Page 69 of In Safe Hands
Now that it was just her and an impassive Chris, insecurity began bleaching out Daisy’s excitement. “I never latched it after you left yesterday.”
He stared at the lock a long time before meeting her eyes again. “Daisy.”
“What?” Her nervousness bubbled over, mixing with hurt. “I thought you’d be happy for me.”
In two strides, he was right in front of her. “I am.” He glanced at the lock again and blew out a hard breath as his gaze returned to her. “Dais. This is…incredible.” Finally, he started to smile.
“Yeah?”
“Hell yeah!” With a whoop, he scooped her up into a hug and swung them in a circle. When he returned her feet to the floor, he kept one arm around her shoulders. “That’s great, Dais. I’m so proud of you.”
“I know.” She laughed from sheer happiness. “I’m proud of me, too.”
Shaking his head, he looked at the dangling chain again. “I can’t believe it only took one session with the new therapist.”
“It wasn’t just that.” Their conversation two nights earlier had been more of an impetus than the phone call with the psychiatrist, but she kept that to herself, not wanting to squash Chris’s good mood with the reminder. “I was just…ready.”
His arm tightened around her, squeezing her against his side. “Whatever the reason was, I’m just glad.”
She smiled at the unfastened lock, happy that he’d realized such a small thing was actually a huge deal for her. “We’d better get to the training room. The others will be waiting.”
“Sure.” He steered her through the kitchen without releasing his hold on her shoulders. “I bet you’re going to be bouncing off the walls in there.”
“Finally!” Although she pretended to be annoyed, she couldn’t stop grinning. “I’ve been dying to work out since yesterday.”
With a fake gasp, he flattened his free hand over his heart. “Did you actually take an entire rest day?”
“I did.” Ducking out from under his arm, she entered the training room first. “It nearly drove me bonkers, but I did it. Well, unless manic cleaning counts as exercising.”
He frowned, considering that. “It probably does, but we’ll give it a pass this time.” His mock-serious expression melted into a smile. “Grab a jump rope.”
“Yes, coach!” she barked, attracting everyone else’s attention. For once, she didn’t mind having all eyes on her. She was too happy for anything to kill her mood. When she headed across the room toward the hook holding the jump ropes, she was practically skipping.
“Great,” Lou groaned from the treadmill. “With Daisy all cracked out with excitement, she’s going to be running circles around us today.”
“She always runs circles around us,” Rory corrected.
“True.” Despite her resigned sigh, Lou grinned at Daisy.
Adding an extra hop as she crossed the rope in front of her, Daisy laughed.
* * *
Her sleepless night had an upside—she’d cooked enough food for an army. The training group demolished everything she’d made, plus the burritos and cookies that had been Lou and Callum’s contribution, in under ten minutes. It was impressive and a little scary.
“Why burritos and cookies?” Ian asked. He’d won a battle with Chris over the final peanut butter one, and he held it close to his chest to protect it. “They don’t really go together.”
Lou shrugged. “I like burritos, and I like cookies. Therefore, burritos and cookies.”
“But there’s no theme.”
“Are you going to eat that or just cuddle it?” Rory asked. Widening her eyes, she glanced between the treat and his face. His shoulders lowered in defeat as he held out the cookie toward her. Rory pounced on it with glee.
Chris gave an amused snort. “She just played you, buddy. You’re helpless when she puts on her big-eyed, starving-kitten-in-the-rain face.”
Instead of getting offended, Ian just stretched an arm over the back of Rory’s chair. “Pretty much. I like making her happy.”
The responding “oohs” varied in tone from sweet to mocking, but Daisy was pretty sure all the guys in the room would give up their last cookie to make their women happy, even Chris—not that she was his woman. Despite his recent behavior, she tried to keep her hope under control. The last thing she wanted to do was drive him away by pushing for more than he had to give.
