Intercepting Daisy by Julie Brannagh Read Free Book Online Page B

one of two ways—they were either promising or unmitigated disasters. She wasn’t sure why. Dating was different now than it had been when her parents met or when her friends who’d been married ten years or more first met. Lots of guys weren’t interested in anything beyond a hookup. She wasn’t necessarily opposed to sleeping with a man she was attracted to, but liking him went a long way toward helping her decide she wanted to get physically involved. Guys didn’t seem to care, especially when they found out what she did for a living and obsessed over whether or not she was a member of the mile-high club.
    She wasn’t a germophobe, but she wasn’t having sex in an airplane bathroom unless she used a few cans of disinfectant on it first, and probably not then either.
    She had to be dressed and at the restaurant in an hour, and she still hadn’t decided what to wear. Her heart was pounding already. She made herself take deep breaths before she started hyperventilating.
    â€œRelax,” she said. “This isn’t the rest of your life. If he asks you out again, then you can fall apart.”
    G RANT GLANCED AT his Apple Watch. It was two minutes later than the last time he’d checked and ten minutes before Daisy was due to walk into the restaurant. He pretended to check his e-mail as he tried to look casual. This was the first date he’d had in a year that he’d actually had to plan, and he hardly knew what to do with himself.
    His hands shook. He wanted to fidget. He was nervous, and he couldn’t figure out why. It was a date. He’d been on a lot of them before. This was no different.
    Actually, it was. He’d wanted to spend time with Daisy since the first time she handed him a miniature bag of pretzels and smiled at him. He could tell himself he was doing this in order to stave off whatever was coming from the media about his private life, but he could have found someone else if he needed to see and be seen. He wanted to get to know her.
    She was as warm, friendly, and extroverted as he was shy and introverted. She wouldn’t have trouble talking to him, so he’d better step up his own game. He’d once compiled a list of date-friendly topics of conversation on his phone, but there usually wasn’t a lot of talking before he ended up in bed with someone. Grant knew his parents had dated for four years before they got married and slept together for the first time, which he couldn’t imagine doing. He’d asked them once what they talked about while they were dating. He was hoping for some ideas on what to talk to a date about—well, when he had one that actually required conversation. They’d told him about how they met and fell in love several times, when he was still living at home and beginning to date. In those days, he’d invite girls from church out for ice cream or a movie. His parents had been overjoyed by this.
    â€œWe talked about the sermon we’d heard at church. Sometimes we did a Bible study together,” his mother said. “I got to know your dad spiritually before we were physically involved.”
    He still remembered the blush that spread over his mom’s cheeks as he watched his parents smile at each other. He knew they’d had other dates—roller skating, going to baseball games, or seeing G-rated movies—and he wasn’t about to tell them the details of his dating life. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to be untruthful with them about his private life, but he knew that concrete proof he wasn’t living the life they would have liked would cause more friction between them. He saw his parents so seldom now. He’d like the time he spent with them to be enjoyable.
    He felt a rush of cool air as the lobby door opened and Daisy entered the restaurant. She had on a red knit dress with a matching fabric band around the waist and a swirling skirt that ended well above her