Excerpt of Operation Saving Daniel by Nina Croft

She couldn’t cope with him right now. He looked so perfect and she looked like she’d just dragged herself out of bed, and hadn’t brushed her hair or her teeth. Suddenly, she was extremely aware of how little she had on. He was dressed in another of his boring businessman suits, identical to yesterday, with an identical white shirt. His tie was a different color—this one a very conservative dark blue and his hair was neatly brushed, his shoes shined. But despite stuffy businessmen not being her taste, the sight of him standing there was having a weird effect on her. All her nerve endings tingling at once, heat flooding her belly. She cleared her throat. “Julia’s not here.” “Damn.” “Did you want her for something important? I can pass on a message.” “No. Maybe.” A look of uncertainty crossed his face, the first real expression she had seen. For a second she got a brief glimpse of the old Daniel, and her heart rate quickened. She bit her lip, then heaved a sigh, unlatched the chain and stood aside. “Come in, Daniel.” Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and headed for the kitchen. Things might be better once she’d had a cup of coffee. And maybe a couple of painkillers. Or a good strong hair of the dog. She wondered whether Julia had any brandy in the flat. The kitchen seemed much smaller with Daniel in it. He was so big. Heat washed over her again, flushing her skin. Hands moist, she resisted the urge to wipe them down her T-shirt. Instead, she turned away and spent a few minutes fiddling with the coffeemaker as she got her body’s extremely inconvenient reactions under some sort of control. “So why are you here?” she asked. “I came to ask Julia to talk to the others. Make sure they are nice to Sophia at the party next weekend.” Her hands clenched at her side, but she was pretty sure there was no other sign of the quite irrational pain that swept through her at his words. “She’s your girlfriend; why wouldn’t they be nice?” “Because they hate her.” The words were spoken with a complete lack of expression. But he must care, otherwise why was he here? “Why would they hate her?” What was she expecting, that he would turn around and say because she’s a bitch? “Maybe because I love her.” His tone was totally deadpan—he might have been commenting on the weather—all the same, there was that flash of pain again. She hated that. She turned back to face him, but his expression matched his tone. He didn’t look like a man in love. “How strange. I’m sorry, Daniel, but she didn’t come across as particularly loveable. I mean she didn’t exactly put herself out to be friendly or anything.” “You have to get to know her.” “And I’ll have to take your word for that.” She definitely had no plans for getting to know Sophia. “You know your sisters are only interfering because they care.” Something flickered across his face, some emotion she couldn’t identify. “And it’s not only Sophia. They’re worried about you.” “Why the hell would they be worried about me? My life is great—going really well—I’m perfectly okay.” “Yeah, too perfect. You’re a goddamn robot, Danny.”