“You wish you had my strength? You must have missed the earlier show.” Annika shook her head.

Daniel fixed her in his gaze. “That was no show—it was real—sometimes you have to cry and swear. That takes strength.” Again, he was great at giving advice. Just don’t ask him to actually apply it himself. “You’re...well, you’re stronger than you think.”

She did not break eye contact, but did flash him a smile, and it was the most pleasant of electrical currents that flared through him again. It was like a drug. And possibly just as addictive.

“What were you saying?”

“Oh, just to rest your hand. Grab your bag.” He jutted his chin toward the door. “I can drive your car home.”

“It’s just a cut. I’ll be fine.” She examined her bandaged hand as if seeing it for the first time.

“Just a cut?” Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “You have seven stitches in there.”

“It’s my left hand.” Annika shrugged, but her eyes seemed glued to him. She cleared her throat. “And besides, I can’t leave Phil by himself. They have to clean up and serve customers. Bobby’s been covering for me, so I need to send him home.”

Daniel sighed. “Okay. Let’s go.” He started for the bar.

“Go where?”

“Into the bar.” He opened the door and waited for her.

“Aren’t you going home?” Brown eyes widened and she didn’t move.

“No, I’m going to be your other hand.” Or any other part she needed him to be.

Annika jerked her head back, her mouth dropping open for a moment, before she curved it into a smile. “You’re what?”

Daniel flushed. “I’ll carry your tray, so you can rest that hand.”

“I can carry it. I do it every day.” But she was still smiling.

“I know you can.” Daniel couldn’t meet her eyes. She obviously didn’t know he’d been watching her all this time. “But today, you’ll bust open my handiwork. I worked hard on those stitches, and I’ll be damned if you wreck them.”

She pursed her lips together as if she didn’t believe carrying the tray would harm her in any way. But her voice was surprisingly soft. “You should go home.”

“So should you,” he answered, as something quiet but real passed between them. He wondered once again what her lips would taste like when he kissed her. The way she looked at him, he was sure her thoughts were the same.

Annika broke the silence that built between them. “Well, I suppose that’s how friends help each other.”

“Um, yeah, sure.” Daniel nodded. “We did decide we were friends.” Damn it. He didn’t want to be friends with Annika. Though he didn’t really think he could be anything more. He simply needed to stop thinking about kissing her.