Page 73 of V is for Valentine
Chapter Thirteen
Danny was goingto have to start considering the long game, because time was running out in the current inning and Felix had outmaneuvered him. Hamstrung him, really. And she’d done it by telling him exactly what she wouldn’t do—fall in love with him—even though he had a strong feeling that she already had. But she was dealing with scars from the past, and because of that, he had no clear path forward.
So what now?
Accept defeat?
It was what he had to do. Gracefully. With good humor. He’d loved and lost. Ha ha ha.
Danny gritted his teeth together as he fought to slide a door onto its hinges so that Stevie could tap in the pin.
They had a full crew that day—Stevie, Tess and her boyfriend Jason Regan, Bud Pratt and his grandson Stan—and the work was progressing rapidly. Had he and Felix had this much help from the beginning, they would have finished days ago.
The best part was Pete, who had agreed to use a portable wheelchair, rolling around the main floor, directing the finishing touches on the project that had fought him from day one. He was now officially half a day ahead of schedule and beaming with pride.
“We did good,” Felicity said from behind him as he swung the door shut.
“Yes. Good door.” He patted the solid oak.
“Good build.”
He smiled at her. “That, too.”
“Are you coming, Danny?” Stevie asked as she headed to the next office with an unhung door leaning against the wall.
“We’re going on a donut break,” Felicity said to her sister.
“Are we?” he asked. They hadn’t had a moment alone since the workday began, but there had been a tension growing between them when they were together. Unfinished business that may or may not get finished, although, he knew, that was his take on things. As far as Felicity was concerned, the matter had been settled yesterday.
Even though it wasn’t.
“Yes.” She met his gaze and then he followed her to the break room where there were still a few donuts left from breakfast. She stopped before she reached the small table with the box and turned to him. “We’restill good, right?”
It was a statement, not a question. She wanted them to be back where they’d been when the project started, and in a way they were.
“Yeah. On different pages, but good.”
“How do we get on the same page?” she asked in a low voice, glancing up as Tess walked down the hall.
“Honesty.”
She blinked at him, a rosy stain blooming on her cheekbones. “I was honest. And will continue to be honest.” Her voice dropped even more. “I told you about Sean. I told you where I am in life.”
Told me you couldn’t fall in love with me.
He didn’t say the words, but she picked up on his thought and put a hand on his chest. “That’s why we’re friends, Danny, and that’s how we’re going to stay.” Her voice was a little too clinical and cool, almost as if she’d practiced the speech.
“Explain the kisses.”
Her eyes narrowed into her patented challenge-accepted expression. “Biology.”
“And that’s it.”
She nodded, the movement jerky. Her bluff was well below her normal performance level. She was serious about keeping up her charade of not caring for him, and he didn’t know how to fight it.
He glanced past her to the doorway where Bud ambled by, giving them a long, curious look. Oh yeah. Everyone was clued into the fact that something was going on between them. Felicity rolled her eyes and Danny said, “I should get back at it.”
“Sure.”
