Page 13 of Riding with the Bad Boy

Danielle was sitting in the passenger seat, holding her phone, when I walked back in. She didn’t look up until I said, “Excuse me”.

“Sorry.” She moved her legs so I could pass.

“You don’t have to be sorry Giggles.” I moved past her with a smile.

She blinked, and I could feel her eyes on me as I walked to the kitchen area. I unlocked the fridge and stuck the wines inside the freezer to chill.

“What do you think? Grilled steaks or would you like something lighter?” I turned and looked back.

“What?”

“For dinner.” I clarified. “Would you like steaks or something different?” I looked back in the freezer. “I have salmon, cod, and I picked up those veggie patties you like. I also have chicken wings, we could either put them on the grill or we could use the air fryer I brought.”

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Figuring out what we should do for dinner.” I closed the door and walked back to the front.

“Why are you acting like nothing is wrong?” Her eyes were narrowed as she looked me up and down.

“How should I be acting?” I sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the rig so I could let the slides out.

“I thought you were mad at me.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re not?” She crossed her arms.

“No.”

“So you took a walk, and all of a sudden you aren’t upset?” She questioned.

“I was never upset,” I told her. “I just needed to go purchase a bottle of wine in exchange for us staying here.”

“And did your new friend help you with that?” It was easy to hear the jealousy in Danni’s voice. “Is that why you’re all chill now?”

I let out a short laugh. “I was only gone a few minutes.” I raised my eyebrow and stared over at her. “You know I like to take my time. Even our quickies last long enough to make sure we both are satisfied.” Her cheeks went bright red.

“And why should I be mad that you told me what you want?” I shrugged. “We’ve always been honest with each other. Especially about what we want. There’s no reason that should change.”

“So what is this? You're trying to act like we’re friends now?”

“I never knew we weren’t friends. Isn’t that in the title? Friends with benefits?” I laughed as the color on her cheeks got brighter. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We have at least four more days before we get to Tennessee. I say we make the best of them.”

I wasn’t ready to tell her I wanted to try being what she wanted. I had to know if I could do it first. There was no need to get both our hopes up if things were going to end once we reached our destination.

“So, steaks or cod?”

“Steaks.” She still looked suspicious, but I couldn’t blame her.

“Great,” I said. “I’ll pull out the grill and set up the chairs I brought, and how about you look through the fridge and see what you would like for a side?”

“Sure.”

I thought about kissing her again. That felt very boyfriend-like, but it also felt a little too soon to go there. Better to wait and see.

We went to work, and thirty minutes later, we were watching the sun set over the side of the mountain vineyard. The ocean out in the distance.

“This view is nice, but I prefer my family’s view more,” I told her. “Heartland Point feels so close you’d swear you can reach out and touch it. You’ll have to come out one day.” I had always been hesitant about inviting her to anything involving my family before, but I never doubted that they would love her. Especially my mom and my aunt. Seb already knew her thanks to her being in real estate and him being on the city council.

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