going to be simple at all. She would have laughed if she could have mustered the strength.
“Well, normally I’d walk back to my car and drive home.”
“Normally?”
She worried her lower lip between her teeth then lifted a shoulder. “He got away with my car keys.”
He quirked a beautifully arched eyebrow—the one with the nick in it. “Oops. That’s a problem.”
Phoebe tugged on the tips of her hair where it tickled her nape and tried not to fidget as he continued to watch her with that half-amused, half-interested, all-male grin.
“So it would appear that you’re stranded.”
Yep. She was in a tight spot. So why was she suddenly grinning back at him?
It was ludicrous. Someone who had once meant something to her, someone she had trusted and had actually considered building a life with, had just tried to physically assault her. In addition, he’d made off with her car keys. Yet the pain of the first and the anger over the second just sort of drifted off in the comfort of this man’s dazzling smile.
“I’ll, um, just hail a cab,” she said, sobering resolutely. “I’ve got an extra set of keys at home. I can come back for my car tomorrow.”
“Or,” he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts, “I could take you.”
Yes, yes, yes.
She pulled back from that idea with a steadying breath. “No, oh no. I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’ve done enough. And you don’t even know me. For that matter, I don’t know you.”
“That is an issue,” he agreed with another one of those knee-melting smiles that didn’t make fun but teased just the same. “Here’s a thought. You could tell me your name, and I could tell you mine.” He paused, his grin playful and expectant. “You see where this is leading, right?”
Infectious. His smile was positively infectious.
“And then we can say we know each other,” he finished, looking very pleased with himself and his silliness. “Works out pretty well to my way of thinking.”
She liked his way of thinking. She was baffled that a man who looked like him would even bother with a woman who looked like her, but she liked it. In fact, she was quickly discovering that she liked everything about him.
Like his lips. Supple, sensual.
“So, what do you say?” he prompted. “How about you go first?”
“Phoebe,” she murmured, dragging her gaze away from his mouth. “Phoebe Richards.”
“Phoebe,” he repeated, mulling it over then looking immeasurably pleased. “I like it. It suits you much better than Mouse.” His expression was as sober as it was sincere.
She blinked, speechless again.
“I’m Daniel.” He extended his hand. “Daniel Barone.”
This time when he smiled it was full out, no-holes-barred and devastating.
She drew a deep breath and tried to shore herself up as every bone in her body sort of liquefied to the consistency of pudding.
And then she smiled like a goon again because he just made it so darn easy.
Slowly, she took the hand he offered. It was a strong hand. Her own hand felt small and protected tucked inside his. Before she could stop the image from forming, she imagined the coarse, warm strength of it caressing…well, something much more intimate than her hand.
She was thankful it was shadowy and dark on the street. Maybe he couldn’t see the flush spreading across her cheeks. With luck, he wouldn’t notice the slight tremble of her hand either when she finally managed to extricate it from his and lift it to her nape to tug self-consciously at her hair again.
“Let me take you home, Phoebe Richards,” he said, his voice and his eyes gentle. “Now just wait a sec before you say no. Think of how bad I’d feel if after all this you ended up getting mugged or something. I’d have put my life on the line for nothing.”
His easy self-assurance only reminded her of all the confidence she lacked. It reaffirmed that she had no business accepting his offer because in the overall scheme of things, it meant very little to him if he took her home and way too much to her.
Daniel Barone, she’d decided, couldn’t help but play the hero. She, conversely, never had and never would fit the role of a heroine. Especially not his heroine, although she couldn’t help herself from wanting to cast herself in the part.
That was when it hit her.
She knew who he was.
Her eyes widened.
How could she not have recognized him?
Maybe she was wrong, she thought, stalling panic as her gaze raced across his face. Maybe she hadn’t just made a fool of herself in front of a man who, a few months ago, the Boston Globe Magazine had billed as “Boston’s Own Sexy-as-Sin Daredevil Millionaire.”
Yeah, and maybe the light sheen of perspiration that had broken out on her forehead made her look delicate instead of desperate.
“Daniel Barone?” she squeaked, like the mouse she truly was. “The Daniel Barone?”
When he merely crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, she pressed the flat of her palm to her forehead.
“The Boston Globe’s Daniel Barone? The Baronessa Gelati Barone?”
Unless you lived under a rock, you knew about the Boston Barones. The colorful Italian family’s ice cream dynasty was legend, not just on the East Coast but worldwide. The original gelateria still flourished in the North End of Boston, and the delicious gelato had made Baronessa a household word and made multimillionaires out of anyone bearing the Barone name.
He shrugged, looking a little sheepish, which only added to his appeal. “I’m getting the impression that you may not consider this a good thing.”
“Oh, no. No, it’s just—”
“It’s just a name,” he preempted to make his point. “And I’m just a guy who wants to make sure you get home okay. Okay?”
In spite of it all, she was helpless not to return his smile. She’d given up resisting it. Just as she’d given up on the idea of doing the smart thing and begging off on his offer of a ride.
When he extended his hand, she hesitated for only a moment before taking it.
Just a name. Just a hand. And he’s just being polite, she told herself. Yet she felt as if she was walking in a dream as she let him lead her to his car.
Wasn’t she entitled, just this once, to have a fantasy fulfilled? One real-life fantasy involving one of the richest, sexiest men alive?
When he opened the door for her she went with it. She sank into the
