When I don’t answer, he brushes his thumbs over the naked skin of my stomach again, but this time dips them inside the waistband of my skirt and skims the lacey top of my panties.
I inhale sharply, tightening my fingers around his wrists as my nipples harden and heat builds in my core. I rub my thighs together, trying to alleviate the ache slowly building between my legs, but it’s no use. I’m already a tight puddle of need.
How come this beautiful man, who smells like clean citrus, can make me melt with just a simple touch? And how come it’s always so difficult for me to snap out of his sexy gaze?
I blink away from Daren’s pretty brown eyes and playfully whisper, “No,” before shifting back a few inches.
His eyelids, which were heavy with desire just moments ago, open fully as he scans my face and throat.
“Liar,” he says with a smile.
I smile back, grateful he doesn’t try to convince me otherwise. I’d surely give in if he did. Because Daren affects me.
Every other guy on the planet is just that: a guy. But Daren is a force. And I am a feather.
“Ready?” he asks, getting back to business as he moves slightly away from me.
My body protests and disappointment washes over me, but I pull it together and try to look unfazed as I nod and brace my hands against his wrists. “Ready.”
Bending his knees, he easily lifts me up and sits me on the boxcar’s open frame. Then he steps back and hoists himself into the car beside me. He carefully stands up, and offers me a hand to help me to my feet.
My high heels waver on the uneven metal floor of the train car but Daren keeps me upright until I’m standing on my own.
Good God. I’m never wearing high heels again.
We walk to the back of the boxcar to retrieve the paper. I’m still hoping it’s a check. Or a savings bond. Or a money order. Daren swiftly picks it up, unfolds it, and both our faces fall. Another note.
Daren mutters a curse and I groan.
“Why couldn’t I have had a normal father?” I say.
Daren reads the letter out loud. “ ‘Congratulations on finding this clue. Lesson number two: Always bring the heart. Wherever you go, however you get there, bring a loving air with you and leave kindness in your wake. Life is too short to keep your heart to yourself. Now I’m sure you’re frustrated and wondering where the money is, but not to worry! The money is very real and will soon be yours. The next place you’ll need to go is the thing Kayla liked more than stickers and the thing Daren looked forward to every February. Ask for the Turner key.’ ”
“Another clue?” My mouth hangs open. Oh my God. This really is another one of my dad’s quirky scavenger hunts. I can’t believe he thought a scavenger hunt would be a good way to share his money with me. Ugh!
I throw my arms up in exasperation, accidentally whipping Daren’s wrist against the wall of the boxcar with a loud bang.
“Hey now,” he grunts. “There’s no need for violence.”
“This is all just a big game, you know.”
He blinks at me. “What is?”
“This!” I gesture around wildly, accidentally thwacking his hand against the train car. Again.
He rubs his banged-up hand with a scowl. “Okay first of all, cool it with the hand gestures. Second, what do you mean this is a game?”
“This thing that we’re doing?” I hold up the note. “It’s all a big scavenger hunt that my dad must have orchestrated before he died.”
“A scavenger hunt?” He screws his face into a befuddled look.
I nod. “He used to make scavenger hunts for me all the time when I was little. And now he’s sending me on another one and giving us clues to find the inheritance.”
He bobs his head. “Cool.”
“No. Not cool,” I say, pointing at him. “Annoying.”
He scoffs. “So we follow some clues, so what? Why is that annoying?”
I let out a sigh. “Because scavenger hunts were something my father used to do for me back when he still cared and was all involved in my life. Being sent on one now just feels… insulting. Like I’m a puppet in his little game—a game he didn’t bother playing with me for years, mind you—and now he thinks he can just handcuff me to strangers and send me out on wild-goose chases whenever he pleases. Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond grateful that he left me money in his will. But by wrapping this inheritance in a scavenger hunt and asking me to play along, he’s destroying one of my favorite childhood memories.” I rub a hand down my face, my heart twisting. “It just hurts, that’s all. I don’t want to be his puppet. I want to be his daughter.”