Page 93 of Against the Clock
“Daniel’s here,” her son announces, pulling him towards the doorway, the light spilling into the darker, more formal living room.
“The flowers are gorgeous.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” I say, feeling really awkward and out of place. Daniel clearly knows them really well, and I don’t. At all. “Your house is beautiful.”
“Thank you. Daniel, I like her,” Shara tells him, giving me a huge smile. “You better not mess things up with this one. And if he does, Kelsey, you come over here and we’ll set him straight.”
“Who am I setting straight?” Darius booms from the other room.
“Daniel, if he screws up with his cute new girlfriend.”
“Don’t worry,” Daniel yells back, letting himself be pulled into the gleaming kitchen, Shara and I following in their wake. “I’m not planning on messing anything up. Just the opposite, actually.”
A warm glow settles through me, and I’m smiling to myself as I make my way into Darius and Shara’s stunning, immaculate kitchen. It’s like something out of a movie, pristine white and massive, with the largest range I’ve ever seen in my life.
But as I take in all the people standing around the kitchen, laughing and talking with drinks and plates heaped full of food, I understand why.
If the cheerleaders made me think twice about my makeup routine when I interviewed them, these guys make me think twice about my protein intake. They’re huge. I feel completely out of place. Daniel’s tall and muscled, yeah, but some of these guys look like they could eat Daniel for breakfast.
“Kelsey,” Darius yells, a huge grin on his face. “Welcome to our home! There’s a ton of food on the island,” he jerks his head, and indeed, there’s an entire meal laid out. A smoked brisket, barbecue ribs, potato salad, fruit salad, regular salad. A cheese plate. More fruit. A huge glass container of water with lemon slices and flowers floating in it. “There’s beer in the cooler, and wine in the butler’s pantry. Or, I can make you a famous Darius cocktail.”
He tilts his head and raises his eyebrow, giving me a sneaky smile.
“What’s a Darius—”
“DARIUS COCKTAIL!” half the room shouts.
“I guess that settles it,” I laugh, the knot of tension and worry easing inside me. It’s hard to be nervous when everyone is having a good time. No one is looking at me like I don’t belong, and Darius nods at me, approval in his eyes.
“One Darius drink coming up.”
“Be careful with those,” Daniel leans over, whispering in my ear. “I trust your judgment, but they’ll sneak up on you, and I have big plans for us tomorrow.”
“Oh, do you now?” I ask, poking him in the ribs.
Laughing, he squirms away.
“One of these days, you’re going to have to fill me in on all these big plans you have. Including the ones about me.”
His gaze heats, blue eyes twinkling, as he cups my cheek, his breath gusting across my lips. What a tease.
“Kelsey, I’ve been pretty up front about my plans with you.”
“Oh?” My heart thumps wildly against my chest. “Have you?”
“Mmhmm,” he says, a cocky half-smile on his face. “I’m going to make you watch Zoolander with me, on this nearly obsolete form of technology called a DVD, and then you’re spending the rest of the weekend with me.”
He kisses me, swallowing the laughter bubbling out of my mouth, and a raucous cheer goes up all around.
I break off the kiss, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, slightly embarrassed.
“Oh, young love, young love,” Shara says, putting the flowers in a vase.
“Here you go,” Darius says. “Drink up!” He hands me a cocktail glass and I eye it speculatively.
Without further ado, I take a deep swig, and Darius thumps my back when I cough.
“It’s good,” I rasp, the alcohol burning all the way down.