Naughty in November (Spring River Valley Book 11) Read Online Free Page A

boyfriend Matt and I caught you last weekend. He used to bartend at Colette’s, so we stop in a lot.” Bailey leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I’m so glad to see Taylor dating someone. He deserves to be happy.”
    Intrigued, Dani raised a brow , hoping to prompt Bailey to say more. She didn’t want to ask outright what Bailey meant, but she didn’t want to discourage her from talking either. Fortunately her restroom conspirator took the cue.
    “Taylor’s what I call ‘the marrying kind.’ He’s a catch…very grounded and stable. He’s one of those really rare, nice normal guys. He’ll make someone a great husband one day.”
    Dani’s throat tightened a little, but she managed to croak out a question without sounding like someone had a noose around her neck. “So…he’s looking for a wife?”
    Bailey shrugged. “Maybe not looking, but I hope he finds one. I know he really wants to settle down, and he’s the right kind of guy to settle down with. Like I said, you’re very lucky.” Glancing at her watch, she gasped. “Ooh, Matt probably thinks I fell in. I’d better get back. We’ll stop by your table before we go. It was nice meeting you…um…I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask your name.”
    “Danielle…Lennox. Dani.”
    “Dani, great to meet you.” Bailey hurried out of the lounge, leaving Dani staring once again at her round-eyed reflection in the mirror. A man who wanted…or needed a wife was exactly the kind of man Dani didn’t want or need. Was this the universe telling her to ignore her desires and leave Taylor as she found him? It had been her experience that the universe tended to know what it was talking about.
    On that note, she decided. Nothing naughty was going to happen tonight because the universe had spoken.

Chapter Five
     
     
    I promised myself I was going to be a good girl tonight . Dani’s stern reminder to herself played in her head as she and Taylor meandered hand-in-hand down the cobblestone path that led to the front door of her condo. The warm glow of the porch light she’d left on reminded her of candlelight, and despite the snow flurries that had fallen periodically throughout the day, the night now seemed unseasonably warm.
    Absently, she pulled open the collar of her coat. Four more steps and they’d be at her front door where their date was supposed to end at a respectable hour for two people who had just decided to take their relationship slowly.
    What’s the rush, anyway? she asked herself. She needed time to be certain everything Bailey had told her in the ladies’ room was true.
    She pushed her coat open and fanned her heated cheeks with her free hand. God, it was really hot for November.
    Taylor’s grip on her fingers tightened. “You okay?”
    “Hmmm? Oh, fine. Where’s a nor’easter when you need one? I guess the media is right about global warming.”
    Taylor stopped, his hand slipping away from hers. He turned to face her, his expression so earnest that her heart dropped from where it had nestled at the base of her throat to the deepest pit of her stomach. Uh-oh.
    “I don’t think it’s global warming. I think it’s the wine.” His sexy half-smile completely unnerved her and made her forget all the promises she’d made to herself about how the night was going to go. Was that thumping sound she heard her heart beating wildly or her knees knocking together?
    “Yes. That’s it. I had a little too much wine.” Oh, no. Don’t tell him that. Don’t let him think you’re too drunk to control your baser urges! “I’m really not,” she added in response to her own unvoiced internal dialogue.
    “Not what?”
    “Not…” Oh, God. I want him so bad that I’m babbling. “I’m not…entirely convinced global warming isn’t to blame. I mean, I remember years ago there was always snow on ground this time of— What?”
    His soft laughter interrupted the beginning of what might have, if left unchecked, become an embarrassing