Read Online Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy C. Cherry - Free Book Online Page A

touch gave me a sense of life I hadn’t experienced before. Such raw humanity in his approach was so welcoming that night.
    “Thank you.”
    He didn’t hold my hand too long, but I missed his touch when he retreated. “Maybe the key is to start writing something else.”
    “Maybe. But I can’t really say I’m ready to close the current book.”
    His hand found the back of his neck and he rubbed it, laughing. “Then I will respectfully shut the hell up.” He was pretty dang charming, too. “I’m sorry I approached you outside like that. It’s just… When I saw you enter the bar the first time, you looked like…”
    “Like what?” I asked eagerly.
    He frowned. “Like everything you ever loved was set on fire and you couldn’t walk away until you watched it all burn to ashes. And all I wanted to do was hug you.”
    I blankly stared at him. I was coming off as awkward, yet I didn’t know what else to do.  Clearing my throat, I nodded once. I kept my glaze on him, unable to look away.
    Daniel smiled and turned to see one of his band members walking over to our table. Our table? What an interesting thought.
    The band member slapped his hands on Daniel’s shoulders and smiled toward me. He had shaggy blond hair that sat right above his eyebrows and the sweetest brown eyes I’d ever seen. A peace symbol hung around his neck, and his long-sleeved forest-green shirt was unbuttoned over his white t-shirt.
    “I hope this loser hasn’t been giving you a hard time,” he joked.
    “Hardly,” I grinned.
    He extended his hand toward me. I accepted his handshake. “Randy Donavon. I’m on acoustic.”
    “It’s nice to meet you. You’re amazing up there.”
    Daniel sighed heavily. “Don’t give him a bigger head.”
    Randy stepped back and placed his hands on his chest. “Big head? Me?! No way. I’m super humble.” He put his hands together in a prayer format and bowed toward me. “Thank you, beautiful.”
    I giggled at his antics—and at Daniel, who was rolling his eyes.
    “I would hate to steal Danny from you, but we gotta get the next set going…” Randy smiled and slapped Daniel on the back. “Beautiful”—he took my hand in his and kissed it—“it was wonderful meeting you.”
    “You too, Randy.”
    Randy nudged Daniel in the arm and whispered, “She’s hot,” before he marched back to the stage.
    My cheeks heated up.
    Daniel laughed at his friend. “Don’t mind Randy. He’s a little…unique.”
    “I like unique,” I said.
    He lifted from his seat and smirked my way. “You’re intriguing. I like that about you.”
    “You know what I like about you so far?” I asked, wiggling my butt around in my seat. He made me feel as if there were nothing more perfect than the booth in the back corner of Joe’s bar.
    “What’s that?”
    “Everything.” When I said the word, his face lit up and warmed me up from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. “Have fun up there,” I said, nodding toward the stage.
    “You’ll stick around?” he asked with such a soft tone. Like a schoolboy asking a girl to come listen to his garage band for the first time. 
    “Yup.”
    “Promise?” His hands slipped into his jeans pockets, and his hips swayed back and forth.
    I ran my fingers across my eyebrow and felt as if my cheekbones were going to shatter from all of the grinning they were partaking in tonight. “Promise, promise.”
     

 
    Five minutes ago I was lonely.
    Five minutes ago I walked alone.
    Five minutes later I told you the deepest secrets of my soul
    And when you turned away I whispered, ‘Please don’t go.’
    ~ Romeo’s Quest

     
    The show continued on, and I couldn’t take my eyes off Daniel for the remainder of the night. I could tell he loved what he did, and just the idea of that made me happy for him. When the final song finished, I stood with the rest and applauded in complete awe. He was brilliant. The whole band was ecstatic. Gabby would’ve loved them.
    When Daniel