He chuckled and sipped coffee, grateful for James lightening the mood. Daniel needed to return to the house and get to work on the dress once more. He had a lot to do to take that disaster of a dress and turn it into the gown that every woman deserved on her wedding day.
Thankfully, James seemed to understand the situation. “Daniella and I need to return to work on the dress, and you two need to figure out the situation with the vows and Reverend Narcissist.” He lightly patted Daniel’s leg under the table. “Why don’t you and I get going? Mom and Dad had an appointment this afternoon so she isn’t supposed to be home.”
Daniel thought a second and then smiled and nodded. He understood. As long as Grace was out of the house, maybe he and James could avoid the next round of questions.
Unfortunately, that little notion turned out to be a complete fantasy. As soon as they returned to the house, they were met by Grace, who greeted them at the door and ushered Daniel into the kitchen. “We never got a chance to finish our conversation this morning. James, you go and help your father in the garage. There are some things he needs to get down out of the loft area, and Daniella and I need to chat.” She took him by the arm, leading him into the kitchen. “It’s time for you and I to have a little girl talk.” Daniel and James shared a quick glance, and Daniel shrugged. He really wanted to grab James by the hand to hold him here, but it looked like he was going to have to face this particular round of questioning on his own.
“Would you like some cake?” She set a pound cake on the table with some plates. “My James is a wonderful man. I’m so proud of him.”
“You have every reason to be,” Daniel said without a moment’s hesitation. James was a good person, and Daniel found himself attracted to him more and more.
“We’re women, so let’s just talk. Okay?” She leaned slightly over the table. “Men are clueless most of the time. My James is a caring, loving person, but he’ll take his own sweet time and dither on the sidelines until the cows come home. I know you’ve been dating for three months...” She was picking up a good head of steam, and Daniel wondered where this was going. He had a pretty clear idea though, and lord, Grace had a one-track mind.
Daniel cleared his throat. “I think it’s best for things develop in their own time.” It was worth a shot to try to get her to back off.
“Pffft...” Grace said. “We girls have got to drive things. Do you think I let Phillip make all the decisions when we were dating?” She rolled her eyes. “I let him think he was the one in the driver’s seat, but hell, that man may as well have been in the trunk, because I wasn’t going to let him get away. And you can’t either. Men need a push if we’re going to get them to do anything.”
Daniel had the notion that Grace’s idea of a push was the equivalent of shoving someone off a subway platform in front of the oncoming matrimony train and hoping it didn’t kill them. “James and I are just dating.” He did his best to seem a little frightened, because heck, Grace was more than a little frightening like this. Yes, he had known James’s mother had expectations, but this went beyond that. He glanced toward the door, hoping that James would return and rescue him from this situation. “Important, life-changing steps like marriage take time, and both people need to be sure that they are making the right decision.” Oh god, he was spouting crap just to fill the space. He shifted on the chair and hoped to hell the makeup he was wearing didn’t melt away under the laser-like focus of her gaze. “I need to get back to work on the dress...” Escape, any sort of escape, was preferable right now.
Thank god James strode in the back door just then. Daniel had never been so glad to see him. He smiled and extended his hand. James strode over and took it, and Daniel slid his arm around James’s waist as he stood beside his seat, leaning against him, suppressing a sigh of relief.
Phillip strode into the room. “Grace, were you putting the marriage screws to Daniella?” He shook his head.
“I was just lending a guiding hand,” she explained. More like a shove off a cliff.
Phillip leveled a glare in her direction. “You and I talked about this. Leave James and Daniella alone. Holly is getting married, and you have more than enough to do.” He leaned down to Grace’s ear and Daniel glanced at James as Grace’s cheeks grew red and her eyes widened to saucers.
James sputtered and tensed next to him. Phillip pulled his lips away from his wife’s ear and left the room without another word. Grace seemed speechless, which Daniel figured was some sort of miracle from god, and he took the opportunity to get to his feet. James seemed to have the same idea, and they left the kitchen as fast as they could.
Daniel shut the bedroom door behind them and burst into laughter. “I wonder what your dad said to her.”
James paled and shivered. “I never, ever want to know.”
“Come on. Your mom and dad had sex, probably still do. And it’s pretty clear that your dad still floats your mother’s boat.” He snickered when James paled even further. “Ya big baby.” Daniel decided to let it go and turned his attention to the dress. There was a lot of work to do, and he tried to center his attention on the task at hand. But his body had other ideas, and his mind centered on James instead.
“Do you need some help?”
Daniel lowered his gaze. “Can you sew?”
James paused. “I can do a lot of things,” he answered, voice growing lower as he drew closer.
“Really?” Daniel asked, unable to move as the energy in the room shifted completely. This was a bad idea, and he had to try to figure out a way to keep his head. He had to get this dress done, and James was becoming too close for comfort—and not just because he was only a foot away. This was a job. Once they returned to Chicago, all of this would end and they would go their separate ways. Daniel was finding it hard to keep things professional between them as every fiber in his being drew him closer to James. There was something about him that got under Daniel’s defenses and...
This couldn’t be real. It had to be all the proximity and the parts they were playing with James’s family. It was getting to him and reading more into their act was going to get him hurt...again.
Daniel turned away, able to breathe once again as oxygen returned to the room. “I need to get this done.” He picked up the dress and sat at the sewing machine, pointedly ignoring James as he let the task at hand take over his mind. It didn’t completely block out James’s presence, but James took care of that, the door clicking softly as he left the room, leaving Daniel all alone.
Chapter Nine