Page 36 of Love Under Review

She grinned. “Yep.”

Liam turned around and backed out of the spot, turning the wheel to the right to get to her house. Looking at the clock, it was only seven. As much as Danielle hated to go home this early, she wasn’t ready for an all-day outing.

As they pulled up at her house, a knot twist inside her stomach, making her wonder what she should say or do. She didn’t want to offend him by not asking him to hang out longer, but something kept holding her back.

“Thank you so much for taking me up there. I really needed it.” She grinned.

He mimicked the gesture. “I’m glad. I wish it hadn’t started raining.” He undid his seat belt. “Here, I’ll help you to the door.”

Again, she caught his arm, her hand feeling the heat of his skin seeping through. “You’re good. I’ll just run in quickly. I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?” She heard the hope in her voice, and heat ran up to her cheeks.

“That would be fun. Thanks again for coming. I loved every minute.” Their eyes locked for several seconds, the silence palpable in the Jeep. She thought he might lean in again, and the thought made her chicken out, breaking the spell of their gaze.

She opened the door and ran up the steps to the house, twisting the knob to the front door. After moving through and out of the rain, she poked her head back out and waved to him as he pulled out of the driveway. He smiled and nodded before his Jeep disappeared back down the road.

Danielle moved back into the kitchen, replaying the moment in the barn of their near kiss. What was strange was how much she’d wanted it and how disappointed she was that Carter had interrupted them. Would she get another chance? Would he even want to?

All questions she couldn’t answer right then.

Chapter 22

Liam walked into the house to the smell of pizza and popcorn. He heard a movie playing, probably the latest animated film that they’d watched at least ten times since Liam bought it for his niece. Peeking in, he saw Cari and Tasha sitting on the couch, both throwing kernels of popcorn in their mouths almost simultaneously.

“I’m back,” he said, breaking their trance on the television.

“Already?” Cari whined. “It was just getting to the good part.”

Trying to hold back a chuckle, he said, “Tasha can come back another time. Right now we need to get you ready for bed.” He tipped his head down and looked out of the corner of his eye to say he was serious.

Cari frowned, crossing her arms in a dramatic fashion.

Tasha stood and said, “Thanks for playing with me, Cari. We’ll have to find a way to get your uncle out of the house again, okay?” She winked at Cari, melting the little girl’s mood away.

Cari made an O out of her hand and put it up to her mouth, trying to make it so Liam couldn’t hear. It might have worked had she not spoken in regular volume. “That would be awesome. Sometimes he just needs to talk to other adults.” Cari used her other hand to point her thumb in Liam’s direction, and he had to step back so he wouldn’t burst out laughing.

When Tasha came around the corner, he handed her a few bills and opened the door for her. “Thanks again, Tasha. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, Mr. P. Thanks again for having me. Cari is a lot of fun.” She waved and disappeared out the door.

Walking back into the family room, Liam whispered, “Who wants some hot chocolate?”

Cari stood, bouncing up and down with one hand waving in the air. “Me! I want some!”

Liam waved her over. “Run up and put on your pajamas. I’m going to change my clothes, and then I’ll heat some up. We can finish watching this until bed.” He pointed to the screen of the young heroine singing a song to the scenery and shook his head.

Cari ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her footsteps almost a cadence in his head.

He filled two mugs with water and placed one in the microwave, pressing the buttons to let it warm. He replayed the moment on the mountain where Danielle’s horse almost slipped, and he shuddered, thinking of what could have happened.

But then his thoughts shifted to how close he’d been to kissing Danielle. For as much as she said she didn’t want a relationship, he could feel the energy and could see that she wanted to kiss him too.

As the full impact hit him, he wondered if that would be good. There were still a lot of unknowns about his sister’s case, and he wasn’t sure if Danielle would be interested in a relationship that would have distractions while he was trying to help his sister and care for his niece.

But he’d be Cari’s guardian if anything were to happen to Kara, and he was being selfish, not wanting to pop the new dream forming in his head of Danielle in his future. Cari was adorable, but he was biased, and he’d never had the opportunity to see Danielle interact with kids. Would she even want kids?

The microwave beeped, pulling him from those thoughts. That was way deeper than he needed to think for a first date.

Steps thundered down the stairs above him, and soon Cari appeared, wearing her flannel strawberry pajamas that were at least one size too small, the pant legs hitting above her ankle.

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