SADIE

The expression on Dane’s face was priceless when he saw me getting out of Trevor’s car. He stumbled and almost fell over a bucket. Everyone was busy working on Dane’s new home, and I was there to help. Or more like make sure he was following doctor’s orders. Plus, Dane and I had a week to get to know each other again, and we had zero time to waste.

Trevor handed me a hard hat, and I replaced Dane’s old ball cap with it. I was hesitant to set it down on a workbench, but I knew I couldn’t carry it around with me.

“What are you doing here?” Dane asked as he came over with a large board propped on his shoulder.

“I’m here to help.” My eyes went to his hand that wasn’t in the brace. “Where’s the brace?” I put my hands on my hips.

“Umm…in the truck.” He smiled guiltily. “I couldn’t work with it on.”

“I tried to reason with him earlier, but he’s being stubborn,” Trevor added with a grin.

“Going to get more tools, eh?” Dane raised a brow at Trev.

Trevor shrugged. “She is a tool.” He snorted. “I mean, the good kind.”

Dane smiled and shook his head. Damn. That smile.

I cleared my throat. “Go put it back on.” I reached up and took the board from him. When he had it, it looked like he held it with ease. I had no idea it was so heavy until I stumbled a little and Trevor had to take it from me.

“Easy now. Dane is a lot stronger than you are.”

Dane pouted as he went to his truck to get the brace.

I took the hard hat off, set it on a workbench, and walked over to help him. I needed to make sure he put it on right. I took it from him and helped him, making sure it was secure and wouldn’t slip off.

“Maybe you should let Trevor and the rest of the guys work without you today.”

“Where would the fun be in doing that?”

“I’d make it fun.” I immediately regretted saying that. I blushed when he laughed. “I totally didn’t mean that like it sounded.”

“By the shocked look on your face when it came out of your mouth, I figured you didn’t. You still don’t have a filter, I see.

“And you’re still stubborn.”

“Yeah. Actually, I’m probably more stubborn than I used to be. The Marines added to it.”

“Take off for the day. I came to help, but now I think you need to leave or you’re going to be tempted to work.”

He peered at the house being worked on then to me. “I… I haven’t taken a day off in a long time.”

“Well, me either, but here I am. You said yourself we need to get to know each other again before we meet our son. We only have five days, and if you work every day, we don’t have much time left.” I smiled hopefully.

He ran his good hand through his hair. “Fine. I guess I can take time off.”

I waved at Trevor who was cutting a board. He laughed and shook his head when he saw Dane getting into the truck. I got in and watched Dane as he backed the truck up and then pulled onto the driveway.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I guess Coach’s old house. We could order pizza and talk.”

“All right.”

“What time did you take your pain meds this morning?”

He stayed quiet for a second. “I didn’t. I don’t like how pain medicine makes me feel. I haven’t taken one since they forced that one on me last night.”

“Dane, baby, you…” I frowned. I shouldn’t have called him that.

Who was I kidding, though? I couldn’t deny my feelings for him. Little things would continue to slip out without me even meaning to. I loved him. I’d always love him. Eight years was a long time, but in that time, I wasn’t with anyone else. I had occasionally dated, but it never worked out. No one was ever my Dane. Instead of my heart growing distant, it only ached for him more. I always thought maybe I could fix things with him, but not in this way. Not because we had to, but because we wanted to.

I stared out the window. I didn’t know how to speak after letting that slip.

“I what?” he asked, his voice breaking some. He cleared his throat.

“You should take your meds.” I ran my fingers through my hair and my heart stopped. “Turn around!”

He slammed on the brakes and I planted my hands firmly on the dash to steady myself. He looked over at me. “What’s wrong?” he asked in a panic.

“My hat. I mean, your hat! I left it. Dane, we have to go get it!”

Okay, so yeah, I was completely having a panic attack over a hat. But it was the only thing I had that was something of Dane and myself before things went bad. Before I ruined everything. He wrote our names on the bill, and I put a heart around it. It was ours, and I wore it every single day. What if it accidentally got thrown away or something?

He shook his head and made a U-turn. “Shit, Daisy, you scared the hell out of me.”

“Okay, so we’ve learned a few things about each other already. You’re still stubborn, look sexy carrying a large board, you still call me Daisy, and I still call you baby, I’m obsessed with your hat, and I need to weight lift because I couldn’t even hold a damn board.” I laughed. “And I still don’t have a filter.” Oh, and I still love you, but I’d save that for another day.

He chuckled. “I’ve become stronger than I used to be. I work out a lot. And I like you not having a filter.”

My eyes went to his arms, and I smiled in appreciation. “I can tell.”

When he pulled onto the graveled parking area at the house, I got out as soon as soon as he came to a stop. I hurried over to the workbench where I had left it. My heartbeat slowed to a normal pace as soon as I put my hands on it. I put it on my head and winked at Trevor when he saw me. He was nailing a board in on the second floor.

I hurried back over to the truck and got in. “All right, I’m good now.”

“Promise me you won’t scare me like that again if it’s just a hat you left behind.”

I put my seatbelt on. “That hat being left here is an emergency to me. It’s silly, I know. But it’s special to me.”

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked as he drove toward the road.

Both of my eyebrows shot up as my imagination went wild.

He tsked me which made me laugh.

“Daisy’s mind, always in the gutter,” he teased.

I bit my lip and then smiled a little.