Thanks, That Was Fun... Ch. 03

She twisted a black curl around her finger lazily, leaning back a little in the chair. Danny knew she was studying him; even if she hadn't quite mastered the x-ray vision of their mother, Ella was way too intuitive for her older brother's tastes. She'd always easily figured out that something was going on. The instinct made growing up with her annoying at times – she made it a habit, when they were younger, of popping up whenever her brothers were in the midst of a brilliant, if trouble-inducing, scheme and blackmailing them into letting her be a part of it. And as her clear gaze zeroed in on him, he knew she was mulling him over, thinking of the way he'd acted the past few days, seemingly lost in his own head. For her gregarious older brother, it meant something was up.

Still, Danny kept the smile on his face.

After a moment, Ella made a show of giving up, then grinned and stood, "You should check in at the café when you get a chance, those leftovers you forgot at the house yesterday are in one of the fridges."

Danny jumped up, glad the mini-interrogation was over, and walked his sister out and downstairs to her office. "Leftovers" was hardly a good enough name for what awaited him next door, he knew – Sunday dinners were a bit of a big deal in the Wright house, and he knew the plate his mother left for him was probably overflowing with baked ham and generous portions of yesterday's meal.

Danny's stomach grumbled at the thought, and he grinned. "Ahh, bless your heart but you're a good girl," he said, suddenly mimicking his late grandmother's Irish accent to accompany one of her favorite sayings. His tactics were blatant; using the accent within the Wright family was always followed with laughter, and Danny knew the grin that enveloped his sister's face would save him from questions about his distracted mood for at least the rest of the day.

He leaned against the door frame as his sister shuffled things around her desk. Ella was in charge of the events that took place year round on the expansive Wright-Lewis grounds; everything from specialized hunting trips deep into the acreage to show off the newest models, to large banquets and private events passed through her fingers; it had the benefit of being a great source of revenue, not to mention something Ella loves doing.

Strains of laughter from the lobby to Danny's left floated in, alerting to the fact that his sister's previously mentioned appointment had arrived. His thoughts now solely on the wrapped plate of home cooking that awaited him in the café next door, he held the door open for his sister and was moving around her as she shook hands with the people waiting in the lobby, when his eyes rested on the last member in the group; his pulse threatened to abandon ship as the woman that he'd spent most of his weekend trying to forget stood in front of him, her mouth slightly open, staring at him in much the same way that he must be staring at her.

****

Jane closed her jaw with a snap as her eyes met the silver-green ones of the man nearly towering over her in the lobby.

Damn.

She'd nearly made it through the day without thinking of him.

And, damn, he was just as good-looking as she remembered him being.

A muffled laugh was cut short by someone's elbow jamming into someone else's ribcage.

Jane took another moment and then forced her gaze away from Danny Wright's, exchanging surprised glances with her friends, before noticing with a twinge of annoyance that Carrie's eyes glazed over with romantic daydreams at the sight of Danny and Jane looking at each other.

Jane then glanced at the woman whose hand was still slightly offered in a handshake to one of them; now, she stood with it extended, her eyebrows raised high as her glance shifted between Jane and Danny. Jane felt another twinge, if belonging to a radically different emotion, when she realized that the woman and Danny had come from her office.

The woman reached up casually and tossed a handful of thick black curls over her shoulder, then cleared her throat. Jane blushed suddenly at the realization that Danny hadn't taken his eyes off her; at the sound from this woman's throat, however, he shifted and looked at her, instead. Was he blushing, too?

"Hi," she drawled slowly, with the tone of someone who wasn't quite sure what was going on but knew that something definitely was. "I'm Ella Lewis."

Jane smiled weakly at her. At the last second, she recognized that the hand Ella had pushed her hair over her shoulder with held a sizeable diamond accompanied by a thick silver wedding band. Married. Jane felt her spine relax.

Ella looked back and forth between Danny and Jane again, a small smile quirking on her lips.

"…and this is my brother, Danny Wright," she said, again with a tone that belied that idea that introducing her brother to them was a smidge unnecessary.

Jane breathed slightly, the twinge in her chest lightening. Sister. Yay.

Knowing full well that she didn't have the right to any mental 'Yays', she looked at Ella again. The thick black hair was suddenly familiar, as were her eyes – the shade may be a bit darker than her brothers, but the shape was the same. Jane couldn't help but smile again. She stole a glance at the tall man in front of her, but her courage failed and she looked away when his eyes bore down on hers again.

"Yes," Lucy said, her voice almost the same tone as Ella. "We know Danny," she said, smiling in a way that made Jane nervous.

"Yep, yep," Matt agreed. As usual, he caught up with Lucy in an unnervingly quick manner.

"We go way back, you see," Lucy said, still smiling and turning to Ella. She then glanced at Matt. "Right?"

"Oh, definitely," Matt nodded sagely. "At least…" He paused, thoughtfully, "…since Friday evening, I would say."

Carrie watching the two of them, biting her lip as she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh at the horror crossing Jane's face or admonish them for teasing their friend.

"But that's not why we're here," Carrie said meaningfully, drawing out the syllables as she looked between Lucy and Matt.

"Right!" Jane said, grasping at the change in topic. "We're looking for a place to get married!"

Danny blinked and took a step back, a reaction that was nearly mirrored by his sister's eyebrow shooting up again in a questioning look.

Danny looked from Matt to Jane, confusion written on his face, though it warred with something else for control of his features. While the proceedings had, up to this point, amused him, he took another look at the guy that'd questioned him in Jane's kitchen, and now stood beside her. Matt shifted his feet nervously and ran a few fingers through his curl light brown hair. Danny looked to Jane, who watched him with a raised eyebrow.

Ella, however, had taken the words much more literally and looked, now, between Jane and Carrie.

"Well…" she said, clearing her throat again, "A civil ceremony would be a first for us, but I'm sure we could work something out that you'd both like…"

Jane went from embarrassed to mortified. Then again, Ella wasn't privy to the same information as her brother, who knew intimately that Jane was thoroughly aware of how to enjoy a man. Her blush deepened.

"No, heavens, no," Carrie said quickly, shaking her head. She chirped a laugh, "No offense, Jane…"

Jane couldn't help but roll her eyes as Lucy and Matt snickered.

"I'm getting married," Carrie said brightly, her mood swinging up as it did whenever she said it. "Well… actually, I hope I'm getting married. We had double booking craziness and lost our spot at a place downtown, so now we're looking for alternative sites…" she trailed off, her mind re-overcome with newly romantic thoughts as she looked between Jane and Danny again.

Danny visibly relaxed.

Swinging into gear, Ella smiled and motion back to her office, causing Carrie to pull her eyes away from the two objects of her fascination.

Glancing sternly at Lucy and Matt, she motioned for them to follow her, as if they would interrupt the silent looks moving between Jane and Danny. Instead of interrupting, however, they grinned at the short woman directly them to follow her and frog-marched after her into the office.

Danny watched as Jane pulled her eyes away from his and moved to follow her friends into Ella's office.

Oh, no, he thought. Not happening.

Maneuvering, he gently grasped her elbow, turning her back to face him.

"Hey!" she said, surprised at how lightly he'd spun her around. Jane did her best to ignore the tingle that shot up her arm at his touch.

"C'mon, I'll buy you a cup of coffee," he said, his hand going to the small of her back as he lead her in the opposite direction of her friends. The fact that she didn't jump away at his touch felt like a minor victory.

Still, she turned to go back towards the door through which her friends were now disappearing, another protest on her lips.

Dimly warning himself to keep his thoughts far from her lips, he vaguely heard the petite blonde woman telling Jane to go away, they had it perfectly handled. Putting his hand to her back again, he gently steered her out the door and towards the café across the courtyard.