Handsome Flirt Read online

  She leaned back against the sofa cushion and proclaimed, “Love is serious business. Carl should have shown it proper respect.”

  “Yes, he should have,” Travis agreed. “But I guess he learned his lesson. That will teach him to mess around with love.”

  Freda raised one eyebrow and gave Travis a direct, unwavering look. “So I take it from what you just said that you and Dani aren't going to be foolish about what's happening between the two of you. You're going to show the love between you proper respect and not going to behave like fools, right?”

  Surprised, Travis looked at Dani, who seemed as unnerved by her grandmother's comment as he was. He hadn't realized the change in their relationship was that obvious. Apparently it was, since Freda had no trouble figuring out what was going on.

  Dani cleared her throat. Then she cleared it a second time when her grandmother shifted her attention to her. Travis could tell Dani was wrestling with the right thing to say to her grandmother, but how did you explain friends with benefits to a woman who believed in lifelong love?

  Personally, he couldn't think of a thing to say, so he kept his mouth shut and waited for Dani's response.

  Finally, with a laugh, Dani stood. “We've got a lot of work to do. Travis and I will get back in touch with you once we've worked out a new plan.”

  Freda stood and hugged her granddaughter. “I'll let you run away from me, but remember, you can't run away from yourself. And you certainly can't run away from love.”

  She turned toward Travis. “Love isn't something you treat lightly,” she told him. When he started to respond, she held up one hand. “Even if you don't recognize love, it recognizes you.”

  With that pronouncement, Freda swept out of the living room, leaving Dani and Travis staring after her.

  For a couple of seconds, neither of them said a word. What was there to say? They both had agreed emotions wouldn't get tangled up in what was happening with them, but could you always guarantee that?

  So, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Travis said, “Well, I guess we've been warned.”

  But rather than laughing, Dani merely nodded. “Yes, we have. Let's just hope she's not right.”

  Chapter Eight

  Talking to her grandmother had been like facing an angry judge, Dani decided as she and Travis left her parents' house. Her grandmother was a strong-willed woman who saw the world her own special way and thought everyone else should see it that way as well.

  But Dani didn't. She wasn't a big believer in love. Why would she be? Her parents certainly weren't a good example of a loving couple, and of the friends she had who'd married, several of them were already divorced.

  As far as her own relationships went, she'd really liked all of her boyfriends, but she'd never felt anything remotely like love.

  So how did you believe in something you'd never seen?

  “I need to head back to the ranch,” Travis said as they climbed in his truck. “Want to come with me since your car’s there, or do you just want me to drop you at your apartment?”

  “There's no reason for me to go to my apartment again,” Dani said. “This afternoon when we stopped by so I could change clothes, I found it depressing with all the moving boxes. Let’s go to your ranch instead. If nothing else, as you said, I can retrieve my car.”

  That was only part of the reason why she wanted to hang around with Travis, and it was a very small part. The main reason was that she had her hopes set on a repeat of what had happened last night. It had been a long time since she'd had sex, and quite frankly, she'd never had sex like she'd had last night.

  So a repeat sounded like an excellent idea. But even though Travis had said before they'd talked to Freda that he was interested in a repeat, she still wasn't sure that's what he wanted. At the moment, she couldn't tell if he wanted to be with her again or if he'd been hoping she'd want him to drop her off. All that talk about love might have changed his mind.

  When they reached the ranch, the young man she'd met the last time, Elvin Darwin, was standing outside the barn, talking on the phone.

  “So then the bad guy told Spiderman...” Elvin turned bright red at the sight of Travis, and after a lot of muttering and mumbling said into the phone, he said, “Mr. Max Walker isn't here at the moment, but I'll be happy to take a message if you'd like.”

  Rather than being upset, Travis chuckled and looked at Dani. “Makes you wonder what a superhero would want with Max. My brother is a great guy, but he can hardly leap tall buildings or spin webs. Now if they'd been asking to see me, well, it would have been more believable.”

  Dani smiled, happy to see Travis wasn't going to yell at Elvin. She knew the young man wasn't the best employee, but she got the sense that he was trying in his own way.

  “So you consider yourself tough enough to help out a superhero?” she teased.

  Travis gave her a sexy look that made tingles dance across her skin. Leaning close to her, he softly said, “I think I did a fairly good job last night.”

  Normally, Dani considered herself a woman in control of her emotions, but at that moment, the air whooshed out of her lungs, and all she wanted was Travis. Just like that. She wanted him with an intensity that startled her. She'd never been someone fixated with sex, but today, there was nothing else she could think about.

  “What if I say I can't remember?” She met his gaze.

  “Then I'll be happy to provide a refresher,” he said, his gaze dropping to her lips.

  Lust seared through Dani like a flame, and she knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was as interested in a repeat as she was.

  “Sounds great,” she said simply as the air between them crackled with awareness.

  Travis looked as if he was about to say more when Elvin hung up the phone.

  “Um, they didn't want to leave a message,” he told Travis.

  Travis turned to look at the young man, and Dani found herself hoping to avoid a long interruption. The sooner they got out of here and to Travis’ house, the happier she'd be.

  And apparently, she wasn't the only one who felt that way, because Travis headed over to the barn. He started rushing through it, walking fast and asking Elvin questions as he went.

  “Where's the fire?” Elvin finally asked. “Do you have an appointment?”

  Travis glanced briefly at Dani, and then said, “Yes, we do.”

  He held up a stack of notes Elvin handed him. “Are these all the phone calls? Why didn’t you let me know things were backing up? Anything else?”

  Elvin shifted from one side to the other and suddenly seemed to find his phone fascinating. “Most of them aren’t about anything important.”

  Oh dear. This didn't sound good.

  “Elvin, what happened?” Travis asked, and although his voice and expression seemed calm, Dani knew he was trying hard not to lose his patience.

  Elvin looked up. “Oh, did I tell you Max called? He asked me to tell you he and his wife are coming home from their honeymoon.”

  Travis flipped through the messages. “I don't see a note about his call. Did he say anything else? Does he want me to pick them up at the airport?”

  “I'm positive he didn't want you to. Well, pretty positive,” Elvin said. Once again, he looked down at his phone. The poor kid was obviously scared to tell Travis what had happened.

  DANI COULDN'T BLAME Travis for being upset. This was a new business after all, and it was vital that important phone calls be returned and messages not be lost. She'd probably be upset too if she’d walked into a mess like this.

  But Travis didn't seem upset. Instead, he said, “Just tell me what happened, Elvin. Bad news doesn't get better with time.”

  Elvin finally looked up. “It wasn't my fault. Not really. I was doing what you told me to do.”

  Travis nodded. “So somehow it was my fault. Ah, well, in that case, I apologize. Now, what exactly did I do?”

  Elvin looked baffled. “No, I didn't mean it was your fault, like you had done
it or something.” He thought for a second and then added, “But you did tell me to empty the trash whenever the can got full, so in a way, I guess it is your fault. And how was I supposed to know that my notes had fallen into the basket? I answered the business phone each time it rang, and I took great notes.”

  Oh no. The young man had thrown some of Travis’ messages in the trash and then emptied it. Dani looked at Travis, knowing he must want to explode.

  Instead, he sighed. Then he sighed again. Then he said, “Elvin, from now on, I’ll forward the ranch phone to my cell. That way, you won’t have to worry about messages.”

  The young man obviously didn't know he'd been skating on thin ice because rather than thanking Travis for not firing him, he said, “That's a good idea, because truthfully, I'm too busy to keep taking all these messages. I have lots of horses to take care of and talk to every day.”

  Travis rubbed one hand across his face, then turned away from Elvin. Dani knew he'd pretty much had all he could take, so she walked over and patted his arm.

  “Those people will call back,” she assured him.

  “Probably. But I wonder how thrilled Max is going to be if I'm supposed to pick him up,” he pointed out.

  “Like I said, I'm pretty positive he doesn't want you to get him,” Elvin said with a big smile. “I wouldn't worry about it.”

  Travis made a soft groaning noise, and Dani could tell he was rapidly reaching the end of his rope. Jumping in, she told Elvin to have a nice evening, and then she tugged on Travis’ arm until she got him out of the barn.

  When they were in front of the house, he sighed. “I need to fire that kid.”

  “No, you don't. And you won't. You're too nice for that,” she said, tucking her arm through his as they walked up the front steps. “ You're a very nice man. You just need to work with him a little more until he gets it.”

  Travis raised one eyebrow. “You think I'm nice? I'm not sure how I feel about that.”

  “Of course, I think you're nice,” she said, bumping him with her hip as they walked. “It's one of the many, many things I like about you.”

  They'd reached the front door of the house she assumed was his, and as they crossed the threshold, Travis said, “Well, I think you're nice, too. And it's one of the many, many things I like about you.”

  As silly and goofy as it seemed, Dani enjoyed his compliment, and even though he was only repeating back to her what she'd said to him, it didn't matter. She felt warm and happy simply because Travis had told her she was nice and that he liked her.

  Could she be any more juvenile?

  Apparently so, because when he went on to explain that he liked her because she was kind to people, she actually blushed.

  “Okay, I think you need to stop saying nice things to me now,” she said, patting her cheeks. “I seem to have lost my mind temporarily and can't take much more.”

  Travis dropped a light kiss on her lips. “I like making you blush.”

  Dani smiled. “Really? Well, you won't find many things that work.”

  “Odd that compliments do,” he noted. “It makes me sad to think you haven't had a lot of experience with them.”

  He was right about that. Growing up in her household, compliments were scarce. And now at the law firm, they were even scarcer. Of course, Freda gave her compliments, but when she thought about it, she couldn't think of anyone else who did.

  “Not all of us are told on a regular basis how wonderful we are,” she teased, wanting to lighten the mood. “I imagine you hear that quite often.”

  “Sometimes, but it's usually in a breathless female voice.” He flashed her his bad-boy flirt grin and added, “Sort of like the one you used last night.”

  Dani laughed. “You're unbelievable.”

  “Yeah, I hear that one a lot, too,” he teased as he shut the front door.

  “I'm going to miss you,” Dani said.

  He seemed surprised by what she'd said, but he couldn't be as surprised as she was. She hadn't meant to say that, hadn't meant to say anything remotely like that.

  But now that she'd said it, she realized it was true. She was going to miss him for a lot of reasons.

  Rather than joke, he said, “I'm going to miss you, too.”

  “I haven't laughed this much since high school,” she admitted. “I’ll definitely miss that.”

  “Me, neither.” He looked at her, and for a moment, they were both still while a sad sort of silence fell over them.

  Dani cleared her throat and said the first thing that popped in her mind. “I'm hungry.”

  Travis laughed and looked at her. “I'm not the best cook in the world, but I'm also not the worst.”

  “You sure about that?” she teased. “What proof do you have?”

  “No one I've fed has ever died,” he said proudly.

  Dani pretended to consider his statement. “That's pretty strong evidence in your favor, I'll admit.”

  “So dinner?” He grinned a sexy, crooked grin that Dani absolutely loved.

  That was one more thing about him she was going to miss. No other man could make her heart race and her palms sweat with just one sexy look, but Travis could turn her on with a simple smile.

  “I would love to have dinner,” she said.

  Then he flashed her another grin. Oh, yes, she was going to miss that grin. It made her mind go blank. Well, sort of blank. She did think about one thing—how much she wanted Travis.

  Over dinner, Dani kept up a steady stream of chatter about the case and how she thought they could handle their argument. Although Travis murmured agreements at the appropriate places, she got the definite feeling he wasn't completely listening to her.

  “So then an elephant sat on my head and messed up my hair,” she said.

  “That's nice,” Travis said, eating another bite of spaghetti.

  “You're not listening to me,” she pointed out. “Is something wrong?”

  Travis sighed. “Sorry about that. Guess my mind was on something else.”

  He looked so handsome, so sexy, that Dani couldn't resist leaning over and kissing him. Her action obviously startled him because, for a second, he sat perfectly still.

  Then, as if a dam had broken, he kissed her back with such intensity, such depth, it literally took her breath away.

  Dani had no idea how long they sat in the kitchen kissing, but it was a long, long time. One kiss led to another, each lasting longer than the one before. Travis seemed as hungry for her as she was for him. They were acting as if it had been months since they'd been together instead of hours.

  She couldn't get enough of him and kissing him while sitting at the kitchen table was frustrating. She couldn't get as close as she wanted.

  Finally, Dani pulled back and rested her forehead against his. “Wow,” was all she could manage to say.

  Travis chuckled softly. “Yes, wow.” After a second, he said, “That's why I was distracted. I was thinking about what might happen after dinner...between us.”

  Dani smiled, happy that he was thinking along the same lines as she was. “That's why I was chattering. I was thinking about the same thing.”

  Then he kissed her neck, leaving a trail of warmth behind. Dani tipped her head and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensations he was evoking.

  “I want to make your fantasies come true,” he murmured as he continued his exploration of her skin. “Tell me your fantasies. What makes you crazy?”

  Dani struggled to form a cohesive sentence, but it was difficult with the magic he was creating around them.

  “I'm okay. This is good,” Dani finally managed to say, her voice breathless and heavy with the want humming through her veins.

  “We could always play the maiden and the pirate,” he teased as he dropped light kisses on her lips. “That could be a lot of fun.”

  Deciding two could play at this game, Dani wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She kissed him deeply and then whispered, “You're too
scruffy to be a maiden.”

  Travis chuckled and kissed her again. This time the kiss was longer than before, and deeper.

  “So I guess the sheriff and the schoolmarm is out for the same reason,” he said as he broke off the kiss.

  She laughed. “Definitely.”

  “Let's play the cowboy and the lawyer,” he murmured in her ear. “I think we'd be good at that.”

  Dani nodded. “Okay. Let's go do that now. Right now. This very second.”

  “In a rush, are you?”

  “Yes. I'm in a big rush,” she told him as she stood and tugged on his hand. “This lawyer can hardly wait.”

  Travis stood and said, “Same with this cowboy.”

  Chapter Nine

  The ringing in his head went on and on. Travis forced himself to open his eyes even though that was the last thing he wanted to do.

  “Make it stop,” Dani murmured next to him.

  She snuggled closer and he gave her a hug. “I will, as soon as I figure out what it is.”

  “Doorbell,” she said with a sigh. “Tell them we're not interested.”

  Travis listened for a moment. Yeah, she was right. It was the doorbell. Who would wake him up this early on a Saturday? He glanced at the clock. Okay, it was almost nine, so it wasn't exactly the middle of the night.

  Still, he was bone-tired, and he didn't want to talk to whoever was at the door. When the ringing continued, he reluctantly left the warmth of the bed and Dani's body and stood.

  Glancing around he saw no sign of his clothes and then remembered. He and Dani had made a thorough examination of his house last night. They'd made love on almost every available surface. It had been fun and crazy, and his place definitely showed signs of that experience.

  If his memory was still intact, his clothes were right by the kitchen door. That was convenient. Padding over to the front door, he snagged his boxers as he walked by the kitchen and had just slipped them on when someone started unlocking the door.

  Hey! Why hadn't he put the chain on the door last night as well as locking it? Travis reached out and slammed the door shut with one hand, holding it closed with some effort.