Page 97 of Arrogant Playboy

“Already done that. No one is answering,” I explain to her.

“Why are you leaving so early?” Daniel whispers while he’s in the car.

“I have a lot of work to do.”

“You’re not avoiding me?” he asks, those dark brows pulled together.

“No, why?” I squeak out. Real smooth there Rosie.

His frown deepens. “Because of what I asked?”

My heart pounds loudly in my chest. Is he seriously asking me about those three little words right now, in front of his friends?

“Hey, Daniel, why don’t you give Rosie a lift back to London? You were heading that way anyway,” Alex calls out.

“We can sort out the car rental,” Ivy adds.

Now it’s my turn to frown. “I don’t want to inconvenience anyone,” I tell Alex and Ivy.

“I can give you a lift if you need one,” Daniel says with a shrug, still staring at me in confusion.

“Um, sure, let me try to call them again and see if they are open,” I say, walking away from him. Thankfully, this time I can get through, and they arrange for a tow truck to come and pick it up from Ivy’s. When I turn back around to the group, Daniel is gone. “They said the tow truck should be here in about three hours. I can stay and wait.”

Ivy shakes her head. “Give me the keys, we’ll look after it unless you want to stay, you’re more than welcome to.”

Then I see Daniel walking out of the house toward me with his bag. I hand over the keys to Ivy and she gives me a smile.

“Thank you so much for everything this weekend. Sorry about the car,” I say, giving her a hug.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks again for coming, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiles, and I give her a nod. “Hey, Daniel, you should stop in the village, it’s market day. I bet Rosie is dying for a coffee,” Ivy calls out to him. He gives her a nod as he places his bag into the trunk of his car.

“He doesn’t need to do that, he seems to be in a hurry. I can pick one up at a gas station along the way.”

“No. I would have loved to have taken you today, but my hangover is killing me.” She grins. “Honestly, you will love it, trust me.” I nod and say goodbye to everyone and thank them again for a great night. Daniel’s already got my bag from the hire car and has placed it beside his, he is holding the door open for me, and I jump in. Then I watch him walk around the front of his Ferrari, he stops and says his goodbyes to his friends and jumpsinto the car. He starts the car, and the deep purr of the engine vibrates through me, he gives the horn a beep before peeling out of the driveaway.

We are quiet for a couple of moments before Daniel speaks.

“Seems the universe agreed with me driving you home.” He chuckles, breaking the awkwardness that has fallen between us. I look him over, and he seems relaxed, not a ball of anxiety like I am. Does he not remember his confession last night? I still. What if I imagined it?No.I swear I heard it as I play back the entire moment again and again. But now I’m starting to doubt myself. What if he said it in the moment and didn’t mean it the way I think he meant it? You’re driving yourself crazy, Rosie. He’s acting fine, normal, except earlier when he was upset over me leaving, and I get it. I slinked out of his bed in the middle of the night after he just fucked me for the umptieth time. “Ivy suggested we go and check out the local village market, it’s not far,” Daniel says to me. “Unless you urgently need to get back to London?"

My stomach is in knots with anxiety, and I am second-guessing everything. Then my stomach growls, and we both look at each other and burst out laughing. I guess my body made up its mind.

“Sure, sounds like a great idea.”

We arrive in the village and it’s so quaint, with its old stone buildings with ivy growing over the walls, hanging baskets of colorful petunias, the old church with its leaning spire and small cemetery with old stone headstones dotting the green lawn. When we turn the corner, we arrive at the main village square and you can see, set up in the middle, the market stalls.

“Do you ever get used to people looking at the car?” I ask, noticing the amount of people looking at the car as he finds a space.

“Is it the car or the driver they are looking at?” He winks.

“Seeing as you have tinted windows, it’s the car,” I tease.

We eventually find a park and head into the market. It’s filled with local produce, as well as arts and crafts. We walk around chatting to the locals, trying some of the delicious food, and grabbing some to take back to London. I trawl through the local antique section, hoping to find something but I’m not successful. We grab some coffees and pastries for brunch as we continue strolling through the village, enjoying the elusive sunshine and each other’s company, the stress from the night before disappearing. It is nice, simple, and easy, with no awkward silences as we chat about everything. Whatever I heard or didn’t hear Daniel say last night won’t change our relationship. It still has an expiration date, but I’ll enjoy every moment I have with him.

“Thanksso much for driving me home. I had the best time walking around that little village,” I say as he stops outside my flat.

“Surprisingly, I had fun, too, but I think that was mainly the company,” he says, picking up my hand and kissing it.

“I didn’t mind the company either.” I bite my bottom lip as he suckers me in with those turquoise eyes. I lean forward and press a kiss to his lips. “Thanks for another great weekend.” He doesn’t push for anything more, but I know what he wants, I can see the hunger in his eyes. If I’m being honest, I want it to, but I think a little distance might be for the best, my mind is scrambled.

---