24. Rule #24 Sometimes You Gotta Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Rule #24: Sometimes You Gotta Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Zoe

W aking up with Daniel's head between my thighs was my new favorite way to wake up. Waves of pleasure cascaded through me and I had never woken up to face the day so relaxed. He made love to me slowly that morning and as we lay in bed after, legs tangled together, I asked, "Would you rather fight one elephant-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized elephants?"

He raised his eyebrows, looking down at me. "Pardon me?"

"Would you rather fight–"

"Okay, I did hear you correctly," he said.

"So? Which one is it?" I prompted.

Daniel laughed then kissed my temple.

"A hundred small elephants are too many small elephants," he mused.

"But that huge ass duck could do serious damage," I countered.

"True. Do I have any weapons in this scenario? "

"Hmmm." I thought about it. "The animals don't have any, so just your fists."

"What do you mean they don't have any? Elephants have tusks! Those are built-in weapons!"

"Are you really going to cut a tiny duck-sized elephant?"

"I'd just stab the giant duck, to be quite honest. Also, that's dinner sorted for at least a month."

I burst out laughing. "Fuck, I love you!" My eyes went wide and my heart stopped. "Oh," I said softly.

Did I love him? Of course, I did. That was always my problem, I loved too quickly. It was the Pisces in me. I gave too much of myself too soon and then I got hurt in the process. But he didn't need to know that. I couldn't give him this power over me.

A huge ass grin bloomed on Daniel's face, his green eyes sparkling in the morning sun. My heart thudded in my chest, as he reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "You love me, huh?"

"I mean… I… um…" I stuttered "It's a figure of speech, okay?" He chuckled at my nerves. I hadn't ever felt nervous around him. Irritated? Sure. Annoyed? Absolutely. Infuriated? Most definitely. But never had I been nervous.

"I've never heard that figure of speech before," he said teasingly.

"You obviously don't read enough," I mumbled, turning to roll away from him. But he didn't let me get very far, grabbing me by the hips and holding me in place.

"No, no, no. No running away," he said.

I groaned and buried my face in his warm chest. "Why do you have to be like this?"

He tilted my face up to look at him and I was hit in the chest at the look on his face, my throat went a little tight at the emotion that he was laying bare to me in his forest green eyes. Like I was everything to him. Laying a soft kiss on my forehead, he said, "Because I love you too, Hurricane."

And just like that my body melted into his. "You do?" I whispered.

"You doubted it?" he asked, still smiling as if he'd won some kind of prize.

I pulled out of his hold, staring at a spot on the duvet and this time he gave me the small space I needed. "You didn't say, so I didn't know." I still spoke softly, almost afraid to voice this. I toyed with a strand of cotton that had come loose from his duvet, still not meeting his gaze.

"You couldn't tell from the way I am with you?"

"No," I replied, because it was the truth. I could never be sure if people really loved me. Oh, they said they did. Until they didn't.

Daniel threaded his fingers through my hair, forcing me to look at him.

"Well, then listen good, Zoe Kingston. I love you. I think I loved you the minute I watched you teaching that preschool class. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for and I'm not talking physically. You've been through so much and you're still standing. Still going and I'm in awe of you. You're hilarious, I love laughing with you and you challenge me every step of the way. Your scowl is probably one of my favourite things about you. I wouldn't have you any other way."

Leaning closer, his lips caressed mine. A soft kiss. A promise. A declaration. And while my heart soared, it scared the shit out of me.

An hour later, we were dressed and Daniel was dragging me down Main Street. Dragging because I was literally digging my heels in.

"I don't see why you couldn't have just gone to get me breakfast," I grumbled. "That's what a real boyfriend who allegedly loves his girlfriend would do."

He stopped and I stumbled but caught myself before tumbling to the ground. "A real boyfriend wouldn't do that either." I glared at him, but my face softened when he faced me, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. I sighed, melting into him, he felt so good pressed up against me. All hard muscles and he smelled good enough to devour.

"Well, this boyfriend wants to show the woman he loves off to the town and buy her breakfast at the same time."

"You don't have to show me off. They know who I am," I whined. I wasn't above pouting, but all he did was kiss my pouty lips.

"But do they know you're mine?" he asked with a wicked smirk.

"Do they have to?" I replied.

With an exaggerated gasp, he clutched his imaginary pearls. "Why Zoe Kingston, am I your dirty little secret?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You're on such thin fucking ice and you don't even know it."

Reaching down to slip his fingers through mine, he said, "Oh, I'm well aware, Hurricane. Seems I like to live on the edge. Now, come on before all the cinnamon rolls are gone."

That got me moving.

The bell above Gloria's Bakery tinkled and about ten heads swiveled to take us in. I glowered. Daniel grinned. Fuck my life.

To avoid the embarrassment of him physically dragging me in, I walked toward the counter.

"Nope, we're sitting today," he said, heading for one of the unoccupied mismatched tables.

"Oh, come on Dan," I muttered under my breath. But this ray of walking sunshine just smiled and greeted everyone along the way. They even returned my pained grimace with genuine smiles.

"Can I get you two anything to drink?" Gloria asked as she sidled up to us. You'd swear a celebrity couple dropped in the way she was smiling. She handed us each a menu .

"Um, my usual. Flat white with vanilla caramel creamer, no sugar please," I said.

"I'll have an Americano, please," Daniel added.

"Of course," I mumbled and he raised an eyebrow at me. Grabbing the menu, I held it up to my face blocking out the rest of the customers. After a few minutes a finger popped onto the top of the menu, pushing it down. "Are you hiding?" Daniel asked. That stupid grin still gracing his beautiful face.

"I should never have told you that I love you," I grumbled.

"But you do," he said.

"Yes, but if this is how you're going to behave, I should have just kept it to myself."

"Here you go, dears." Gloria interrupted our bickering to place our coffees in front of us. "So, what will you be having?"

She looked at me expectedly, pen poised above a little notebook.

"Um," I hedged. I hadn't been looking at the damn menu. I never sat down when I came in here. I popped in, got my cinnamon rolls and high-tailed it out before I could get dragged into a conversation.

"Can we have a few more minutes please?" Daniel asked, all charm and smiles.

"Of course," she said, returning his smile before walking off.

"Stand up," Daniel said as he stood.

"What?" I craned my neck to look at him.

"Stand up," he repeated.

I couldn't tell you why I listened to him, partly because he said it so gently and partly because I wanted to know what he was up to. He picked up my chair and moved it so that my back faced the other customers then held it out for me. I took my seat and smiled at him in thanks.

"Better?" he asked softly .

"Yes, thank you." Even though we still had an audience, I couldn't see them anymore which settled me a bit. In the new position, Daniel now sat directly on my left. He reached out, threading his fingers through mine, kissing the back of my hand softly.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked.

"Um, Lewis usually gets me the Eggs Benedict bagel."

"Eggs Benedict bagel it is," Daniel said.

"He also gets pancakes. And almond croissants. And fruit," I added.

"Was he trying to bribe you at the time?" Daniel asked.

"Seven times out of ten he's trying to bribe me." I shrugged.

Daniel laughed and that sound made my tummy flutter. Ugh, I loved it. And him.

"Do you wanna try something new?" he asked, scanning the menu while still holding my hand.

"Nah, I'm a creature of habit. The bagel should be enough."

Daniel placed our order when Gloria came back around, keeping my attention on him, and the chatter of the bakery faded into the background. We kept up an easy, casual conversation while Gloria placed our food in front of us.

"Would you rather have a time machine or a teleporter?" Daniel asked me.

"Hmmm… well, I can charm an object to teleport myself. So a TARDIS I think," I replied.

"Can you teleport anywhere or only places you've been to?"

"Only places I've been to. It's a connection that I'm opening up."

"Kinda limiting," he said, popping a black piece of something in his mouth.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"This?" he replied, holding up his fork. "Black pudding. Gloria got it in especially for me. A full English breakfast. "

"But what is it?" I pressed.

"Like a pig's blood sausage," he replied, moving the fork to his mouth.

"Like?" I asked with a grimace.

"Okay, fine. It is pig's blood."

"That's disgusting."

"It's delicious!"

"Can't believe I'm in love with a man who willingly eats pig's blood. I might reconsider this."

The belly laugh that came from him made me bubble with joy. He was so fucking beautiful and full of life. I just wanted to bask in him. To let some of his sunshine lighten my dark.

"Would you rather date your best friend or a stranger?" he asked.

"Eew, stranger obviously," I replied.

"I'd rather date my best friend," he said with a smile.

I twisted my lips, trying to hide my smile. "Well, I'm glad I went with a stranger."

"Me too," he said with a grin. It was so easy to be with Daniel. The conversation flowed easily, he made me laugh and he looked at me like I was the only woman that existed.

He paid the bill and we made it out of the bakery without a single remark and a box of caramel pecan cinnamon rolls. Strolling back toward his building, I was surprised when he walked past the door that led up to his apartment and headed to the front of the building instead. The words, Aurora Art Gallery , were sprawled in an elegant black script across the top.

"You named it after your sister," I said.

"Yeah. She loved art." I squeezed his hand and he looked down at me with grief and love in his eyes. "She would have loved you," he said with a sad smile. "The way you give me so much shit? God, she would have been your biggest fan. Come on, let me show you around. "

My heart hurt for him. While we had both lost our sisters, my relationship with Zara was nothing like he's had been with Aurora. Sometimes when he didn't think I was looking, there was a sadness in his eyes, before he shook it off and plastered on a smile. He was the very definition of fake it till you make it.

The gallery looked different in the daytime. The sun shone through the big front windows, giving the place a bright, airy feel. White walls allowed the paintings to take center stage and for a moment I just stood there, basking in the beauty.

He led me through the gallery till we reached the back and a guy with dark, shoulder-length hair stepped out of a back room.

"Ah, Michael," Daniel greeted him. "This is Zoe. My girlfriend."

Michael held out his hand and I shook it, laughing when he asked, "How did he trick you into dating him?"

"I'm an easy bitch, all he had to do was bring me ice cream."

Daniel draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into him as he kissed the top of my head. "Don't lie. It took me over a month to wear you down."

"Starting to regret it with the stunt you pulled this morning," I muttered.

"But you love me!"

"Ugh, again, regrettable." But I couldn't help but smile at him. It would be hard to not love him.

"Anyway, it was good meeting you Michael, but I have to get to class."

"Oh, you're studying at the university? My boyfriend, Oliver, is a professor there."

"He still your boyfriend this week?" Daniel teased. Michael gave him the middle finger while sticking his tongue out.

"No, I teach Muay Thai."

"Oh, the kickboxing thing Daniel does! "

"I do jiu-jitsu. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Michael shrugged and I automatically loved him for it. "Nice meeting you, Zoe. I expect I'll be seeing you around here more often." He waved then popped back into the back room.

"Wanna walk me to class?" I asked.

"I can drive you. My car actually works."

"Sorry, not all of us can be royalty," I teased.

"Cheeky," he said, pinching my butt then laughed when I shrieked.