Take What You Want (59 page)

One side of the room was
outfitted with various apparatus; reformers, pedal chairs, and a
variety of other intense-looking machines. The rest of the room was
for classroom work done on the floor with mats and taught by
instructors. Today, about eighteen ladies were finishing up a
beginner Pilates class with Danni playing the role of their
instructor.

Alex kept his sunglasses on
and searched the room for Danni. Soon as Alex spotted her at the
front of the class, he offered her wave and a warm smile. Then he
leaned into Chase's ear to whisper. “Damn, she makes a smoking
hot teacher,” Alex said, drinking in the site of her wearing
Spandex shorts, a tight tank top, and no shoes.

Damn!
If she had any idea what her bare toes did to me, she'd never take
off her shoes again.

Danni blushed at the sight
of them, wearing tight jeans a clingy t-shirts, and quickly lost her
place in the routine of the workout. It took only a few seconds for
the ladies in her class to notice the two gorgeous men standing at
the back of the room, attempting to blend their six foot plus frames
of muscled maleness in a room designed to look and feel feminine.
Their presence was as obvious as snow on the lawn in July.

Danni stumbled over her
instruction a second time and decided to dismiss the class five
minutes early.

“
Hey,
isn't that Zander Metcalf?” one woman asked.

A moment later, half dozen
women were swarming Alex. Danni went to Chase, while Alex happily
signed autographs for every woman in the room.

“
What
are you two doing here?” Danni asked Chase. “Don't you
have to work?”

Chase kissed her lips and
smiled. “Alex and I are taking you to lunch,” he said.
“Then, I have to go back to work.”

“
Lunch?
Really?” Danni asked, an excited lilt in her voice. “My
two favorite men are taking me to lunch?”

Chase didn't dare ruin her
mood by telling her what Alex had planned for her after lunch.
Instead he kissed her again. Alex came up behind her, sliding his
arms around her waist and kissing her bare shoulder. For a split
second, Danni felt herself bending back into Alex, then she
remembered where she was and the audience they had. She slipped out
from between them and stepped away.

“
I'll
go get my things,” Danni said.

She walked back to their
break room and grabbed her canvas duffel bag, stepped into her
flip-flops, then came back out front to say good-bye to her students
and the receptionist manning the front desk. She could tell the
woman had questions for her, but Danni wasn't biting. For now, the
questions would have to wait.

“
Where
are we going to eat?” Danni asked, as they stepped outside onto
the sidewalk.

“
Black
Dog Cafe is close by,” Chase said. “We can walk there
and then I can head back to work.”

“
Are
you interested in the Black Dog for lunch?” Alex asked Danni.

“
Sure,”
Danni said, allowing Alex to press his lips to hers.

Alex
pulled back. “Good,” he said. “Then, after we eat
I've got something special planned for us.”

“
Wait.
What did you say?” she asked.

“
You
have the afternoon off, right?” Alex asked.

“
Yes,
I do,” she said. “Why?”

“
I
want to take you somewhere,” Alex said. He started walking
beside her, with Chase on the other side toward the cafe.

“
What
are you up to?” Danni asked.

“
Let's
eat and I'll tell you all about it,” Alex said.

They walked for another few
yards down the grassy slope into the parking lot belonging to the
cafe and Alex reached for her hand.

“
You're
making me nervous, Alex,” she said. “What the hell are
you planning? I'm not exactly dressed for much more than the inside
of a gym.”

“
Danni,
look at how I'm dressed,” Alex said. “I'm in jeans and a
t-shirt. What I have planned isn't formal.”

Chase glanced at Danni and
smiled. He knew Alex was in for a rough go of getting Danni to
accept the shopping spree Alex had planned for her. He could almost
hear her protests now in his head. He hoped in the end, though, she
let Alex do this for her because he knew it meant a lot to Alex.

A moment later, Chase was
yanking open the door into the cafe. Alex placed his hand on the
small of her back and directed Danni inside the restaurant first,
Alex followed with Chase right behind him. They waited in the short
line to order their sandwiches and Chase's phone chimed announcing a
text message.

“
Damn
it,” Chase said. “I have a lumber truck pulling onto the
job site. I can't stay.”

“
Order
something to take with you,” Danni suggested.

“
Yeah,
I'll do that,” Chase said.

They got their lunches and
Chase kissed Danni good-bye. “Alex was with me in my truck, so
you'll have to take him in your car this afternoon,” Chase
said, pressing his lips to her temple. Then, he squeezed the back of
Alex's neck. “Have fun,” he said to Alex. The grin Alex
flashed back at him made Chase want to kiss the man's mouth, but he
knew he couldn't. Not here. Too many prying eyes that surely would
have noticed Chase locking lips with a man. He stepped away before
he succumbed to the need, gave them a wave and began walking up the
slight incline up into the Pilates Center parking lot.

Alex pointed at a grove of
maple trees. “How about we eat over there in the shade?”

“
That
looks nice,” she said.

Danni dropped to her knees
and set the container with her Cobb salad in the grass, then she sat
back on her butt, crossing her legs in front of her. Alex reclined
on his side, resting on one elbow. He opened the plastic lid on a
bowl of fruit salad and selected piece of pineapple, then leaned
closer to Danni to hand feed her the fruit.

“
Yummy,
I love pineapple,” she said, slurping the fruit and juices from
his fingers.

“
That's
why I gave it to you,” Alex said.

“
You
remembered I liked pineapple?” she asked.

“
I
remember everything you've told me about yourself, right down to your
dislike for all things potato and your favorite shade of red nail
polish.” He saw the look of shock register on her beautiful
face. “Pomegranate red.”

“
That's
right,” she said, trying to hide her smile.

“
You're
surprised I know that, aren't you,” he said.

“
Yeah,
I am, but it makes me feel good you're paying attention.”

“
There's
nothing you could do that I wouldn't notice – or forget,”
he said. Alex pressed his palm to her bare knee, then slid his hand
up onto the warm flesh of her firm thigh. When her hand touched his
to stop it from moving higher, his green eyes lifted to hers. Their
gaze held for a long moment, with Alex's hand still resting on her
thigh.

“
I'm
crazy about you,” he said. “You know that, right?”
he asked.

His expression was so
serious it made Danni's breath catch. She blinked the emotion
building in her eyes and nodded. “I'm slowly coming to grips
with that,” she said quietly. “And I … feel the
same.”

“
I'm
so glad, baby,” he asked. He'd much rather have heard her say
the words herself, but hearing her agreeing she felt the same way was
also a big step forward. It was always small steps with Danni, but
he wouldn't diminish the magnitude of each and every hurdle they had
conquered together, because each one brought them closer to having it
all – and then some.

“
So,
would you care to tell me what we're doing after we eat?” she
asked.

Alex squeezed her thigh
muscle and contemplated his words, then decided to just blurt it out
and hope for the best. “I'm buying you a dress to wear to the
party,” he said.

“
That's
not necessary,” she said.

“
I
know that, Danni, but I
want
to do this. I bought Chase something to wear and now it's your turn.
I want us all to look nice for this party.”

Danni adamantly shook her
head. “Why do you always have to throw your money at us?”

Alex sat up and sighed. “Is
that what you think I'm doing?”

“
Isn't
it?”

“
I
hardly think buying you a simple dress translates into me throwing
money at you.”

Danni rolled her eyes.

“
You
won't win this one, Danni,” he said. “I'm buying you a
dress and you'll wear it for me and Chase on Saturday.”

“
Is
that so,” she said. “And, if I don't … what will
you do?”

“
Push
me, and you'll find out.”

Soon as they finished their
lunch, Alex pulled her to her feet. He dropped their trash into a
barrel, then walked with her up the incline to her car.

“
I'll
drive,” he said, and took the keys from her hand before she
could argue about that, too.

A
short time later they were pulling up in front of an exclusive
boutique on main street in Edgartown. Danni slid from her car and
watched Alex as he approached the door to the shop. When he realized
she wasn't following him, he turned around and faced her.

“
You're
bringing me to Christine's?” Danni asked. “This is a
'by
appointment only'
kind of shop, Alex, and I'm hardly dressed for it. Not to mention
how expensive the clothes are in there.”

Alex walked over to her and
took her hand; lacing their fingers together. “We have an
appointment, and if you keep dragging your feet, we'll be late for
it.”

“
Oh,
my God! You're serious?” she squawked.

He nuzzled into her neck and
kissed her fragrant skin. “I paid extra to have the store to
ourselves for the next two hours,” he said. “How serious
is that?” Soon as he saw her back straighten to argue, his arm
slid around her waist and he tugged her into the store.

“
Good
afternoon, Mr. Metcalf,” the slender clerk said, extending her
hand to Alex.

“
Thank
you,” Alex said. “This is Danni. I'd like to find a
dress suitable for her to wear this weekend to an outside cocktail
party.”

“
Very
well,” the clerk said. She sized up Danni by eye, then spun
around to begin collecting different options for Danni to try on. A
moment later, the clerk's arm was loaded down with numerous dresses,
sundresses, and even a few skirts, too.

Danni shimmied into the
first dress, a bright red linen piece with cap sleeves, while Alex
waited outside the dressing room door.

“
Do
you have a dress on yet?” Alex asked, leaning against the
wooden trim of the door.

“
There's
no price on this, Alex,” she said, from behind the closed door.

“
You're
not paying for it, so the price doesn't matter,” Alex said.

The door burst open,
startling Alex, and Danni stood there with hands on her hips. Alex
stepped back and inspected the red dress.

“
I
don't like it,” he said. “It's too long and it doesn't
show your legs.” He gripped her shoulders and spun her around,
then patted her on the butt and sent her back into the dressing room.
“Try on the short, black dress with the thin straps.”