Page 63 of V is for Valentine
A remarkably effective shutdown. He’d been dismissed and was running out of time.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said.
“Is it working?” she asked.
He ignored the question and started up the stairs toward her, stopping one step down so that they were face-to-face and neither had the height advantage. “You’re using this as an excuse to keep me at arm’s length.”
“Why would I do that, Danny? Do you think I’m incapable of dealing with you without an excuse?”
“I think you’re more than capable, if you weren’t feeling something you don’t want to feel.”
She frowned deeply and he expected her to tell him that there wasn’t room for her and him and his ego in the school. Instead she relaxed the frown and said, “What would that feeling be, Danny?”
She had a knack for knocking the ball back into his court, but he was not without skills. He shifted his weight, holding her gaze. “You’re not sure what the feeling is, and you don’t want to think about it too hard because you’re afraid of the answer. I’m guessing that’s because you’ve been burned in the past.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Or, as you put it, you messed up your life.” He tightened one corner of his mouth as he quoted her. “Probably near Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s enough, Danny.”
There was a note in her voice that warned him not to push. He was on the brink of ignoring instinct, of continuing to lay out his case, but something akin to desperation flashed in her gaze, so instead he let out a breath. “That,” he concluded, “is why I think you’re keeping me at arm’s length.”
“Then do me a favor, Danny.” Her smooth throat moved as she swallowed. “Stay there.”
Chapter Eleven
She was beingwatched.
Stevie and Neville, whom Stevie was babysitting while Tess attended a city council meeting, where both keeping tabs on her—Neville with a full-on stare and Stevie employing more of the casual glance strategy. Neville was watching her because he was always looking for his next terrier adventure and Felicity had proven to be good fun in the past. Stevie because Danny was doing exactly what he’d promised to do before leaving the premises the previous evening—he was keeping his distance, and it was blatantly obvious that things were not good between him and Felicity.
There was a brusqueness to Danny’s manner today. He was not impolite or petulant, but rather grimly accepting of the reality she’d presented to him yesterday. In other words, he was doing exactly what she’d asked for.
It was awful.
But necessary, she reminded herself.
She could muscle through the discomfort of dealing with this side of Danny for three days, before flying home. Then, at some point in the future, when they’d both had time to gain perspective, they could discuss and maybe she would confess the wherefores and the whys of her behavior and then he would understand.
Who was she kidding?
He already understood. He’d totally laid everything out the previous evening, and the way he’d nailed exactly what was going on in her head had been unnerving, but understandable. Who, other than her family, knew her better than Danny? He’d discerned the reason for her discomfort with their growing closeness because he had a logical mind and had properly read the clues.
Except that she didn’t think he’d sussed out the fact that even as she was warning herself not to fall for him, she was. She needed to keep him in the dark on that one, so the uncomfortable atmosphere between them would continue.
And she would continue to argue with herself, doing her best to convince herself that her growing feelings for Danny were a figurative trick of the light. They knew each other well and had spent close to two weeks in a bubble, driven by the same goal, out of touch with the full content of their respective realities. The world they shared was small, intense, focused. These were the circumstances of summer romances, vacation romances, office flings.
The texturing machine finally went silent a couple hours after lunch. Not long after, Danny poked his head into the partially painted break room where Stevie was washing her roller and Felicity was painting an edge along a window before rolling paint.
“Done,” he said.
“Great,” Felicity replied without looking at him. He already knew what to tackle next.
Danny headed back down the hall toward the basement lugging the machine and when Felicity glanced up, her sister made a show of brushing off her sleeves.
“What are you doing?”
“Just removing the rime ice that formed a few seconds ago.”
