As they left the hat shop, Crystal went to put her ball cap back on, but Daniel reached out a hand, mussed her hair, and stole the cap from her hands. It took her a full block to chase him down and get the hat back. They were both panting and laughing by that point, but soon Daniel fell back into his sullen expressions and constant checking of his phone.
At the Sweet Shoppe they ran into Ashlynn, who had been chatting with Brooklyn, one of the owners. When Daniel walked in, it took a good five seconds before either Ashlynn or Brooklyn realized Crystal was also in the room.
Once she did, Ashlynn hurried over. “Crystal! Who’s this?” Her eyes said they would be talking later.
Suddenly, Crystal wanted nothing more than to be back out on the water, with just her and Daniel and no one else. “A client,” she blurted before Daniel could introduce himself. “I just brought him in for some of the world’s best fudge.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the counter, and he made no protest as she ordered a pound of plain chocolate and exited the store before Ashlynn could get any more questions in.
Crystal would have to make it up to Ashlynn later, but if they stuck around, there was no telling what Ashlynn might ask or insinuate.
Meanwhile, no matter how many places they went, Daniel’s restlessness only got worse. It was such a contrast to last weekend on the lake. No threat of him hugging her today.
She should be happier about that.
After a couple of hours, she finally turned to him and planted her hands on her hips. “There. You've seen the town. Unless you want to go fishing now, I'm going to call it a day.”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “I don't want to fish, but I'll just be bored out of my mind again if I go home.”
Was that what this was all about? Boredom? “What do you do at home normally?”
“Work.”
“That's it? No bingeing movies in your home theater, or throwing fancy parties?”
“I go to parties when I need to for work. As for movies...” He shrugged dismissively. “What do you have to show for that when you're done? The time could be better spent.”
“Like on work?”
He shrugged again. Shrugs and grunts were apparently all he was good for today. But if he was just bored...
“Okay, you can come back to the shop with me. But I'm going to put you to work.”
“I don't think you can afford my hourly wage.”
“Don't worry.” She smiled sweetly. “I'll pay you a fair rate for anything worthwhile you accomplish.”
As she expected, a gleam of challenge lit his eyes. Feeling bold, she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to his car—he’d driven, as he’d refused to be seen in town in her truck.
When they got back to the shop, Crystal waved at Bran. “We're going to stick around here the rest of the day, so you can head out if you like.”
Bran nodded, but didn't move from his seat behind the counter. “Teaching him to choose his own tackle?”
“Even better. I'm going to make him tie some flies.” A glance at Daniel showed he was intrigued, which was a good sign. She didn't want him calling their deal off early out of boredom; she needed the money.
And, if she was honest, she wanted more time to figure out what was up with that giddy feeling she’d had at the lake the other day. And why today he’d swung from messing with her hair and stealing her hat to being a total grumpersaurus in moments.
Going over to the wooden chest against the wall, she pulled out her dad's old metal tackle boxes full of supplies and set up two clamps. It had been a long time since both clamps had been out at once...
Since her dad had died.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to Daniel. “If you make anything good enough, I'll give you the option of selling it to the shop or trying it out yourself on the river tomorrow.”
“They're just little blobs of thread and fur and stuff. What’s so hard?”
“That's what you thought about fly fishing too, remember?” She handed him a tackle box, and their hands brushed—a minor thing, really. Not something she should even notice.
Surprisingly, Daniel paused, then nodded in agreement. No more pride and condescension this time? She’d have to try not to get used to that.
Chapter 10
Daniel paced around the front of the shop while Crystal finished gathering her things. He'd shown up early and sat in the parking lot until she’d pulled in at exactly six a.m. Learning to tie flies yesterday had helped keep his hands busy for a few hours, at least, but his results had been laughable. He blamed his hands being so much bigger than Crystal’s; her slim, deft fingers had no trouble pinching clumps of feather and fur against the tiny neck of a fishhook and holding it perfectly as she spun thread from the tiny bobbin around and around to hold it in place. He could have spent an entire afternoon just watching her, as the sure movements of her hands had been mildly hypnotic.
Then he’d gotten home.
Any time he tried to touch base with Eleanor, she refused to give him any specifics about what was going on with the company. For all he knew, everything was falling apart, and it would look like he didn't even care and was just lazing around in a mansion with three swimming pools letting it happen.
Back in the early days of the company, his best friend and partner had split and started his own competing company. Daniel had picked up the entire workload they had both been doing previously, but no matter how hard he worked, his company floundered in obscurity while John's company took off. John was the personable one, the one with all the connections. He’d realized faster than Daniel that how he dressed, and the people he was seen with, would make all the difference for his company.
Then John had stopped caring about that professional image, and begun to throw his money around—he’d started popping up in tabloids, partying with actresses or caught in hot tubs with models. He'd ignored his company, and it had fallen apart.
Daniel had learned from his former partner’s example. He’d bought a nicer suit and gone to some events. He’d sold the image of the hardworking CEO, and managed to step into the gap left by John's failed company, picking up several of his former contracts and investors.
That was why he'd built this huge place—so he would have somewhere to entertain if he ever found himself struggling for networking opportunities again. One thing he'd learned about people with money was that if you threw a good enough party, distance was no factor in how far they would come.
He wandered the perfectly decorated, perfectly lonely rooms. He could have a party. Put this place to use.
No matter how much Daniel pretended, though, he wasn’t like John. A party would probably push Daniel’s blood pressure right off the chart.
He’d wandered over to the windows and looked at his pools, one pink, one teal, and one blue from underwater lights. Maybe swimming would help.
Fifteen laps later, he’d been just as restless as before. Water just made him think of Crystal, and that was a path he’d forbidden his thoughts to wander along. When he was around her, he fell into teasing and joking like a high school boy. Sure, it was fun to pester her and see her eyes light up—like when he’d stolen her hat and then held it over her head once she’d caught up to him so she’d have to jump for it—but that wasn’t who he was anymore, and he had to get a handle on himself.