Page 87 of Like A Daydream
“Hey, Dani.” He grins and kisses her again, holding her tight to him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Momma, not in public,” Harper says. Danielle pulls away and musses Harper’s hair. “People are staring.”
“It’s because they wish they were as cool as your dad and I,” Danielle says, “they don’t have someone to kiss.”
“Yeah, well it’s still gross,” Harper says, shuddering. “I never want to have someone to kiss.”
“You’ll change your mind.”
“Will not,” she says, hugging around Andrew’s waist.
“My truck is parked in the garage,” Andrew says. “I figured we could grab dinner and then go to my house. Catalina just changed jobs and is working at a new restaurant downtown that I think both of you will like.”
“Does it have chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese?” Harper asks, with all of the seriousness in the world on her shoulders.
“Would I bring you somewhere that doesn’t?” Andrew says, just as serious.
“I would hope you know better than that,” Harper replies. “I didn’t come all this way with momma to starve.”
“Roscoe would be really sad, if that were the case,” Andrew says, taking Harper’s hand.
Danielle keeps an arm around his waist as they walk out of the airport. His arm around her shoulders, other hand holding Harper’s. They hadn’t bothered packing any more than what they had fit in their backpacks, since they had been back and forth so much during the hockey season. They’d left a lot of stuff at Andrew’s house to make it feel like home.
“How was your last day of school?” Andrew asks, helping Harper jump into the back seat of his truck before getting the door for Danielle.
“It was good,” Harper says with a shrug. “I brought my report card so you can see it! And I drew you a picture during movie time after lunch.”
“Are they fridge-worthy?” Andrew asks, raising an eyebrow teasingly.
“I think so, dad,” Harper says, shrugging. “My teacher said they are.”
Danielle sneaks one more kiss before he shuts the door. He lingers, smiling against her lips and she fights the urge to pull him closer. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.
Andrew grins and pulls away so he can get in his truck.
He holds her hand over the center console, squeezes three times, and heads off down the highway.
Harper is sleeping when they pull in Andrew’s driveway. Sometimes, all it takes is for her to have an exciting day for her to get more drained than usual, and seeing him for the first time in almost a month had had her nearly short circuiting.
She hadn’t stopped talking to him for almost the entire dinner, and when she did it was only to take a bite of her food. She had been asking rapid-fire questions about the team, North Carolina, and Roscoe, carrying on all the way to the truck where she had promptly fallen asleep.
“She hasn’t been like this in a long time,” Danielle had said with a smile. “She missed you.”
“I missed her, too,” Andrew had said, bringing their laced hands to his mouth. He kissed the back of her hand. “Not as much as I missed you, though.”
He had glanced over at her, heat she couldn’t miss in his eyes sending a shiver down her spine.
Andrew gets Harper out of his truck, carrying her like she weighs nothing to the front door. Danielle punches in the code for him, and they step inside.
“What are you thinking about tomorrow?” she asks, voice quiet as she follows him up the stairs to Harper’s room.
“I’m tryingnotto think about it,” he says, laying her in her bed. “I’m just going into it like it’s any other game. I just want to win this one a little bit more than normal.”
“And you’re sure about what you’ve decided for after?” she asks. She tucks Harper in and they both kiss her forehead.
Andrew takes her hand, pulls her into the hallway. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my entire life.”
She slides her arms around his neck and he grips the back of her thighs, pulling her up so her legs are wrapped around him.
