What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers) (12 page)

They lay there on her couch for what felt like forever, kissing and touching. She’d explored his shoulders, his back, his chest—anywhere her hands could reach. Trent had an amazing body, forged by physical labor, and she took pleasure in becoming acquainted with it as they made out in her living room.

“Trent?”

“Mmm?” He was nibbling on her ear and driving her crazy. It had been too long since she’d been intimate with a man and the desire to feel his skin against hers was almost unbearable.

“We’re wearing too many clothes.”

He grazed his lips along the line of her jaw, placed an all too chaste kiss on her lips, and then rested his forehead against hers. The look in his eyes told her that he was just as turned on as she was. “Our clothes are the only thing keeping me in check.”

“What if I don’t want you in check?”

Trent groaned and buried his head in her neck. Even then, she could feel the moment dissipating. She didn’t want this connection between them to end, even though she knew eventually it would.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “I thought . . .”

He pushed himself up and away from her. Cool air washed over her body as he moved to sit on the other end of the couch. The look on his face was serious.

Abby sat up, tucking her legs beneath her, and straightened her clothes. She waited for him to speak. He obviously had something he needed to say and whatever it was, she owed it to him to hear him out.

As she gave him time to gather his thoughts, her gaze zeroed in on the still prominent bulge in his pants. She wondered if it was as impressive as it felt.

“You really need to stop looking at me like that.”

She snapped her head up to meet his gaze. He’d caught her staring at his crotch. Heat rushed into her cheeks.

“That’s not helping either.” His voice sounded strained, as if he was barely holding on to his control.

Abby grinned.

He extended his hand, silently asking for her to come closer. She glided her fingers over his palm and followed willingly as he pulled her in.

Trent tucked her against his side. “I’m trying to be a gentleman here and do the right thing. You aren’t ready for us to make love.”

She wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. This wasn’t some random guy. This was Trent and it would mean something if they slept together. A big something.

He sighed and brushed his lips against her hair. “How about some TV?”

They spent the next hour watching a documentary on ancient Egyptian artifacts. She wouldn’t have pegged him as being interested in such a thing, but Abby was finding that there was a lot about Trent she didn’t know.

Spending time with him was nice. Every so often he would give her a kiss or brush his fingers along her arm, but it was all very innocent. Trent knew she was keeping something from him. She was pretty sure he thought it had to do with Max since he kept bringing up her friendship with him. Abby wished that were the case.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Trent asked as he stood at the door ready to leave nearly two hours after he’d arrived.

She wanted him to stay, but he was right. She wasn’t ready. And even if she was, sleeping with him while harboring such a huge secret—one that would affect his entire family—wasn’t something she was willing to do. She cared too much about him. “I’m fine. I promise.”

He still looked unsure. She never should have allowed herself to break down in front of him.

Abby went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Thank you for coming over.”

“Anytime. You know that.” He splayed his hand on her lower back and returned the kiss. It left her ready to throw away all her good intentions and lead him to her bedroom.

“Good night, Abby,” he whispered, backing away. “Sweet dreams.”

“Good night.”

She closed the door and leaned back against it. Her life had gotten a lot more complicated than it had been a few weeks ago, and she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

That night Abby tossed and turned more than she had in years. Her mind kept jumping back and forth between her time with Trent and those last months of her pregnancy when she’d been afraid and confused. If she continued to see Trent, she was going to have to face her past and Chris.

When she woke up on Sunday morning, Marilyn Daniels’ invitation weighed heavily on her mind. She thought about calling Max and asking his opinion, but he’d either talk her out of going or insist on going with her. That wouldn’t help the situation. If anything, it would make it worse.

As noon approached, Abby knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. She was either in or she was out.

Abby stood in the center of her apartment, clasping the pendant dangling at the end of her necklace. Her gaze zeroed in on the couch where she and Trent had made out the night before. As wrong as she knew it was, she wanted to do it again . . . and again . . . and again. And being with Trent, even temporarily, would mean dealing with his family. She was surprised his mom hadn’t shown up on her doorstep already.

Before Abby could talk herself out of it, she went to her bedroom to get ready.

It took her longer than normal to find something to wear. She didn’t want to appear as if she was going out of her way to impress, but she needed as much confidence as possible if she was going to be in the same room as her ex-boyfriend, his wife, and the man she was beginning to have more feelings for than was probably smart.

Abby gave herself a pep talk as she took a final look at her appearance in the bathroom mirror. Everything was going to be fine. She was going to go, eat dinner, and socialize. Heaven knew she did that often enough at dinner parties Max hosted in New York.

Unfortunately, those people didn’t know her like the Daniels family did. She also didn’t care about the movers and shakers in the city like she did Trent’s family. At one time they’d meant as much to her as her own father.

Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and marched toward the door. It was showtime.

***

Trent pulled up in front of his parents’ house and parked behind Paul’s car. Chris and Elizabeth’s truck was still in the driveway where it had been the night before. They’d been doing these family dinners for as long as Trent could remember. As kids, everyone always knew they had to be home on Sunday afternoons. It was family time.

As they got older, college and jobs got mixed up in there and they all couldn’t always make it, but they all tried. Paul drove the two and a half hours from Indianapolis every week unless he was working. Chris was the same. The only one of his brothers who didn’t come often was Gage. That was mainly because his job as a professional football player had him living in Nashville these days. It wasn’t feasible for him to make the five-hour drive every week. Even still, they all made the effort to get home whenever possible.

Trent sat in the cab of his truck, staring at the front door. He knew he needed to go inside before someone spotted him, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Abby. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized how much he wanted her there with him. Inside, his family was waiting—all of them with significant others to share their lives with. He was the only one now without someone special in his life.

Over the years, he’d dated more than his share of women. He’d liked most of them well enough, but he’d never seen himself settling down with any of them. There’d always been something missing he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Now he knew what it was. He’d never gotten over Abby. Even during all the years she’d been away, she’d had a hold on his heart.

After he’d left her the night before, he’d replayed his conversation with Chris in his mind, and then Abby’s reaction to what his brother had said. She’d downplayed it. Trent didn’t know if that was because it really wasn’t a big deal to her, or if it was and it was her way of avoiding an uncomfortable subject.

Abby insisted she wasn’t still in love with Chris, yet she was reluctant to accept his mother’s invitation to join them today—something she’d done nearly every Sunday when she’d lived down the street from them. He was missing something. Something vital. Trent just wished she’d talk to him about it. Surely it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was.

After locking up his truck, he headed inside. He was almost to the door when he heard a vehicle pull up. When he turned to see who it was, he was startled by the sight of Abby’s car pulling up to the curb.

His heart skipped a beat and he had to stop himself from racing across the lawn to get to her. She’d come. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off before she made it out of her car.

Trent strolled back toward the road, watching Abby the whole time. She turned off the engine but made no effort to exit.

When he reached her car, Trent opened her door.

Abby looked up at him as if she was waking from a daze. “Thanks.”

As she stepped out of the vehicle, she looked more nervous than he’d ever seen her. He wanted to comfort her. After last night, he hoped she’d welcome his touch.

Trent pulled her into his arms and tucked her head under his chin. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his waist.

“I’m glad you came,” he whispered.

Her only response was to squeeze him tighter.

“You don’t have to go inside if you won’t want to. No one’s forcing you.” Trent needed this to be her decision. It didn’t matter that he didn’t understand her reaction. Abby was scared, that much was clear.

Abby let her arms drop down to her side and gazed up at him. He saw a spark of determination in her eyes. “We should go in before I lose my nerve.”

Trent looked at her for a long moment before reaching for her hand.

“Trent—”

He cut off her protest with a kiss.

She sighed when he pulled back, her eyelids fluttering open.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

Trent held her hand as they made their way toward the house. He wondered if she’d try to put some space between them, but if anything, she tightened her grip.

The house was buzzing with activity when they went inside. Voices trailed in from the kitchen, filling the house with life. It was one of the things he’d always liked about coming home.

Abby froze. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

“We’ll turn around and go, if that’s what you want.”

“You’d miss your family dinner for me?” She seemed a little dismayed by the idea.

“In a heartbeat.” There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Abby. It had been the truth when they were growing up and it was even more so now.

Before she could respond, the decision was taken out of their hands. Megan came around the corner with Chloe. “Oh. Hey, Trent.”

Megan’s gaze fell on Abby, and Trent figured introductions were in order. “Abby, this is Megan and Chloe, Paul’s wife and daughter.” To Megan he said, “Abby grew up with us.”

“Nice to meet you,” Megan said.

She extended her hand, but was sidetracked by Chloe. “Can we find my surprise now?”

Megan brushed the hair away from Chloe’s face. “Just a sec, okay?”

Chloe nodded, but her lower lip jutted out in a pout.

“Grandma told Chloe there’s a surprise upstairs and we were on our way to get it,” Megan explained.

“We wouldn’t want to keep you from your surprise, now would we?” Trent knelt down and tickled his niece.

Chloe squealed and hid behind Megan’s legs.

They all laughed.

“I’d better get her upstairs so we can be back down in time. It was nice meeting you, Abby.”

Trent grinned as Megan followed Chloe upstairs. Those two were joined at the hip these days. It was hard to believe that they hadn’t even known Megan a year ago.

When he turned back to Abby, his happiness faded a little. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and gave him a halfhearted smile. “Nothing. I was . . . I was just wondering how old Chloe is.”

“She’s five.”

Abby nodded and dropped her hand from his.

He opened his mouth to question her, but then his dad nearly tripped over them coming inside the door they’d just entered. “Oops. I didn’t see you two standing there.” Then he noticed who it was. “Abby Hoffman? Is that really you?”

For the first time since she pulled up in front of his parents’ house, Abby cracked a smile. “It’s me.”

Mike Daniels didn’t hesitate. He pulled Abby into a bone-crushing hug, and then held her at arm’s length as if to get a good look at her. “It’s good to see you, young lady. You’ve grown up.”

She chuckled but Trent could still hear a bit of uncertainty behind it. “Thanks.”

Not letting her go, Mike threw his arm around her shoulders and ushered her through the living room toward the voices they’d heard earlier. Trent was two steps behind them, but before he crossed the threshold into the kitchen, he heard his mom squeal, “Abby!”

Within seconds, the meal was forgotten. His mom greeted Abby with even more enthusiasm than his father had. Tears were streaming down his mother’s cheeks as she embraced Abby. It wasn’t until Trent saw his mom’s reaction that he realized how much Abby never coming back to visit must have hurt his mother.

“I’m so glad you came,” his mother gushed as she dragged Abby over to the stove.

While his mother fussed over Abby, he helped his dad finish setting the table. Paul was chopping vegetables for a salad, but he turned when Megan and Chloe walked back into the room. His brother’s lips tilted up slightly as his bride came into the room. After years of mourning, his oldest brother had finally found happiness again.

Of course, thinking about Paul and Megan had his gaze drifting back to Abby. She was engrossed in conversation with his mom, who was fawning over her. Her fingers were laced together in front of her and she kept sending glances his way. He tried to offer her an encouraging smile.

Something was pressed against his stomach, drawing his attention away from her. He looked down to find his dad shoving a bowl at him.

“Put that over there on the end of the table.” His dad shot Trent a knowing look as he went to grab something else from the counter.

Trent did as he was told. It was obvious his dad had noticed his interaction with Abby.