Fateful by Cheri Schmidt Read Free Book Online Page B

Danielle had thought they were
extinct, or endangered, or only existed in romance novels. It
seemed this dichotomy in his personality would remain. Vintage
clashing with contemporary.
    Ethan smiled at her and then turned to her
uncle to shake his hand. “Sir, thank you for allowing me to take
Danielle out.”
    Uncle Nick seemed pleasantly surprised.
“You’re welcome.” the old man paused for a moment before saying,
“Oh! And don’t have her back too late. She has a curfew.”
    Danielle couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling
at that. Of course she felt she was too old for it, but Uncle Nick
had insisted if she was living under his roof, as he’d put it. But
she’d let it slide since it was a great deal cheaper living with
him than getting her own place.
    “Yes, sir. I also have a curfew, and I will
make certain she’s home quite early.” Hmm, he really knew how to
sweet-talk her uncle. Impressive—but Ethan had a curfew? He seemed
too old for that, early twenties maybe? Turning to offer Danielle
his arm, Ethan said “Shall we?”
    Staring at that arm a moment, Danielle had
flashes of a regency film she watched recently. Swallowing, she
hooked her hand around his bicep, and said, “Yes.” Thinking she’d
never had a date behave so courtly. This certainly made all of her
past dates look like barbaric cavemen.
    Ethan led her to his car, opened the
door, and helped her into his Jaguar. Nice car, nice looking, nice
manners, even nice smelling. She wondered what horrible, dark
secret could be hiding in his closet. He seemed a bit too perfect. But that wasn’t going
to stop her from going out with him, because he was far too
irresistible for that. Danielle doubted she would have ever cared
what was lurking in his closet, even if she did find out. There
were too many good things about him that overshadowed any possible
bad things lurking beneath the surface.
    When he appeared in the driver seat, Danielle
said, “Bri told me it takes a long time to get to this garden.”
    “Do you not like the idea of being alone in a
car with me for that long?”
    Danielle hadn’t meant for him to take her
comment like that. “Uh, no … I don’t mind at all. It sounds like a
nice drive actually.”
    “It will give me a chance to get to know you
better.”
    He gave her a little more of his blue eyes
then. Feeling suddenly bemused, a thought occurred to her. Maybe
that’s why he chose the long car ride: less eye contact. “Yes,” she
agreed, pushing her thoughts aside. “A long car ride is a good time
for conversation.”
    “But first, did you eat?” he asked.
    “No, I didn’t have enough time for that.”
    “Good, I have breakfast for you.” He reached
into the back seat and pulled up a fancy, pink bakery box.
    Danielle felt like she was opening a gift as
she pulled the lid off. Inside she found a delicious looking
variety of pastries. “These look—scrummy!” she said, using one of
her cousin’s British words for yummy. “Thanks, Ethan.”
    “You’re welcome. Would you like milk with
that?” He reached back again and brought up a small bottle of cold
milk.
    “Thank you. How did you know?” How did he
know that’s what she would like with her pastries? Some might have
preferred coffee or tea.
    “ I have a knack for that sort of
thing.”
    That’s an odd
talent , she thought, then decided it didn’t matter and
selected one. She sank her teeth into the flaky treat, and was glad
she’d missed breakfast.
    After licking her fingers clean of the glaze,
she pushed the open box toward him, offering to share. He had
purchased a lot more than she could eat by herself.
    Ethan shook his head, his tempting hair
swayed with the movement. Danielle’s fingers twitched in response.
“Thanks, I already ate,” he said.
    “Oh.” She looked down into the full box. This
would go to waste. Too bad.
    Danielle finished her pastry and milk, then
leaned back to enjoy the ride.
    “You’re only going to eat one? Take