The Accidental Engagement by Maggie Dallen

Author:Maggie Dallen [Dallen, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Daniel insisted on driving up to Tuscany, which sounded just fine to Ivy. She had every intention of sightseeing on this trip. The drive should have only taken a few hours but he seemed in no hurry to get there and Ivy and Jack were having so much fun on the road trip—stopping to take pictures, enjoying a leisurely lunch in a quaint town—they were definitely not going to complain.

The closer they got to Tuscany the more tense Daniel seemed to become. Ivy wished Jack was in on their little secret so she could reach a hand out and massage Daniel’s stiff shoulders and maybe try to get the truth out of him. It was clear that Brunelli’s stall tactics weren’t the only thing bothering him about this journey to his homeland.

It was Daniel who insisted that Jack be kept in the dark—not that he didn’t trust his business partner, but he felt there was less room for slipups if they kept it to themselves.

Despite the tension in the car, Ivy was enchanted by Tuscany, practically hanging out the window to take in the sweeping views of rolling hills and pastures. “It’s so beautiful. You’re so lucky you got to spend so much time here.”

“Why’d you spend so much time here?” Jack asked from the back seat. Daniel shot her a sidelong glance and she bit her lip.

“I have family around here.”

“What? You never told me that.” Jack sounded offended in the backseat. He’d lost “shotgun” to Ivy back at the last gas station.

“I wasn’t aware I needed to inform you of my ancestry,” Daniel said. His voice was droll but there was an edge there that Ivy didn’t miss. She would have loved to ask him more but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about his family or his memories of the area. Especially not with Jack in the car.

“Was it your mom’s side or your dad’s? Are they still here?” Jack, who was quickly earning the award for most annoying backseat passenger, didn’t seem to pick up on Daniel’s not so subtle cues to drop the topic.

“Hey, look over there, it’s a vineyard,” Ivy said, pointing into the distance with feigned excitement.

“Where?” Jack turned to look where she pointed, despite the fact that they had already passed dozens of vineyards, making Daniel burst out laughing, much to everyone’s surprise.

Daniel turned toward Ivy with a grin that took her breath away.

He was handsome in a dangerous sort of way when he was serious—or angry—which was pretty much always. But he was absolutely jaw-droppingly gorgeous when he laughed.

“Very funny,” Jack deadpanned. “Don’t think you can distract me that easily. I’m finally learning something real about Daniel’s life before he became a businessman. This is exciting stuff.”

Ivy tended to agree but she knew better than to push. Daniel would open up when he was ready. Or she’d ask him when he was drunk. One or the other.

“It’s really not that exciting,” Daniel said. “And you should be concerned with Ivy’s family, not mine.

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