Heiress for Hire (31 page)

It was probably a huge mistake. She would laugh at him. Recoil in horror. Tell him no.

He knew the chances that Amanda would be willing to stay in Cuttersville on his farm as his wife were about as big as a dust mite. Sometimes even love couldn't make up for things like chicken shit. And he didn't even know if Amanda loved him or not. He was sure she cared about him, but love was another something altogether.

Plus seeing Piper shove that big wad of cash in his hand—a little afterthought from Amanda's father, and money he just happened to be carrying around—reminded Danny that Amanda was wealthy. He knew it, but sometimes he could convince himself it didn't matter. But he couldn't casually give Amanda four thousand dollars, not even if he saved half his life for it.

So while he would like to make Amanda his wife, he wasn't going to mention that to her just yet. First he had to get her to agree to stay on for awhile, and he didn't want to wait until the day she was leaving to talk about it.

As it was, they had yet to discuss the fact that they had had sex four days ago. At the time, they had agreed not to reveal their relationship to Piper, but in the days since it was becoming apparent to Danny there was no relationship to show.

Amanda treated him like a friend, and an extremely platonic one at that.

Call him stupid, but he had just kind of assumed there would be more sex coming his way. That since they'd started, there wasn't any reason to stop having sex, until she had to leave.

If she had to leave. Which he didn't think she did.

So the plan was to tell her how he felt, convince her to stay, then get to enjoy her company and her body forever. He'd let her on to the getting married thing later when she was good and used to him and the farm.

Simple.

Not really, but he was hoping. Or fooling himself.

Brady had finished in Piper's room, and Amanda was hanging the blinds and drapes. Danny had asked her that morning if she needed help, but she had refused. Now he could hear her muttering and complaining and reading the directions out loud. Piper was plugged in to Nick Jr. on the TV, the poodle asleep on her lap.

"Hey, baby girl." Danny paused to just look at her. He could stare at Piper for hours, amazed at the reflection of him in her features, yet at the complete uniqueness of her. Their appointment for DNA testing was the next day, as well as Piper's school screening, and he was anxious about it. Just wanted to get it done and over with it.

But when he watched Piper like this, the sun streaming across her cheeks, her fingers buried in the dog's fur, he didn't care about any of that red tape. He had a daughter, and he was blessed.

"Hi, Dad," she said, without even looking away from the TV.

His heart dropped down to his boots. That was the first time she had called him Dad. And that she did it without thinking just turned him into mush. Damn, he was a sap. She could ask him for anything, and he'd try and give it to her. Yet he knew he'd have to learn something from Amanda and her father.

Money and things didn't matter. Just being there did. Like his own parents had with him.

He tickled across the back of her neck as he walked past her, pulling a giggle from her. Then he tickled the air next to her. "Does Anita like it when I tickle her too?"

Piper nodded. "She's laughing." Then her attention went back to the TV, and he kept walking.

At least he'd picked the right side to locate Anita this time. Usually he found himself talking to nothing, only Piper would insist it was the wrong nothing.

Complicated business, imaginary friends.

Amanda was standing on a chair, hammer raised in her hand and aimed straight at the window. It made for a scary picture.

"What are you doing, gorgeous?" Danny leaned on the doorframe.

"What does it look like? I'm hanging this curtain rod." She gave a monstrous whack with the hammer and sent a nail straight into the wall, a bracket clanking, but holding in place. "There. I just have to do the other silver thingy, and I think I can click the rod into it. The directions were crap in English. I read the French version, and it made so much more sense."

"Well, good." Danny looked around the room. He had to admit it looked pretty damn cute. Brady's butterflies flittered across two walls and disappeared behind the window. Grass was painted around the perimeter of the whole room, and the comforter was cheerful and bright. It was a totally different room, one that Piper could call her own.

All for a couple of hundred bucks. He was impressed. "It looks great in here."

"It damn well better. I've slaved away in here for over a week."

"I appreciate it." Danny came up behind her, drawn to that spot on her back where her shirt was pulling up. It had been so long since he'd been able to touch her, and then it had just been such a quick burst of passion. There had been no time to taste and explore her nooks and crannies.

Lifting her shirt, he kissed her back.

"Danny!"

"Yeah?" He moved his lips across her warm skin.

"I'm going to fall off this chair." She tried to move away from him. "And we're not supposed to be carrying on in front of Piper."

He held her so she didn't get away from him or fall off the chair. "Carrying on? That doesn't seem like an Amanda expression. And Piper is in the other room glued to the TV."

Danny dipped his tongue into her belly button. He loved these shirts she wore, tight and always shifting up and up.

"I'm in the middle of something here. Big hammer right above your head. Woman not used to using tools potentially dropping it. Does that sound more like me?"

It did. Plus, she had a good point. Danny stepped back and assessed her progress. He saw the rod with the curtain already on it sitting on the bed. As Amanda drove another nail into the wall, he picked up the rod. Then he handed it to her so she could click it in place.

"This looks so awesome." Amanda hopped off the chair and looked around the room with a grin. "I rock."

"Yes, you do." But Danny wasn't looking at the room. He couldn't take his eyes off Amanda. She had pulled her hair back into a funny little pony tail. There was blue eyeshadow dusted across her lids and bubblegum-pink shiny stuff on her lips. Her shorts were white, her shirt sky blue.

She looked like blue cotton candy from the county fair.

He wanted to eat her. He wanted to keep her here with him.

"Don't leave, Amanda." He spoke before he could get further distracted by her body. He wanted to make love to her, but he wanted to tell her how he felt first. "Stay with me, here."

The grin fell off her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, stay in Cuttersville. Past the first day of school. Stop being Piper's baby-sitter and start being my girlfriend. You'd have to live in your house still, so we wouldn't be setting a bad example for Piper, but we would… date." Danny stuck his hands in his pocket and trailed off in embarrassment.

What the hell had he been thinking? Why would Amanda Del-mar, who could do whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted, choose to stay in a pissant town just for him? But since he'd already made a fool out of himself, might as well go whole-hog.

He took a deep breath and went for it. "I think you're really amazing, and I don't want to see you walk out of my life. I love you."

Amanda thought she could count on one hand the number of people who had spoken those words to her. And only half of them had meant it. If even. The only person Amanda was completely positive about was her grandmother. Her parents had never told her they loved her.

Danny Tucker was telling her he loved her, and she believed him.

Which was why she said so very eloquently, "Oh, my God."

Emotions threatened to overwhelm her. He had no idea what that meant to her, to know that he, a guy with such integrity and honesty, could see enough of value in her to love her.

She had come to Cuttersville bored, aimless, and searching for the answers when she didn't even know the questions.

Instead of easy solutions, she had found a man who loved her, with no strings attached. And she didn't deserve it.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Danny stuck his fingernail between his teeth and bit it. His cheeks started to turn the color of a tomato.

"No." She closed the distance between them and cupped his cheek, tears threatening. "I love you too, Danny." It was easy to say, because it was the truth. She hadn't thought it could be that simple, and she knew in her head that it wasn't, but her heart didn't give a crap right at the moment. "And just to drive the point home, I have never said that to a man. Ever."

The last word was barely out of her mouth when Danny covered her lips with his. With a kiss so sweet, so tender, she swore she could hear violins. Pachabel's "Cannon," the wedding song. Oh, yikes. That was bad.

Struggling for composure, she pulled back, desperate for space. If she didn't stay strong, rational, she was going to find herself on the way to Chapel of Love for a Vegas wedding.

"Danny, we have to talk."

"Okay." He reached for her and kissed her forehead, her temple, her eyelid. "I love you. I love you. I love yo"u. You're beautiful, you're wonderful, I want to marry you." Those strong arms of his pulled her back easily. "See? We're talking."

Tears sprang into her eyes. He wasn't going to make this easy. Her vision blurred, her heart ached, her body betrayed her by bending toward Danny.

But she had to get this out before she let her emotions rush her downstream, and ultimately to a crash that would hurt Danny. And Piper. And her. She didn't care what happened to her in the end, but she couldn't live with the idea of hurting Danny or his daughter.

"Don't say that. We can't be together."

He stiffened. "Why not? And I'm talking about marriage, you know, not anything casual. I know it's soon now, but maybe in a year or two…"

Damn it, she wasn't doing this right. Amanda rubbed her forehead and tried to extract herself from his arms. He wouldn't let her leave. Not that she was trying all that hard. That was the whole flipping problem. She wanted to marry Danny. She wanted to think that love could conquer all and all that happy bullshit.

But she knew better.

She knew in real life the spoiled rich girl would drive the good farmer out of his freaking mind in about twelve months.

"I'm not the right woman for you."

"Don't tell me what's right for me."

Whoa. That was a tone she had never heard from good, old, reliable Danny Tucker. He sounded pissed off with a capital P.

"Or do you mean I'm not right for you?" He dropped his arms and made as if to back up.

Amanda took a page from his book and clung to his T-shirt, preventing him from getting anywhere. "No! If anything, you are too perfect for me. You're honest and loyal, hardworking and kind."

"You make me sound like a minister."

Irritated that she couldn't seem to convey herself, Amanda made a sound of frustration. "I mean that I am a spoiled, immature bitch who needs to grow up, and you deserve better than that."

There. That would learn him. It was a very valid and well-articulated point.

"That is complete bullshit."

Or bullshit. "Hey! Excuse me, I think I know my own shortcomings." She dropped his shirt and turned away. She was trying to save him from her. The very least he could do was show some gratitude.