The Love Of Money - Episode 292
29-08-25 (20:33)
Emotions Flare As Marcus Redraws The Line.
Friday, 9:58 am
"Marcus!" Danni shouted, standing up from the table
outside Helena's—the brunch spot where' we agreed to
meet. We had a reservation for ten in the morning, so I
was a little surprised to see the raven-haired, fair-
skinned beauty approaching me from a table she'd
already been sitting at.
"Hey, Danni!" I said as she reached me. I slipped an arm
around her shoulders as she threw hers around my
middle and squeezed me tight. She looked up at me
with her beautiful green eyes that reminded me of a
lush Canadian forest; her bright smile was made even
more beautiful thanks to her perfect lips—not too thin…
not too plush. She wore a sleeveless blouse, and I spied
a dark blue jacket on the back of a chair that matched
her pants. I lowered my head to press my lips to her
bare shoulders, dusted with freckles.
She was a lot like Erin—always a bright ray of sunlight
warming me on a cold day. Only, unlike with Erin, I
didn't get the sense that a lust-induced hellspawn
lurked just under Danni's sweet exterior. She was an
angel who simply enjoyed getting filthy in the
bedroom.
"Am I late?" I asked, glancing at the table.
"No," she said, backing away. "I had an early showing
and came straight here after it was done. I've only
been here five minutes."
She glanced behind me and said, "Hi, John."
"Ma'am," the bald man in his early fifties behind me
said. I'd insisted that Chloe take the morning off for a
little self-care after yesterday's wreck, so I was
accompanied by one of the other security staff. There
was another, but he was parking the car.
"You've met?" I asked as we approached Danni's table.
"Not that I know of," Danni said as I pulled the chair out
for her.
"Then how did you know his name?"
"The three I've met so far have been named John. It
was a safe guess." A look of horror overcame her. "Oh
gosh… please don't tell me I just got his name wrong,
and he just let it slide!"
"Nah," I said. "You were right."
We ordered food and made small talk for the next
thirty minutes. I filled her in on what happened at the
funeral, what I'd learned about Roger, going golfing,
and then confronting Roger in his office. Danni was on
the edge of her seat for most of it, hearing it for the
first time since Erin hadn't had a chance to fill her in on
the details for the last few days. She was a
phenomenal listener, maintaining eye contact, asking
follow-up questions, and gasping at all the appropriate
moments, all while making me feel she was genuinely
interested. When it came time to fill me in on her life,
she was a little embarrassed since it consisted of
showing houses and catching up with her friends.
"It's not been as glamorous or exciting as what you've
been doing, but it's been a nice change of pace," Danni
said shyly before sipping her cold coffee. "I've got to
get my peace and quiet before I become your girlfriend.
Your life's a little more fast-paced than I'm used to."
I was amused at Danni's attempt to broach the subject
of our relationship; she would never make a good spy.
Then I remembered what I needed to tell her, and that
amusement died. Since she kicked that door wide open,
I might as well dive right in.
"Danni," I said, placing my fork on my plate to give her
my undivided attention. "I saw Natalie yesterday."
Like I said, Danni had a shit poker face. She did her
best to hide the warring emotions that crossed over her
lovely features, but it was quite the journey. I
witnessed flickers of annoyance, worry, uncertainty,
and sadness all within the space of a few moments.
"I asked her to leave the guy she was with."
She bit her lip nervously and carefully put her fork
down on the plate before looking up at me with those
soulful doe eyes of hers, and every second I stared
back at her was like having my heart ripped out of my
chest and torn in two all over again. I took a deep
breath and said, "You have to understand… I've been
carrying a torch for Natalie for nearly a year, but we
were in other relationships for most of it. Then, when
the opportunity for us to get together came, I fucked up
and waited too long. It's been eating at me this whole
time, and you were right the other night. I still have a
thing for her, and you were insightful enough to see it. I
had to try because I'm not over her."
Danni looked back at her plate. "Oh…"
"She turned me down," I said.
Danielle's head immediately shot back up, her eyes a
mixture of sorrow and a sudden burst of hope. She very
visibly made a point of swallowing as she waited for
me to continue.
"It hurt a lot, but she was right to turn me down."
"Why?" Danielle asked, her voice barely registered. Her
eyebrows were drawn together, and her green eyes
shined with unshed tears.
"Because I don't think I'm ready to date anyone right
now."
She didn't speak at first, and I watched as she pressed
her lips together to keep them from trembling. She
blinked, and a single tear slipped down her cheek,
which she quickly wiped away with her fingers. She
blinked away a few more before they could slip free.
"Are you saying you don't want to date me?" Danni
said, looking out toward the street.
God, I felt like a complete asshole.
"No," I said. "Danni… any guy who didn't want to date
you would be a fool. You're incredible. You've—"
"Then why?" she snapped. There was no heat in her
voice… just the need for an answer.
“Because… I…”
"I think I love you, Marcus," Danni said, looking back at
me, and I could see tears building at the rims of her
eyes, barely held at bay.
"Danni…"
"Please." Her bottom lip trembled. "Please don't do this."
"Danni, I don't think I can be a good boyfriend right
now."
"I know you would be!" Danni said. "You're so sweet to
me, and I've never enjoyed being with someone as
much."
"Thank you, but—"
"I don't understand," she said, cutting me off. "I even
told you that you can still sleep with everyone else.
What else do you need?" She looked like she was
going to be sick. "Is it me!?"
"Fuck! No!" I said, horrified that she would even ask that
question. "Of course not! Like I said, any man would be
insane to not want to date you!"
"Then… what?"
I'd expected her to push back against me a little, but I
didn't anticipate this much. I had to be careful. I wanted
to be honest with her without destroying her.
"Because I went to Natalie, Danni! I could have called
you at any point since we first talked about it and
asked you to be my girlfriend, but I've spent this whole
time being indecisive. Then I went to see Natalie and
asked her to break up with her guy and date me. Even
if we have an open relationship, you'd have to be my
priority, and I clearly can't do that right now. You
deserve better. Way better."
"I don't care," she said.
"You don't care," I repeated.
"I've seen us together enough to know that we'd be
great for each other. You're already sleeping with a
whole bevy of women, and I'm okay with it. You know
I won't be a jealous girlfriend, and this Natalie thing
isn't that big of a deal."
"You said she was off limits," I pointed out.
"If we were in a relationship," she corrected. "We
weren't yesterday, and you tried to shoot your shot. I
don't blame you for that. She's gorgeous and nice, and I
can tell she really likes you, but she's with this other
guy now. Just give me a chance to show you how
good of a girlfriend I can be. I know there's something
between us, Marcus! I know you can feel it, too!"
"I can't, Danni. I don't want you even more invested
than you already are, only to break your heart down
the road!"
"You won't!" She protested.
"You don't know that! I'm changing! I have some
growing that I need to do, and I can't promise you that
things will remain the same a year from now."
"Dammit, Marcus…" Danni didn't even bother trying to
hide the tears. She looked around, spotted a hotel, and
then looked back at me. "Just… let's get a room. We
can fuck and talk some more. I'll—"
"Danni, no," I said. As much as I enjoyed the idea of
making love to Danni again—even if for the last time—I
didn't want to do that to her. "Having sex with you one
more time isn't going to change my mind. You have a
beautiful heart, and I'm trying to do what I can to
protect it."
"I want it!" Danni said. "Why do Erin and Bobbi get to
be in your life, and I can't?" She stared at me pleadingly
through her tears. "What if I let you put a collar on me…
like Bobbi? Would that change anything?"
"What?"
"Because I think I'd try it," she said.
The images that conjured…
Oh, fucking hell no… that was a stupid idea.
"That's not what I want for us," I said, shaking my
head. "I care about you too much for that."
"So, you care about me more, but I don't get anything?"
"Please tell me you can at least understand why I
wouldn't want that for us!"
"I mean… I wouldn't want to be treated just like Bobbi,"
Danni agreed. "I just want to be your girlfriend, and if
that was the only way, I'm just saying I'd… I'd consider
it!"
"No, Danni," I said again. "I'm not doing that with you.
That's not what this is or what I'd want it to be."
"What about what I want?" Danni asked.
"Dammit, Danielle! That's the point! I can't give you
what you want! Not right now!"
Something I said must have gotten through to her
because she didn't push back. Danni and I simply stared
at each other as our food grew cold. It felt like fifteen
minutes passed, but in reality, it'd probably been no
more than two or three. Time is hard to keep track of
when you're looking into the tearful eyes of the
woman you made cry. God, I wanted to say yes, but
Erin was right… Danni was a tenderhearted girl, and I
didn't want to start something with her when I was
barely hanging onto my life by my fingernails. Helen
had just returned, I was trying to keep my relationship
with Emily from falling apart, Roger and Ashlee
VanCamp were on the loose, Jess would be moving in
this weekend, and my relationship with Bobbi was
developing into… something. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
