{"id":255613,"date":"2026-07-13T04:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/cant-stay-away-dani-mclean\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T04:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:30:10","slug":"cant-stay-away-dani-mclean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/cant-stay-away-dani-mclean\/","title":{"rendered":"Cant Stay Away – Dani McLean"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The point-two is less an encounter with him and more a prolonged swoon from the register while Benji helps unload slabs of wood from a delivery truck. \u201cJust go,\u201d Skye says, spinning on a stool beside me. It\u2019s her day to man the register. \u201cWe both know you want to.\u201d \u201cI was just there at lunch.\u201d \u201cOh no,\u201d she deadpans. \u201cThen he might think you like him.\u201d She slumps over the counter. \u201cI\u2019m begging you both to please stop dancing around each other.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been months since you met.\u201d Three months, two weeks, and five days. But who\u2019s counting? Once the truck leaves, Benji wipes the sweat off his brow with his forearm. His hair is messy and gorgeous. I want to follow him inside and ask him if I can run my hands through it. I keep staring until the moment he disappears back into his shop. \u201cAnd my plight continues,\u201d Skye groans.<\/p>\n

I jab a finger in her side, and she yelps. Things with Benji are good. We\u2019re taking it slow. He gets quiet sometimes, dark, but he always says he\u2019s fine when I ask him about it. I haven\u2019t pushed, even though I want to, because as comfortable as we are with each other\u2014disgustingly so, if you ask Skye\u2014 things are still new between us. But we\u2019ve got plenty of time. I push away from the window. \u201cI\u2019m going to get to work on that Unicorn Bliss order.<\/p>\n

If I start now, it\u2019ll be cured for the post office run tomorrow.\u201d Skye flops across the register. \u201cUgh, fine. But I\u2019m only letting you hide in the back because it\u2019ll stop you moping at the window. It\u2019s scaring the customers away.\u201d \u201cAt least I don\u2019t yell at them.\u201d \u201cThat was one time.\u201d I giggle as I walk into the studio.<\/p>\n

One time this month. \u201cHey,\u201d Skye calls out an hour later. \u201cHow would a snake even hold a newspaper anyway?\u201d I\u2019m mid-pour, so all I can do is yell back, \u201cShould I know what you\u2019re talking about?\u201d There must be a customer because Skye doesn\u2019t appear, instead continuing the conversation from the other room.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople own snakes as pets, right? So, do you think they teach them the same tricks as dogs? Stay. Roll over.\u201d She laughs. \u201cThat one would be easy. Fetch?\u201d I smile down into the wax. When it reaches an inch below the full height of the glass, I start the next one. \u201cHow would they hold anything?<\/p>\n

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First edition: June 2026 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. No AI was used in any part of the creation of this work. No part of this book may be used for training AI or digested by AI for any means. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author\u2019s imagination or are used fictitiously.<\/p>\n

Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com Cover Illustrator: Elen Bushe Cover Designer: Brenna Jones Design Photographer: Dani McLean 1kitap1.com\/en For anyone who had their heart broken via text. They\u2019ll never meet another you. I hope Benji\u2019s naked grovelling heals you as it did me.<\/p>\n

1kitap1.com\/en Content Note While this story is a lighthearted contemporary romance, there are elements that may be difficult for some readers. This book contains: \u2014explicit language \u2014explicit sexual content, including public sex The protection of your safety and mental health is crucial to me. Please do what you need to look after yourself. 1kitap1.com\/en Prologue 1kitap1.com\/en H Chapter One PAIGE otel Bellwether is famous for many things, but LoveTM is what it promises you, so when Skye\u2014my cousin and platonic love of my life, also cofounder of our shop, Calm Candles\u2014discovered that one of my New Year\u2019s resolutions was to date again, she wasted no time in making me sign up for The Belle\u2019s weekly speed-dating night.<\/p>\n

Anytime I need a holiday, I come here. With the crisp ocean air, soft sand as far as the eye can see, Playa de Oro always carries the sense that anything is possible if you want it enough. And, boy, am I hoping that works in my favor tonight. \u201cScope out any hotties yet?\u201d Skye asks. I press my phone closer to my ear, just in case. I\u2019m here ten minutes early and not entirely sure I shouldn\u2019t escape before it starts, which is why I called her.<\/p>\n

Baby steps. \u201cUm \u2026\u201d The ballroom is split in two\u2014a lounge area, where I\u2019m loitering at the edge, and a dining room. In reality, it\u2019s a few sofas, a cash bar, and a rug on one side, then rows of two-seater tables, lined up neatly with numbers, on the other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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