Allie opened the door and entered his room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, with a paperback on the nightstand. His chest was bare, making the scar from his surgery visible, and he wore drawstring pajama bottoms slung low on his hips. She glanced at his navel and his gloriously rippled abs. Before she looked too hard and too deep, she shifted her attention to his face.
He was checking her out, too. His dark gaze slid up and down her nightgown-clad body and rested momentarily on her breasts. She prayed that her nipples didnt get hard. Self-consciousness was setting in. But so was a major revelation.
Although Daniel treated her like a friend, he was sexually attracted to her. Some of what hed felt for her prior to the coma was still there, sluicing through his blood. If Allie wasnt such a Chicken Little, she could seduce him.
Climb right in his lap and make him moan.
Whats going on? he finally asked.
Nothing. I just wanted to say goodnight. So much for thinking on her feet. Theyd already bid each other goodnight earlier.
He stood up, and his height dwarfed the military-tidy room. Are you having trouble sleeping?
A little.
So am I. But Im a bit of an insomniac anyway. He adjusted the waistband of his pajama bottoms, lifting them a smidgen. Theyd fallen even lower on his hips. Was I always?
God, he looked gorgeous. Rough and ready. Were you always what?
An insomniac?
She tried not to stammer. He was moving closer. I dont know. We never slept near each other.
But we fought paranormal creatures, searched for a magic talisman and helped your cursed lover get back to his dead wife?
It sounds unbelievable, but thats what we did. Her cursed lover had been a time-traveling warrior whod shape-shifted into a raven.
Was it hard to let him go?
The question threw her. Daniel had never questioned her in detail about Raven. I wanted him to be happy, to find peace. Before Raven went away, hed asked Daniel to look after her. But since Daniel didnt remember, she wasnt about to tell him. There was only so much she could say about the past without getting emotional. Besides, he was looking after her, even without recalling his promise to Raven.
Allie shifted her bare feet. By now, she and Daniel stood face-to-face. Seducing him crossed her mind again, but she thought better of it. She wanted more from him than sex. She wanted him to remember that hed loved her.
He had loved her, hadnt he? Hed never come right out and said it, but she assumed that he had.
A knot grew in her belly. What if shed been wrong? What if all hed ever felt for her was a physical attraction?
She glanced at the neon green numbers on the alarm clock. It was almost midnight, and she was battling a newfound blast of anxiety. I should go. I should try to get some sleep.
Me, too. For all the good it will do. He reached out to touch a spaghetti strap on her nightgown. You look pretty, Allie.
The knot in her stomach got tighter. Was he making a play for her?
I imagined you wearing something like this. If I didnt know better, Id say you wore it on purpose. He snared her gaze. Youre not psychic, are you? Like your sister?
She felt like a rabbit caught in a trap. I cant read peoples minds. And you shouldnt have been thinking about me in my bedclothes.
The way you shouldnt be coming to my room looking like an innocent siren? He stepped back, putting distance between them. He wasnt making a play. He was reprimanding her, along with himself. Were both guilty of misconduct.
Yes, they were, and he was too damn observant for his own good. Struggling to temper her emotions, she said good-night once again, and turned and left his room, closing the door gently behind her.
Too bad he wasnt observant enough to figure out that the innocent siren loved him.
The sun shone through the windows, making Daniel aware of its yellow rays. Christmas was only two weeks away, but the Southern California weather didnt seem to know the difference. Not that Daniel cared. The holidays didnt make him cheerful. Why he felt like a bit of a Scrooge, he couldnt say. But lots of people got depressed around Christmas, so he tried not to make too much of it.
Although he was still sleep
deprived, he showered, shaved, and donned a pair of freshly laundered jeans and a basic white T-shirt. Next, he headed to the kitchen where Allie was getting a jumpstart on breakfast. Shed already beaten him to the punch and brewed a pot of coffee, and now she was cracking eggs into a bowl.
He stood in the doorway and watched her. She was wearing a big, fluffy pink robe and ugly slippers with mottled colors. He assumed that the pretty nightgown was underneath, but damn if he could tell. She was belted good and tight. He supposed that after last nights encounter, she wasnt taking any chances. But at least it was out in the open. At least theyd admitted that they were attracted to each other. Or sort of admitted it. Whatever the case, one thing was clear: they werent going to act on it.
Maintaining a platonic relationship was best. Safer, he thought. Less complicated.