed was his living room. She strained her ears, but she couldn’t hear anything that gave away Danny’s plans. She did however smell flowers and a light floral scent mixed with smoke. Candles? She was tempted to peek, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise. She didn’t care what it was. The only thing that she cared about was that Danny had done something special for her. She wanted to savor the moment, but all too soon Danny returned, and with her casserole by the smell of it.

“I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant, but……….,” he let his words trail off with a sigh that had her biting back a smile.

“Are you ever going to tell me what that was about?” she asked, not bothering to hide her amusement.

“It’s just a little misunderstanding,” he muttered as she listened to him move around the room.

“I see,” she said, still wondering how an entire family could be banned from what amounted to twenty-nine restaurants. Then again, she had a hunch that the number was actually higher.

“Don’t worry. I’ll plan better next time,” he said, making her bite back a smile.

“Who said there would be a next time?”

“You did.”

“Me?”

“Mmmmhmm,” he said, moving around her.

“And when exactly did I agree to a next time?”

“This morning.”

“I don’t remember that,” she said, almost positive that she would have remembered agreeing to going out with him again. Then again, she had been a bit distracted this morning.

“Remember when you had that big guy with glasses curled up in the fetal position crying?” he asked conversationally as she winced at the memory of making the man beg for mercy.

“Yes?” she answered slowly, wracking her brain and trying to remember exactly what she’d said, other than calling the man a big baby and a few other things that were probably better left forgotten.

“That’s when you agreed to go out with me again.”

“Wasn’t that about the time when you threw me over your shoulder?” she pointed out.

“Yes.”

“I don’t remember having a conversation with you.”

“You did and it was life altering.”

“I see.”

“I’m glad that you do, Tink,” he said, suddenly in front of her.

“Welcome to Bradford Cinemas, Tinkerbelle.”

Chapter 18

He’d definitely outdone himself tonight, he thought with satisfaction as he pressed a kiss against the top of Jodi’s head where it laid against his shoulder. He would have rather taken her to a nice restaurant followed by a movie and then on a romantic drive later, but his plans had fallen apart. Thankfully, he’d been able to come up with a contingency plan.

It had taken him a little longer than he’d planned, but he’d managed to replace the furniture his cousins had destroyed the day before, hit the florist, bakery, and the store where he’d picked up a few movies, popcorn and candy in time to salvage their date. Judging by the expression on her face when he’d removed the blindfold, she’d been pleased with his efforts.

They’d watched movies well into the night, eating that unbelievably delicious macaroni and cheese and snacking on candy and popcorn until about a half hour ago when she’d snuggled up against him and fallen fast asleep. He’d thought about waking her up so that he could walk her to her door and get that goodnight kiss that he’d been dreaming about for the past two days, but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.

He closed his eyes and settled back, savoring the feel of her in his arms. He felt his body begin to relax and tried to fight it, but it just felt too good to fight. It had been years since he’d been able to let his guard down. Just a few minutes and he’d wake Tinkerbelle up and walk her home.

Just a few minutes…….

*-*-*-*

“Ow!” she muttered just as Danny groaned, “Shit!”

For a minute she could only lay there as she struggled to catch her breath, but it was kind of difficult with a man who had to weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds lying on top of her. She wasn’t exactly sure how this happened. One minute she’d been dreaming of Danny doing….umm, what he was doing in her dream wasn’t important, and the next minute she was falling off the couch and hitting the floor with Danny landing on top of her.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, shifting some of his weight off her and onto his elbows.

“I t-think so,” she said in a daze.

“I must have dozed off. I’m sorry, Tinkerbelle,” Danny said, sighing softly as he reached over and pushed her hair out of her face.