Fighting For You

Danvers 4

by

Sydney Landon

To my sisters: Kim, Teresa, and Tonja. Even when we argue amongst ourselves, we still have each other’s backs against the world.

In loving memory of Karyn. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” I’ll see you on the other side, my friend.

Chapter One

“I need to have sex—or look like I’ve had it—and you have to help me do it.”

Beth looked over at her friend Ella in surprise. You would think Beth would be used to sentences like that by now, considering her sister Suzy’s personality, but coming from her shy friend, she found herself momentarily speechless.

Ella was staying with her while Nick was out of town. Now that Beth was halfway into her pregnancy, her fiancé refused to let her stay on her own when he was traveling for work. Either Beth stayed with Suzy and her husband, Gray, or more often Ella came over to keep her company. Since her sister and brother-in-law were still newlyweds, Beth hated to cause the whole three’s-a-crowd thing at their house.

When it became obvious that Ella wasn’t going to continue without a response, Beth sighed. “I almost hate to ask, but what are you talking about?”

“I know Declan doesn’t want to go out with me because I’m a virgin.”

Feeling her protective instincts kick in, Beth demanded, “Has he told you that?”

Blushing, Ella murmured, “No, but I can tell that makes him uncomfortable. And I know that if I get some experience with men, he would start seeing me as a woman rather than a kid sister.”

“Oh honey, I don’t think he sees you like a sister. He, um . . . he may be trying to protect you from, well . . . him.”

Beth had first met Ella when she started working as her sister Suzy’s assistant last year. Ella was the receptionist at Danvers International where they all worked. Beth had felt sorry for Ella and had taken her under her wing. When they met, Ella wore dowdy clothing, like she was twenty years older than she was. As Beth got to know her, she came to learn that Ella’s parents were very religious and overprotective so Ella had never really had a chance to step out from under their care. After she got her job at Danvers, Ella moved into her own apartment and now she was desperate to experience the real world.

Growing up overweight and being an outcast herself, Beth saw a lot of herself in Ella. They had formed a close friendship over the past few months and she had helped Ella with a complete makeover. The woman staring back at her now hardly resembled the shy person Beth had first met. Ella was stunning. Her long brown hair hung in soft waves and one of the sundresses that she preferred draped her slim figure perfectly. She looked soft, innocent, and beautiful.

But the man that she worshipped from afar was as opposite from Ella as one could get. Declan Stone was a hard man. He had served two military tours and Beth could only imagine what he had seen during that time. There was no denying that he was tall and sexy with dark hair and a lean, muscular build. And she had seen the outline of a tattoo on more than one occasion. But he didn’t spend time with the rest of them very often. He was very direct and a man of few words. He didn’t hang out with the rest of the guys at the company like Jason, Gray, and Nick did. The only person at Danvers that she had ever seen him seek out was Ella.

Beth had been surprised to find that Declan and Ella had formed some type of friendship. He chatted with her, he brought her small tokens of affection, and his eyes always sought her out when they were in a room together. The problem for Ella was that he had never made any romantic moves toward her. Beth didn’t know whether to encourage her to go for it, or tell her to run in the opposite direction.

“If I show him that I’m a normal woman, just like anyone else he’s dated, I can change the way he treats me. So, I need the number of that dating service that you used before you met Nick.”

“You know it’s a dating service and not an escort service, right?”

“I know. Beth, I need more experience with men, and I can’t get it sitting at home every night. I don’t know how this dating stuff works.”

Beth knew she was probably making a mistake, but she sympathized with Ella’s plight. She had been the girl sitting at home night after night while life passed her by and she didn’t want that disappointment for her friend. Meeting Nick Merimon had changed all of that for her and she wanted the same for Ella.

“Just promise me that you aren’t going to have sex with anyone unless it’s really what you want. My first experience was far from perfect and I want better for you. You’ve waited this long, so please don’t do it just to get to Declan. If it’s right, do it for you.” When Ella nodded her agreement, Beth smiled and said, “Alright, let’s do this. We can sign up online and create your profile right now. You’ll have a date by this weekend, so get ready!”

Ella’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’m ready. Declan isn’t going to know what hit him when he meets the new worldly Ella.”

* * *

Ella’s heart skipped a beat every time she imagined Declan finally seeing her as a desirable woman. She had been crazy about him from the moment they met and she couldn’t imagine that ever changing. She knew his tough exterior intimidated others, but with her he showed a softer, more romantic side. From the first moment their paths had crossed, when she had dropped the stack of papers she was carrying right at his feet, she had been completely taken with him. From then on he asked her questions about her family and her life, as if he truly cared about her. He remembered her favorite kinds of food, or sweets that she liked, and usually showed up with them every few days. He told her that she looked pretty when she wore something new and he brought her favorite coffee almost daily.

Well, until the day she had asked him to her apartment for dinner. Since that day, he had been avoiding her. She felt in her heart that he was interested in her as more than a friend, but he thought she was too innocent for someone like him. She had hoped when they danced at Suzy’s wedding that he would finally see her as a woman. At first, it seemed like things were changing with that dance. He had held her close and brushed his lips against her forehead, but as soon as the dance was over, he left her standing there and had never looked back.

And now, she was finished with him dragging his feet. She might not have any experience with men, but she was going to change that. She was tired of being the girl that everyone wanted to protect. Declan was about to find out that even an innocent could wage a war that he wouldn’t soon forget.

Chapter Two

Declan Stone slammed the door to his condominium behind him and stalked to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s from the cabinet and splashed a generous measure of the liquid into a glass. Taking a large gulp, he felt the burn of the alcohol blazing a trail of fire down his throat and into his stomach. He repeated the process twice more before putting the bottle away.

Ella Webber was going to be the fucking death of him. He had been limiting his time with her since she asked him over to her place for dinner a few months back. He didn’t want or need the hassle of a school girl crush. Hell, it was too late to avoid that and it was his own fault. He was in too deep with her. He knew better than to keep seeking her out. She was sweet, innocent, and so very trusting. He had first met her briefly when she dropped some papers she was carrying right at the door of his office. When they met again at a barbeque at Gray’s house, he had been drawn to her. That day she had sat beside him clearly uncomfortable and nervous. If he had said boo, she would have jumped through the sky. Her slender body shown to perfection in the sundress that revealed her shoulders and bare arms and she had twirled her long, golden brown hair around her finger when someone spoke to her. Most of the women he knew would do something like that to get attention; he thought for her it was probably a nervous habit. Her sweet floral scent had intoxicated him and he found his eyes returning to her again and again.

What would sweet Ella say though, if she knew all of the demons that he battled? After two tours of active duty in the military, most of them based in Afghanistan, he had seen and done things that he would never be free of. Even with that, he had planned to make a career of life in the service until the awful day that he lost his friend Craig and almost lost his own life trying to save him. The shrinks he saw afterward diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress syndrome, but what they hell did a bunch of pencil pushers who had never seen a day of active duty know? What they didn’t say was that it looked bad for the military if you went postal and took out either yourself or some innocent civilians.

Neither had been an option for Declan, but he didn’t re-up when his tour ended. Instead, he came home and used his inheritance from his grandfather to start his own consulting firm. His brother, Brant, and his sister, Ava, had tried to get him to join the family business, but that would have required more bonding than he was willing to do. So he kept his distance and made his home base in California until Danvers International came calling.

Now that Ella was in the picture, he had to question the decision he had made to come aboard Danvers. He liked the job and he thought a lot of Jason Danvers and his old college buddy, Gray Merimon. But Ella complicated things and he tried damn hard not to do complicated. Ever. And yet he couldn’t lay it all at her door because he had started things between them. He had been powerless not to. Someone with a soul as dark as his couldn’t resist the draw of the light.

Men like him didn’t get to have women like her and it had become a battle to remember that. Especially when her face lit up when he found a reason to seek her out at the office. She worried about him if he didn’t come around for a few days and she seemed to see something worthy inside him that had long been buried. Even someone as damaged as he was could look into her eyes and still believe that redemption just might be possible.

Declan settled down on the sofa and laid his head back. Then the situation with Ella had gotten worse. He had finally caved and sought her out before leaving work that afternoon. His heart had kicked in his chest when he saw her sitting at the receptionist desk in another pretty dress. Some type of comb held back her silky hair and her luscious pink lips gently curved into a smile while she looked at the man standing in front of her. As he got closer, he saw her pick up her purse and stand, walking around the desk and toward the man.

His ears roared as the man handed her a small bouquet of flowers that he had obviously brought for her and she gave him a smile of pleasure. After a few words, which Declan wasn’t close enough to hear, the man motioned Ella ahead of him and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her toward the elevator. Declan stood there staring at the closed doors wondering why he felt so betrayed.

When someone cleared her throat behind him, his back had stiffened as he turned around to see who it was. Suzy, Gray’s wife, stood there with one raised eyebrow. “You look like someone stole your favorite toy, Dec.”

He always felt like Suzy saw far too much when she looked at him and, judging by her comment, he was right. “I’m a big boy, Suzy. I don’t do toys.”

A smile curved her lips as she said, “That’s a shame. If someone took my toys, I’d be busting my ass to get them back. I certainly wouldn’t let them go without a fight. Some toys can’t be replaced.” With that parting shot, Suzy turned on what he considered an impossibly high pair of heels and sauntered down the hallway.

He had stalked away and had broken every speed limit in town getting home. Now, as he sat on the couch, he wondered what the hell he was in such a hurry to get home to. As usual, it was too quiet and the walls were threatening to close in on him. When would he ever be able to relax without the memories crashing in? He had only found a handful of things that gave him temporary peace: sex, exercise, and work.

After seeing Ella go off with that smiling idiot, he wasn’t in the mood for sex or work. That left the gym or jogging. Thanks to a serious lack of judgment and a night of subpar sex with a gym rat named Tiffany, even that sanctuary had taken a nosedive. He should have remembered the rule of never shitting where you sleep. So, until he found another gym, it looked like a run was his only option. Three shots of Jack Daniel’s might have made this difficult for some people, but it barely took the edge off for him. One of the first things he had learned in the military was how to focus under any condition and he could drink the whole damn bottle and still be able to pass any test put before him.

Declan quickly changed out of his dress clothes and into a low riding pair of jogging shorts and a tank top. Black tattoos in swirling script adorned his bare biceps: one read “Semper Fi” and the other, “Brotherhood.” Both were common tattoos among his unit and he had been proud to wear the ink. Even after leaving the military, the code that the tattoos represented was still a big part of his life. The men he had served with were brothers and he would do anything for them.

As he pulled the door closed behind him, he already knew the direction that his feet were going to take him. Ella lived just a few miles away and he figured he could kill time if he had to, just to make sure she made it home okay. He knew what men were capable of and he would make sure that none of that touched Ella. He might not be able to have her, but he could make sure no one else hurt her.

Chapter Three

Ella felt like her smile was frozen in place. She didn’t consider herself the most interesting person in the world, but surely she had more going for her than her date this evening. Hugh Mitchell was her first date from the dating service that Beth had recommended. He was a well-mannered tax accountant and unfortunately, he had made her eyes glaze over within thirty minutes. She now knew more about tax shelters and audits than she ever wanted to learn. At this point, if someone even mentioned her taxes again, she would probably choke them. She had barely gotten a word in for ages. Every time she tried to change the subject, within a few sentences, it came right back to his job.

Beth had advised her to have her date meet her at the office and then walk around the corner to one of the local restaurants so that if the date didn’t go well, she would have her own car and could leave whenever she needed to. Ella would be eternally thankful for that advice. They had made it through dinner and she started trying to break away as soon as the check arrived. Of course, she offered to pay her share and was surprised when Hugh readily agreed. She didn’t mind paying for her meal, but it was just unexpected. Maybe Suzy was right, it was a whole different world out there than she had imagined.

Hugh insisted on walking her back to her car and then came the really awkward moment of the date. He looked at her as if expecting something. Surely, he didn’t think she was going to just kiss him, did he? As she turned away and started to open her car door while thanking him, he tugged her around and lowered his lips toward hers. She just managed to turn her head in time so that his lips landed against her cheek. She thanked him once again before jumping into her car. As he stood outside looking at her in surprise, Ella thought, why do I keep thanking him? I paid for my own meal!

With a groan, she wondered how she was ever going to handle this dating scene. Staying home every night might be boring, but it was certainly easier than this awkward world of dating. All she wanted to do now was rush home and try to remove all thoughts of tax preparation from her head. Surely, the next date would be better. She knew she had to keep moving forward no matter how miserable it might be. Declan had to see that she wasn’t a child. If other men treated her like a woman, it stood to reason that he would too.

Ella could only imagine how different the evening would have been if she had been with Declan instead of Hugh. Her body flushed just thinking about him. At almost thirty, she was still a virgin and she had a feeling that he suspected that, and it was the reason he was avoiding her like the plague. Who knew that not sleeping around could actually be a bad thing?

They could spend an hour talking and it was easy and effortless, but he shied away from anything beyond that. She had invited him over for dinner a few months ago and after that he hadn’t been around for weeks. She caught him looking at her sometimes though, with what looked like more than friendship in his beautiful eyes—and Beth, Suzy and Claire all said that he had feelings for her. Well, why wouldn’t he ask her out?

Lost in her thoughts, Ella almost ran over the man jogging across the driveway of her duplex. Her tires squealed as she missed him by just inches. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking as the man that she had almost hit walked to her window. Oh my God, no, it couldn’t be! As Ella rapidly blinked her eyes trying to clear her vision, a knock sounded on her window. As she lowered the glass, her gaze locked on Declan’s. “Wh . . . what are you doing here?” she stammered.

“Trying to stay out from under your car. Shit, Ella where did you learn to drive?” As she was opening her mouth to reply, he added, “Pull your car out of the road, baby, before someone hits you. And try not to kill me in the process.”

With her mouth still hanging open, she pulled slowly forward into her parking space. Baby? Declan Stone just called me baby? Okay, so it was a bit sarcastic, but it still counted, right? When her door opened, Ella’s mouth fell the rest of the way to the floor. Declan stood before her in figure-hugging shorts and a tank top. His huge biceps glistened with sweat and a light coating of dark hair shown against his muscular legs.

Despite having very little experience with the opposite sex, Ella was certain that she could have an orgasm just by rubbing against his hard body.

“Ella . . . Ella . . . ELLA!”

Ella jerked as he shouted her name. Geez, he sure was bossy. “What?”

“I asked why you were driving home like a bat out of hell?”

“I . . . I wasn’t and come to think of it, what are you doing in my driveway?”

“Well, obviously, I was jogging before your bumper attempted to crawl up my leg,” Declan smirked.

“Do you live near here?”

“Yeah, just a few miles down the road. I run this route a lot.”

Oh great. I’ll never rest again knowing he is this close to me. Maybe I can take up jogging and start running by his place.

“It’s a little late to be coming home from work isn’t it?” he asked.

Ella was thrilled that he had asked. Here was her chance to tell him about her date without just volunteering the information. Her plan to make him see her as someone with experience would never work if he didn’t even know she was going out on dates. “Oh, I had a date.”

Declan looked around and asked, “Oh yeah? So where is he?”

Ella felt herself start to fidget under his stare and when she was nervous, she started talking . . . a lot. “I met him at the office so we drove separately. Beth thought it was a good idea not to let any of them know where I live at least until I am sure they aren’t stalkers or something.”

Declan looked puzzled as he continued to stare at her. “I’m lost here, babe. Why would you be afraid for someone to know where you live, if you know them well enough to go out on a date?”

Ella knew she had said too much, but she couldn’t seem to stop. She had never been very good at keeping things from people especially if they asked her a direct question. “I don’t really know them. Beth helped sign me up with a dating service, and these are the guys I’ve met through it. I’m sure they check them out and all, but Beth still doesn’t want me to get into a car with any of them until I get to know them better. Don’t you think that’s a good idea?” Her words trailed off as she took a good look at him. His jaw was clenched tight and his hands were now resting on his hips as he glared at her.

“Beth signed you up with a dating service?” At her small nod, he blew. “Is she out of her damn mind? She actually thought it was a good idea to put you out there for every freak in the world to try to get their hands on you? Hell, why not just sell tickets?”

Ella took a step back, unused to Declan raising his voice to her. “I . . . I asked her to. It’s not her fault.”

He took a step toward her and put his hands gently on her shoulders. “Babe, why would you want to do that? You’re a sweet, innocent girl. Those types of men will just try to take advantage of that. You need to cancel or whatever the hell you do to stop it.”

Startled, Ella put her hand on his chest and looked up into his handsome face. “No, Declan, I can’t. I’ll be careful, but I have to keep dating.”

“I said stop,” Declan snapped. “If you’re that desperate for a date, just let nature take its course. You don’t need a dating agency. I mean it Ella, cancel—or whatever you need to do—now.”

Ella shook her head, looking down at her hand on his chest. “I can’t stop.”

Visibly frustrated, Declan shook her lightly and asked, “Why? I don’t get this.”

Still unable to avoid answering a direct question, Ella admitted, “I can’t stop because if I do, I will never have you.” She felt him stiffen under her hand as if he had stopped breathing.

“What do you mean?” he asked hoarsely.

Ella raised her eyes to his and said softly, “It’s the only way to get you to see me as a woman. So I have to keep doing it.”

* * *

Declan felt his gut clench as he looked down at the gorgeous woman in front of him. He still couldn’t process what she had just said. She had joined a dating service because of him? What could she possibly have been thinking? And the better question was what could Beth have been thinking? How could she have gone along with this whole thing? Did she have no idea what could happen to someone like Ella if she went out with the wrong man?

“Baby, I don’t get this whole thing. I know you’re a woman. Trust me, I know it too well. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

“I like you Declan . . . as more than a friend. And I know I’m not the kind of woman you probably go for, but I can change.”

A harsh laugh escaped his throat as he looked down at her. Here was the woman he had been trying to stay away from because he wasn’t the kind of man that a woman like her needed and she was trying to change to be the kind of woman that she thought he needed. Man, the universe was truly fucked-up sometimes. He knew he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted in life, but if he could have just one taste of her before he pulled back, maybe it would last him a lifetime. Hell, or it might scare her so bad that she would give up her crazy plan and go back to her safe life.

Declan ran a thumb over the plump curve of her lower lip and inhaled sharply as she trustingly parted her lips for him. “Oh, Ella, girl, what am I going to do with you.” Then before he could talk himself out of it, he lowered his head and took her mouth in a kiss that was surprisingly soft and gentle. He could feel her heart thudding against his chest as he pulled her closer to his body. What she lacked in experience, she more than made up for in eagerness. Her arms wrapped the rest of the way around his waist bringing their bodies into close contact.

Soon, Declan was powerless to control the stir of his erection. His body reacted to her presence like gas on a fire. When she innocently rubbed herself against him, he was in serious danger of losing all control in that moment. He wanted to pick her up and have her wrap her legs around his waist so he could rest his cock in her softness.

Then when he felt her tongue slide against the seam of his lips, he threw all caution to the wind. Gone was the gentleness and in its place was a fire that he hadn’t let out of control in oh so long. He took possession of her mouth and tasted every sweet inch. He lowered one hand to grasp the sweet curve of her ass and used it to pull her even closer.

Ella was writhing against him as if desperate for a release from the tension gripping her body. “Oh, Declan, please . . .”

Running his mouth up the curve of her cheek, Declan whispered, “You have no idea how much I would like to please you, baby.” As she started to fold her body closer in to his, he fought to pull back from her. “Shhh, hold on, baby. We can’t do this. You deserve better than being groped in a parking lot.”

Ella grabbed his hand when he pulled away. “Let’s go to my place. I want this. I want you.”

Declan put his hands on both of her shoulders and pushed her gently away. “Baby, I know you think you do, but it’s just a big case of lust. If any man kissed you the way I just did, you would want him too. It’s basic hormones and you don’t have much experience controlling them yet.” Oh, shit.

Could you have handled that any worse? “Wait, Ella . . . I didn’t—”

Ella pulled back stiffly and looked at him with eyes filled with hurt. “I think I get your point, Declan. Well, thanks for clearing that up. I should have given my date more of a chance tonight if any man can turn me on. That is what you said, right?”

“Baby . . . I didn’t mean it like that. You just don’t have much experience.”

Ella held her hand up and yelled, “Stop! Just stop talking about my lack of experience. First, you were freaking out because I was dating to get experience and then you’re pushing me away because I don’t have experience. Well, which is it, Declan? Should I just take up knitting and stay home alone forever? I don’t need your permission to date and you know what? I don’t even think I want you anymore, so there!”

“Baby,” Declan began, holding out a calming hand.

“Stop calling me baby. I’m not a baby, I’m a woman and if you don’t believe me, then watch and see!” With those final words, Ella walked to her door and slammed it so hard that even he was impressed with how much the frame rattled.

Well, that went well. Why didn’t you just take her to a street corner and push her into the first car that pulls up because you just gave her all of the encouragement she needs to date a different man every night. Fuck! He knew it was useless to try to talk to her again tonight so he took off at a fast run hoping to burn off some of the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Running with a hard-on? Not so nice.

* * *

“Oh my God!”

Ella had to pull the phone away from her ear as Beth continued to shriek loudly.

“Okay, sorry about that. I’m just an old knocked up, engaged lady now, so I have to live through my young, single friend. It was good though, right, Els?”

Ella sighed and admitted, “Better than I could have imagined. I thought I would explode just from a kiss.”

“Oh, baby,” Beth giggled, “there is nothing better than a kiss from a man who knows what he’s doing. And if Declan kisses anything like he looks, oh yeah!”

Suddenly, Ella heard a male voice in the background and she had to laugh as she overheard Nick say, “I’m going to try not to take it personally that you seem to have spent a lot of time checking out Declan. It could be worse. At least you aren’t discussing Gray.”

Beth laughed and Ella heard a smacking kiss that she assumed had been delivered to Nick. “Oh, honey, I’m just supporting my friend. You know I haven’t really looked at Declan. It’s just some girl talk.”

“Um, should I let you two go now?” Ella asked.

“Oh no,” Beth assured her. “He just left for the grocery store. I’m dying for some strawberries and Cool Whip. There is no way he would be going without complaining if he wasn’t hopeful that I would eat at least half of the Cool Whip off of . . .”

“No, no, please don’t finish that sentence!” Ella pleaded “I have to see him every day. It’s bad enough the things that Suzy has put in my mind about Gray. At least Claire doesn’t share quite as much about Jason.”

“Alright, I’ll spare you tonight. So let’s get back to Declan. What are you going to do? I can’t believe he told you that any man would make you feel the same way that he did. Is he crazy?”

“I don’t know about that, but he clearly doesn’t see me as a woman. I don’t know why I even bother; he can be such a butthead.”

“Ella Webber, you bad girl,” Beth teased. “You must be hanging around my sister too much. Before long, those four-letter words will be rolling off your lips as easily as they do hers. All kidding aside though, I know you care about him and it’s pretty obvious that he’s attracted to you. I sure don’t buy the fact that he just happened to be jogging in your neighborhood. Keep your eyes open because I would be willing to bet he makes a point to go by your house. This is just the first time you almost ran over him. I bet that was a bit of a surprise.”

Ella finally relaxed and a chuckle escaped her. “It was pretty funny, now that I think about it. He’s always so calm and controlled but he looked anything but that when my bumper stopped two inches from him. Do you think he was jogging past to try and check up on me?”

“Oh yeah. I know Myrtle Beach isn’t a huge place, but that’s too much of a coincidence. Let’s get the girls together tomorrow and see if we can plan our next move. Did you get any more replies to your personal ad?”

“I’ll check my e-mail when we get off the phone. I have a few that I haven’t replied to yet. One of them was older than my father, ugh. Why would a man want to go out with a woman who is that much younger than him?”

“Oh Ella, my naive friend, they didn’t get the saying, ‘men are pigs’ from nowhere.”

Ella promised to have lunch with Beth, Suzy, and Claire the next day and hung up the phone. Nick had made it back with the strawberries and Cool Whip and Ella had been anxious to end the call before she heard more than she could ever forget.

What must it be like to have a relationship like the one Beth had with Nick? She knew it hadn’t always been easy for them, but they were in such a good place now. Nick seemed to adore Beth and she knew the feeling was mutual. He wanted to marry her immediately and she wanted to wait until after the baby was born. She said she couldn’t bear to be huge in her wedding pictures. Everyone else thought she was crazy, but Ella could imagine that for someone who had battled a weight problem for most of her life, it was very important to her to look her best on her wedding day.

Thoughts of Declan pushed back into her mind as she imagined a wedding day with him. Men like him probably didn’t do marriage. Was that something she was willing to give up for him? The memory of how he’d kissed her as if he wanted to consume her meant she’d consider it. She had felt a fire roaring through her blood that had never been there before. From the feel of his hardness pressing into her stomach, he had also felt the same. If by some miracle she was able to start a relationship with Declan, would it be enough? Would she be satisfied by the type of flame that had burned through them for those brief moments or would she eventually want more from him and their future?

All of a sudden Ella felt like she was in over her head. Having such a limited experience with men had never bothered her until now. If not for Beth, Suzy, and Claire she would be lost. She certainly couldn’t discuss sex with her mother. Her overprotective parents were still trying to talk her into moving back home. Her room was exactly as she had left it, a shrine to the nerd that she had been. Back then, books and school had been her only life. Dating was something that would never have been discussed in her parents’ house. Until she got the job at Danvers International, she was set to be a spinster and live with her parents forever. Some days she still couldn’t believe the girl who looked back at her in the mirror. Beth had helped her to look like the person that she had always dreamed of.

The old Ella would never have had the nerve to go after a man like Declan. Sure, like most women, she would have looked twice at him, but that would have been it. Now, she not only wanted him, she was determined to make him accept that he wanted her too. And if this was what it took, she would go on boring date after boring date until she had the experience that she needed to seduce a man like him.

Chapter Four

Declan barged into Nick’s office the next morning without bothering to knock. Nick raised a questioning brow in his direction and motioned for him to take a seat while he finished the call he was on. Rather than sit, he continued to prowl around the office until Nick was free. “Hey, Dec. What can I do for you?”

Never one for small talk, Declan got right to the point. “Have your girlfriend drop Ella from the dating service that she signed her up for.”

Hearing Nick’s groan, Declan turned back to face him. “Shit, has every woman in this building joined at one time or another? Beth used them too. I even crashed one of her dates. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I don’t know what I can do about it. Ella is a grown woman and I don’t think she’s interested in my opinion on her dating life.”

“She may not be interested in it, but I’m sure she would listen to Beth.”

Nick leaned back in his chair and studied him. “You know, Dec, this is probably the longest conversation we have ever had about anything that didn’t pertain to business. I thought we would eventually ease into a friendship. Maybe enjoy a few drinks while we watch a game. I never imagined we would be discussing your woman problems this soon in our relationship.”

Declan allowed a smirk to curve his lips as he acknowledged the truth of Nick’s statement. He didn’t hang out with much of anyone and that included Nick Merimon. This was certainly the most personal conversation he had had with anyone in the office, besides Ella, since coming to Danvers. “I don’t have woman troubles. I’m just trying to protect a friend.”

“So Ella is just a friend to you? If that’s true, why do you care who she dates?”

Declan raked an impatient hand through his hair. “Because she could get hurt. She knows nothing about men and is far too trusting. I don’t want her to end up in a situation that she has no idea how to handle.”

“Look, I don’t think Beth would put her in a position to get hurt. I’m sure they have all of that covered. If you’re worried about her, maybe you should talk to Ella. Hell, give her some self-defense classes. You would be a pro at that. I’ll mention your concerns to Beth, but don’t expect it to help. One thing you should know about that group of women is that once they have made up their minds, you just have to step out of the way and hope for the best.”

“Damn, Nick, that’s not good enough! She could be in danger. I know firsthand what can happen to someone like her when they trust the wrong person!”

“What are you talking about, Dec?”

Turning away from Nick’s direct gaze, Declan reluctantly answered, “My sister, Ava, was once an Ella until someone took her trust and innocence and ripped them away. I won’t let the same thing happen to Ella.”

Nick answered with a soft, “Wow, I had no idea, man. She’s so quiet; I really haven’t spoken with her much since she came on board here with your brother.”

“Yeah, well, Ava changed after all of that happened to her. She isn’t really comfortable around new people anymore, especially men. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention it around her. She wouldn’t want anyone’s pity.”

“No problem. I’ll do what I can with Beth. But, like I said, honestly, I wouldn’t expect anything to change. Maybe you should look to a plan B and watch over Ella yourself. I wasn’t kidding about the self-defense; it might be a great idea.”

“Maybe so. Thanks Nick, I appreciate the talk.”

Declan walked back toward his office and had to admit that Nick was right. Protecting Ella was going to fall on his shoulders. Teaching her to defend herself was also a good idea. If Ava had known how, her life might have been very different now. He wasn’t a man prone to fanciful thoughts, but he would love to see his sister smile that easy smile that she had for so many years before that bastard took it away from her. And he would be damned if he would let the same thing happen to his Ella.

Not your Ella, she will never be yours. Remember who you are.

* * *

“Ready to go, kid?” Ella looked up to see Beth, Suzy, and Claire standing on the other side of her desk with their purses. The morning had passed in a blur of work and thoughts of Declan. She was surprised to see that it was well after noon.

“Get your things,” Suzy demanded. “I hear you have some good stuff we need to hear during our lunch hour.”

Ella looked over at a sheepish Beth.

“Hey, you know that pregnant women can’t keep anything that good to themselves. I really tried, but I can never hide anything from my sister.”

Suzy put her hands on her hips and looked at Beth. “Oh, really? It seems to me like you are the queen of hiding things. Let’s see, there was that whole doing my brother-in-law in my kitchen and then practically living with him for months before you told me.”

Beth’s face flushed red as she laughed. “Well, that was an isolated incident. I’m totally truthful now.”

Claire stepped forward and took her arm. “Come on, Ella. They can walk behind us and bicker all the way to the car. At least they’ll get it out of their system so we can all focus on you during lunch.”

True to her prediction, Beth and Suzy did indeed tease each other for the entire ride to lunch. Once again, Ella found herself grateful to have such an amazing group of friends. They might embarrass her more often than not, but she knew that they genuinely cared and would support her no matter what.

Since Beth had a craving for Japanese food, they decided on the Yamoto at Broadway at the Beach. Ella loved the mix of restaurants and stores arranged around a lake. Sometimes during her lunch break, she would come here alone and spend her hour walking the boardwalk and feeding the fish. Luckily, it was a favorite of everyone in the group so they came here often.

When they were settled at a table, Suzy leveled a direct stare at her and asked, “So, with tongue or without?”

As she choked on a sip of iced tea, Beth thoughtfully wacked her on the back.

“Wha . . . what?”

Flicking her wrist impatiently, Suzy asked, “Did he put his tongue in your mouth or did you just rub lips?”

“I . . . well.”

Giving her a sympathetic look, Claire said, “Honey, just go ahead and answer the question. It will be less painful.”

Ella took a deep breath and admitted, “Yes, there was tongue.”

“Good, good,” Suzy smiled. “Are we talking a lot of it or just a swipe?”

Ella could feel her face flaming as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I’m not sure how much a lot is, but it lasted a while and . . . I liked it.”

“You slut!”

“Suzy!” Beth and Claire both gasped out in horror.

“What? I’m just kidding. I’m happy that she admitted to liking it. My little girl is growing up.” They all laughed as Suzy looked at Ella like a proud parent. “So the dating thing is getting to him.”

“I don’t know,” Ella said. “Maybe.”

“Oh, yeah, it is. I busted him at the office watching you leave with your date. He didn’t know I was there so I had a few minutes to study him. When you strolled off with your not so attractive date, he looked like someone had kicked him in the balls.”

Ella was stunned. She had no idea that Declan had seen her leave with Hugh. “I never saw him.”

“I know,” Suzy smiled, “and that made it even better. I, of course, took a moment after you left to turn the screw. I’m not sure, but I think he might hate me now.” Normally, that thought might upset someone, but apparently not Suzy. “Alright, so this seems to be working. Do we have any more candidates? I gotta say though, you can do better than the last one. That man looked like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.”

At Suzy’s statement, laughter erupted all around the table. Claire, ever the diplomatic one, tried to smother her smile behind her napkin as she said, “Er, I’m sure he was fine, Ella. Suz just compares every man to Gray and, let’s face it, most men would come up lacking in that comparison. Plus, looks aren’t everything.”

Suzy snorted. “Yeah, it’s easy to say that when you’re married to Jason Danvers, right? Power to the little people and all.” In a perfect imitation of Claire’s soft voice, Suzy said, “Looks don’t matter as long as he has a good personality.” When Beth opened her mouth to speak, Suzy pinned her with a hard stare and said, “And Nick’s no ugly duckling either. Come on girls, he doesn’t have to be a model, but let’s at least get her up to average. That guy had ears so big, he could pass for Dumbo’s father.”

“Okay,” Beth laughed. “We get your point.” Turning to Ella she asked, “How about the guy that you told me about, wasn’t he a lawyer?”

Nodding, Ella said, “Yes, Travis. He said he was mid-thirties and practiced real estate law. He was pretty cute, I think.”

Claire gave a thumbs-up. “That sounds like a good one. Are you going to line him up for the next date?”

Ella looked at Suzy, waiting for her approval. It was kind of funny. Ella had started thinking of Suzy as the godfather of the dating world. You didn’t want to make a move without her approval. “That could work. Please tell me he isn’t a total bow wow.”

“No, he is much better than Hu—I mean, he is nice looking. I’ll e-mail him tonight.” Then with a sigh, Ella said, “I just wish that Declan would ask me out already. I don’t really want to date anyone else. I want to be with him. I don’t even know if this is going to work.”

Beth put her arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Sometimes men aren’t that smart, sweetie, and they have to be shown the way. I don’t think this will go on for long though. If Declan had that strong of a reaction to your first date, I can’t see him just letting it continue. And who knows, you might meet someone else and decide that you don’t want him.” All three people at the table looked at Beth as if she were crazy. “What? It could happen.”

Suzy shook her head before saying, “Honey, Declan is a prime piece of bad-boy candy. If you land that wild one, he will rock your world. I’m not saying you need to marry him, but you damn sure need to sleep with him. That is the sexual initiation that every woman should have. Of course, there’s also the fact that we all want to know how he is in bed.” The women nodded their heads in agreement. Apparently, more than one person at the table had given some thought to Declan’s . . . talents.

After lunch, Ella dropped a quick e-mail to Travis and made a date for Friday night. She hoped that the evening would not turn out as boring as the one she had spent with Hugh. It wasn’t encouraging that she had seen no sign of Declan yet. Her mood took a nosedive as she was faced with the fact that maybe the kiss last night was an isolated incident.

* * *

When Ella walked in the door of her apartment that evening, she felt depressed. Declan was apparently back to pretending that she didn’t exist. Even though she had known better, she hadn’t been able to keep from getting her hopes up that they had turned some corner the night before. That didn’t appear to be the case. Dropping her purse on the floor, she went straight for the freezer. It might not solve all of her problems, but a pint of cookie dough ice cream couldn’t hurt. Well, maybe it could when her butt expanded, but if this wasn’t an emergency then what was?

Not bothering with a bowl, Ella grabbed a spoon. Just as she slid the first creamy bite into her mouth, the doorbell rang. Please don’t let it be my parents. Of course it’s your parents, who else comes to visit you? She juggled the ice cream in one hand and opened the door without looking through the peephole. She was shocked into silence at the sight of her visitor.

Declan stood on her welcome mat in a formfitting pair of dark jeans and a T-shirt. He was holding a brown bag that smelled heavenly. “Declan . . . um . . . what—”

“Hey Ellie, I thought you might be hungry.”

“Ellie?” she asked in surprise.

“Sorry ’bout that. I tend to give everyone a nickname. Some I repeat, some I don’t. Just a carryover from my days in the military. Real names were hardly ever used there.”

Wow, she had just learned more about him in two minutes on her doorstep than she had in the previous month at the office. “That’s okay, I kind of like Ellie. I always thought Ella made me sound old.” Then realizing that he was still standing in the hallway, she hastily stepped to the side and said, “Come in.”

Declan walked past her and into her kitchen. He set the bag on the counter and turned back around. Shooting an amused look at the ice cream she was still clutching he asked, “So do you want some Chinese food, or are you dedicated to that carton you’re holding?”

She could feel her face starting to flame as she hastily shoved the carton back into the freezer. Now that she finally had Declan in her apartment, she had no idea what to do with him. First, stop staring at him and get some plates. Do you want him to know that you’ve never had a man over before? Pathetic! She gave him an awkward smile and turned to the cabinet behind her to get the plates. Naturally, the first plate she reached for slid out of her hands like a Frisbee and flew across the kitchen to land at Declan’s feet. She then compounded the disaster by racing forward to clean it up at the same time that he bent down. She saw stars as their heads crashed together and she promptly fell backwards on her butt from the impact.

“Whoa, Ellie, are you alright?” Declan laughed.

With a groan, she covered her face and hoped that she would simply disappear. “Oh, Calgon, take me away!” Yeah, like that ever really worked anytime other than the commercials.

She heard Declan chuckle above her before his hands gently pried hers from her face. “You’re a little dangerous, aren’t you? I’m all for a woman falling at my feet, but how about leaving the china out of the equation next time, sweetheart. Where is your broom?” She pointed him to the closet in the corner. He pulled her to her feet and patted her butt. “I hope everything is okay back there after your fall?” Speechless, she could only nod her head as he walked to the closet for the broom. He made short work of the cleanup and she set her small dining room table without further incident.

“So . . . Um, I’m kind of surprised to see you,” she began.

“Are you really, Ellie? Usually when I lick a woman’s tongue, they aren’t surprised to see me. Some might even look forward to it.”

Ella’s fork clattered to her plate as she stared at him. He continued to eat as if they always had conversations like this. “But . . . I just didn’t . . .”

He swallowed a bite and turned to her. “You want to be involved with me?”

“Involved?” Surely, he didn’t actually mean what it sounded like he meant and she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself yet again by assuming.

Declan took his time wiping his mouth with a napkin before answering. “My idea of what that means will probably be a little different from yours, Ellie, but I think you get the idea. I like you, I want you, and I think you feel the same. I’ve tried to step back even though I knew how you felt about me because you are just too good for someone like me.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he raised his hand to silence her. “For years I have lived a life that you can’t even imagine. I have done and seen things that would shock you, disgust you, and scare the hell out of you. Don’t even bother to doubt me, because even I run from the things in my head. So I can’t make any promises to you, Ellie, because more than likely I’d end up breaking them. I’m not going to be the man you settle down with or the man who gives you a family, but, honey, I can be the man who makes your skin burn, your toes curl, and who makes you lose your inhibitions and scream. That I can promise you.”

Ella felt her breathing kick into high gear as her nipples peaked and heat pooled between her thighs. Declan’s eyes blazed into hers as if awaiting her response. All she could manage to croak out was “Why did you change your mind?”

He leaned forward in his chair and trailed a finger down one of her flushed cheeks. “You are hell-bent on finding a man, Ellie, and even though you might end up hating me in the end, I’ll never hurt you physically. For you, I will even try to give you some of what you need.”

Man, was that an intriguing sentence. “Some of what I need?”

Declan shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. “Yeah, you know a date kind of thing. Maybe dinner and a movie or whatever you enjoy doing. I want us to be lovers, Ellie, but I will try to give as much as I take. I haven’t done this whole dating scene in a long time and I’m not sure I even know how to do something so normal anymore.”

Ella could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Declan sounded so lost and alone. She had to wonder what he had gone through to make him sound afraid to do something so normal as go on a date. They had spent a lot of time talking at the office, but it was usually about her. He rarely ever talked about his life or his past. When she had tried to ask, he had changed the subject or made up some appointment he had to get to. She knew he had spent years in the military and she had to assume that that was the source of most of his demons. Shyly, she reached out and took his hand in hers. “I do like you. I haven’t made a secret of that, but before this goes any further, I need to tell you something.”

“I already know, Ellie.”

Ella’s jaw dropped in surprise as she asked, “You do?”

“Yeah, I do,” Declan smiled.

“Wha . . . what do you know?”

His smile turned in to a full-scale smirk as he said, “I know that you want my body. You don’t need to confess, sweetheart.” Declan burst out laughing as she stared at him with her mouth open. “I’m sorry, Ellie, I couldn’t resist. You looked so nervous that I thought you needed a good laugh. Now what do you need to tell me?”

Ella could only stare at the man sitting in front of her. He was actually making jokes. He seemed almost happy. Could he need her as much as she needed him? What he was offering her went against everything she had been raised to believe. He was as good as promising her that there would be no future for them. Had she waited for Mr. Right for this long only to settle for Mr. Right-now? If the only feelings between them were physical, why was she so drawn to him? Was she strong enough to battle his demons and save the man underneath it all?

Question after question swirled through her head as she gazed into the laughing eyes of the man before her. If she were truthful with herself, she would admit that the battle had been lost the moment he walked through her door. There was no way she could walk away from what he was offering. It might not be what she had always imagined her first love to be, but she knew in her heart that Declan would change her life forever whether he stayed for one night or for the rest of her life. She crossed her fingers that he didn’t run when she answered his questions. “I, um . . . don’t have much experience with what you’re talking about.” Declan rubbed his finger over the palm of her hand in a way that sent tingles across her skin. “Well, all of it, I guess. I’ve gone on dates, but it didn’t go much further than that.”

He extended his other hand and raised her chin, forcing her to make eye contact. “Are you a virgin, Ellie?”

Why wouldn’t the floor open up and swallow you when you really needed it? Ella would have been grateful for a crack even big enough to fall through. She had never really had this conversation with anyone other than Beth and certainly never a man. Maybe it was great to make it through your teenage years and still be a virgin, but when you were nearing thirty, it seemed more like a commitment to becoming the weird cat lady.

“My parents were pretty protective and didn’t let me date while I was in school so I never had many opportunities to . . . you know.”

Declan took a deep breath and suddenly toppled her off her chair and onto his lap. She gasped in surprise at the feel of his hard thighs against her bottom. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, honey. I suspected as much. You’re a beautiful woman, but it’s obvious that you don’t use that beauty the way most women do. I’m going to be noble just one time here and offer to walk away if you don’t want this. You know I’m not offering you anything permanent so if you want your first time to be with the man you marry, then I’ll step back and let you go. I’m only going to make that offer once though, Ellie, so be damn sure before you answer.”

Ella pulled back and met his gaze without wavering. “I want you, Declan. You are the only man who has ever made me feel this way, and I’m not walking away.”

Declan let out an unsteady breath then he circled her lower lip with his fingertip. “Thank, God, because that would have probably killed me. He groaned as she wiggled on his lap. “Baby, please stop moving like that before I break my promise and take you right here. I want to show you all of the ways to give and take pleasure before I’m inside of you.”

Ella could feel herself blush again at Declan’s frank words. Despite his protests though, he seemed powerless to resist when she slid her hands into his hair and pulled his head slowly toward hers. She was dying for another kiss like their last one. She wanted to feel his tongue against hers and lose herself in the heat of his mouth. She placed her lips softly against his and waited for him to take the lead. But other than gripping her hips tightly, he didn’t move. She tentatively parted her lips and darted her tongue against the seam of his mouth. A rough growl erupted from his throat as he took control of the kiss. He nipped, sucked, and plundered every corner before pulling abruptly away.

“Ellie, we need to stop. I’m about two seconds from bending you over the kitchen table. And, as much as I’d love that, I’d rather that not be how your first time happens.”

Ella whimpered in protest and tried to pull him back to her, but he held her hands in his and denied her the contact that she was so desperately seeking. Sticking her lips out, she said, “Well, damn,” and then promptly covered her mouth with her hand.

Declan chuckled at her obvious frustration. He kissed her forehead and pulled her toward the door. “I’ve got to get going now. I would love to stay longer, but I can’t risk it right now.” Giving her what she knew was a rare uncertain smile, he asked, “How about we go to dinner tomorrow night?”

She grinned and quickly agreed.

As if he couldn’t help himself, he gave her a quick kiss on the lips and gruffly said, “Lock the door behind me, Ellie. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”

She turned the lock behind him and sagged against the door. Please tell me I’m not dreaming. To double-check, she pinched herself and was relieved when she felt the sting. She did a happy dance right in the middle of the kitchen. It was actually going to happen. Declan Stone wanted her, finally! She grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Beth arranging for a girls’ lunch for the next day. She shuddered as she imagined the advice she would get from Suzy. Of course, with a husband like Gray, Suzy had proven that she knew how to get her man. She might be a little graphic, but the girl knew what she was doing. Beth texted her back wanting to know what was going on, but Ella didn’t want to discuss it yet. She wanted a night to let it all sink in. When the phone rang in her hand, she laughed as she answered the call. “You just couldn’t wait until tomorrow for all of the dirty details could you?” After a moment of silence, she cringed as she heard her mother’s voice.

“What dirty details are you talking about, Ella Marie?”

“Um . . . hi Mom,” she said weakly.

Never one to let a subject be changed easily, her mother repeated, “What dirty details?”

“Oh . . . well, it’s just a television show that Beth and I both watch. She didn’t get a chance to see it tonight so I figured she was calling to see what happened.” You big fat liar. Why didn’t you just tell her the truth? I’m sure she would be all for her baby girl having sex with a bad boy. She couldn’t imagine her mother’s reaction to that news. She would have grabbed her dad and they would be at her apartment before she could hang up the phone. They were still holding out hope that she would marry their pastor’s son who, incidentally, hated Ella because she laughed when he fell off his bike when he was ten. For someone whose father preached forgiveness weekly, he certainly knew how to hold a grudge.

With a loud sniff of disapproval, her mother said, “Honey, I have told you not to watch those trashy shows. There is nothing but smut on nowadays and a young, impressionable girl doesn’t need to see that.”

“Mom, I’m twenty-eight years old. I haven’t been a girl for a long time. You watch the cooking network all of the time and those women dress like s—”

“Ella! What has gotten into you tonight? I think you need to come home next weekend and spend some time with your father and me. Everyone at church has been asking about you. It’s gotten rather embarrassing to keep making excuses as to where you are.”

Ella wondered if her mother could see the irony of lecturing her about going to church while she admitted in the same breath that she lied about why she wasn’t there. She was smart enough not to mention that particular thought out loud though. She had learned years ago that things went better if you didn’t argue or make waves. Now, she tended to avoid these types of conversations with her mother altogether if she could. “Mom, it’s getting late and I need to get to sleep.”

Luckily, her mother wasn’t one to question it when you pretended to be sleepy at eight thirty. “Okay, honey. You know if that place is too much for you, your father could find you something that is less stressful. I don’t think those people there are very good influences on you anyway.”

Ella picked up the fork still sitting on the table from dinner earlier and pretended to stab herself with it. Why must her mother be so judgmental about everything and everyone? All she seemed to care about was how people in her church and the community viewed her. Appearances were everything to Dorothy Webber and she seemed willing to go to any length to keep them up. She couldn’t even imagine what her mother’s reaction would be when—and if—she met Declan. Only one word came to mind—horror. There was no way she would ever want him to sit at her dinner table.

She had tried her best to raise her daughter to be a doormat and constantly nagged now because it wasn’t working anymore. By moving out and getting a job on her own, Ella had successfully cut the apron strings and her mother didn’t like it one bit. Until Ella knew if there was any kind of future with Declan, she needed to keep them apart. She didn’t want to subject him to the disapproval and she didn’t want to put herself through the hell that would surely follow. For now, it was best to keep her parents in the dark and not let them realize that their daughter was finally starting to live her life on her own terms.

Chapter Five

At lunch, Ella put her hands over her ears as Beth squealed at the top of her lungs, “Yesss! I knew Declan would come around. I thought it might take a few more dates, but I knew it would happen. Of course, I also had a little insider tip from Nick.”

Suzy slammed her glass of iced tea down on the table and demanded, “Why am I just hearing about this?”

Ella’s glass landed next to Suzy’s as she asked, “Shouldn’t that be my line?”

Claire held up a hand for silence and said, “Alright everyone, let’s give Beth a chance to explain what she knows and why she held out on us and then we will go after her!”

Cringing Beth said, “Thanks, Claire . . . I think. I didn’t find out till last night and it was too late to call everyone.”

Suzy interrupted saying, “Haven’t I talked to you at least three times today?”

“I’m pregnant,” Beth defended. “You know I have a lot of issues right now. First there is—”

Rolling her eyes, Suzy said, “Okay, okay, no need to start with all of the bodily function things you’ve got going on, just tell us what you know.”

Ella squirmed as Beth took an unusually long time to settle back in her seat before she began. “Well, Declan came by Nick’s office yesterday and was pissed off that I helped Ella sign up for the dating service. Nick was surprised since they aren’t really buddies. He said Declan was furious and wanted him to tell me to talk Ella out of it. Apparently, his sister was attacked by some guy that she was dating and he is afraid the same thing will happen to Ella.”

“Wow,” Claire murmured, “I had no idea that something like that had happened to Ava. It does explain why she seems so reserved, though. And why Declan is protective toward the women in his life, which is a good quality to have.”

Suzy slung an arm around Ella’s shoulders and said, “So you’ve at least got the man on loan, now what do you plan to do with him?”

“Well, he says he will try the dating thing before we . . . you know.”

Claire chimed in, “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Ella,” Suzy began, “I’m just going to ask what everyone else is wondering—you do know how all of the other stuff works, don’t you? Eventually, you will get down to having no clothes on and then the good stuff begins.”

Ella wanted to crawl under the table especially when the woman at the next table gave her a look of sympathy. “I know. I’m a little nervous about it, but I’m ready.”

“I’m sure Declan has a lot of experience,” Beth offered, “You can just follow his lead. Everyone at this table has been where you are, so don’t be embarrassed.”

Suzy burst out laughing. “No one at this table has been where you are, kid. Yeah, we were all the big V at one time, but none of us were initiated by a stud like Declan. I wanted to cry after my first time. Not because it hurt or anything, but because I was so damn depressed that sex was such a letdown. Of course, now that I’m with Gray, it’s like winning the orgasm lottery every single day of my life . . . sometimes, several times a day.”

Beth groaned, Claire chuckled and Ella tried tapping her feet together under the table and telling herself, there’s no place like home . . . there’s no place like home. Dorothy must have been a liar because that had yet to work for her.

“Don’t sweat it,” Suzy continued, “You have us and we won’t let you suck in bed. Well . . .”

“Stop!” Beth and Claire both begged.

“Please don’t go any further with that statement.” Claire shifted toward Ella and said, “What Suzy is trying to say is that we’re all here for you if you need advice on anything. You shouldn’t worry about it though because it just comes naturally when you’re ready. But Suzy is right, you are very lucky that it’s a man like Declan. That’s bound to make it much more memorable than my first time.”

Ella looked gratefully at each of her friends in turn, even Suzy. “Thanks so much, you guys. I never really had many close friends growing up. My parents scared most of them away.”

“Yeah,” Beth laughed, “We know where you’re coming from there. By the way, speaking of friends, have any of you met Emma Davis? She’s Brant’s assistant.”

“Ugh,” Suzy groaned, “That must be a rough gig. Gray invited him over for drinks a few weeks ago and I thought my eyes would glaze over before he left. You would just expect someone that hot to be more interesting. He might look like Declan, but the man is a bore. I tried to inject some humor a few times to liven things up, and he looked at me like I was from another planet.”

“That’s pretty much what Emma says about him,” Beth nodded. “Anyway, I thought we could ask her to lunch one day. We talked a few times, and she doesn’t know anyone else at the office. The poor girl probably needs some comic relief to get through the day.”

“Come on, guys,” Claire said, “He’s not that bad. I admit, he seems to be all business, but Jason and Gray both like him.”

Continuing with her theory that sex solved everything, Suzy deadpanned, “Maybe he just needs to get laid. He could be going through a dry spell since he relocated here. He probably put his last few dates in a coma before dinner was over. If Emma wants a better boss, she should hire him a hooker or something.”

Ella giggled. Leave it to Suzy to think you could solve any problem by hiring a hooker. As uncomfortable as the conversations could get sometimes, especially when she was in the hot seat, she still loved her time with the girls. She had no doubt that the women at that table could take over the world if they set their minds to it.

* * *

Declan was nervous, and it was a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time. Even with hell breaking loose all around him in Afghanistan, he had never been nervous. He always lived his life by the motto, if you have a job to do, you do it. Somehow doing something as normal as a date seemed like a daunting task. The last date he had gone on was before joining the military. Since then, rather than dating, it was more like scratching an itch when his body demanded it. He wasn’t particularly proud of the fact that he didn’t remember many names of the women he had scratched that itch with.

Ella though, deserved better. A better man would have never started this with her, but now that he had, he intended to see where it went. If that meant feeling like a damn teenager on his first date, then so be it. He had been in meetings out of the office all day and hadn’t seen her since the night before. He had called briefly to confirm their plans for the evening, half afraid that she had changed her mind, but the happiness in her voice had reassured him that she wasn’t having second thoughts.

He still didn’t know how the hell he had ended up at her door. After talking to Nick at the office, the idea had taken root. Why should he give Ella the green light to date another man when he wanted her and she wanted him? If she was that determined to get some experience, then shouldn’t it be from someone who actually cared about her? The thought of another man putting his hands on her had been more than he could stomach. She was wildly eager and responsive for someone so innocent and he had no idea how he was going to control himself with her. Dating was probably the only thing that would save him because if they were alone for any time at all, he would have his hands all over her feminine curves.

Declan tensed as a knock sounded at the door of his apartment. Glancing at his watch in impatience, he noted that he only had about fifteen minutes before he had to leave to pick up Ella. When he saw Brant standing on the other side, he cursed silently. His older brother was constantly trying to bring what was left of their family together. He wished he would save all of his attention for their sister and leave him for the lost cause that he was.

Swinging the door open, Declan motioned him inside before shutting it behind him.

It was ironic that even though Declan had turned down a position working in the family business, he still ended up working with his brother and sister at Danvers. Stone Electronics manufactured a component that Danvers International used and Jason Danvers had been very interested in acquiring the small, but solid, company as a part of his company’s expansion. Gray and Nick Merimon had come on board at Danvers when Jason also acquired their company, Mericom. Declan thought that Brant and Ava were relieved not to be running the company on a daily basis any longer. Jason had kept the siblings on in vice-president roles since Danvers remained short staffed after its explosive growth and because they were damn good at their jobs. Declan’s grandfather, who started the company, would probably have another heart attack if he knew the company was no longer family owned.

He was surprised to see his brother looking visibly ruffled. “What’s up, Brant?”

“Do you have the folder for the Reynolds contract?”

Giving his brother a puzzled look, Declan asked, “Why would I? That’s your baby.”

“Yeah, no shit, but my new assistant has all of my paperwork fucked up. Did she pull the Myers file for you?” Declan nodded his head. “Where is it? I looked on your desk, but didn’t see it.”

“It’s in my briefcase. I grabbed it on my way out this morning, to thumb through later.”

“Can you look and see what you have? I think she mixed up the files and I’m flying out tonight to meet with Reynolds tomorrow.”

Declan rolled his eyes and walked over to his briefcase. Sure enough, when he sorted through the stack, he found the missing file. He almost felt sorry for the woman who had made the mistake. His brother was a perfectionist and would lose sleep over something like this for days. “So, what is this, like the third assistant to bite the dust since you’ve been at Danvers?”

Brant looked at him in surprise. “I’m not firing Emma over this. I’m not happy about it, and she will know it, but I don’t think it warrants termination.”

Now Declan was the one looking at Brant with a surprised expression. “Emma, huh? I’ve never heard you call one of your assistants by her first name. Maybe I need to come up for a visit and meet the famous Emma.”

“Screw off and stick to your own damn office.” Seeing Declan look at his watch again, he asked, “Were you going out?”

Declan shifted uncomfortably, “Yeah, I have plans soon. I’ll walk down with you.”

Seeming much too interested, Brant asked, “What kind of plans? Is there someone left in Myrtle Beach that you haven’t bedded yet?”

Declan slammed the door shut behind them and flipped off his brother. “Very funny. Don’t you have somewhere to be? I’d recommend going to the airport early, just in case your assistant booked you the wrong flight as well.” With a smile of satisfaction, Declan saw his brother’s face go white and he took off for his car at a fast clip. Declan laughed, unlocked his Porsche Cayman, and settled in the driver’s seat. It might be a bit of a stereotype, but he loved his car. Of course, he also owned a truck. Sports cars didn’t make that much sense other than the rush you felt when driving them. He was also pretty sure that if Ella wore one of those dresses that she usually wore, the odds were good that he might get an eyeful of leg when he helped her out of the low-slung car. Yeah, in the end, he was just a guy.

Chapter Six

Ella fought the urge to pinch herself as she sat across from Declan in the crowded restaurant. How many times had she dreamed about just this moment? Conversation flowed easily just as it always did with them. He looked so handsome that she would have been content to stare at him across the table for the entire evening. And if she didn’t know better, she would swear that he started off just as nervous as she had. Luckily, due to the work friendship that they had forged, it was easy to slip back into the comfortable camaraderie that they had always shared.

Declan smiled at her across the table midway through the meal and asked, “How’s the lasagna, Ellie?”

She quickly swallowed the bite she had been savoring and rolled her eyes in bliss. “It’s wonderful. I’m glad that Claire recommended this place. She said it was where she and Jason had their sort of first date, whatever that means.”

“They seem happy. I met Claire’s mother last week when she came by the office with their daughter. She was pretty funny, and reminded me a lot of Claire. I heard she was really sick for quite a while.”

Ella nodded her head, “I’ve met her too. She’s great. And her housekeeper, Louise, who Claire calls her other mother, is hilarious. I thought I would pee myself when those two started cracking old age jokes the last time I was at Claire’s. Ugh, did I just tell Declan that I almost peed myself? Too much information, dingbat!

Declan chuckled, obviously amused at her story. “What about your parents? You said they were pretty strict on you growing up. Do they live locally?”

Groaning, Ella said, “They live in Florence, about an hour away and, trust me, it’s too close some days. I love them, I really do, but they can be nosy and overbearing. When I first moved out, my mom came to visit me every evening for the entire first month. My dad finally complained about the amount of gas she was burning on the trips and she slowed it down to once a week. By now it’s become just once a month. She still expects me to visit them on Sundays. I haven’t for the last few weeks and I’m starting to catch a lot of heat over it.”

“It sounds like they love you, Ellie. Are you an only child?”

“Oh no, I have an older sister who is quite perfect. Her name is Crystal. Her husband is a deacon from the church my parents attend. Her life’s work is to make me look bad.”

Declan lifted a brow, “I can’t imagine that being possible. I would think you would be every parent’s dream child. How can your sister make you look bad?”

“Oh, trust me. She has it down to a science. Since she lives close to our parents, she has the home field advantage and she knows how to use it. She visits them daily, takes them to appointments, and runs errands for them. She never misses a church service. She is so well liked in the community that our parents sit beside her and beam on Sunday mornings, as if they are related to Meryl Streep or something. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they’ve started a fan club for her. How about you? Do your parents live close?”

Taking his time, Declan took a sip of his wine before answering. “My parents died when I was young. I was raised by my grandfather.”

Ella reached a hand out to clasp his. “I’m so sorry, Declan. I had no idea. What happened?”

He gave her hand a squeeze and said, “My father had his pilot’s license and he liked to show off for their friends. One weekend, they decided to fly down to the Florida Keys. They ran into bad weather on the trip and the plane went down in shallow water off the Florida coast. All six bodies were recovered, including my parents. My grandfather, who had been a widower for years, took all three of us kids in. He could be tough but fair, more on my brother and sister than me. He sat back and let me raise all the hell that I possibly could before I joined the military. It’s pretty funny looking back on it now. No matter how much I got into and, believe me, there was plenty, he just laughed when he found out. He told me once that having me around was like reliving his own wilder days. He groomed Brant and Ava to take over his company and—”

“He groomed you to be a younger version of himself,” Ella guessed.

“Yeah,” Declan answered, “I think that’s exactly what he did. He was disappointed when I re-upped for my second tour in the military. I think he expected me to come home then. I’d give anything if I had.”

“Why?”

Shaking his head, Declan said, “It was just bad the last year, Ellie. I wasn’t there when my grandfather died and I never got to know him like I wish I had. I was also stationed at the edge of hell. Shit like that you never get free of.”

“Declan—”

“It’s okay. Let’s just leave that alone. So, what’s next on this date thing?”

Ella let him change the subject because she could tell that he needed to. Maybe it was time to lighten the mood. “How do you feel about an ice cream cone on the boardwalk?” She could tell that he was surprised by her idea, but true to his word, he smiled in agreement, and soon they were on the boardwalk. She ordered chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in a cone and he chose chocolate.

“You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever done this before,” he mused. At her questioning look he added, “The whole ice cream on the boardwalk thing. Most of my recreation when I was in town revolved around tequila in a bar.”

Surprised that he was being so open, she decided to try to keep it going. “So, you came home some while you were in the military?” She knew from their earlier conversations that he was actually from the Charleston area, just as Gray and Nick were.

“Not often, but sometimes. I ended up in Myrtle Beach a lot since my buddies were always interested in spending a little R and R here. I never went home for more than a few days. Brant and Ava had their own lives and, even though I think we learned to respect each other, my grandfather and I never really had much in common. I always felt like he was waiting for something from me that I couldn’t figure out. It was a hell of a shock when he died and left me such a large part of his estate. The only explanation in his will was a note that read, ‘Fulfill both of our dreams with this money.’ Cryptic, huh?”

Ella stopped and turned to face him. “No, it’s pretty clear actually. You said yourself he seemed to enjoy the trouble you got into. I think he spent his last few years living his life through you and he wanted you to live the life that he hadn’t.”

Declan looked at her in surprise. “That’s deep, Ellie.” Then giving her a sly smile, he added, “It’s a bit of a turn-on when you go all serious on me.”

As Ella blushed and sputtered, Declan stiffened at something he saw behind her. “Well, hey guys, I thought you two would be ripping each other’s clothes off somewhere by now.”

Ella whirled around to find a grinning Suzy and a sheepish Gray standing behind them.

“Um, yeah,” Gray murmured as he stepped forward. “Sorry about the rude interruption. Even though the boardwalk almost killed Suzy when she fell down the steps over there, she still drags me out here at least every few weeks to get a hot dog.”

“So what’s with the PG date?” Suzy asked.

“Suzy—” Gray began.

Declan surprised them all when he threw his head back and laughed. Giving Gray a sympathetic look he said, “Man, I bet you never know if you’re coming or going. Hell, I can’t even decide if I’m in love with your wife or if I want to push her off a tall cliff.”

Far from being offended, Gray laughed too. “I see you understand my life perfectly. It only gets harder to answer that question, believe me.”

Suzy put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “Hellooo, I’m standing right here you know. If you guys are finished with your male bonding, I’d like to have my hot dog before I starve to death.”

Gray put his arm around Suzy, giving her a look that made Ella go weak in the knees. “Alright, baby, let’s go feed you.”

Suzy gave her a little shove into Declan’s side as she was walking off, whispering to her, “At least make it to second base tonight.” She could tell by the look Declan shot her that he had heard Suzy’s comment as well.

“Would you like to go to a movie or something, Ellie?”

Considering for a minute, she said, “We could go back to my place and watch something.” She would much rather curl up next to him on her couch than be packed into a theater with a bunch of strangers.

Declan shifted uncomfortably before saying, “I don’t know . . . I’m really not sure we should be alone at your place yet.”

Hurt, Ella asked, “Why not?”

“Because, at some point, I would have you on your back with my hand up your dress.”

Ella’s eyes widened and she whispered, “Ohhh. I’d um . . . like that.”

Declan groaned as if he were in pain. “Oh God, Ellie, don’t say stuff like that. I’m barely hanging on to the whole Mr. Nice Guy thing.”

She put her hands on his chest and gazed up into his eyes. “I don’t want you to be the nice guy. I’ve waited too long already. I want this Declan and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Ellie . . .” he warned, “don’t say that. We need to take this slow. I’ll take you home and we can watch a movie. I can do this, but please don’t repeat what you just said to me again, unless you really mean it.”

When she opened her mouth to repeat it, he clamped his hand over her lips and shook his head. “No, Ellie. I don’t want to get arrested on the boardwalk, and I damn sure don’t want Suzy and Gray to have a front row seat to the action. If you need to say sexy things like that, make sure it’s not in a public place.”

Looking around at the families with young children, Ella blushed a bright pink and said, “I see your point. I’ll try to do a little better next time.”

Declan wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on top of the head. “Good girl. Now let’s go home and please keep your hands to yourself.”

Ella chuckled, “I can’t believe the bad boy of Danvers is telling the church girl of Danvers to keep her hands to herself. No one would ever believe it!”

Declan smirked, “Bad boy, huh? Well, then by all means let’s not tell anyone. I apparently have a certain reputation to maintain.”

Smiling to herself, Ella thought that didn’t even skim the surface of all of the things that people had speculated about him. Of course, he would probably be thrilled to know that all of the girls thought he would be outstanding between the sheets.

Nah, he doesn’t need to know that.

* * *

When they arrived back at her apartment, Declan was thrilled to see the movie Die Hard in her video collection. “Don’t tell me your parents bought you this movie for Christmas,” he joked.

“Um . . . are you kidding? I can assure you that my parents don’t even know who Bruce Willis is and they sure aren’t going around repeating the line, “Yippee-ki-yay, mother . . .”

Looking strangely proud of her, Declan said, “Even though you couldn’t finish the ‘mother’ part, I’m still impressed and turned on, all at the same time.”

“Thanks, I think . . . I love that movie. Do you want some popcorn?”

“Yeah, why not. It’ll give me something to put in my mouth, besides you.”

Instead of blushing, like she normally would at a comment like that, she laughed and joked right back, “In your dreams, babe. I’ll be in the kitchen.” While she was waiting for the popcorn to pop, she realized that at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, she was having the best time she had ever had. Was that sad or what? Declan was funny and easy to be with. He wanted to have an innocent date and she wanted to crawl across the couch and straddle his lap.

From what she had read, the thirties were the sexual prime for women and she seemed to be hitting it a few years early. She might be a virgin, but she knew what she wanted and it was sitting out there in her living room. Maybe it was time to make it happen. Before Die Hard was over, Ella Webber would be making her move and if Declan could resist it then he had more willpower than she could have ever imagined.

* * *

“Ellie, really it’s okay. There wasn’t much ice left in the glass.” If he didn’t know better, he would swear that Ella was trying to get rid of him. She had brought in drinks and popcorn from the kitchen earlier and had proceeded to trip and throw the popcorn all over his chest and the floor. Once they got that mess cleaned up, she had settled in beside him still apologizing. An hour later, while pausing the movie for a bathroom break, she had gotten up from the couch and promptly fell on her face when she hadn’t realized that her foot was asleep. The latest in the string of mishaps included her upending her drink in his lap and then attacking his crotch with a towel to clean up the spill. Not that he had ever wondered, but now he had his answer; you could indeed still get a hard-on with ice surrounding your cock.

Ella groaned when he took the towel from her hand and placed it safely away from her. “You must think I’m a total disaster. I thought I could seduce you tonight, instead I have done my best to kill you.”

Declan felt his cock stir even further at mention of her planned seduction. He ignored his wet crotch area and pulled her into his arms. Kissing the top of her head he said, “Honey, I thought we agreed to take things slow. You’ve probably made yourself nervous tonight. We don’t have to be in any kind of hurry.”

“I guess someone this clumsy doesn’t turn you on anymore,” she mumbled against his chest.

He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Ellie, there is nothing you could do that would make me not want you. There has barely been a day since I met you that I haven’t imagined myself buried inside of you. Dumping some water and popcorn on me hasn’t changed that and seeing the beautiful curve of your ass when you fell off the couch certainly didn’t change my mind.”

Ella looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I’m glad you thought that was funny. Would you like to borrow my pink robe while I dry your pants?”

“Nah, I’m afraid you might try to strangle me with it or something,” he joked.

Slapping his arms, she rolled her eyes and said, “Ha-ha, very funny.” Then, looking down at his pants, she continued, “That can’t be very comfortable.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea.” Shifting her to the side, he got to his feet and pulled her up with him. “I’m going to head out. I think this is a very clear sign for me to behave myself tonight.” At her pout, he tapped her chin and added, “I said tonight, Ellie, not forever. Walk me to the door.”

Declan pulled her into his arms and took her mouth in a kiss that left little doubt that his feelings for her hadn’t changed. Just when she felt like she might melt from the heat of his tongue tangling with hers, he pulled gently away from her. Running a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath and said, “You’re dangerous. The next time you kiss me like that, you’re probably going to have to up your game and stab me to keep from taking you to bed.”

Ella laughed; still pleasantly surprised to find that the always serious Declan had a sense of humor to rival hers. She slumped against the wall once he was gone and fanned herself in dramatic fashion. Even with all of the humiliating things that had happened to her tonight, it was still the best date that she had ever been on or could imagine. Well, not that she had much experience to go on, but what could possibly top that kiss?

Chapter Seven

When Declan walked through the doors of Danvers International the next morning, he wanted to do what he had always done when he saw Jason, Gray, and Nick standing around chatting: go the other way. Why was being normal so damn hard? His first inclination was always to be a loner. He did his job and whatever business communication was necessary. His talk with Nick about Ella a few days ago had been a first step. They might all hang out and see each other socially, but he tried to avoid that. He had been forced to on a few occasions and had always felt like the odd man out. These were Ella’s friends though, and if he was going to be involved with her, then he needed to try to fit into her world. He had friends in the military, but it was hard to maintain those friendships when you were once again a civilian and they were back in whatever hellhole Uncle Sam saw fit to send them.

Squaring his shoulders, he walked up to the group. He saw the surprise on each of the men’s faces, before it was quickly hidden.

Jason shifted and clapped him on the shoulder. “Morning, Declan. How’s it going?”

Declan fought the urge to abort this mission and head for the elevators, but stuck it out for Ellie. If he couldn’t manage to make small talk for five minutes, he was really in trouble. “Yeah, good morning.” When everyone continued to look at him, he wondered in a panic if he should start talking about the game last night or something. Hell, was there even a game on? Luckily, Nick could always be counted on to break the ice and this morning was no exception.

“So, Dec, you and Ella, right?”

Looking around the group he wasn’t surprised to see that they all seemed to know it. Were there any secrets around here? “Yeah, I guess you could say so. We, um . . . had our first date last night.”

Gray spoke up, “Hey, that’s great man. I like Ella a lot.” Then with a rueful smile, he added, “I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance for anything that Suzy may put her up to on your dates. I think she has adopted her as another sister, which probably means trouble.”

Declan couldn’t contain the laugh that burst out. “Well, if she was responsible for last night, she has a long way to go on her seduction techniques.” He inwardly groaned as he saw the sudden attention on their faces. He hadn’t meant to mention anything about the previous night. He knew he would never get out of this now, and he sure as hell would never get a guy card without spilling some of it. Fuck! You should have kept right on walking this morning.

Smirking, Nick jabbed him in the side saying, “You’ve got to explain that statement. I’ve never known my sister-in-law to fail at anything before.”

Declan shifted on his feet, wishing he had kept his damn mouth shut. “It’s nothing really. Ella just had a run of bad luck last night. She dumped popcorn on me, fell on the floor when she got up to go to the restroom, and poured a glass of soda in my lap at the end of the evening. I think she was pretty embarrassed about it, but it didn’t bother me.”

Everyone laughed and Jason said, “Oh, man, I feel you. Claire has what we call ‘mishaps’ and they happen often. I swear the woman can mash her finger on something in the kitchen, walk into the next room, and run into the wall. Last night, I was sitting on the deck with Chrissie, and Claire walked into the glass patio door so hard I expected to see it shatter. She blamed it on the glass. She said it was so clean that she thought the door was open. We started going to Sam’s Club to buy our Band-Aids in bulk.”

Grimacing, Declan said, “Damn, that’s rough. It wasn’t that bad last night. I think she was just nervous. It was pretty embarrassing though when I left and walked by her neighbor with a big wet spot on the front of my pants. He’s probably trying to figure out how to ask Ella if I’m potty trained.”

Everyone laughed. Gray joked, “That definitely doesn’t sound like an evening planned by Suzy. You’ll know when you get to that one. There will probably be handcuffs, Cool Whip, and Ben and Jerry’s involved.”

Frowning, Nick said, “That would be way hotter if it didn’t involve my sister-in-law. You two being married has completely sucked the fun out of that for me.”

“I can’t think of any comment that either won’t sound wrong or get my ass kicked so I’ll let it pass. How about you, Dec?” Jason added.

Giving a thumbs-up, Declan said, “I’ve always admired your wife’s thought process. You are one lucky SOB.” Seeing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman in question walking toward them wearing some type of leopard skin clothing and black stockings. Yeah, he wasn’t lying, Suzy was freaking hot. He was man enough to admit that she scared him a bit. She might be small, but the woman had some balls. He didn’t think there was a pair of male eyes in the lobby not riveted to her as she made her way to their group.

“Hey, boys! What’s the damage this morning?”

Gray put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. “We are working our asses off here.”

With an unladylike snort, Suzy said, “Yeah, more like gossiping like little old ladies. I don’t know why women get a bad rap for that because you guys are just as bad.” Then turning her attention to Declan she asked, “So how did the date go last night? Did you get beyond the ice cream stage or what?”

This is exactly why I don’t hang out with people at work and do the small-talk thing. Damn, this is a nosy bunch. “We had a great time, thanks.” Suzy stared at him as if expecting something more. He was afraid that one of the others would blurt out what he had said about Ella’s accidents from the night before. He was already regretting sharing that. He didn’t want her to think he was making fun of her, because wearing popcorn and Coke was a small price to pay for her digging into his lap with a towel.

When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to elaborate further Suzy shook her head and said, “Wow, it sounds awesome. I never pegged you for a G-rated kind of guy, Declan, but hey whatever works. I’ve gotta get to work, maybe you all should try it sometime.” With that final parting shot, she was gone.

Declan released a breath that he hadn’t even been aware he was holding.

Gray gave him a smile of understanding. “She has that effect on everyone, don’t feel bad. I’m married to her and I still wonder what’s going to come out of her mouth next.”

Everyone drifted off toward their offices and Declan had to wonder why being social was so exhausting. He felt like going home to take a nap. At least it was Friday and he had another date tonight with Ella to look forward to. Although in the interest of taking things slowly, he probably should have waited a few days instead of asking her before he left last night, but he extended the invitation before he could think better of it.

He liked the way he felt with her. He didn’t remember ever enjoying talking to a woman like he did her. He was afraid it would be awkward taking things to a different level, but she was still his sweet Ellie and even if he had sat through Die Hard with a hard-on of his own, it had been worth it. When she had admitted to trying to seduce him, it was all he could do not to throw her down on the couch and take anything and everything she offered. The drink in the crotch was probably pretty well-timed. He had stood in a cold shower for several long minutes when he got home. One thing was certain, his water bill was bound to go through the roof until he finally slept with Ellie.

* * *

“Shut up! No, you did not!” Ella had to laugh at Beth’s dramatic reaction to her klutz fest from the night before.

“Oh, yeah I did. I practically mauled the man before he finally decided to run for his life. He mentioned something about me strangling him with my robe. He doesn’t even know about the container of powder I dropped in the bathroom.”

“What were you doing with powder?”

“Well, after I fell on the floor, I went to the bathroom and noticed that my face was shining. I looked like I had just run a marathon or something. So I took out a small container of powder and accidently opened it from the bottom. It exploded all over my bathroom and me. I was in there for like twenty minutes trying to beat the powder off my clothes. I used my hair dryer on low to blow it out of my hair and the middle of the floor, in case he needed to use the bathroom.”

“Oh my God,” Beth gasped, as she laughed until she looked about to cry. “Were you embarrassed?”

“Actually, it wasn’t too bad. If this had been the first time we had met it would have been worse, but I’m comfortable with Declan. He was a good sport and never made me feel like he was making fun of me.”

“Sooo,” Beth asked, “When are you going out again?”

Ella tried to contain her excitement, but failed. “Tonight! He asked me before he left last night.”

“Oh man, he isn’t playing around. Where are you going this time?”

“I’m not sure, he didn’t say. I think we can pretty much rule out bowling or anything that requires me to throw a heavy object. He will probably also want to skip sitting beside me when I’m drinking anything hot like coffee. That narrows down the field some.”

Beth giggled and nodded her agreement. “Yeah, you’re safe there. He might take you somewhere childproofed, like Chuck E. Cheese’s.”

Ella’s phone rang and cut their conversation short. “Ella dear, your father and I wanted to see if you could come home Saturday?” Without pausing long enough for her to answer, her mother continued on, “You could spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday. I know everyone would love to see you.”

“Oh, um . . . I can’t, Mom. I’m staying with Beth this weekend. Nick is going to be out of town.” Beside her, Beth shook her head and wiggled her finger.

She could hear her mother’s huff loud and clear. “You know I don’t approve of you spending so much time with that unmarried girl. Why won’t the father of her baby marry her, or is he not even the father?”

“Mom . . .” Ella warned. She was sorry that she had mentioned Beth. She had temporarily forgotten how vocal her mother was in her disapproval over her best friend’s marital state. She honestly couldn’t understand why her mother was so judgmental of others. Of course, she didn’t know why she was surprised. All of her mother’s friends were exactly the same way. Her mother’s behavior embarrassed Ella and she hoped she would never be tacky enough to hurt Beth’s feelings. “I’ve got to go, Mom, my break is over now.”

“Your break? I thought you worked in an office,” her mother huffed.

“I do, Mom, but we can’t stay away from our desks all day. I have to get back to work. I’ll call you tonight.” She could still hear her mother’s sputtering protests as she clicked to end the call.

Beth gave her a nod of approval. “Look at you, girl. Lying to your parents and making out with Declan all in the same week. Your training wheels are well and truly off now, aren’t they?”

Ella put her head down on her desk, groaning. “I love her, I really do, but she drives me crazy. She spends all of her time worrying about how other people view her and sadly, she is right to be paranoid because her friends are just as bad as she is. I’m a huge disappointment to her right now because she is being forced to lie about why I’m not at church every Sunday. Even worse, I seriously believe she is debating whether it would sound worse to just tell her friends that I’m gay or a single spinster.”

“Oh honey, you’ve heard the horror stories about my parents, so I’m right there with you. They are trying to behave a lot better right now, but Suzy and I both know that they would gladly trade us in for a couple of Harvard graduates. I think the only reason they are being halfway decent about the baby is because they hope it will be some kind of prodigy child and live up to their impossible standards. I would hate for them to know that their future grandchild moves like a pole dancer when “Baby Got Back” is playing.” At Ella’s smirk, Beth added, “Hey, don’t judge me, my gym plays a variety.”

After Beth left, Ella was surprised when Declan walked up a few moments later. “Hey, Ellie,” he said in that oh-so-sexy voice.

Fighting the urge to melt at his feet, she smiled and said, “Hey, yourself. Are you having a good day?”

“Not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

The heated look in his eyes made the urge to melt even stronger. “I’m looking forward to it too. What are the plans? I could make us dinner if you like.”

“If you’re feeling brave, I thought I would cook for us. I know it sounds like a guy thing, but I grill a mean steak. You do like steak, right?”

“Oh yeah, I love steak, I’m a huge meat eater! Oh gosh, did I actually just say that? What was wrong with a simple, yes, steak sounds perfect.”

Declan seemed amused by her enthusiasm as he said, “Uh, yeah, good. I’m leaving now for a meeting so how about I pick you up at home around six?”

“I could just come to your place if you give me your address,” Ella offered.

Declan leaned closer and whispered so only she could hear him, “I don’t think so, sweetheart. I have been thinking of another kiss at your door all day. There is no way I would deprive myself of that.”

Before she could do anything—other than stare at him like an idiot— he gave her another smile and was gone.

The rest of her day seemed to drag as she repeatedly thought of Declan’s parting words. By the time she got home that evening, she was counting the minutes until Declan showed up. When he did arrive, she tried not to look like she had been standing at the door for fifteen minutes, after changing into another short dress and her best new Victoria’s Secret underwear set, courtesy of Suzy, Beth, and Claire’s advice.

Chapter Eight

“I like your apartment. It’s so . . . clean.”

Declan chuckled and said, “That’s all you could come up with, huh? I rented it completely furnished. I’ve been meaning to buy a house, but haven’t had the time for the hassle yet. Since I barely do more than sleep here, it hasn’t mattered much to me.”

Ella blushed, wishing she had been a little more complimentary of his home. Everything in it was top of the line and the granite countertops in the kitchen gleamed against the dark wood of the cabinets. The stainless steel appliances were sleek and modern. It was obvious that Declan paid much more in rent than she did on her small apartment. And his was spacious with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She was a little surprised that he had such a big place for just himself. When she had asked him about it, he simply said that he didn’t like tight spaces.

When she offered to help with dinner, he pointed to the refrigerator and put her in charge of the salad. She had to give him credit, he had only paused for a brief moment before he handed her the sharp knife to cut the vegetables up. She was determined not to draw blood and reward his faith in her. “I like the music you have on, who is the group?”

Declan looked at her in surprise. “It’s Norah Jones. Haven’t you heard of her?”

“No, not really. My parents didn’t believe in any popular music. I rarely ever listened to the radio. I still don’t much now unless I’m with Beth. She is doing everything she can to catch me up on the Bon Jovi years and even though she tries to blame it on her gym, she also likes Justin Timberbake.”

Declan started laughing. “I believe you, Ellie, because it’s actually Justin Timberlake.”

“Oh . . . whoops. Don’t tell Beth, she would be so disappointed in me.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” As he walked back toward the balcony, he looked over his shoulder. “I picked up a movie for after dinner if you’re interested. My sister recommended it.”

“That sounds good. I brought one as well so we can see which one looks the best.” Ella knew why he had the slightly embarrassed look on his face when she pulled his DVD out. Sleepless in Seattle, really? When he walked back into the kitchen she was trying to hide hers. She was sure that after their movie choice last night, he would know her tastes a little better. Apparently, he was still under the mistaken impression that she was a quiet, chick-flick-watching, girlie girl. Maybe it was better to let him think that. Her movie did have some romance in it though; didn’t she get points for that?

Looking over her shoulder, Declan asked, “So what did you bring?”

“Uh, nothing interesting. Let’s just go with your choice. It looks great.”

“Aw, come on Ellie, no holding out on me.” When she still wouldn’t show him her movie, he suddenly started tickling her. As she shrieked and jumped out of the way, he grabbed the movie and waved it in the air in victory. His expression was almost comical when he finally brought it down to look at it more closely. “Lethal Weapon?”

As she did whenever she got nervous, she started rambling. “It’s okay; we can watch your movie. Lethal Weapon 3 was really the best one anyway. I just loved Rene Russo in it. But I wasn’t sure if you had seen the first two so I didn’t want you to be lost or anything. We can watch mine another time. Maybe we can have a whole Lethal Weapon marathon.” As he continued to look at her without saying anything, the rambling got worse. “How about Jason Statham? You remind me of him, well, without the British accent. I love the Transporter movies or we could do something military for you. There is Black Hawk Down or the Expendables movie.”

Finally, Declan started chuckling and pulled her against his chest. “Oh Ellie, if I could clone you, every man in this world would be in heaven. You and I might not agree on everything, but we damn sure won’t have a problem deciding which movie to watch.” As Ella started to return his embrace, he suddenly pulled back and muttered something about checking the steaks before leaving the kitchen.

What the heck was that? Surely, Declan wasn’t running from her now. Did he think that because she watched action movies, she was going to attack him? Of course, she was still holding a knife so he was probably trying to protect himself from another mauling. Later, she planned to test his resolve. She felt like she had been waiting for Declan, or at least the idea of Declan, for a long time and now that they were sort of together, she wanted it all . . . now.

He, however, seemed to be moving at the pace of a turtle. For years, her mother had been telling her that men only wanted one thing from her and that she should guard against that. Well, when exactly did they want that one thing—because other than some hot kisses where he pulled away before they became too intense, she had seen no sign of him wanting or trying to get in her pants? Maybe she needed to wear different pants.

Dinner was wonderful and Declan looked at her in approval when she ate almost every bite of the mouthwatering steak he had grilled for them. He hadn’t even cringed when she knocked over her full wine glass and drenched the table and the floor beneath it. They cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher like an old married couple. She couldn’t believe that she was so comfortable being alone with a man in his apartment. This was Declan though. They had spent so much time talking at the office that she was almost as comfortable around him as she was with Beth.

They carried their glasses of wine back into the living room and, with a knowing smirk, Declan casually dropped a towel beside her glass. “Okay, did we decide on my award-winning movie selection of Sleepless in Seattle or your action-packed movie Lethal Weapon which is filled with a lot of amusing, gratuitous violence?”

Pursing her lips, Ella said, “Hmmm, well, you make a strong case for both movies. I feel that choosing the first movie would just make me into a stereotypical girlie girl who lives and breathes for a good chick-flick. Therefore, I feel that I must choose the second movie just to break out of the restraints that society has placed upon the female sex.”

As Declan started to applaud, she was proud of herself until he said, “Oh Ellie, I bet that was a fine speech, but I completely shut down when you said restraints and sex in the same sentence!”

Ella started blushing as images of those two things flashed through her head. “Um . . . that could have been a poor choice of words, well, unless you’re into that. Are you . . . into that?” Did I really just ask him if he wants to tie me up during sex?

She was happy to see that she wasn’t the only one completely thrown by that train of thought.

Declan fumbled so much with the movie cases that he was beginning to look like he was practicing his juggling routine. Clearing his throat he said, “Well . . . I’ve tried it before, yes,” then he quickly added, “But you don’t need to worry about that Ellie. I would never ask you to do something that you didn’t want to do.”

Giving it some thought, Ella finally said, “I’ll just have to try it and see if I like it. Do you do the whole spanking thing with it or is that something else?” She was alarmed to see that he had turned white as a ghost and seemed to just be staring at her in a daze. “Are you feeling okay? You’re sweating and you look like you might pass out.” Jumping up, Ella started to the kitchen to get him a glass of water.

“No,” he managed to croak out. “I’m fine. You just . . . distracted me for a minute there with all of the spanking talk. Before you even ask, yes . . . I have tried that as well, and no, I’m not doing that to you. At least, no time soon. Ellie . . . baby, can we please not talk about anything else below the belt tonight? This would be a bad time to figure out that I have a heart condition.”

Ella looked down to find that things below his belt line had gotten a bit more noticeable than they had been. The realization dawned on her that without even trying, she had turned him on in quite a big way. Really big. She couldn’t help but feel proud of herself. She had been wondering how she could get to Declan and apparently just talking about restraints, sex, and spankings did the trick. When he settled beside her on the couch, she curled into his side and after a brief hesitation; he wrapped his arms around her and settled her head under his chin. If it felt this good to be in his arms fully clothed, Ella could only imagine how it would feel to be skin to skin with him.

* * *

Declan pulled back the covers and settled in his king-size bed alone. He found that he longed for the day when Ella would cuddle beside him. It was damn near killing him to take things slow. She made it pure torture to do the right thing. He had almost stroked out tonight when she asked him if he was into spankings or tying her up. WTF! He had been constantly trying to shift his cock around during the movie without her noticing. It was hard enough to be that close to her without ripping her clothes off. It went to almost impossible when she wiggled her little bottom and draped herself all over him to watch her damn movie.

He had never met a woman who was full of so many contradictions. He knew from their conversations at the office that she wasn’t an uptight prude, but truthfully, he wasn’t prepared for who Ella was emerging to be. Come on, who would have thought that the church girl was an action-movie junkie? She wasn’t just pretending to be to impress him either. She had quoted line after line from Lethal Weapon tonight, before it even happened on screen. After that, she had talked with great affection about the next movies in the series and how they tied in with the first one. He had a bad feeling that if Mel Gibson ever visited Myrtle Beach, he would be dumped like yesterday’s news.

It was getting harder and harder, both literally and figuratively to walk away from her door after a goodnight kiss. My God, she was enthusiastic. He was still trying to figure out how she had managed to wrap her legs around his waist tonight without his help. One minute he had been starting to pull away and the next minute her legs were around him and his cock was nestled against her crotch. That had ensured another five minutes of near torture as he tried desperately to talk himself out of ripping her panties off and taking her right there where all her neighbors could see. Clearly what Ella lacked in experience, she more than made up for in enthusiasm. She had tried to urge him inside of her apartment for some privacy, but he knew if he crossed that threshold, there was nothing stopping him from finally taking her.

The lines were getting blurred with her. He had made no promises in the beginning and now after only a few dates, even he was thinking crazy shit. He was a soldier, for God’s sake, where was his control? He had exercised it his whole life, even before the military, so why was it deserting him now? Maybe it had just been too long between women. He could go out now and take care of it. There had been no talk of exclusivity. But he knew in his heart that Ella would be destroyed if she found out that he had slept with another woman and even he wasn’t that big of a bastard. He had lain in a damn wet ditch in Afghanistan for hours without making a move. Surely, he had the willpower to keep his dick in his pants for another few weeks until Ella was ready. With that thought, he resorted to doing something he hadn’t in quite some time . . . he took matters into his own hands while thinking about the woman who was slowly driving him out of his mind.

Chapter Nine

Ella wondered not for the first time, why she had called this lunch meeting. After another couple of weeks of never getting Declan off her doorstep and into her apartment at the end of the evening, she was beginning to think there was something wrong with her. She had to bite the bullet, and went straight to Suzy for advice. Unfortunately, Suzy was busy and told her to get everyone together for lunch. So instead of just one person looking at her as if she were a failure, she had four people. Claire, having no idea that they were lunching to specifically discuss Ella’s love life, had invited along the new girl. Even though Ella liked her, she really didn’t want to discuss something so personal in front of Emma. So Ella had attempted to keep the spotlight off of herself until Suzy asked, “Are we going to get to this problem of yours before I’m old, gray, and wearing polyester?”

“That’s pretty much it. We see each other most every evening, but other than kissing and stuff, nothing else ever happens.” Then looking down to hide her embarrassment, she mumbled, “I even tried the leg thing that you suggested.”

Suzy looked reluctantly impressed. “You wrapped your legs around his waist and he still didn’t lose control? Man, that pushes Gray over the edge in no time flat.” Claire and Beth were both nodding their heads in agreement. “Okay, so there is no way that you could put that move on a man and not have him realize that you are willing so it must be something else. What are you wearing on these dates?”

“Well . . . just the usual. Some kind of dress or pantsuit.”

“Not the kind of dress you’re wearing today, right?”

Ella looked down at her sundress and said, “Yeah, just like the ones I usually wear.”

“Ah-ha,” Suzy shouted. “Ladies, we have a winner!”

Emma looked around the group of women in surprise. “Are all of your lunches like this?”

Claire patted her on the shoulder laughing, “No, they’re usually worse, especially if you’re the one with the problem.”

Beth nodded her head. “Yep, I was in the hot seat not long ago. I’m glad that everyone lets the pregnant woman off easy now. When I was going through my crying phase, I think I traumatized my sister for life. I can barely get a good insult out of her now.”

Emma smiled as Beth rubbed her stomach affectionately. “How far along are you?”

“Six months, give or take a few days.”

“Well, you look beautiful,” Emma said and then pointed over to Ella, “And I don’t think you have to worry about Suzy turning her attention back to you either because she found a good outlet for that while you are out of commission.”

Claire laughed saying, “You’re probably next, Em, she loves to solve man problems and, I’ll give her credit, she is pretty good at it.”

Ella was still looking down at her dress in puzzlement. “What is wrong with my clothes?”

Waving her hand in the air, Suzy said, “They are fine for the office, but for a date you need something that doesn’t scream jailbait. You’ve got some pretty good tits there so you need to start showing them a little more. Let those girls get out and roam around.”

Horrified, Ella dropped her head onto the table so no one could see how red her face was. She felt an arm around her shoulders and looked sideways to see Beth trying to hide her laughter as she comforted her. Stiffening her spine, Ella sat back to face the rest of the group. If letting the girls roam was what it took to get Declan off her doorstep and into her apartment for more than five minutes, then maybe it was time to go for it. She could barely believe the words that left her mouth next. “Suzy, will you help me pick something out for my date tonight?” The others at the table looked surprised, but Suzy looked like a mafia don nodding her head in approval. Ella wouldn’t have been surprised to hear her say, “Yo, forgetaboutit.” Of course, maybe she watched too much television and mafia people didn’t actually talk that way.

“I’d be happy to, Ella, but no complaining. I’ll even pick a dress, but one with a little less . . . coverage. When I finish with you, Declan will swallow his tongue and cough it back up.”

“Ugh,” Claire laughed, “I don’t know if that is exactly what she’s after. But I will say that when I put my . . . uh, girls on display, Jason can barely mumble a coherent sentence. I don’t know what it is about men, but Suzy is right, they can’t pass up a good set of girls.”

Rolling her eyes, Beth said, “Mine are like, officially fifty pounds each and Nick loves them. Instead of rubbing my belly, he wants to rub my boobs all the time.”

Suzy started gagging and shouted, “Stop! I’ve told you that I don’t want to hear any brother-in-law sex stories.”

Looking at Emma, Claire said to change the topic, “Hey, I forgot to ask, how are things going with Brant? Is he a little easier to work with now?”

Emma raised her fork from the table and pretended to stab herself in the heart. “Well, I made him sick this morning so I don’t know if this is going to be a good day or not.”

Interest peaked, Suzy said, “Oh, do tell.”

Sighing, Emma said, “He is lactose intolerant and when I made his coffee this morning, I forgot and added cream to it. Come on, wouldn’t you think he would have noticed the difference? But, nooo. An hour later he comes rushing to my desk holding his stomach. I ask him what the problem is and he demands to know if I had given him anything with dairy in it. I had to confess that I had put cream in his coffee. He shot me a dirty look and rushed out the door. I’m pretty sure that he believes I tried to kill him. Why is keeping up with his dietary requirements part of my job? Shouldn’t he be a little more careful? He didn’t seem to appreciate it when I yelled after him, ‘They make medication for that.’”

“Alright, I’ll just be the first to say what we’re all thinking. That is freaking hysterical. Your boss is probably still riding the porcelain throne and calling you every name in the book—nice!” Suzy grinned at the new girl.

Claire coughed trying to hide her laughter, Beth’s stomach moved at an alarming rate as it shook, and Ella tried unsuccessfully to cover her grin. “Just so you’re prepared though, the whole employee of the month thing is probably out for you.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Emma laughed.

Once they had all finished eating, Suzy stood and grabbed Ella’s hand, “Come on, girl, let’s go get you one hell of a ‘do me’ outfit. Do we need to get underwear too? No one wants to open a shiny new package and find an old toy inside.”

“I have some new stuff—”

Shaking her head, Suzy said, “Let’s just get it all. How high of a heel can you walk in? On second thought, you don’t need to walk much, just make short trips and do a lot of standing.” Then with that scary thought in Ella’s head, they were off through the mall like a blur.

An hour and several credit card swipes later, Ella had a dress that covered next to nothing and underwear that could have been classified as dental floss. Those two things were scary enough, but the shoes that Suzy had picked were the equivalent of strapping a skyscraper on each foot. When Suzy said for her to stand around a lot, she’d meant it.

At the end of the day, Beth helped her pack her purchases in the trunk of her car. “So, are you going to have the nerve to wear that tonight?”

“Well, I either go on my date with Declan tonight practically naked or I admit to your sister that I chickened out and didn’t wear the clothes that she picked out. Hmmm, I’ll pick the naked thing every time. It’s less scary than admitting failure to Suzy.”

Before she could answer, Beth squealed in surprise as Nick walked up behind her and pulled her back against him. “Hey, princess.”

“Geez, Nick, you don’t do that to someone who’s pregnant!”

Ella felt herself swoon as a sexy laugh rumbled out of Nick. “Sorry, babe. I couldn’t resist. Hey, Ella, do you mind if I steal Beth away for dinner?”

Beth swatted his arm and said, “Hey buddy, we haven’t finished our girl talk yet.”

“Yeah, no doubt. I’ll be doing Declan a favor by dragging you off right now.”

“Ha-ha, very funny. Declan’s a big boy and I’m sure he can take care of himself,” Beth smirked.

“No man can hold out against all of you women when you are plotting. Come on, Princess, you can save the world tomorrow.”

Ella watched them playfully bicker back and forth and felt a stab of envy. Nick and Beth were so perfect for each other. They got along with the ease of a couple that had been together for years instead of months. Would she ever have that with Declan? She was comfortable with him and they never lacked for conversation, but there always seemed to be something he wasn’t saying and, at times, she could practically see the thoughts racing through his head. Could she be the one to finally get through all of his walls to the man underneath?

* * *

Another upcoming date, another cold shower. He hadn’t showered or jerked off this much since he hit puberty. Ella was coming on stronger and stronger and he was getting weaker and weaker. One more slide of her tongue against his or one more slip of her hand across his ass and he was done for. They were well past the three-date rule and if he made it to the end of the weekend he would be surprised. Tonight he was taking Ella to see the new James Bond movie. Apparently there wasn’t an action franchise out there that she wasn’t a fan of. When his sweet little Ella sat beside him on the couch and started quoting lines from movies, it was about the hottest thing he had ever heard. The girl knew almost every line Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson had ever uttered on film. Somewhere along the way, her uptight parents had lost control whether they knew it or not.

These last few weeks with Ella had been some of the best times he could remember. For someone who claimed he wasn’t dating material, he had adapted to the role with unsettling ease. Even if they did nothing else, they almost always had dinner together. He was no longer content to sit in his apartment alone and let the walls close in on him night after night. Now he craved hearing Ella’s voice and seeing her smile. He had even gotten used to her frequent accidents, dropping something on him or herself. When she had lost the battle with her plate of spaghetti a few nights back and had a huge red stain on the front of her white dress, she had just laughed and continued. That would have been the end of the evening for most women he knew.

It was starting to scare him that he had become so attached to her so fast. Hell, it would either get worse when they finally had sex or it would restore his sanity.

When Ella opened the door to him a few moments later he had his answer. Holy fuck, where are her clothes! He knew he was standing there like an idiot with his mouth hanging open, but he seemed powerless to do anything else.

“Do you want to come in for a minute before we leave?” she asked.

Terrified of that prospect, he blurted out, “Oh, hell no!” She was plainly startled at his abrupt answer so he took a deep breath and said in a gentler voice, “I mean, no, we will be late. Do you, um . . . have a jacket, like a long jacket?” He was profoundly grateful when she brought out a knee-length trench coat. He grabbed it from her hands and tried not to stare at the amount of cleavage on display as he buttoned it completely before tying the belt for added security. He knew she was looking at him, clearly puzzled by his odd behavior. As they shut her door, he saw the dangerously high heels she was wearing and settled her securely under his arm as they made their way slowly down the stairs.

What the hell was going on? Instead of his sweet Ella, it was like picking up Suzy for a date. The short dress that she was wearing was formfitting and showed far too much of the swells of her creamy breasts. Men always gave her a second look, but tonight, they were probably going to drop to their knees, and it freaked him out to think of that happening. He wanted to march her back in her apartment and demand that she change.

When he opened the door to his car, Ella paused for a minute before getting in. “Is everything okay?”

Hell no, everything is not okay. Where are the rest of your clothes? “Sure, Ellie, everything is fine,” Declan replied as he kissed her lightly on the forehead. With one more uncertain glance, Ella allowed him to help her inside and shut the door. He walked around the back of the car instead of the front so he could take a few deep breaths without her seeing him. So much for the cold shower; they were up to DEFCON-5 here and it wouldn’t take much at all to set him off.

* * *

Ella saw Declan’s knuckles turning white from his tight grip on the steering wheel. What was wrong with him tonight? She had expected some kind of reaction out of her new dress, but this wasn’t exactly going how she’d hoped. He had looked like he was going to pass out when she opened the door earlier and things hadn’t improved much since then. Was he sick? She had caught him staring at her chest a few times before they left her apartment. That was the only outward indication that he had noticed anything different. Maybe different wasn’t always better because he had buttoned her coat up to the very last button. She had to shift around to keep her airflow going. Well, right or wrong, she had gone to this much effort and she was seeing it through. The jacket was coming off at dinner and if Declan was turned off by seeing more of her body, then she needed to know about it before they slept together.

With that vow in mind, she quickly handed the hostess at the restaurant her jacket despite Declan’s attempts to convince her that she might get chilly. He was still throwing reasons out for her to keep her coat, even as the hostess walked away with it.

“Declan, I’m not cold, I promise. I will let you know if that changes.”

Their waiter was very funny and friendly and Ella smiled as he insisted on bringing extra bread and wine to their table. Declan continued sitting across from her in sullen silence.

Finally she had had enough. “Alright, what’s going on with you tonight? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine, Ellie; I’m just tired of watching that jackass look down your dress while he drools all over you.”

Shocked, Ella gasped, “What?”

“Oh come on, Ellie, look at our table and look at everyone else’s. We have enough food in front of us to feed an army. I have never been so well waited on in my life.”

Looking around them, she had to admit that things seemed a little different from where they were sitting as opposed to those around them. “Maybe he just likes us?”

“Oh yeah, he likes one of us for sure and it’s not me.”

She didn’t know what came over her at that particular moment, it was the equivalent of laughing at a funeral, but suddenly the whole situation just seemed funny. She threw her head back and started laughing. She laughed until there were tears coming down her face and Declan handed her his napkin while he stared at her as if she had lost her mind. “I’m . . . sorry,” she choked out, “the irony of it all just got the best of me.”

“Are you going to share the joke or leave me hanging here?”

Ella settled back in her chair and decided to throw it all out there. After this disaster of a meal, what did she have to lose? “It just seems funny that the waiter was apparently the one that I impressed tonight, which was not what I intended.” When Declan started to open his mouth, she held her hand up for him to let her continue. “Suzy helped me pick this outfit out because I wanted to look sexy for you. I want to make love with you, Declan, and I can’t seem to get that across to you. I don’t know if you just don’t want that from me, despite the way that you kiss, or if you think I don’t want it from you, but I do. I dressed tonight to get your attention. I feel about as uncomfortable as I’ve ever felt in my life, and that’s saying something. I did all of this for you . . . but you didn’t even notice it.”

“Oh fuck me, Ellie, I noticed it. I’ve been out of my damn mind since I picked you up earlier, hadn’t you noticed? The only thing that’s wrong with me tonight is the raging hard-on that never seems to leave me since we started dating. For once, I was trying to do the right thing and give you time, but you’ve made it so difficult. I’ve swallowed my tongue over and over tonight watching that bastard of a waiter fall all over you while you charmed him as you do everyone else. Not notice you? Ellie, tonight you’re mine and nothing is going to stop me, not even me.” With those words, Declan stood, pulled his wallet out and dropped two large bills on the table. “That should take care of it.”

Still in shock at his heated promise, Ella allowed him to pull her from her chair and hurry her out of the restaurant.

“My coat,” she said as they practically ran out the door.

“Screw the coat; I’ll buy you another one.” After that the trip home was a blur. The only thing she could remember was the feel of Declan’s hand resting on her thigh as they made their way to her apartment and then, finally, he was over the doorstep and into her apartment.

Chapter Ten

As soon as Declan swooped her up in his arms, Ella wrapped her legs around his waist. “Oh, God, baby. You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this.” His lips slid along her neck and across her throat as his hands moved under her short dress to grip her ass.

She heard a muttered oath as he discovered the bare skin there thanks to her new thong purchase. Maybe dental floss underwear wasn’t so bad after all. She slipped her hands into his thick, springy hair and pulled his lips up to hers. When his tongue staked claim on her mouth without the usual control that she could feel beneath the surface, she moaned in surrender. Finally, their moment had arrived. She knew without him putting it into words that there would be no more waiting unless she suddenly lost her mind and pushed him away . . . not gonna happen.

As he stumbled into her bedroom, he cursed as he slammed his shoulder into the doorframe in his haste to make it to the bed. She didn’t know why he even bothered, at this point she felt like the whole bed thing was overrated. The floor, the couch, or the wall would be okay with her. She loved that he wanted everything to be right and she knew instinctively that was for her. As he gripped her waist to lower her to the bed, she hung on when they were eye to eye. Running a hand tenderly down the side of his face, she whispered, “Don’t hold back with me, Declan. Just show me what you like.”

With a husky laugh, he kissed her sweetly before saying, “There is nothing you could do that I wouldn’t like Ellie. I’ll try my best not to hurt you.”

Ella had to wonder how much of that promise was literal and how much was figurative. She stayed on her knees as he lowered her to the bed.

As he started to shrug his shirt off, she put her hand over his, halting his progress. His eyes flared as she said, “Let me.” She slowly rose to her feet on the bed, holding on to him for support. She smiled as he tried to contain his wince as she teetered for a moment before finding her balance. Maybe it would have been a better idea to stand beside of him on the floor. Soon his fear of her falling was replaced with a sharp breath when she slid her hands beneath the hem of his shirt and ran her fingertips over the smooth, taut skin of his stomach. What was the term that all of the books used—six-pack abs or was it a twelve pack? Whatever it was, Declan had them. Above his naval was a thin line of hair leading to his chest. She was surprised that Declan had such a sparse amount of hair. Of course, it could be because she was still using her hands to see. She didn’t need the light to know when she found the erect nub of one of his nipples. She flicked her fingernail lightly over it and smiled when his body clenched in approval. Growing impatient to see the treasure beneath the shirt, she grabbed the ends and proudly pulled it over his head without strangling him with it. Without thinking, she let out a whistle and said, “Whoa baby, you are hot! You make Daniel Craig look like Pee-wee Herman.” When Declan started laughing, Ella realized she had yet again voiced her thoughts out loud.

He pulled her against his chest and hugged her tight. “Ellie, baby, you kill me. I’m worrying about scaring you and you are ogling me and comparing me to James Bond. You are truly one of a kind and before you ask, I do, indeed, mean that as the highest form of compliment.” He eased her back down on her knees, probably because he was afraid she was going to ruin the moment and cut a cartwheel off the side of the bed.

It was her turn to catch her breath as he tugged the hem of her dress from under her knees and locked his gaze with hers to assess her reaction. He started slowly pulling it over her thighs. He met with no protests from her as the dress continued up, exposing her stomach, then her breasts and finally he pulled it gently over her head. She sat before him on her knees in nothing but her black, lace thong and the matching push-up bra that Suzy had insisted every woman must have. From the look on Declan’s face, she definitely knew what she was talking about. Almost reverently, he reached out to trail a hand up the curve of her hip and the side of her waist. He looked up in surprise when she started giggling.

With a sheepish expression, Ella admitted, “I’m slightly ticklish.” Her giggles were soon forgotten as he reached around behind her to deftly unsnap her bra. Her girls, as Suzy called them, were proudly on display and beginning to pucker under Declan’s hungry gaze. She was shocked to hear her own wanton moan as he cupped them in each hand and flicked a fingertip over their hardened nubs. When he took one of the peaks into his mouth, she felt her knees start to buckle and was grateful to be on the bed. She clutched his head against her breast and fire raced through her body. He lowered her backward onto the bed and came down on top of her. He settled a thigh between her legs and, with his arms, held his full weight above her. As he took her other nipple into his mouth, she clenched her thighs around the leg resting against her sex, desperate to relieve the throb that had settled there.

He pulled back to sit on his haunches and she whimpered in protest. As he brushed his hand against her tiny panties, he whispered, “Shhh, let me take care of you, Ellie.” Before she had time to form a protest, if she even had any desire to, he had her panties down her legs and his eyes were glowing as he took his first full look at her naked body.

She knew that she should be embarrassed or scared, but frankly, she was breathless with anticipation of what he would do next. She wanted to shout her gratitude when he went straight to her core, the area that was alive with need for him. She might never have had sex, but like most single women, she had masturbated for years and was familiar with the needs of her body. She knew exactly how good an orgasm felt as it rolled through her body and she was desperate for that release now.

Declan’s fingers parted her glistening folds and she moaned as he stroked the nub underneath. “Mmmm,” she moaned, “please don’t stop.”

Even though she hadn’t expected an answer, Declan said, “I won’t stop, Ellie, I couldn’t if I tried. You are so damn beautiful.” As she smiled over his words, he slid one finger inside of her and she clenched around it in surprise. She felt deliciously invaded as she moved her hips to deepen the pleasure. As she adjusted to the presence of his finger, he slid in another one and she felt a slight twinge of discomfort that was quickly swallowed by the feel of his fingers rubbing insistently over her clit. She felt herself climbing and climbing and was surprised to find that the moans that filled the bedroom were coming from her. When she felt a third finger join the other two inside of her, the mixture of pleasure and pain pushed her over the edge and her body shattered and convulsed. She started to protest as soon as his fingers left her body. She heard the sound of clothes being shed and the rip of paper. Suddenly, something bigger rested at her wet entrance.

Startled, her eyes flew open and she saw him position himself between her thighs. He groaned, but stayed still as she rubbed herself against him. He lowered his body over hers and she shivered at the first feel of his hard body against her soft contours. His mouth took hers in a kiss so hot and carnal that she was sure it must be illegal in at least half of the country. While she was concentrating on the feel of his tongue tangling with hers, she felt the tip of his shaft slip into her tight passage. Her stroking fingers gripped his shoulders tightly. Each time he pulled out, he eased back in a bit further on each thrust. The feeling was uncomfortably tight, but not exactly painful. Since he had left his pants on while he was stroking her, she hadn’t seen what they were concealing, but he felt enormous between her legs.

She could feel shudders racking his body as he attempted to hold back and go slowly for her. She felt her body start to slowly loosen and accept his possession. The sensations were now incredible as she locked her legs around his hips and tried to force his full possession. He groaned in protest until she whispered in his ear, “I need you Declan, please, now!” With a muttered oath, he surged forward until he was completed seated within her body.

The breath left her lungs in a whoosh as she went completely still. “Look at me, Ellie.” Her eyes flew open as she heard the concern and the regret in his voice. “Baby, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

When she didn’t immediately answer, he started to withdraw from her body. Startled, she locked her legs tightly around his waist saying, “I’m fine Declan, don’t stop. It just . . . feels so good, I’m afraid I’m going to explode if I move and I don’t want it to end.”

Declan’s laugh turned into a groan when she started moving against him, testing the feel of his full weight inside of her. The intimate joining of their body was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. All of the initial discomfort and pain had been replaced by sparks shooting from nerve endings that she didn’t know existed. When he started a slow, easy rhythm, she eagerly met him thrust for thrust. She could sense that he was still holding back, afraid to release the full power of his desire onto her.

Her body was reaching for the crest she could feel just out of her reach and she moved against him impatiently, demanding the strong pace that she knew he was trying to deny her. When he uttered a loud curse, she knew she had won. His body pumped against hers, plunging into her depths again and again. Her head rolled back in bliss and waves of pleasure wracked her body. When his fingers applied firm pressure to her clit, she flew over the edge and heard him as he followed her shouting, “Ellie!”

Afterward, Declan’s weight was heavy on her small frame, but she didn’t want him to move. She could feel him still intimately joined with her and she marveled at how complete she felt. He shivered as she idly ran a hand down his back. When he raised his head to look at her she smiled saying, “How long before we can do that again?”

His big body started shaking as he laughed at her enthusiasm. “I was going to ask if you were okay, but it looks like I have my answer.” After a light kiss on her nose, his expression turned serious. “Did I hurt you, Ellie?”

Ella was tempted to tease him, but he looked so concerned that she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “It was uncomfortable at first, but then it was awesome! Since I’m a real woman now and all that, I think we should order a pizza to celebrate and then go back to bed and do it all over again.”

Declan chuckled and gave her a long, thorough kiss before slowly separating from her body. “That sounds like a plan, baby. I’ll call in the pizza and we can grab a quick shower while we’re waiting for it.”

If not for the impending arrival of the pizza man, Ella was sure she could have overcome his concerns of her being too sore and had her first shower sex experience. As it was, they had both taken far too many liberties with the bar of soap and were breathing heavily when they finally emerged from the steamy bathroom. They sat cross-legged on the floor and devoured the delicious, spicy, pepperoni pizza and then returned to the bedroom to make love at a much slower pace than the first time. Declan was right, she had been sore, but within a few moments of his possession, that had been forgotten as desire took hold of her body.

* * *

A shrill scream woke Ella from a sound sleep and she looked sleepily around the room trying to locate the source. What she saw made her want to pretend to go back to sleep. Holy shit, am I dreaming? Please let me still be asleep!

After blinking a few times, the figures of her mother, her father, and her sister remained firmly in place in front of her. She cringed when she looked down and realized that she was still sprawled out on a now awake, but obviously confused Declan. “What the hell . . . ,” he began before she clamped a hand over his mouth.

Her hysterical mother finally shook herself out of the daze by saying to her father, “Bob, go call the police, now!”

Her father appeared to be looking anywhere except at her and the bed.

And if she wasn’t mistaken, her sister was actually ogling bare-chested Declan. “I wouldn’t bother, Dad,” Crystal said with a smirk, “Premarital sex might be a sin, but the last I heard, it wasn’t illegal.” Giving another long look at the way Ella was tangled around Declan she added, “And I think we can rule out the whole against-her-will thing.”

“Crystal!” Her mother huffed, “What has gotten into you?”

Everyone in the room turned to look at Ella’s sister when she joked, “I think that’s a question for your other daughter, isn’t it, Mom?”

Ella couldn’t believe that her perfect sister had just made an off-color joke and, even if it was at her expense, she had to admit that at any other time it would have been pretty funny. She felt Declan shift under her and knew that some kind of explanation was in order.

“Ellie—”

She took pity on him knowing that he was at the worst disadvantage; naked in a room full of strangers. “Um . . . Declan these are my parents and my sister, Crystal. I . . . didn’t know they were coming today.” Then turning her attention away from him, she pulled the covers up to her chin, covering both her and Declan and turned back to face her family. “What are you doing here and how did you get in?”

Her mother averted her gaze from the bed and said, “I have that key you gave me for emergencies and since you didn’t answer your door, we thought you might need some help.”

“It looks like she’s got this one covered, Mom,” Crystal snickered. Her comment set off another round of scolding from their mother, and their father looked like he wished he was anywhere else. Declan’s head was going back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. She thought he was probably in some type of shock over the whole ordeal.

She almost jumped out of the bed when Declan suddenly bellowed, “Stop! You might be Ella’s family, but I have had enough of this! You barged in here without her consent and now you are standing in her bedroom arguing amongst yourselves with us as your captive audience. Now please leave. Ella will call you later—if she wants to. But for now, we would both like you to stop invading our privacy. Your daughter is an adult and I’m sure she would like the courtesy of a phone call before you decide to drop by the next time.”

Ella, along with everyone else in the room, gaped at Declan. She couldn’t get over how he had just come to her rescue. Her mother straightened up to her full height sputtering, “Now you just wait one minute, young man,” before Ella’s father surprisingly put his arm on her shoulder to stop her.

“He’s right, Dorothy; this isn’t any of our business.” Despite the protests from her mother and her sister, he herded them through the doorway, throwing over his shoulder, “Please call your mother later, Ella, or nothing I do will stop her from coming back.” She could hear her mother continue to argue all the way through the apartment and then finally all was quiet again and she turned warily to look at the man still lying halfway beneath her.

“So . . .” Ella began weakly, “I guess you’ve met my family now.”

Declan released a deep breath and looked at her with a slightly dazed expression. “Yeah, no shit, Ellie. They sure know how to kill the morning wood.”

At her confused expression, he looked pointedly down at his crotch and she blushed, “Ohhh, sorry about that. You’re taking this awful well. I figured you would be up and dressed by now.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m too damned scared to walk out that door right now. I’m afraid your mother may be out there waiting to drive her car over the fornicator.”

Ella started laughing at his serious expression. “She’s never actually injured anyone that I know of. Maybe we should get up though just in case she comes back.”

“Honey, you don’t have to convince me of that. There is no way I want to meet any of your family again with my pants off.” After a brief kiss, he did indeed jump up out of bed and start pulling on his clothes. Looking at her over his shoulder he asked, “What’s up with all of the remarks from your sister? I thought she was supposed to be the uptight one?”

Ella shook her head sighing, “I have no idea. Usually she’s a carbon copy of my mom, but today she was different. I even caught her checking you out.” Declan gave her a cocky grin, but wisely refrained from commenting.

“What do you say we get out of here for the day and let the smoke clear?” he asked.

She had been afraid that he was going to take off after this and avoid her, like he had before, so she was more than eager to extend their time together. “I’d love that. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, this is Myrtle Beach so why don’t we get our suits and hit the beach for the day?”

“That sounds great, except I don’t even own a swimsuit. My parents never spent much time on the beach and I just never got around to buying one when I moved here.”

“I could use a new one, so we’ll stop on the way and get what we need.” He smiled as she bounced on the bed excitedly. He kept the smile on his face even when she accidently head-butted him while trying to give him a kiss on her way to the bathroom. “Something tells me that being involved with you is going to be hazardous to my health,” he joked.

She gave him her best pout as she walked away. She was grateful that he had been sensitive enough to throw her his shirt before she had left the bed. She was comfortable with him, but it was still a strange feeling to be naked with a man, even Declan.

* * *

Declan still wasn’t sure where the invitation to spend the day together had come from. He had further complicated things by convincing Ella to purchase her first bikini. Looking at her wading in the ocean a few yards in front of him, he cursed his own stupidity. Not only were his eyes glued to her slender, curvy body, so were every other man’s. This idea of a day on the beach had sounded innocent enough a few hours before. Truthfully, he had been so desperate to get out of Ella’s apartment before her family returned and shot him that he had grabbed onto the first idea he had. Probably not his best, but it had to be better than staring down the barrel of a Smith and Wesson.

He couldn’t believe that he had woken to find a room of strangers staring at him this morning. It was pretty comical once you got past the initial horror of it. The only similar situation he had encountered in his past was a husband barging in. He wasn’t proud of that one and he had ended things almost as soon as it had begun. Today’s intrusion had been unusual for him on a few levels. Firstly, he made it a rule to never stay the night with a woman. He usually wanted to leave and even if he didn’t, he couldn’t risk freaking a woman out when one of his nightmares took over. He needed to talk to Ella about that before he scared the hell out of her.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he almost jumped out of his skin. The fact that someone had gotten that close without him knowing was a testament to his level of distraction. And then he wanted to groan in misery when his brother, plopped down on the sand beside him. Yeah, apparently things could always get worse.

“Hey brother, I thought that was your car parked in front of my house. I was a little skeptical though since you aren’t really a sand and surf kind of guy.”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Declan asked.

“Shouldn’t you?” Brant countered. Declan didn’t bother to reply since normally he would have been at the office. When Brant started squinting at the shoreline, he knew things were about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable. “Hey, isn’t that . . . ?”

“Ella,” Declan supplied, “her name is Ella.”

Brant looked from her smiling face in the distance to his straight-faced expression, obviously making the connection. “So, I’m guessing you aren’t here alone working on your tan? Are you like . . . dating her now?”

Declan snorted saying, “I don’t date. We’re just hanging out.” Hanging out? Where in the fuck had that come from? Beside him, Brant seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Relax, I’m just surprised. This is the first normal woman I can remember you bringing around in a while.”

“Normal? What the hell are you talking about?” Declan demanded.

Brant laughed as he pointed to Ella. “That girl there is prom dates, roses, and diamonds. You’re usually more of a motel, tequila, don’t bother leaving your number, man.” Brant held his hands up in surrender as Declan glared at him. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, she just isn’t your usual type. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Not even close,” Declan admitted, “and I’m probably fucked nine ways till Sunday, but I can’t seem to stop.”

“Well, I’m the last one in the family who should be giving advice on love. Come to think of it, we all suck in that area so I’ll just wish you good luck. For what it’s worth, everyone seems to like her around the office and she is beautiful,” Brant whistled appreciatively.

Scowling at him, Declan snapped, “Stop looking at her. Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?”

“Nope,” Brant replied, “I’m free until this evening.”

Declan suddenly turned the tables on his brother. “I heard you had a bit of an . . . upset at work yesterday morning?”

Brant looked at him blankly until understanding dawned and with it a frown. “How did you hear about that? I swear there is no privacy at Danvers.”

“Still having problems with the new assistant, huh? Maybe you should just trade this one in like you usually do before she kills you.”

Declan enjoyed seeing his normally unflappable brother turn red and start to stammer. “I don’t know how she could have forgotten that I can’t tolerate milk. After giving me a cup of coffee loaded with the stuff, she has the gall to act like it’s my fault. Why didn’t I taste the milk? Why did I drink the whole cup before I figured it out? Why don’t I take medication for it? I’m the one who was miserable for the rest of the day and instead of apologizing, she snaps and rolls her eyes at me like I did something to her.”

“It’s not that I’m defending her, but they do make medication for that and you usually know if you’re drinking black coffee.”

Curling his lip, Brant spat, “I might have noticed had I not been stuck on a very persistent telemarketing call that she put through to my office. While she was killing me with cream, I was trying to convince some idiot that I was happy with my long distance carrier!”

Declan flopped back on the beach towel laughing at his irate brother. He could only imagine how someone as anal as Brant was dealing with this unusual office chaos. He had always been the planner and organizer in the family, even when they were children. Ava was the free spirit—or had been until that bastard ruined her life, while Brant was born wearing a business suit and Declan was the wild child. His grandfather had always called him a hell-raiser. If you were looking for variety, they had a little of everything in their family.

The ride down memory lane was abruptly cut short as his brother caught his breath and whispered, “Wow.”

As Ella walked toward them, Declan was dismayed to see that her small bikini now seemed to cover even less of her curves. She looked a bit surprised as he jumped quickly to his feet and wrapped a long towel around her effectively blocking Brant’s view of her lush body. She smiled at his brother, who was obviously waiting for him to make the introductions. “Ella, this is my brother Brant. It was his house we parked in front of. Brant, this is Ella.” Declan gritted his teeth when Brant remained seated, forcing Ella to bend over him to shake his hand. If his shit-eating grin was anything to go by, the bastard knew what he was doing. Declan took a seat beside his brother, intentionally placing himself between Ella and Brant’s prying gaze.

Ella smiled and said, “The water is great. You should both come in. Brant, would you like to change and join us for the afternoon?”

Waiting just a beat longer than necessary, probably to make him squirm, Brant said, “Thanks, Ella, but I’m not much for the water. I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the sun for a few more minutes though before I head back. So how do you like working for Danvers?”

“I love it,” Ella enthused. “I was terrified when I first started there, but now it’s like home.”

“I believe I’ve seen you around with Beth and Suzy.”

“Yep,” Ella smiled, “I just love them both. Suzy took longer for me to bond with and she still freaks me out half the time, but I really enjoy spending time with her now.”

“Suzy freaks everyone out,” Declan added.

Brant nodded his head in agreement. “That she does. Actually, she scared the shit out of me when I first met her. I like Claire, but I can’t figure out why she and Jason are always handing me their baby whenever I’m at their home.” Declan grimaced while Ella laughed.

“I think it’s a test or something. If you don’t break the baby or make her cry, then you move up a couple of levels in their estimation. Beth told me that she and Nick babysat for them one evening and it almost killed them. She said they ended up changing clothes like five times before they got out of there. I had to remind her that she wouldn’t be able to run from that before long.”

Declan sat back and listened to his unusually talkative brother joke with Ella over Nick’s impending fatherhood and he wondered where his plans for the day had gotten derailed. He had wanted nothing more than to ogle Ella in a bikini for a few hours and instead things had gotten rather domestic. He figured the blame landed squarely on his brother’s shoulders. What was up with him and this bit of socializing that he was doing? Apparently, he wasn’t the only one attempting to turn over a new leaf. Could his tight-ass brother finally be starting to loosen up a little? He had always known that Brant would explode one day from the pressure that was surely building up inside of him. He was relieved to see that he appeared to be more of a slow burn instead of an inferno.

A few moments later, he felt the urge to beat the hell out of Brant when he directed his nosiness at Ella. “So, Dec, are you two dating now?”

When two sets of eyes focused on him, he found himself fumbling for words. “We . . . um, have been out on dates, yes.” He wanted to murder his brother when he saw hurt start to flood Ella’s eyes. What the hell did she want him to say? That they had slept together? It was none of anyone’s goddamn business and the way he saw it, too many people already knew.

“You’re exclusive then? Not dating other people?” Brant asked.

Declan felt the hair on the nape of his neck start to stand up. Surely Brant wasn’t asking if Ella was available. “Just what the fuck are you getting at, Brant?” Declan demanded.

Ella looked at him in surprise and Brant had a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. He had a feeling he had just stepped neatly into a trap. After the initial shock at his tone, even Ella seemed pleased by his angry outburst. Maybe both of them needed some professional help.

Brant got to his feet and smiled down on them. “I was just making small talk, Dec, no harm intended. I’ll let you two get back to your . . . date.” He spent entirely too much time in Declan’s opinion telling Ella good-bye, but finally he was gone. Instantly he felt himself starting to relax without the stress of wondering what would come out of Brant’s mouth next.

“Your brother is really friendly,” Ella began.

He couldn’t contain the laugh that erupted from his chest. “You seem to bring that out in everyone, Ellie.” At her confused look, he continued, “Neither my brother nor I are known for being talkative people. Around you though, we can’t seem to stop talking. You have a way of drawing people out.”

She smiled and then stood up, grabbing his hand. “Come in with me.”

When he shook his head and tried to resist the allure of her smile, she taunted, “Well, okay, but I plan to go in a little deeper and I’m not a very good swimmer.”

As all of her recent accidents flashed through his head, he jumped swiftly to his feet. “Alright, baby, you win. If you drown me though, I’ll come back and haunt you for the rest of your life.” She squealed in excitement and Declan thought about how easy it was to get caught up in everything Ella. She was like the sun coming out after months of darkness.

No wonder Brant had acted so out of character around her. He knew firsthand that it was impossible not to. If you were within proximity, you would get caught in her orbit. He might only be thirty-five, but he had felt twice his age for longer than he cared to admit. She made him feel carefree and young again. It seemed her love of life was contagious and he was high on the happiness that sparkled in her eyes. Tomorrow he would look back on this day and wonder how his life could change so drastically in just twenty-four hours.

Chapter Eleven

Ella knew she had a ridiculous “I had sex this morning” smile on her face when she walked in the lobby at Danvers International, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She had spent another night with Declan and he had woken her in the most delicious way. Her body was still tingling from the thrill of that oh-so-heavenly tongue of his. She felt herself blush at the memory of her wanton response. She was pretty sure the neighbors must have heard her screams of pleasure. She’d never really imagined that she would be that . . . vocal, but she found it impossible to control herself and Declan loved it.

“It looks like someone finally got laid.”

Ella whirled around with a guilty look to see a smirking Suzy. “I . . . ugh . . . what?”

“Oh come on Snow White, you don’t have to hide it from me. There is only one thing that has a woman high-stepping that much before nine in the morning. Declan finally tapped it, huh?”

“Tapped?”

“Yeah, sorry. Gray says I’m picking up too much gangster lingo from watching reality shows. You and Declan slept together, no?”

There was no way she could lie to Suzy, who claimed to have a built-in bullshit detector—and Ella had seen it in action before. Besides, she wasn’t like her family. Instead of being horrified, she would be proud. She found herself literally bouncing on her heels as she nodded her head and said, “Yes, yes!”

Suzy threw her arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. “Atta girl, way to go. Since you look so happy, I assume he took care of you?”

She could feel herself starting to turn a darker shade of crimson. “It was wonderful. I never knew . . . wow!”

Suzy laughed, “Wow is right. I’m happy for you kid, you deserve it. Just hang on and enjoy the ride.”

When Beth walked up to them, she took one look at Ella and tears started to fall. “You did it! Oh, I can’t believe this. I want to hear all about it.”

Shaking her head, Suzy handed her sister a tissue. “Oh, don’t start leaking all over the place again. Is there anything you don’t cry over now?”

Beth accepted the tissue with a smile. “I started crying last night when I made Nick take me to McDonald’s. I just wanted a small hamburger and then I saw the sign saying the McRib was back. Nick was horrified. He kept stuffing napkins in my face trying to dry me up while the cashier looked at him like he was denying me food.”

Suzy tried hard to maintain her look of disgust, but Ella could see the smile playing around the edges of her lips. It was obvious even through her tough exterior that she loved her sister. How nice would it have been if she and Crystal had grown up with that type of relationship? They were barely more than polite strangers most of the time. Other than Crystal’s uncharacteristic display of normalcy when she was ogling Declan, she had never been able to understand or relate to her sister.

Ella waved when she saw Claire and a pretty blonde walk toward their group. She hoped that no one mentioned her recent sexual encounter around the stranger. “Good morning, everyone,” Claire smiled. After putting a hand out to indicate the woman beside her, she continued, “I wanted you all to meet my good friend, Julie. We um . . . used to work together.” Claire finished the introductions and luckily didn’t mention anything personal in front of Julie. “Julie has the most precious little boy and tomorrow is his birthday so Auntie Claire has a present for him. Julie and I are going to go on up so I can grab it. Talk to you guys later.” With Claire’s departure, the rest of the group headed toward the bank of elevators.

Ella waved to Beth and Suzy as she stopped at her desk and they continued down the hall. Declan had promised to bring her a coffee later on and she couldn’t wait to sneak a brief moment with him. On her mental wish list beside ‘have a hot man bring you coffee’ she placed a check mark and giggled quietly to herself. Yep, it was going to be a good day.

* * *

Declan was walking down the corridor of Danvers in an unusually good mood. He’d even caught himself whistling during his morning commute. To say this wasn’t his usual Monday morning demeanor would be an understatement. Hell, this was never his mood, morning or not. He had spent the whole weekend with Ella and had broken about every rule he had concerning a woman. After having her with him all night, he thought he might have even found the cure for the nightmares that had plagued him since leaving the service. The only uncertainty that niggled his mind was about when his feet were going to be knocked out from under him. If there was one thing life had taught him, it was that with every good thing that happens, five bad ones are usually waiting around the corner to bite you in the ass. He had his answer on the first bad thing when Claire and a vaguely familiar attractive woman walked toward him.

“Good morning, Declan,” Claire smiled warmly, “How are you?” He was so busy trying to piece together where he knew the woman at her side, that he barely uttered a reply. From the look on the blonde’s face, he knew he wasn’t imaging things. He knew her from somewhere and she damn sure seemed to know him. “Let me introduce you to my good friend. Declan Stone, this is Julie Nelson, Julie this is Declan.”

Julie continued to stare at him as if in shock before finally uttering, “Declan?” He was still wracking his brain trying to make the connection that Julie had obviously already made. The only thing he was sure of was that he had had sex with her. He wasn’t proud of it, but one-night stands had been the norm for him when he was in the military. Pretty much anytime he had returned home, he had found a hotel room and a willing body to share it with, at least for a few hours. Even though she didn’t look like the type to indulge in quick hook-ups, he had to figure that was how they knew each other.

He finally just decided to throw a general reply out there and hope it was enough to save her feelings. Asking how they knew each other was probably not a great thing. “It’s nice to see you,” he said.

When Claire gave them both a confused look and asked if they knew each other, he stayed silent, hoping Julie would answer. “Yeah,” she murmured quietly, “we met briefly several years ago.” Well, that answered that question. She had pretty much admitted what he thought to be true. Giving him a nervous look that made him start to sweat, she asked, “Do you have time for cup or coffee or something?” Oh fuck. There’s no way we’re taking a trip down memory lane, lady, no matter how attractive you are. As he started to decline, she stepped forward and grasped his arm. “Please Declan, it’s important.”

Well hell, despite himself, he was intrigued. He had no interest in her sexually, but he was damned curious about the desperation he saw in her eyes. Just what was going on here? Was he wrong about how they knew each other? She wasn’t acting like a woman trying to entice him, she just looked scared. Claire’s head was going back and forth between them with her mouth hung open as if in shock. She seemed to be at a loss for words and he knew just how that felt. “I’ve got some conference calls that I can’t miss this morning, but if you’re free around noon, I can meet you at Meg’s Sandwich Shoppe around the corner.”

Julie nodded eagerly looking strangely relieved. “Thank you, that would be great. I’ll be there.” Declan was relieved when Claire turned toward Jason’s office and Julie followed along with her. What. In. The. Hell! He walked toward his own office determined to remember just who she was. Something was off there and he planned to find out what it was exactly.

* * *

Ella felt the dreamy glow that she had lost to her hectic morning of work return when Declan came striding toward her desk with her promised cup of coffee. He was so sexy. Just looking at him made her want to start panting. “Good morning again, Ellie,” he rasped in that deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.

Looking around to make sure they were alone for the moment, she whispered, “Good morning yourself, handsome. How is your day going?”

“Strange,” he replied, but waved away her concern when she started to ask why.

Giving him a smile of encouragement, she asked, “Rough morning?”

“Just the usual. How about you?”

She was pretty sure by his distracted manner that there was something he wasn’t saying, but she decided to leave it for now. All of the magazines said that once she had a man, she shouldn’t nag him or try to change him. She was determined to adhere to that advice. She liked him just the way he was, and things were too new between them for her to push when he so obviously didn’t want to talk about whatever had thrown his day off. “Do you want to grab some lunch today?” she offered.

Was it her imagination or was he actually fidgeting? “Ur . . . no, I can’t today, Ellie. I’ve got a lunch meeting. How about dinner this evening though?” Why did she feel like he had just thrown her a consolation prize with his dinner offer? She didn’t know what had gotten into him since she left his place this morning, but he was acting weird. Surely he wasn’t already regretting sleeping with her?

She gave him a smile of apology when her phone started ringing. With a light brush against her arm and another distracted smile, he was gone.

* * *

Jason Danvers looked up as his office door burst open and his wife walked in. Even though she no longer worked as his assistant, she had agreed to relieve Jean for the week so that she could visit her daughter in Ohio. He looked forward to having her here, but he also knew his concentration would be out the window. Whenever Claire was near, she had his complete attention. He looked longingly at the plush sofa in the corner of his office and wished he didn’t have a meeting scheduled in ten minutes. “Hey, baby, has Julie gone?” Claire had met Julie Nelson when she was working for Partiez Plus. He still couldn’t believe his somewhat shy wife used to jump out of cakes at bachelor parties. He only liked to see those moves in private now. Julie had worked there part-time as a bartender while putting herself through nursing school. She had quit a few months after Claire had left, saying it wasn’t the same without her friend.

Not bothering with the chair in front of his desk, she walked straight to him and settled in his lap. Formality was a thing of the past with them. “Yeah, she just left. I witnessed the strangest encounter in the hallway on the way here though and I can’t figure out what’s going on.”

Pushing the hair back from her face, Jason kissed the tip of her nose and asked, “Who was Suzy torturing?”

Claire elbowed him lightly laughing. “It wasn’t Suzy this time. She only tortures the people in maintenance, by the way. It was between Julie and Declan.”

“He’s never been the most talkative person so it’s not unexpected that he wouldn’t stick around long for small talk, babe.”

Waving him off, she said, “No, it’s not that. It was the fact that he did stick around. They know each other somehow. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he seemed to be trying to piece something together. She asked to meet him later and he agreed. Does that sound like Declan to you?”

Jason raised an eyebrow in surprise. “No, it definitely doesn’t. Isn’t he involved with Ella now?”

“From the look on her face this morning, I would say they are very involved. I don’t think Julie asked him to get together to hit on him though. I didn’t get that vibe. Besides, she’s engaged to Graham and is the happiest I have ever seen her. I think there’s something else going on there. I asked her how she knew him before she left and she mumbled something about going to school with him which was obviously a lie.”

Sighing, Jason said, “Well, I hope Ella doesn’t get hurt. This is why so many companies have policies against dating in the workplace, but that would be a bit pot and kettle of me wouldn’t it?”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Claire laughed softly. “Yep, it sure would. If I hadn’t been your assistant, we might have never met.”

Jason stroked the curve of his wife’s beautiful face and said, “I’d have found you, never doubt that. It would just have taken longer.” As he pulled her into a kiss, he idly wondered which meeting that afternoon he could cancel. Once you had children, you never missed an opportunity for some alone time with your wife. “Could you cancel my one o’clock?”

Chapter Twelve

Declan walked around the corner from the office to meet Julie for lunch. Other than being sure he had slept with her, he was no closer to remembering exactly where and when. There had been far too many occasions when he had drank too much with the guys, and then found a willing woman to chase away a few hours with. It hadn’t been any time in recent memory though. It was sheer curiosity that had brought him here to meet her.

He should have gone with his first inclination and blown her off. Ella’s polite manner seemed to be rubbing off on him. Remembering the strange looks she had been shooting him earlier, he knew she had picked up on his preoccupation. He felt guilty like he was cheating on her, which was absurd. He had no interest in the woman he was meeting and he had made no promises to Ella. Even as he thought it, though, he knew that with a woman like Ella, the first time he had slept with her had been a promise of sorts. He would just get this over with and move on. He sincerely hoped that Claire didn’t mention anything to her.

As he walked in the door and scanned the tables, he saw Julie tentatively wave to him from a back table in the corner. He pasted on a polite smile that he was far from feeling and made his way over to her. “Nice to see you again, Julie.” Ah hell, Ella really was getting to him. Next he would be asking her about the weather. Get to the point, Stone! Luckily, Julie seemed to read his mind and took a direct shot.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?”

“You look familiar, but no, I can’t place you. Should I?” Declan took a moment to study her reaction to his answer. She didn’t appear upset, just rather resigned. He’d have felt better if she had upended the water glass she had in front of her in his lap. Feminine outrage was easier to deal with.

Julie looked down at the hands she was twisting in her lap and appeared to be talking to them instead of him. “After the first two attempts, I never thought this day would come again. I had accepted that and put it down to fate. I never regretted it and, if anything, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Now that this moment is here, I don’t know where to begin.” Then, raising pleading eyes to his, she asked, “Should I just blurt it out, or do you want the whole story?”

What he really wanted was to get up and run like hell. His internal warning system was beeping loudly in alarm. Even though he had no desire to hear a long drawn-out story, he thought that he might need time to compose himself. “Just start at the beginning, whatever that might be.”

Julie took a deep breath and asked, “You did sort of recognize me this morning, right? You might not remember from where, but I look familiar?”

“Yeah, I’ll give you that. I’ve obviously met you before.”

After briefly closing her eyes, she opened them again and he could see the resolve there. Gone was the uncertainly of a few moments ago. Somehow, he preferred nervous Julie to the determined version looking him squarely in the eyes now.

“Declan, we met over five years ago at a party. I don’t even remember who was hosting it. I was there with a few friends and I believe you were there with some of your buddies from the military. You were all in uniform and had just gotten into town. I . . . I was in a bad place that night. My mom had been battling cancer for a year and had just passed away. My friends had insisted I get out of the house because they were worried about me. I reluctantly agreed to go to a party with them where I drank way too much and, um . . . met you.”

Declan scanned his memory vaguely remembering a few parties that he had attended over the years like the one she had described. Like Julie, he had drunk way too much at them and barely remembered the person or even persons that he ended up with for a few hours. “If you were that drunk, how do you even remember what I look like, much less my name? I wasn’t in the habit of giving out contact information back then.”

“We had sex that night, Declan, and then both passed out. When I woke up the next morning, you were still out. I got dressed as quietly as I could, just wanting to get out of there before you woke up. When I was picking up my clothes, I saw your wallet lying on the floor beside them. I picked it up with the intention of putting it back in your pocket before it was lost. Out of curiosity, I opened it just so that I could say I at least knew the name of the man I had slept with. Your military ID was in there. Your name is rather unusual so it was hard to forget.”

Swiping an impatient hand through his hair, Declan asked, “So this entire covert meeting is just a trip down memory lane? If you’re looking to appease your conscience over having a one-night stand, honey, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’ve got enough shit of my own to wade through. It happened, it’s fine, now move past it. I have.” He rose to his feet and threw some bills down on the table intending to finally put an end to this awkward meeting.

Julie sprang to her feet and clutched his arm. “Wait! You have a son! Oh God, I’m sorry to blurt that out, but I owe it to Evan to try.” Then he was aware that she kept talking, but he couldn’t hear past the roaring in his ears. He hadn’t felt this shell-shocked since he left active duty in Afghanistan. Julie finally took mercy on him and pulled him back down in his chair.

Even though he knew in his gut that she wasn’t lying, he couldn’t stop himself from snapping, “No fucking way, lady. I always use protection.”

“Well, if you can remember all of the details of that night then you are doing better than I am. Before you even make your next comment let me say that, I . . . hadn’t been with a man since my mom got sick so you were it, Declan. Even if I were in doubt, which I’m not, there is no question that Evan is your son. He is the spitting image of you. I had no idea how much until I saw you again walking down the hall this morning. If was like looking at an older version of my son . . . your son. Um . . . are you alright?”

He knew from the concern in her voice, that he must look as green as he felt. He had a son? How in the hell had that happened? Men like him didn’t usually have kids and the ones who did would never be father of the year. Even though he felt the urge to puke, he was surprised at how well he was holding up considering the enormity of Julie’s confession. Without saying a word, he signaled for the waitress and ordered a double scotch, neat. He rarely drank during the day, but this was no ordinary lunch. Julie wisely waited until his drink was delivered and he had thrown it back before speaking.

“Do you um . . . need some time to process this? I know it’s a lot to drop on you. Just let me say that I don’t want anything from you, Declan. I have supported my son since he was born and I will continue to do so. I just didn’t want to miss this opportunity for Evan to know his father even if it’s in very small measures.”

“If you knew my name and that I was in the military, why didn’t you try to contact me?”

Julie’s laugh held little humor. “Uncle Sam can be closemouthed. I tried to find out where you were stationed and an address, but I couldn’t get anywhere. I even had someone tell me that if the military gave contact information to every female who called in claiming to be pregnant, the bases would be overrun with female civilians trying to find men that usually didn’t want to be found. She followed up this helpful information by telling me that if you had wanted to speak to me again, you would have given me your address or number and that I should just give it up. After that, I decided that I needed to start making plans and stop trying to figure out how to find you. I just panicked when I found out and desperately needed some kind of support. Luckily, I have some pretty great friends who have been very helpful adopted aunts and uncles to Evan.”

Declan shook his head in disbelief before finally deflating on a loud sigh. “Julie, what are you looking for here? I know you claim not to want financial support, but what if that’s all I can offer you? I’ve hardly lived a lifestyle that you would want your son around, hell, you should know that. I’ve never even really been around kids except for the one that Jason and Claire keep shoving in my hands when I’ve had to stop by their house to pick up some contracts a few times. Truthfully, when that happens, I spend the next few minutes trying to hand her back.”

Julie threw back her head and laughed. “Chrissie is a baby, Declan, Evan is a bit different. He’s not likely to pee, poop or throw-up on you and he is getting too heavy for me to lift so you don’t have to worry about me shoving him into your arms. I’m not asking for any type of commitment from you. I just want you to see Evan once. Not as his father, but as a friend. I won’t tell him who you are unless you want that in the future. I’d never get him excited like that and then have you disappear. When and if he knows that you’re his father, it will be because you plan to take an active part in his life.” Holding up her hand to stop him, she added, “When I say active part, I mean with Evan only. I’m not looking for anything personally from you. I am engaged to a wonderful man, Graham, whom Evan loves as well.”

Declan surprised himself when he asked, “Do you have a picture with you?” Julie nodded and took her wallet from her purse. Her face softened as she looked at the photo before handing it to him. He felt a kick right to his gut as he studied the child in the picture. There was indeed a strong resemblance there and despite his best efforts, he felt a longing that he never would have thought he’d feel. Holding it up, he asked, “Can I keep this?”

Julie looked pleased by his question. “Of course. I would have brought more, but I had no idea . . .”

“Thanks. So what exactly did you have in mind as far as me, uh, meeting him?”

Sitting back in her seat, Julie expelled a breath and said, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to take it this well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that you are, it’s just a bit surreal after all of this time. As far as seeing Evan, maybe you could meet us at McDonald’s. He loves the playground there and he wouldn’t question your presence as much as he would if you were to come to our house.”

“McDonald’s, huh? I’ve avoided the playground there like the plague my whole life,” Declan joked. Was he in shock? Why was he still sitting there instead of running for his life?

Julie laughed, “I don’t think it’s the dream place of any adult, but you get used to it.”

Out of nowhere, Declan found himself asking, “Do you . . . would it be a problem if I brought someone with me?” For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he had asked that question. Who was he going to ask? There was no way he could tell Ava or Brant. They would freak out and make things worse. That only left Ella and that seemed like too much to spring on someone you had just started seeing. Hey, before we go out tonight, can we swing by McDonald’s and meet the son that I never knew I had? If she was smart, she would take her chances and jump out of the moving car rather than continue on with him. But he knew he had to tell her if he expected this thing between them to continue for any length of time.

She looked surprised, “Sure. I guess I should have asked, are you married?”

Grimacing, he shook his head, “No, I’m not. I’m seeing someone though and I would like to bring her.” Seeing the hesitation on Julie’s face, he raised a brow and added, “Relax, she’s nothing like me. She’s a nice person and likes kids.”

“Oh . . . Okay. When would you like to meet? How about this weekend?”

“Why not tonight?” he countered. He hated to admit that he was afraid to have too much time to think. After he saw the child, he would be requesting a DNA test. She seemed sincere, but life had taught him that facts in black-and-white seldom lied, but people were another matter.

“I thought you would need more time. You’re actually taking this better than I would have expected. Are you sure you aren’t in shock?”

Declan smiled his first genuine smile of the strange meeting. “More than likely I am, but I’m not much for indecision. I need to see your son and I’d prefer it be sooner rather than later.” He could tell that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with his thinly veiled demand.

“Alright, but this is how I want to do it. Evan and I will be at McDonald’s at six in the playground area. I think it would be best if you came a little after that. I’ll introduce you as friends, although he is very bright and will probably wonder why I’ve never mentioned you before. Also, if you could buy food and have it with you, I think that would look less suspicious than you dropping in without eating. I’ll also need your date’s name so that I can introduce him to you both.”

Clearing his throat, he said, “It’s Ella Webber.”

“Evan will spend a lot of his time running around and playing so don’t expect him to sit down to talk for a long period,” Julie added fondly, “Plus, conversations at McDonald’s are a little difficult sometimes depending on how many kids are there.”

Declan said, “Yeah, I can only imagine. Will half past six give you enough time to get there and settle in?”

“That’s fine. Just remember, please, that we aren’t mentioning anything about who you are other than your name.”

Standing, he said, “I’ve got it.” He waited for Julie to stand and followed her out the door. “I’ll see you later.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned back toward Danvers International and knew that the rest of his day would be a total waste. How were you supposed to go back to business as usual when something like that was dropped in your lap? On the other hand, sitting around his apartment brooding about it wouldn’t do any good either. He’d go back to the office and get lost in work for the afternoon. He also needed to tell Ella what was going on this evening. He hoped that after, she would be willing to go with him to see his son . . . fuck, that was unreal to even think. Yet this was how things went in life. You were coasting on a good wave and the next minute you were spitting out dirt.

First, he needed to make sure that Evan was actually his and he would begin that step tonight. No need to look ahead until everything was confirmed. Possibly it would be better to wait until that happened before he told Ella, but he needed her tonight. She was always the calm to his storm and never had he craved that more than right now.

Chapter Thirteen

Ella ran a critical eye over her reflection in the mirror. Declan had said to dress casual this evening and she hoped that the Capri slacks and sleeveless top that she was wearing fit the bill. She had only seen him briefly since this morning, just long enough to confirm their date for this evening. He had seemed scattered and distracted. Butterflies danced in her stomach when she heard his firm rap at the door. Even his knock sounded sexy. Gosh, she could be such a pathetic girl sometimes. Opening the door she thought to herself as she saw him, oh yeah, it gets even better.

“Hey, Ellie.” Before she could answer, he was through the door and she was in his arms. She lost track of their surroundings as he devoured every inch of her mouth. She heard his answering moan when she lowered her hand and slid it along his firm butt. It might be a bit superficial of her, but she loved this part of his anatomy. It was tight and firmly muscled, just begging to be stroked. Down girl. You don’t have to make up for years of missed sex all in one month. Do try to have a little control. She couldn’t control the giggle that slipped out as she tried to give herself a pep-talk.

As Declan pulled back to look at her inquiringly, she muttered, “Whoops, sorry.”

He rubbed his thumb over her cheek as he said, “I hope your hand on my ass and the laugh that followed isn’t related.”

Ella patted him one more time on the area in question and shook her head. “Nope, I was just trying to talk myself into having some self-control where you are concerned.” She promptly wanted to kick herself for admitting that to him. She needed to work on the bad habit she had of blurting out whatever was on her mind without thinking about it first.

Chuckling, Declan pulled her further into her apartment and toward the couch. “Don’t go doing that on my account, Ellie, I like you just fine the way you are. How was your day?”

Ella groaned and fell down on the couch dramatically. “My mom finally got me on the phone. I was afraid she would come in person if I kept avoiding her calls.”

Giving her a sympathetic look, he asked, “How did that go?”

“Ugh, about how I expected. She ranted for a while and then told me how embarrassed she would be if anyone else found out. The worst part was the speech on safe sex. I think I’m scarred for life.”

Declan pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, baby, I bet that was rough. She isn’t planning to make another surprise visit anytime soon is she?”

“I don’t think so, but you can never be sure where she’s concerned.”

“Let’s just cover our bases and stay at my place then.”

“Deal.” Pulling back slightly, she looked up at him and asked, “So how was your day? You seemed a little stressed.”

She had been expecting him to laugh it off as something work related so she was surprised and a bit wary when he took a deep breath and took her hand. Surely, he wouldn’t have mentioned staying at his place if he were going to end things between them. But there was definitely something that he appeared to be trying to work his courage up for. “Declan?”

“Ellie . . . I don’t quite know where to start. Hell, I’m still in shock myself so how can I expect you to react better.”

When he paused as if looking for a starting point, she squeezed his hand in encouragement. “You’re starting to scare me. Just start at the beginning. You obviously need to get whatever it is out.”

“I know . . . you’re right. This morning Claire had a friend with her at the office.” Ella nodded her head to let him know she had seen her. “Well, I ran into them in the hallway and she seemed to know me. She even called me by name.” At her sudden stiffening, he rubbed her arm saying, “I know what you’re thinking and you are partly right, but that doesn’t have anything to do with what has happened. Just hear me out.”

“Okay, sorry. Please go on.”

“She asked if we could go somewhere to talk and we settled on meeting around the corner for lunch. Before you think the wrong thing Ellie, there wasn’t anything sexual about it. She obviously knew me and I was curious enough to see why seeing me had her so rattled, so I went.” Ella urged him on when he stopped to gauge her reaction. “I’m not proud of the fact that one-night stands were the norm for me when I was in the military and she was one of them. I thought at first that she was just there to question me about why I never called her or something like that even though it seemed a bit strange to go to that much trouble years later.”

“That wasn’t it, was it?” Ella asked softly.

“No . . . it wasn’t. She informed me that she has a son and I’m the father.”

She had guessed that as he had filled in some of the blanks, but she was still shocked enough to gasp when he finally confirmed it. “Wow, I . . . wow. Are you sure? Do you remember her at all?”

“She looked vaguely familiar to me and I remember the party she mentioned. She did show me a picture of a boy that looked similar in coloring to me. I’ll confirm it though with a paternity test just to be certain.” Worry was evident in his gaze when he turned to focus on her. “I know you didn’t sign on for this and I’ll understand if it’s just too much for you to handle.”

Ella gave him a smile of encouragement and chose her words carefully. “You’re right. I never expected this type of situation when we started dating. It means a lot to me that you are telling me now, before things go further. I don’t think I’d be who you think I am if I walked away now. I’m here for you in any way that you need me. If this child is your son, then I would be honored to meet him and spend time with you both.”

Declan pulled her against his chest in a tight hug. “I’m so glad to hear you say that because I would love for you to come to McDonald’s with me tonight to meet him.”

“Oh my God! You’re meeting him tonight?”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing formal. Julie is going to take him to the playground there and asked us to drop by and be introduced as friends of hers. She doesn’t want to mention anything around him about me being his father. I don’t think she trusts me to stick around since, rightly so, her opinion of me isn’t very high.”

“Well, why didn’t she tell you when she found out she was pregnant and at least give you a chance?”

“She claims she tried to find my contact information from the military, but they weren’t very forthcoming which is probably true. I’m usually pretty good at picking up on bullshit and she seemed nothing but sincere.”

“I’d be happy to go along tonight, Declan, if you don’t think it will make things more awkward?”

He sagged against her in relief. “Thank you. I already told her that I wanted to bring someone along. I . . . I don’t want to go alone.” Taking a quick look at his watch, he stood up and pulled her to her feet. “We need to head out.”

Ella let Declan settle her in his car and was relieved when he turned on the radio. It seemed they both needed time to ponder the meeting ahead without having to make conversation. It was amazing how far off-track this evening had veered from what she had been expecting. Declan had a son or supposedly did. He seemed to be handling it remarkably well.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She loved kids and would, of course, love a child of Declan’s even more. Probably the biggest thing she had felt initially other than surprise had been fear. She was attached to Declan. Even though they had only been dating a short time, they had formed a bond over the last few months before they had actually taken the relationship to the next level. She knew it was selfish, but she was afraid of what this would mean for them as a couple. Would this be so overwhelming for him that he would need to step back from her to concentrate on his son?

She was also curious about the child’s mother. She had seen her with Claire briefly that morning, but didn’t remember anything other than thinking she was pretty. Declan had said that there was nothing sexual about their conversation and that it had centered squarely on the child, but would it remain that way? He was such an attractive man and the attraction must have been mutual since they had slept together once before. She felt her head spinning as she thought of all the different scenarios that were possible there. Her mother always said that life never gave you more than you could handle, but she had a feeling her life was about to put that saying to the test in the not so distant future. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost jumped out of her skin when Declan laid a hand on her leg.

“You were a million miles away, Ellie. I know it’s not fair of me to dump this on you so soon. Is this crossing the line? I can drop you at home if you aren’t comfortable with this.”

She laid her hand on top of his and knew that for tonight, she needed to be the stronger person in their relationship. He had asked her to be a part of one of the biggest moments in his life and she needed to stop thinking about how this would affect her and worry about how it was affecting him right now. If she freaked out over this, he wasn’t likely to include her in any other activities that included his son. Funny, it wasn’t a question to her whether this was his child, she knew deep down that this was no false alarm and Declan seemed to feel the same. “I’m good, I promise. It’s a lot to take in, but I’m here for whatever you need.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. She felt that tingle that she always felt when he touched her.

When they pulled into the parking lot, she wanted to laugh at the look on his face. There were kids jumping in and out of cars and minivans and they had to wait on one family of six to cross in front of their car before they could park. Smiling to herself, she had to wonder how many times he had been in a McDonald’s over the years. He didn’t strike her as a fast-food type of guy and certainly not one that catered to children.

He took her hand like a lifeline when they reached the sidewalk. “Showtime.” Somehow his statement seemed more like a question. She nodded her head in agreement and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before they walked inside. “Julie said we should get food so that it doesn’t look strange that we’re here,” he said. They both settled on a quarter pounder and fries. His pace got slower and slower as he carried their tray toward the loud play area. “That looks like total hell in there,” he muttered.

Ella had to laugh. It was adorable that he was terrified to go into a room full of kids. “You can do it; I’ve got your back. They usually don’t bite.”

“Bite? Damn, are they kids or animals?”

Shaking her head, she said, “Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but that goes the same for most people. Do you see Julie?”

Declan looked through the glass enclosure and pointed to Julie sitting in a back booth with a small, dark-haired little boy beside her. Ella almost plowed right into his back when he suddenly froze in place. He turned to her with a look of true panic on his face. “I don’t think I can do this.”

She had been impressed and surprised that he was taking something this huge so well. But here was the true evidence of what he was feeling. Looking at him now, she knew he had been operating on pure adrenaline and now he was crashing. She pulled him gently away from the windows before Julie could see them and took the tray from his hands. “Sit down here for a moment and take a deep breath.”

“Ellie, I . . .”

“I know, Declan, and it’s okay. This is big. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. If you really don’t think you can handle it, we will walk right out that door. If we do though, you’ll be back. Maybe not tonight, but soon after. Despite how overwhelming this is, you won’t let yourself walk away from responsibility. You aren’t built that way.”

“I’ve walked away from people time and again, why would this be any different?”

Ella put her hand on his chest and looked up into his troubled eyes. “Those women knew the score. I know you never made any promises to them. This is quite possibly your son though, and that isn’t something you could live with. You won’t be able to stay away, I know you well enough to know that. Now we go in there, keep it casual, and just see how it goes. He isn’t going to know you are his father so there’s no pressure. I’ll be right beside you and we can leave anytime you need to.” She hid a smile when she saw him visibly square his shoulders. His temporary panic attack seemed to be subsiding and the self-assured man that she knew was coming back.

Giving him another encouraging smile, she watched while he picked their tray back up. Before he started forward once again, he turned to her and whispered, “Thank you, baby.”

Is it wrong to think that was one of the sexiest things he has ever said to me? He was depending on her to get through this. Plus, having a man like Declan call you baby was something that women everywhere probably fantasize about. Just that simple sentence for some reason boosted her self-confidence and he wasn’t the only one doing some shoulder squaring as they walked toward the door of the playground. The noise was deafening when they walked through the door and made a path through running and screaming kids to reach the table.

As they approached, Julie looked up with a friendly, but curious smile on her face.

“Oh, hi, you two. How great to see you. Evan, these are some friends of mine, Declan and Ella. Can you say hello to them?”

Evan looked up from his meal and gave them a shy smile. “Hello.”

Ella felt her heart stutter in her chest and then flip over. There was no doubt in her mind now that this was Declan’s child. The resemblance was uncanny right down to those beautiful eyes that she admired so much. If love at first sight was possible, she had just lost her heart to the little boy giving her his father’s smile. She shook herself out of her own daze in time to realize that Declan was standing beside her in a similar daze. She gave him a gentle nudge in the side and he lurched forward, almost upending their tray. She decided to give him a moment to recover by continuing the conversation. She couldn’t really tell Julie that she was happy to meet her since they were supposed to already know each other so she settled for giving her a warm smile before turning to Evan.

“Well hello there, Evan, it’s so nice to meet you. I see you got a Happy Meal, what kind of prize did you get?” She knew she had asked the right question when he started digging in his box enthusiastically until he came up with a car and stickers to decorate it.

“I got a race car, but mom says I have to finish my food before I can play with it.”

Declan had finally recovered enough to lower their tray to the table and step back for her to precede him into the booth.

“I bet your mom wants to make sure your tummy is full so you will have lots of energy to play with your new car. I bet Declan would love to help you when you both finish eating.”

Evan swung a hopeful look toward Declan, who nodded saying, “Sure, I’d love to, Evan. I used to collect cars like this when I was younger and still have a pretty good collection.” All three sets of eyes swung to Declan with varying degrees of surprise. He laughed saying, “Hey, it’s a guy thing, right, Evan?”

Evan beamed back at Declan and Ella could literally see the first fragile strands of a bond forming there. With care and attention, she knew it would eventually flourish if Declan treated it with care. As they continued to discuss cars, she turned her attention to Julie and saw her valiantly trying to wipe at the moisture welling in her eyes. She grabbed a napkin from their tray and quietly passed it over to her. She took it with a smile of gratitude. Since Declan occupied Evan’s attention, Ella quietly said, “You have a wonderful son. You must be so proud of him.”

“He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I hardly remember my life before him.” Then she leaned closer and dropped her voice further, “It’s nice to see you again, Ella.”

“You too, Julie. How long have you known Claire?”

Julie laughed, “For years. We used to work together and she would babysit Evan for me some while I was in school. I’m so happy for her and Jason. She really deserves to finally be happy. So do you work with Declan?”

“Yes. We both work at Danvers, but not in the same department. We met there though.”

“Have you been dating long? Yikes! You don’t have to answer that. My mother used to call me Nosey Nelly because I never stopped asking questions. I know poor Claire feels like she’s giving a tabloid interview every time we’re together.”

With a chuckle, Ella said, “I don’t mind. I’m like that too, only worse. Instead of asking questions, I just blurt out whatever is on my mind without thinking about it first. I’ve had more than my share of awkward moments when I wished I could stuff something in my mouth. To answer your question, we haven’t been officially dating long, but we’ve been friends for a while now.” They both looked over to see two similar dark heads bent in concentration over the small car from the Happy Meal. Declan was painstakingly peeling the small stickers off the sheet and Evan was applying them. Things appeared to be going well in that area, and she didn’t want to ruin the moment by distracting them. Picking up a French fry, she turned her attention back to Julie and asked, “Are you married or dating anyone?” Before Julie could answer, she rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. “See, I told you not to worry about asking questions, I’m just as bad if not worse!”

“You just might be my new best friend,” Julie joked. “I’m not married, but I’m engaged. We’ve been dating for about two years. Graham wanted to come tonight, but I was afraid it would be too much testosterone at one table. He’s great though. He’s a policeman. He won Evan over when he let him sit in his squad car.”

“I bet. Isn’t that every little boy’s dream?” When Julie stood up to let Evan out for the playground, Ella was appalled to realize she had consumed half of her meal without noticing. Apparently she had gotten so comfortable with Julie that she chatted on while eating. She could only hope that she hadn’t talked with her mouth full. Declan put his hand on her leg and gave it a small squeeze. She put her hand on top of his and leaned into his side.

Julie took her seat as Evan ran off to play. She looked at Declan inquiringly. “I think that went pretty well?”

Nodding, Declan said, “Yeah, he seems like a good kid.”

Smiling with obvious pride, Julie agreed. “I don’t know how to put this so I’ll just be direct and ask what your intentions are now? God, I know that sounds medieval, but you know what I mean.”

Ella felt Declan squeeze her leg tighter as he said, “I hate to come off sounding like an asshole Julie, but I can’t just take your word for something like this. There’s no arguing the fact that there is some resemblance between Evan and me, but I don’t want to have any doubts about something this important.”

Far from being offended, Julie smiled and said, “I never expected anything different. It was a long time ago and this is major. If you have any interest in seeing Evan again, I would insist on a paternity test. I don’t think you would be able to form a relationship with him without the piece of paper that proves you are his biological father. Since I work at the hospital, I can easily arrange for that to be done if you’d like.”

He reached in his back pocket and pulled a business card from his wallet. “Just give me a call with the details and I’ll be there. After the results are back, we’ll go from there, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure, that’s fine. If you guys want to take off now, that would probably be for the best. Evan might start asking which kid is yours if you stay any longer.”

Ella slid out of the booth and waited for Declan to follow. They both saw Evan wave good-bye to them before he ran toward the slide with another little boy. She couldn’t help but think of how much his life would change soon when the man beside her proved to be his father. Come to think of it, all of their lives were bound to change and Ella could only hope it was for the better.

Chapter Fourteen

Declan was quiet on the ride home. Ella thought it was probably best to call it an early night and head to her own apartment. She knew he had a lot on his mind and probably just needed some time alone. When they stepped out of the car, she opened her mouth to tell him she was going home. Before she could utter one word, he had her pressed against the door and was devouring her mouth as if they hadn’t just kissed a few hours earlier.

She moaned low in her throat as he turned and walked her backwards to the elevator. His hand was now firmly gripping her butt, pulling her up against his arousal. He was always a very skilled lover, but had been gentle with her. This, however, was something different, more intense. Through careful maneuvering and a lot of good luck, they managed to make it into his apartment without breaking contact. He pushed her against the door as it closed. His lips branded her throat as his hands unzipped first his slacks and then hers. She kicked hers aside when they bunched around her ankles, suddenly feeling the same urgency that Declan seemed to be feeling.

Still without speaking a word to her, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. With her back braced against the wall, he took her breath away as he plunged into her hard and deep. She could feel the sweat beading on his forehead when he leaned against her and paused to let her adjust to his invasion. When she wiggled against him, wanting more, his control snapped. Gone was the man who was usually so patient and gentle with her and in his place was a man bent on possessing and consuming her. Part of her knew that she should be afraid of something this wild and raw, but the other part of her was thrilled with Declan’s loss of control. She could feel her body racing toward an orgasm so strong, she didn’t know how she would keep from shattering into a million pieces. As if sensing she was on the edge, he angled his hips so that every stroke skimmed her clit. One more deep plunge and she exploded around him riding the waves of pleasure unlike any she had known before. He continued to move inside of her until finally with a hoarse shout, her spasms pushed him over the edge as well.

Somehow, they ended up on the floor in a tangle of limbs and clothing. She was sprawled against his chest and his feet were still trapped inside of his pants. His heart continued to race against her ear as they both gasped for breath. “Ellie . . . you okay?”

“Mmmm hmmm . . .”

“Fuck me . . . I didn’t mean to be that rough with you. I just . . . lost it. I’m sorry, baby.”

“For what?” She murmured drowsily, “I’m not sorry at all. I liked it, all of it.”

Declan raised her head, looking at her in surprise. “You did? I figured I scared the hell out of you.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I might not have much experience, but I love it when you let go. You don’t have to worry about me, I . . . I seem to like what you like, and I hope we do it again.” She felt his chest rumble at her confession. Was he laughing? Maybe you were supposed to be a little less enthusiastic after rough and tumble sex. She didn’t want him to worry about her though, and she wanted to make sure it happened again.

“Oh Ellie, I love that I never know what in the hell you’re going to say or do next. Let’s get off the floor and see if we can hobble to the shower. If you’re a good girl, I might have an encore in me tonight.”

Grinning, Ella asked, “What if I’m a bad girl?”

Declan slapped her naked butt saying, “Then I guarantee I’ve got something else for you.”

And he did . . .

* * *

Ella woke from a sound sleep with her heart racing. Something was wrong. What had startled her awake? Suddenly, the shout came again, followed by frantic movements from the man beside her. His voice echoed off the walls of the apartment as he screamed, “Craig! It’s a trap, stop! Craig, fucking stop, stop!”

She turned on her bedside lamp and, even though his eyes were wide open, he continued on, wrapped in some unseen terror. She caught a whiff of alcohol and remembered that he had left her in bed after making love the second time. He’d needed some extra time to relax and she had drifted off before he came to bed. Was he drunk?

She didn’t stop to think, she acted on pure instinct needing to comfort the distraught man. She attempted to put her arms around him whispering softly, “Declan, it’s okay, it’s me . . .”

He recoiled at her touch before he shoved her away so hard her head banged against the headboard and she saw stars. By the time she had her bearings back, he was pacing on the other side of the room looking more confused than anything. She didn’t dare approach him again. Instead, she started softly calling his name, over and over. It took several minutes, but she could see the dream loosening its grip on him as he slowly came back to her.

“What the . . . ?” He looked around as if trying to figure out what was going on. Horror crossed his face as he whispered, “Oh God, it happened didn’t it?”

She wasn’t surprised to find out that this was apparently a common issue for him. She didn’t think someone could have such a violent dream only once. There had to be some kind of memory causing it. “Who’s Craig?”

Flinching as if she had struck him, he turned away from her. “Just an old friend.”

“What happened to him? You said something about a trap?”

“Just leave it, Ellie!”

Ella felt like he had slapped her. He never took that kind of tone with her and she had no plans to leave it alone. “Well, excuse me, but I think I deserve to know since you almost knocked me unconscious over it.”

All of the anger drained from his body instantly and his head rolled back. “Oh fuck. Oh Ellie, baby, I’m sorry.” Walking to her side of the bed, he sank down on the bed and cradled her gently against his body. The smell of alcohol was stronger now, but his words were clear with no slurring. “What happened? I don’t remember anything until I woke up pacing.”

Snuggling into his warmth, she said, “You were screaming about Craig and something about him stopping because it was a trap. I tried to put my arms around you, which I know now isn’t the smartest thing to do when someone is having a nightmare. You pushed me away and I . . . bumped my head a little.” At his look of concern, she quickly added, “It was nothing, really, I’m fine.”

Ignoring her attempts to placate him, he asked, “Where did you hit your head?” He was already feeling along her scalp, looking for injuries. When his fingers found the tender spot, she couldn’t hide her wince. He cursed under his breath, but she knew it was directed inwardly and not at her.

“It’s nothing, really. I barely hit it on the headboard.”

He rubbed it gently before pulling away. “Let me get you some ice for it.”

She grabbed his wrists to stop him. “No, please, just hold me for a while. I think we both need it.” Obviously torn, he finally gave in and pulled her to him before rolling over and settling her on his chest. She felt his lips brush against her hairline as he whispered, “I’m so sorry baby. It kills me that I hurt you of all people. I’m so damn sorry.”

She put her fingers over his mouth, “Shhh, don’t. You were asleep and I made a dumb mistake. I scared you and you reacted. Anyone would have done the same thing. I’m really fine. I would like to know about Craig though. I think you need to talk about it.”

He expelled a long breath and just when she thought he wasn’t going to answer her question, he started talking quietly. “Craig and I were stationed together in Afghanistan. He was on the last leg of his one and only tour. His wife had just had a baby and he was only weeks away from getting out of that hell to be with his family. He had a good job lined up, courtesy of her father, and they were going house hunting just as soon as he made it back. He had everything in front of him and the worst hell he would ever face almost behind him.” Pausing, he tightened his grip on her, as if looking for comfort. “Ellie . . . you have to understand how things were there. You learn to harden yourself to the stuff you see. Sometimes you lose the part that makes you human. On the worst days, we saw men and women just blow themselves to pieces for a chance to inflict some damage on us. Worse yet were the faces of all of the kids. Some visibly hurt and wandering around without parents. Some starving, but still so damn happy they would smile at you. Every time I thought I couldn’t be shocked anymore, something would happen to just fucking slay me. You learn though to push it away. You focus on the job because that’s all that keeps you sane. Sometimes I’d work for days at a time just to keep from sleeping because the dead always found me then. You can run like hell, but you can’t escape your dreams.”

Ella pushed her fist against her mouth, trying to hold back her sobs at the despair she heard in his voice. She wanted to take him in her arms and hold him until the horrors that still haunted him were pushed away. Instead, she listened quietly as he continued to talk, almost like he had forgotten she was there. Once the words started, he couldn’t seem to stop the flow. Had he ever talked to anyone about all of this before?

“You start to see death as part of a daily routine. Just another nameless face. Some of the guys would even joke about it. It wasn’t that they were heartless; it was just how they coped with something that no one should ever have to see. Mainly, I suspect, they laughed to keep from breaking down and crying. There were some good days too. We were a brotherhood, and we always will be. There wasn’t a man in our group who wouldn’t take a bullet for one of his brothers, still would. Weeks of good days though could be blown all to hell by one bad day. A bad day there meant someone was dead.” As if remembering her presence, he looked down saying, “This may be more than you wanted to hear, Ellie . . . why don’t we just leave it for another time?”

Ella wasn’t about to let go now that she was finally getting some insight into his past. She ran a hand down his handsome face, feeling the stubble that was already forming there. Somehow that just made him more appealing. Her hand continued on to his biceps tracing the tattoo there. “What does Semper Fi mean?”

With a husky voice he answered, “Always faithful. Pretty damn ironic isn’t it considering I just found out I’ve got a kid from a one-night-stand.”

“I think it fits you perfectly. The women who passed through your life probably weren’t looking for a commitment any more than you were. Did you ever make any type of promises to them at all?”

Shaking his head, he said, “No, never. I was always very upfront.”

“Then stop ripping yourself to shreds over it. Because of who you are, it bothers you. You use it as a reason to question your integrity. I bet those in your brotherhood would say different. I . . . I want to hear the rest of the story if you can. I think you need to tell me about Craig because it’s tearing you apart.” When he started to shake his head, she added, “Please, for me.”

He sighed and continued. “Craig was just a kid. He decided to join the military to have his schooling paid for. He didn’t come from money and he was engaged to a girl that did. He wanted to prove himself to her and her family and he thought the military would do that. Hell, maybe he watched one too many recruiting commercials, who knows. He was just so young and idealistic. They got married right before he shipped out and he rode that high for a while. He got pretty lucky and didn’t see active duty until the last part of his term. His wife had gotten pregnant during one of his trips home and he was on top of the world. There was a light at the end of the tunnel and he thought he could handle anything thrown his way at that point. A lot of the guys were on their second tour like me and we were just used to turning away and shutting down when things got bad.”

“But not Craig,” Ella said softly.

“No, not Craig,” Declan agreed. “He wanted to save everyone. We all covered him as best we could. It was understood if Craig was with you, you looked out for him. We were all pretty battle weary, but damn we all got attached to him. No matter what everyone said to the contrary, when he started reading letters from home, we stopped to listen. Having someone so full of life was contagious. There was no jealousy that his tour was almost up. We were all excited for him. My favorite saying each day was, ‘Watch each other’s back and don’t do anything stupid.’ Craig used to tease me about how motivating my speeches were. I’d flip him off and he’d just laugh. You’d have liked him, Ellie.”

She smiled, “I know I would have.”

“One day we were patrolling the border. A task we had all done many times before. It was pretty routine. We had a local woman come through. Everything was in order so she passed on through. A few feet later, she stopped her car and got out. My gut clenched when she looked around like she was checking our positions. She fell against her car as if in pain. I knew something was wrong. After you had been there a while, you tended to develop a second sense where trouble was concerned. I started motioning everyone back, indicating possible trouble. I turned to say something to Craig who had been right beside me and he wasn’t there. We all saw him run toward the woman at the same time and it was like everyone froze for a moment in horror. I started yelling at him to stop, that it was a trap and, I swear, he turned back to me and smiled as if I was overreacting. I remember running toward him and then the world just broke apart. I was in the hospital for a few weeks with a pretty bad head injury and a few broken bones. I was lucky though, Craig went home in a casket.”

“Oh God,” Ella gasped.

In a voice thick with emotion, Declan said, “I couldn’t save him. He was on my watch and I let him down. I cost him his fucking life.”

Wrapping herself around him, she said, “No baby, you didn’t. He made that choice. I know you well enough to be sure that you had lectured him time and again about the dangers there.”

Turning haunted eyes on her he rasped, “It wasn’t enough Ellie. Now there is a wife without a husband and a child without a father. If I had only been sharper, faster, I could have saved him. I should have never let him out of my line of sight!”

“Declan, stop! You can’t shoulder the blame for what happened. Craig joined the military knowing the risks just like you did. It sounds like he had a huge heart and wanted to save everyone regardless of the risk to himself. Don’t take that away from him. He probably saw things daily that shook his faith in the world, but he still hung on to his humanity, his basic need to believe that people are good and worth saving. Even though it was a trap, let his last act of selflessness and bravery stand in honor of him. There had to have been a split second when he questioned his actions, but his need to be who he was eclipsed all rational thought.” Running her hand through his hair and caressing his scalp, she asked, “What happened after that?”

On a laugh that held very little humor he said, “I took his place as the loose cannon. I lost my fucking mind for a while. I took stupid risks and put myself on the front line at every opportunity. If it hadn’t been for Mac saving my ass a few times, I probably wouldn’t have made it home. I had planned to be career military, but as the time drew near to re-up, Mac sat me down and told me that not only had I become a liability to myself, I was to the rest of the group as well. Suddenly, I knew how Craig must have felt having all of us watching him like a hawk. Even though I said some pretty nasty things to Mac, it forced me to take a long, hard look at where I was and where I was headed and for the first time since I had enlisted, I was scared. Not of the enemy though, but of myself. Mac was right, it was time to go. I couldn’t live through another person dying on my watch or worse yet, being the cause of it.”

Curious, she asked, “Who’s Mac? Is he still in the military?”

With his first genuine smile since they had started talking, he said, “His name is actually McKinley Powers. Sounds like a real prick, right?”

Smiling at the obvious affection in his voice, she said, “I think it’s a great name.”

“Mac left when I did. We enlisted together. Just a couple of hotheaded, hell-raisers looking for a purpose. Lucky or unlucky enough, depending on how you look at it, to get shipped off together. I think he only re-upped for his second tour because he hated to leave me behind. I think he would have left at the end of the second one though even if he had to bodily force me out along with him. He does private security in this area now. Danvers is one of his clients.”

“Hmmm, have I met him?”

“I doubt it, Ellie, unless you’ve done something to get you arrested and escorted from the building. Mac isn’t there much unless there is a problem. His company has grown and he stays pretty busy. We manage to catch a beer sometimes though, plus he drops in to check on Ava from time to time.”

“Your sister?”

“Yep, that would be her.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you two don’t look anything alike. She’s so pretty, but quiet. Oh, shit! I mean shoot. I didn’t mean that you’re not pretty. I mean not pretty, handsome. You are handsome and sexy . . . I just meant, you look different. I—”

Declan clamped his hand over her mouth as she continued to rattle on. “Ellie, babe, I know what you’re trying to say so relax. I’m nothing like either one of my siblings and I readily accept that. Every family needs a black sheep and I’m it for the Stone family. Ava is quiet. She wasn’t always, but shit happened. Mac was there for her and he still is.”

“What—” Suddenly the air left her lungs in a whoosh as Declan flipped her backwards and eyed her naked body. She had completely forgotten about clothes when she was roused from sleep. She knew she should be embarrassed, but the look in his eyes made her feel bold and sexy. When he continued to inspect her body without touching her, she took his hand and placed it on one aching nipple. His eyes widened and grew heavy.

“I like where your head’s at, Ellie, but before I touch you any further, show me what you like.” He removed his hand and left hers cupping her breast. Part of her wanted to remove her hand and run, but the other part was spellbound by the arousal that he couldn’t hide. His cock stood at attention as he sat riveted by the sight of her shy hand moving slowly back up to rub her nipple back and forth between her fingers. Heat shot through her body. She knew this had started with him trying to distract her from asking any more questions, and it had worked well. She now had no rational thought left. Like most single women, she had long ago learned how to take care of her own needs. But, she had never dreamed she would be touching herself while someone was watching. Boy, it felt so good to be a bit of a bad girl.

She continued to pull on her nipple as she shyly asked him, “What next?”

Declan sat back on his heels saying, “You tell me, baby. Better yet show me how you make yourself come.”

Feeling her face flush a bright red, she stuttered, “I . . . um—”

“Close your eyes and pretend I’m not here. Touch that beautiful body and let me see you fall apart.”

* * *

Was he having chest pains? Possibly a stroke? The veins in his neck bulged along with another part of his body as he watched Ella tentatively begin to stroke herself. He was surprised that she had agreed. He had fully expected to spend some time convincing her. Now as her breathing and her hands picked up the pace, it was obvious that she knew her needs well. Her hands didn’t falter after the initial hesitation. She had pleasured herself before. His cock jumped as he imagined her doing it while thinking of him. God knows he had jacked off enough while thinking of her.

When her small hand slowly lowered to her glistening core, he started to pant like a dog. Would she do it? Touch herself there with him watching? Come on baby, slide your finger into that sweet spot and show me how you like it. Oh holy mother, there it is. Jesus! The low moan that slipped from her throat was almost his undoing. He desperately wanted to see her bring herself to orgasm, but keeping his body reined in was becoming harder and harder. One of her hands was expertly flicking her clit while the other was rubbing her nipple into a hard nub. He could see by her face that she was so caught up in the moment, she had forgotten his presence. Well, he was about to change that.

He still wanted her to finish what she had started, but there wasn’t anything wrong with a little help was there? Unable to resist, he quietly moved to a position near her spread legs and leaned forward to plunge a finger into her wet, swollen folds. Her eyes popped open and her hand froze as she registered his penetration. Locking eyes with her, he whispered, “Keep going, baby. I want to feel you come around my finger.”

She whimpered as he withdrew his finger and then buried it back inside of her. Her hips lifted to meet his thrusts and her hand resumed its previous rhythm. He added another finger and worked them in and out of her tight passage. The urge to join her in stroking her clit was strong, but he was determined to let her finish what she had started so he concentrated all of his attention on plunging in and out of her wet heat. He alternated between going in fast and hard, and teasing her with just the tips of his fingers. When the motion of her hips grew more frantic and her breathing more rapid, he knew she was on the edge. One hard stroke from him and she would go over. Still, even as sweat dribbled down his back, he continued to tease her with shallow penetrations. “Tell me what you want, Ellie.”

“Faster!” She moaned.

Trailing his fingers leisurely around her now drenched mound, he asked, “What do you want fast?”

“Your fingers!” she screamed in frustration.

Declan smiled as he asked her one last question. “What do you want me to do with my fingers, Ellie, baby?”

“Fuck me hard with them, now!”

Declan was impressed. Any woman who could shout a demand like that deserved everything she asked for. The fact that she threw in the F-word turned him on even more. He pushed three fingers into her in rapid succession and pushed her over the edge. She moaned and thrashed as her body convulsed. His body on the other hand was screaming for release and he had held it in check for as long as he could. He removed his fingers and, with the ripples of her orgasm still shuddering through her body, he mounted her and thrust his cock deep inside. She almost came off the bed as they both gasped in pleasure.

Grabbing her ankles, he put them on his shoulders and sank even deeper inside of her. She was so hot and wet that his cock felt like it was on fire. “Grab your tits, baby, and stroke them for me.” Without questioning his command, she tugged on her erect nipples and threw her head back in ecstasy.

“Declannn, don’t stop!” That was one demand she didn’t need to make. His damn dick was about to explode. He’d probably die of blue balls if he even attempted to pull out now. He pounded into her, trying to hold back his release until he knew she was close to hers. He gripped her waist to pull her closer against his cock, grinding against her clit. As her moans got louder and quicker, he knew she was starting to crest. Her pussy was starting to convulse, trying to milk everything he had. With a harsh shout, he went balls deep over and over, causing the breasts that she was still cupping to jiggle as they found their release together.

His heart was hammering and his head was swimming as he collapsed on the bed beside her. She lay beside him panting just as hard. He hoped to God he hadn’t hurt her. It was hard to remember that she was basically innocent when she responded with such abandon. For the first time with her, he hadn’t held back at all. This had been raw and wild. He had fucked her hard and she had chased the peak with him every step of the way. Gone was his sweet, timid Ella. In her place was a woman who made his dick twitch in renewed interest just minutes after coming harder than he could ever remember. What was it about her? Was it that mix between innocent and wanton? He was beginning to realize that there were a lot more sides to her than he could have ever imagined.

She had been so damn sweet when he told her about Craig. It was hard to believe how much his life had changed in the last few weeks. He was actually involved with a woman. He couldn’t kid himself about Ella—she was different from any other woman he had been with. If she wasn’t, she’d have already been gone. For her, he had broken all his rules. She had not only slept over one night, she slept over most every night, and he liked it that way. He even fucking cuddled with her. She was the first person he had wanted to tell when he found out about Evan. Hell, Brant and Ava still didn’t know and he was in no hurry to tell them. He didn’t want to hurt her though and he knew that no matter how hard he tried, that was going to happen when whatever this was between them was over. He knew he would miss her friendship most of all should the ending go badly, but he wasn’t fool enough to think he could handle sharing his space for long. It just wasn’t in him, no matter how attached he had become in such a short time. Unlike the women who had come before her though, some part of him would always care about her. Maybe too damn much.

Chapter Fifteen

“I’ve turned into a slut!” With that statement, Ella slumped against Beth’s couch while her friends looked at her in surprise.

“Okay, would you like to elaborate? Or are you going to leave us guessing,” Beth asked.

“Oh hell no,” Suzy snorted, “Leaving us hanging isn’t even an option with a statement like that. Plus, calling someone like you a slut would be like calling Dora the Explorer a prostitute.”

“Well, Dora does seem to spend a lot of time away from her parents,” Claire laughed. Besides Claire, their new friend Emma chuckled.

Ella could feel herself turning a bright shade of red. They were having a girls’ night out or in this case, girls’ night in. Beth’s feet were swollen to the size of boats and her doctor had ordered her to keep them elevated as much as possible so they had all decided to come to her.

And in a fit of honesty, she had blurted that out. Now Suzy would never let it go and she could only imagine what Emma would think of her. Seeing the look of determination in the three sets of eyes watching her, she lowered her own saying, “I did it in front of Declan.”

Wrinkling her nose, Suzy asked, “What do you mean? Like farted or something?”

Before she could deny it, Beth spoke up. “Ugh, yeah that sucks. I seem to have lost control of my body since I have been pregnant. It happened to me last week. Nick and I were cuddling on the couch watching a movie and it just came out of nowhere. Of course, the damn movie had to be at a quiet part at just that moment so it sounded like a gunshot in the room. I have never seen Nick move so fast before. He almost dumped me on the floor in his haste to get away. You wouldn’t believe how he acted. He was holding his nose, spraying air freshener, and gagging. That man wasn’t even near me at that point so I know it wasn’t bothering him. If I had committed murder he wouldn’t have freaked out that much! I mean, come on, it’s not like he has never done it around me before.”

While everyone was laughing at Beth, Ella wondered if she should let them believe that was it. Just as she decided to let it go, Suzy turned her attention back to her and she knew it wasn’t over. “Why would farting in front of Declan make you a slut? Nasty maybe, but a slut? That’s reaching even for me.”

“I didn’t do . . . that. I, um . . . kind of touched myself.” The room was suddenly so quiet you could hear a pin drop. If she thought everyone was eager before, they were practically falling out of their seats now.

“Oh do tell, my little star pupil,” Suzy purred.

When Ella remained silent, Emma of all people blurted out, “You masturbated in front of him?” Even Suzy’s mouth was hanging open as they all gaped at Emma. “Whoops, sorry. I’ve got a mother who constantly talks about everything so this would be a pretty normal conversation between us. Well, I don’t mean me confessing to it, but her asking me if I’ve gotten laid lately and suggesting I do.” When they all continued to stare at her, she said, “Oh crap, please forget you heard all of that.”

Appearing impressed, Suzy said, “Let’s do lunch one day soon.” She then turned her attention back to Ella. “Sooo, my little girl did the naughty in front of Declan.” Ella nodded her head bracing for impact. When Suzy wedged in beside her on the couch and pulled her into a hug, she was speechless. “Oh, my baby girl has grown up. You have made me so proud. It looks like you are getting close to removing those training wheels after all.”

Claire sat forward also giving her a look of pride. “Honey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about and it certainly doesn’t make you a slut. What goes on in the bedroom or wherever is no one’s business. It sounds like you are comfortable with Declan, and with your body. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Jason just loves, well you know, stuff like that.”

“So does Nick,” Beth added. “Thanks by the way for not making that clear, and letting me tell all of you about my farting. Friends don’t let friends do that.”

“Yeah, thanks for that, sis,” Suzy added. “I’ve just finally got past you doing Nick in my house, now I have to scrub your bodily function issues out of my head as well. But, back to Ella. Claire is right. It’s nothing to be upset over. Heck, I do that in front of Gray sometimes even when we aren’t having sex. I find they like it a lot when it’s completely out of the blue. I will add though, make damn sure you remember the cleaning lady’s schedule.” Visibly cringing, she added, “Whew, color me awkward. Now when she comes, she yells from the front door for five minutes just in case I have my hand in my pants.”

When everyone stopped laughing, Emma said, “Consider yourself lucky, at least you have someone to watch you. The last time I had any action, parachute pants were still in style. At this point in my life, my hand and I are seeing each other exclusively. All that’s left for me is to subscribe to porn sites and buy a dozen cats.”

Giving Emma an evil grin, Suzy said, “If we helped Ella not only land a man like Declan, but do herself in front of him, I think we can easily find you a man. Hell, everyone here dates someone from work. How about the stud that you work for? If he’s Declan’s brother, he must have some kink in him somewhere.”

Emma stuck her finger in her mouth in a gagging gesture. “Please don’t even say that. I couldn’t possibly imagine doing anything to him that doesn’t involve death or dismemberment. He is a complete ass wipe. When he isn’t bitching about me putting cream in his coffee and almost killing him, he’s complaining about me stapling his papers the wrong way.” In a perfect imitation of Brant’s voice, she said, “‘Emma, do you see something wrong here? How am I supposed to read this report with the staple so close to the first line?’ I will admit, I had a severe case of PMS that day and was tired of him picking on me, so I grabbed the papers and pulled them apart, then lined them up on his desk. I could tell he was really chapped over that, but he simply raised that annoying eyebrow at me and said, ‘How clever, Emma. Your job performance is simply amazing. You are a true asset to Danvers.’” Then, remembering the owner’s wife was in the room, she winced, “Sorry, Claire.”

Claire laughed. “Don’t worry about me. On girl’s night, I’m not Mrs. Jason Danvers, I’m just Claire. Unless you are insulting my husband, everything else is fair game. If it makes you feel any better, Chrissy did spit up all over his jacket the last time he was at the house. Jason and I laughed our asses off when he left. The expression on his face was priceless. I thought he was going to be sick right there on the spot. Instead, he walked out holding his jacket as far away from his body as he could.”

Emma held her sides as she giggled, “Oh my God, I can imagine. I’m surprised he didn’t call me and insist I come clean his jacket for him. Ella, you are so lucky you got the better brother. If I fingered myself in front of Brant, he would probably call the cops!”

Ella doubled over laughing. Now that the spotlight was off her, she was glad that she had opened up and gotten some reassurances from her friends. Even though Declan had seemed to love her loss of inhibitions, she had been more than a little embarrassed after the fact. She was relieved to hear that this was apparently normal and that she hadn’t turned the corner from eager lover to tramp. She had told Declan she was going home tonight after she left Beth’s, but she was now tempted to surprise him. Maybe there was a few more firsts that he wouldn’t mind helping her with.

* * *

Declan shifted uncomfortably as the woman across from him continued to sob. His life was starting to resemble a circus. He never knew what the next act was going to bring. Ella was out with her friends and he had been looking forward to some down time. Of course, a few hours into the evening and he had been pacing around, restless and at loose ends. When his phone rang, he was surprised to see Julie’s name on the ID. She had wanted to give him the name of the doctor she was using for the paternity test as well as his appointment time. She had also asked for his address so that she could send him some photos of Evan. He had thought that a bit strange since he was likely to see her again soon, but didn’t question her further. Now here he sat watching a woman he barely knew sob. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Lifting tear soaked eyes, Julie gasped out, “So sorry, Declan, I . . . shouldn’t have come here.”

He had the desire to reply, “No shit,” but thought better of it. He had no idea what the problem was. She had been crying since the moment he opened the door. The only thing he had managed to get out of her was that Evan was fine and at a friend’s house. “Julie, uh, is there someone I can call for you?” If possible, that seemed to make the crying worse. But he was a guy and he had no idea how to handle something like this. Maybe he should call Ella. She would definitely be better at this than him. Yeah, brilliant idea. Call your girlfriend and ask her to come over and talk to your previous one-night stand, oh, and the mother of your child. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and hoped that she would get herself together sooner rather than later. Would she be offended if he turned on ESPN?

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the crying tapered off into sniffles and she dug a wad of tissues out of her purse. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Declan,” she sniffed. “I had no business coming here.”

Even though he completely agreed with her, he took pity on her because she did look embarrassed. “It’s fine Julie. Are you okay now?”

Giving a self-conscious laugh, she said, “If you’re scared I’m going to cry again, I promise, I’m cried out.”

Even as he felt like he had to ask, he desperately hoped she wouldn’t answer. “Is something wrong?” When she ran a hand through her hair and was quiet for a moment, he started to think she was going to ignore his question . . . no such luck.

“I had a fight with Graham.”

“Graham? Oh yeah, that’s your fiancé?”

She looked surprised for a moment, but then gave a small smile. “Oh, that’s right; I mentioned him to Ella. Yes, we are engaged. He um . . . shit, I shouldn’t be telling you of all people this, but he’s upset about you coming into our lives.”

It was Declan’s turn to be surprised. “Your whole issue tonight is over me? Evan doesn’t even know I’m his father so why would your . . . Graham have a problem with it?”

Almost as if she didn’t want him to think badly of Graham, she began with, “He really is a great guy, but this has thrown him for a loop. He has always accepted Evan and me as a package deal. I think he sees himself as a father figure to him. Suddenly, with you coming into the picture, he feels threatened.” Almost sheepishly, she admitted, “I think he is afraid I have some kind of feelings for you which is absurd. He knows it just happened the one time and that I never saw you again, but he’s afraid that it will happen again now that you are back.”

Releasing a loud breath, Declan shook his head saying, “That’s crazy. I’m sorry that this has caused problems in your life, but I’m not sure how I can help you. I’d be happy to tell him that he has no worries there, but it’s doubtful he is going to believe me if he trusts you so little.”

Julie cringed, “Ouch, you don’t pull any punches do you?” When he opened his mouth to reply, she cut him off. “No, you’re right. This isn’t your problem even though it involves you indirectly and yes, he should trust me enough to know that he doesn’t have anything to worry about.”

When the doorbell rang again, Declan rolled his eyes and hoped that it was someone selling something. Some Girl Scout cookies would be way better than a hysterical, sobbing female. When he opened the door, Ella threw herself into his arms, legs around his waist before he even knew what was happening. Obviously not seeing Julie, she gave him a suggestive wink and said, “I thought tonight you could touch yourself while I watched. I’ll be happy to help though, if you need it.”

He was wrong, things could always get worse. Any other time, that offer would have landed Ella squarely on her back in about two seconds flat, now he was just dreading her finding out that they had an audience. “Um, Ellie . . . baby, I have company.” It took a moment for his words to hit home. He knew the second they did because he felt her body stiffen in surprise. As her legs went slack, he let her slide down off of him. When she slowly turned around and noticed Julie for the first time, she looked both surprised and uncertain.

“Oh, hi, Julie. I . . . uh, didn’t see you there.”

As she studied Julie’s red, puffy face, and wet eyes, Ella seemed to grow even more uncomfortable. Declan put his arm around her reassuringly. He could appreciate the fact that walking into something like this might be a little unsettling to Ella and he wanted to let her know without embarrassing Julie that there was nothing going on here. “Ellie, Julie was upset and needed someone to talk to. I wasn’t expecting you this evening. I mean, of course I’m glad to see you, I just thought you were having a girls’ night.” That sounded lame as hell, even to his own ears. What he really wanted to do was push Ella toward Julie and make some excuse to leave. This was one of those times when he wished he smoked so he could use needing to run out for cigs as an excuse to escape. He tried to gently push Ella toward the sitting area, but she had dug her heels in and refused to budge.

She gave Julie an over bright smile before turning back to him. “I’m just going to go. I should have called first.”

He made a grab for her elbow, shaking his head, “No, honey, please stay.” Julie stood too, offering to leave instead. It seemed to him that pretty much everyone in the room at that point was heading for the door and the one that actually left before he could stop her was Ella. Yeah, this evening had really turned out outstanding. Now the room was filled with an awkward silence and he wanted nothing more than for Julie to leave so he could call Ella and explain. Women made everything so damned complicated. Thankfully, Julie took her cue from his expression and grabbed her purse from the table.

“I’m sorry for trying to involve you in my problems. I . . . just didn’t have anyone to talk to and I obviously screwed up your night.”

Declan ran a hand through his hair as a wave of exhaustion hit him and he decided that some honesty was in order even if it made him the bad guy. He didn’t want a repeat of this evening. “Julie, I’m sorry my reappearance has caused problems with you and Graham, but that has to stay between you two. He probably wouldn’t appreciate me even knowing about it. If you have anything to tell me that involves Evan, then call me day or night, but I can’t be your girlfriend. I will take the paternity test as planned tomorrow and I will help you out if you need it financially or with whatever Evan needs. I will be happy to take him if you and Graham need some time away.”

Dropping her head, Julie said, “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking coming here. I guess the main problem was that no one else knows, so I didn’t have anyone to talk to. Ugh, that still isn’t your problem. I know this must have been really awkward for you and for Ella. Please tell her I’m sorry for upsetting her plans.”

Declan could tell by the gleam in her eyes, she had heard Ella tell him all of her plans before she had discovered Julie was there. “Yeah, I’ll do that. We’ll talk when we get our test results back. Good luck with Graham. I hope things work out the way you want.” She apologized once more and was gone. He immediately picked up the phone to call Ella, but then decided against it. This was probably one time that he should make the trip in person.

* * *

As soon as she got home Ella fell face down in her bed. She didn’t know what was worse, having Julie overhear what she said or that she was at Declan’s in the first place. The whole thing had seemed so strange. She hadn’t seen Evan anywhere so was Julie there by herself? Was she trying to get Declan back? Of course, she hadn’t really had him to start with, but they had been intimate for that one night. She knew firsthand that that wasn’t something a woman would ever forget.

For the first time, she felt insecure in their relationship. She wasn’t even sure if what they had been doing qualified as a real relationship, at least to him. They had sex and spent a lot of time together. But was it more than that to him? She didn’t really have any experience to fall back on to guide her. All she knew was that when she left Declan hadn’t followed her as she had half hoped he would. Julie was still there and she was home alone. When she had started this whole thing with him, she hadn’t really thought much about what would happen when it was over. Suddenly, she realized it could end at the drop of a hat. There might not be a long speech about how great it had been, it might just be over. Her mother was always telling her that she never looked at the big picture and maybe in this instance she was right.

Just as her pity party was well and truly under way, there was a brisk knock at her door. She stiffened and debated ignoring it. There could only be two possibilities at this time of the evening, her mother or Declan. She wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with either of them tonight but the knocking continued and she didn’t want her neighbors to start complaining. A quick look out her peephole showed the person she hoped was the lesser of the two evils. Taking a deep breath, she swung the door open and hoped that Declan wasn’t here to have that talk with her now.

When he pulled her gently into his arms with a husky “Ellie,” she let out the breath she had still been holding. He was embracing her so tightly that it bordered on pain, but she had no desire to stop him. She needed whatever she could get from him right now. Maybe she wasn’t handling this revelation as well as she had thought. Things were so new between them and now things were going to change, they had to. Declan had a son now and with that would come new demands on his time. Julie would also be in his life in some capacity now. Would what she had walked in on earlier become the norm? She had felt like an outsider and she hated that. She had no official place in Declan’s life, but Julie did. She was the mother of his child. How could she ever compete with that?

But she was distracted from her list of worries as Declan placed a series of kisses along her neck causing her to shiver. He pulled back to look at her. “You left so fast, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. Are you . . . were you upset over Julie being at my apartment?”

Ella pulled back and tried to pretend a worldliness that she was far from feeling. She was a horrible liar and knew that her face always gave her away so she directed her gaze to the wall beyond his shoulder before answering. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know that Julie and Evan are in your life now, and it’s really none of my business. I shouldn’t have shown up without being invited.”

Declan turned her chin so she was facing him and could see the wary look on his face. “That’s a lot of bullshit you’re shoveling there, Ellie. I didn’t think we were in the habit of lying to each other. You’ve never censored yourself before so don’t bother to start now.”

He was right of course, she always blurted out what was on her mind. What was the worst that could happen? “Alright, you asked for it, remember that. Julie being there with you made me very uncomfortable. I felt like I didn’t belong even though we are sort of together now, aren’t we?”

Pulling her back into his arms, she felt his lips brush the top of her head. “Yes, baby, we are. I knew you felt that way; it was written all over your face before you bolted. Let’s have a seat and I’ll fill you in on one of the weirder hours of my life.”

When Declan finished telling her about Julie’s visit, she had to agree with him on the weird factor. “Isn’t Claire her friend? Wouldn’t you think she would call her if she was upset instead of you?”

“Yeah, you’d think. I don’t see it happening again though. I was pretty blunt with her after you left. I know it sounds bad considering the circumstances, but she’s a stranger to me. I was pissed off at being put in that position, especially since I knew you were upset over it.”

Ella cuddled closer to him, relieved that there had been a simple explanation for what she had walked in on. She was still uneasy over Julie’s place in his life, but she told herself she was just paranoid. Julie was engaged, and had no interest in Declan other than his connection with Evan. After the dust settled, they would work out some kind of schedule and he would only see Julie in passing. She could live with that. She reached up to slide her hands in his thick hair, pulling his lips down to hers. “I’m okay now. I’m just glad you’re here.”

Teasing her mouth with a series of nibbling kisses, he whispered, “So am I, Ellie. Now I believe you mentioned something earlier about wanting to watch me.” Her eyes widened when he stood up and pulled her to her feet. She squeezed her thighs together as she followed him into her bedroom, trying to alleviate the ache that had settled there. Was he really going to masturbate in front of her? The thought of seeing him stroke his cock while she watched was enough to have her breathing heavy before he had even removed his pants. When she walked over to help him remove his shirt, he pushed her hands gently away. “Oh no, baby, this is all for you. I want you to take off your clothes and sit in the chair next to the bed where you can see me.” When she hesitated, without looking up from discarding his own clothes, he commanded, “Now, Ellie!”

She jumped in surprise, but quickly stripped down to her bra and panties. She looked at him for direction. “Should I leave these on?”

Shaking his head, he said, “No, take off everything. You might want to touch yourself again while you watch me, and I want to be able to see all of you.”

Ella only thought she had been excited before. She was positively shaking now. Her sex was swollen and wet, her nipples hard and pebbled. She sat back in the chair, crossing her legs before Declan walked over to her. “Oh no, sweet girl, I want to see it all.” He pulled her legs apart and looped an ankle over each arm of the chair, arranging her until she was spread wide. “I want you to stroke yourself while you watch me, but don’t orgasm until I tell you, okay?”

She was surprised and more than a little turned on by this new bossy side of Declan. At that moment, she probably wouldn’t have objected if he had wanted to spank her. Go big or go home, right? When Declan reclined back on the bed and started stroking his hard length, she wanted to swoon. He was so hot and to her, he was absolute perfection. His cock visibly grew before her eyes and she knew from experience how hard it would be now. He curled one hand around the base while increasing the speed of his other hand. She was surprised to look down and see her own hand stroking through the wetness between her thighs. She hadn’t even realized that she had moved. The room was filled with the sounds of their ragged breathing. Feeling herself nearing the edge, she moaned, “Can’t hold out much longer.”

His movements grew rougher as he said, “Not yet, Ellie. Slow your strokes and wait for me.” Her body clenched in protest as she followed his orders, moving her fingers away from her clit. “Pinch your nipples baby. Imagine my mouth on them, tugging and sucking you.”

Her moan echoed in the room as his words seemed to send a jolt straight through her. Her nipples pebbled as she pulled and twisted them into stiff peaks. Her sex clenched and she knew that she was on the edge of coming no matter how hard she was trying to hold back. “Declan,” she whimpered, “I need . . .”

“Now, baby!” he shouted. Needing no further urging, she felt her body start to spasm as she shattered. She was dimly aware of Declan’s hoarse shout, as he exploded. A moment later she was too spent to move and was surprised when she felt his hands sliding under her, lifting her into his arms. “I think I could use a shower and I’d love some company.”

She snuggled against him and smiled when she felt his lips on the top of her head. Sometimes the man was just too sweet.

Chapter Sixteen

Ella was thrilled to have some time with her best friend since Beth was more tired than usual and Ella had been spending her evenings at home with Declan. They had just settled into their massage chairs at the nail salon when Beth said matter-of-factly, “Well, I guess I’m getting married soon.” Ella and the two women giving them pedicures looked over to Beth in surprise. When the women looked at Beth’s swollen stomach pointedly she rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, that’s right, I’m not married.” Holding up her hand to show the sparkling diamond on her ring finger, she added, “I am engaged though, so give me credit for that.” One of them shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “What are you talking about?” and then went back to work.

“Okay, let’s get back to the marriage part. I thought you were determined to wait until you had the baby.”

Beth started toying with her necklace, a move that Ella had come to recognize as Beth’s equivalent of a nervous tick. “I’ve been talking to my therapist about it. Nick doesn’t want to wait until the baby is born. You would never know it, but he has an old-fashioned streak in him. I think he just doesn’t like the thought of us not being married beforehand. It’s been kind of weighing on me since I feel like he gives so much to our relationship. I feel petty that I’m holding back on something that obviously means so much to him, you know?”

Squeezing her friend’s hand for support, she asked, “Is your pregnancy the only reason you want to wait?”

Beth’s eyes went soft, “If you’re asking if I have any doubts about Nick, the answer is no. I love him with all my heart and I know he feels the same. When I envision my future, he is what I see. I just . . . it’s so hard for me to walk down the aisle like I am now.” She held her hand up as Ella started to protest. “I know what you’re going to say, and thank you for that, but old habits die hard. With Nick’s support, I have made so much progress. I no longer freak out if I’ve gained a pound. I have accepted that it’s always going to be hard for me, but it doesn’t have to be the sole focus of my life. My therapist thinks it will be a turning point for me to go ahead and get married now instead of waiting solely because of my size. I want to do this for Nick and for myself.”

Ella felt her eyes misting. She knew how hard this had to be on Beth and she was so proud of her. Beth had been heavy for most of her life until finally losing the weight a few years back. She had since struggled with body image issues that had driven her to an eating disorder. Her parents were overly critical of her weight and that, combined with the stress of finding out she was pregnant with twins, had overwhelmed her. Losing one of her twins to vanishing twin syndrome had been a dark time for her, but Nick’s unconditional love and support had given her the strength to admit that she had a problem and needed help.

With the help of a therapist, Ella could tell that Beth was slowly learning to accept herself and love the person she saw in the mirror. She had to agree with Beth that deciding to get married while she was pregnant was a big step for her. She had been adamant about having the baby and losing the weight before the big day, even though Nick didn’t want to wait. Ella reached over and gave Beth a one-armed hug. “I’m thrilled for you both. You’ll be a beautiful bride. So, does that mean we’re going to look at wedding dresses next?”

“Yep, you bet your ass we are. Ugh, when did I start sounding so much like my sister?”

Ella laughed, thinking to herself that no one would ever sound like Suzy. She was one of a kind. “Do you have any idea where you are going to get married?”

Beth gave her an evil grin and said, “Oh yeah, I know exactly where. I hate to look like a copycat of Claire and Suzy, but I’m going to get married on the beach. I’m sure Suzy would let me borrow her strip of sand for the occasion.”

Still not certain why Beth continued to grin, she said, “I think that’s great, but am I missing something?”

“I hate to admit this because it will probably sound kind of bad, but imagining my parents trying to walk through the sand in their uptight business attire really just sealed the deal for me. I figured trying to get sand out of their shoes would distract them from my pregnant state when I walk down the aisle.”

Ella fell back in the seat, holding her sides as she laughed until tears ran down her face. The poor woman at her feet trying to paint her toenails gave her a nasty look as she removed the polish on her big toe and started over again. She gave her a sheepish look of apology before turning back to Beth. “You may be more like Suzy than I thought. It’s rather brilliant though. From what you’ve told me, they will hate an outdoor wedding. They weren’t at Suzy’s, right?”

“Nope, they had some conference and couldn’t make the last minute arrangements. I think Suzy probably did it on purpose, even though she hasn’t admitted it.”

As it turned out, Claire and Suzy met them at the downtown bridal store and after several hours—and a lot of debate—Beth found a gown that she loved and everyone agreed on. The only thing left to do was get the marriage license and decide on the date. Ella had the feeling it would be smart to keep her schedule flexible for the next few weekends.

While everyone was waiting for Beth to get dressed and pay for her gown, Suzy asked, “So, what’s this I hear about Declan being a baby daddy now?”

Ella wasn’t surprised because she had long since discovered that Suzy knew everything, but apparently Claire was. “Whoa, back up for a minute. What are you talking about?” Then looking at Ella she dropped her voice, “Are you pregnant?”

“What? Oh no, it’s not me.”

“It’s not? Alright, I’m confused here. You aren’t freaking out. Would someone please tell me what I’ve missed?”

Suzy took pity on her and said, “Honey, don’t you ever talk to your friends? Declan appears to be the father of your girl Julie’s baby.”

Claire fell back against her seat in shock. “Shit, I knew something was going on there, but I never suspected that. Things were really weird when we ran into him in the hallway at Danvers. I even mentioned it to Jason. I just figured they had . . . um, well known each other or something.” Claire let her sentence trail off, shooting Ella a quick, “Sorry.”

Ella did her best to look like she wasn’t bothered by the whole conversation. “It’s okay. It’s been a bit of a surprise for sure. I guess they had a one-night thing years ago when he was home for a weekend and then she had no way to find him when she found out she was pregnant. They will do a paternity test, but I would be shocked if it doesn’t confirm that Declan is the father. Evan looks so much like him.”

Surprised, Claire asked, “You’ve already met Evan?”

“Yeah, we met up with them at McDonald’s. Julie told him that we were friends of hers.”

Suzy, being surprisingly gentle, asked quietly, “How do you feel about all this?”

Not for the first time, Ella thought how lucky she was to be a part of such a great group of ladies. She loved that she didn’t have to pretend with them. “I’m trying to be okay with everything. Declan having a child is a surprise, but I can handle it. I don’t mean this in a bad way toward your friend, Claire, but the thing I’m having the hardest time with is having to share him with another woman.”

Claire squeezed her hand, “I completely understand. Julie is my friend, but so are you. If it makes you feel any better, I know she’s engaged so I don’t think she would ever look to Declan for anything romantic.”

“I’d feel a little better about that if she hadn’t been at his place last night when I got there.”

“Doing what?” Suzy demanded.

Shaking her head in shame, Ella said, “I completely embarrassed myself in front of her. When he opened the door, I jumped on him and said some, er . . . things that I hope she didn’t hear. I got out of there as fast as I could.”

Suzy turned to Claire, “Please tell me your friend isn’t a nut like Reva.” Ella knew from Beth that Gray had briefly dated Reva before they got together and that she had tried to trick Gray into believing that the baby she was carrying was his. Luckily, she had suffered an attack of conscience and confessed before she had completely ruined the relationship between Gray and Suzy. Ella could only imagine that some of this was hitting close to home for her.

“No, I’m sure she isn’t. Wow, I still can hardly process all of this.”

“Declan did show up at my place shortly after that. He said that she was upset over a fight with her fiancé. He told her that he wasn’t happy about being put in that position and I guess that was it. I just don’t get why she would go over there in the first place. I mean I know they had sex once, but she hardly even knows him.”

Beth walked out with her dress and asked, “Hardly knows who?”

The next several minutes were spent filling Beth in and letting her process her shock.

“Now that everyone knows, give me your honest opinion. Should I be worried about this?”

When there was nothing but awkward silence for a few moments, Suzy sighed and said, “Babe, I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. I’d be on my guard. I’m not saying there’s anything to be worried about, but until you are certain that this Julie doesn’t want to play happy family with your man, I would keep my eyes open.”

Claire, looking even more pained, nodded hesitantly. “I would never say anything bad about a friend, because I truly don’t think Julie would intentionally try to come between you and Declan, but sometimes things can get confused. If it makes you feel any better, when they met at Danvers, I didn’t detect any type of spark between them. There seemed to be some recognition factor, but nothing sexual. The fact that he took you to meet his son for the first time says a lot about your place in his life.”

“I agree,” Beth chimed in, “That’s huge for a guy.” Just then her phone rang. Smiling at the display she said, “Speaking of guys, here is mine now.” Clicking the button to answer with a, “Hey babe,” she rolled her eyes as she listened for a moment. “Yes, Dad, I’m well aware of how swollen my feet are.”

“Oh barf,” Suzy shuddered, “I really wish she wouldn’t call Nick, ‘dad.’ Talk about a bad mental image.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Beth laughed as she finally hung up. “I can’t help it if the man nags me all the time. I did promise him to come home and put my feet up. If someone will roll me back up, I’ll be on my way.”

Ella was surprised to see a brief look of sadness cross Suzy’s face as she helped Beth to her feet. The look was so fleeting; she had to wonder if she had imagined it. Maybe like her, everyone had their own stuff that they were dealing with. Even someone as no-nonsense as Suzy could still have an off day.

* * *

The next few weeks passed in a blur. In addition to her regular responsibilities at work, she was also helping Beth and Suzy organize the Danvers Christmas party. Just as she had expected, the results of the paternity tests had proved that Declan was Evan’s father. Julie and Declan had told him at McDonald’s since, apparently, that is where everyone takes their kids when they want to share big news without freaking them out. Ella hadn’t been invited along on that trip, but she thought it was probably something that needed to be done without an extra person along. Declan had said that Evan took it well and his only question had been, “Does this mean we will play cars together a lot now?”

Declan had asked her to go with him to take Evan to the zoo tomorrow. It was their first outing without Julie along and she knew that he was nervous about going alone. Today though, she had convinced him to help her paint her kitchen and so far, thanks to her dropping her paint brush twice, they were both splattered from head to foot. She placed the blame solely on Declan. How was she supposed to concentrate with him wearing low-slung jeans and no shirt?

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he cradled it against one ear while continuing to paint with the other. “Julie, I don’t know. He doesn’t know me that well. Aren’t kids afraid to sleep away from home? How does he feel about this? Give me a minute and I’ll call you back.” He put down the paintbrush and gave her a grimace. “Ellie . . . I need some help.”

“She wants you to babysit Evan doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, but it’s not that simple. You know that she and Graham are still having problems so she wants me to take Evan overnight so they can have some time alone.”

So far she didn’t see a problem, so she didn’t understand why he was looking at her with a beseeching look in his eyes. “And that’s okay with you, right?”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Do you . . . could we stay here with you or could you stay with us? I know it’s not fair to ask you and I promise I don’t expect you to babysit, but I don’t know what to do if he freaks out or something.”

Ella smiled thinking she had never seen Evan and his father look more alike than at that moment. She walked over to him and put her hand on his broad chest, loving the feel of his warm skin. “Of course you guys can stay with me. If Evan freaks out, we are probably both screwed, but I’m here for moral support. I’ll clean up and run to the store for some supplies. Why don’t you call her back and give her my address so she can drop him off.”

Declan nuzzled her under her chin, which made her shiver in response. Would there ever be a time when she didn’t ignite just from a simple look or touch from him? She had been tormenting him by painting in a long T-shirt with nothing underneath and the breath left her body when he whipped it up over her head. “She can wait, I can’t.” When he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking it until her knees gave way, she didn’t even notice the ends of her hair trailing into the paint tray behind her.

* * *

“You look like a skunk, Ellie.”

Ella looked up from the strange text she had just received from her sister. She could see Declan smothering a laugh at his son’s innocent statement.

Patting Evan on the head, she said, “Thanks, kid. I got a little too close to a man with a paintbrush.”

Declan circled behind her placing a kiss on her head as he passed. “I promise we’ll get you some paint thinner or something before work tomorrow.” Suddenly he froze, “Who’s got a key to your place, babe?” The answer to that question had them both cringing as the door opened and her mother and Crystal stood on the threshold. She heard Declan’s quiet, “Fuck me,” beside her and hoped that her mother and Evan hadn’t.

Crystal’s text saying, “Incoming, run!” made a lot more sense now. Her sister looked over at her shaking her head and said, “I tried to warn you.” It looked like the new and fairly normal Crystal was still in residence. She didn’t know what to make of it, but she hoped it would continue. The old Crystal was a disturbing clone of their mother and, frankly, a little scary.

“Ella Marie! It’s wonderful to see you alive because I fully expected to see your dead body when I opened that door.”

She heard Crystal say, “Wait for it, wait for it.”

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Ella asked.

“Well, I had to assume that you were dead since you haven’t answered or returned any of my calls in the last week.”

“Bam!” Crystal yelled, earning a glare from their mother.

She turned to where both Declan and Evan were watching the scene unfold with varying levels of fascination and knew there would be no help there. “Um, Mom, it has just been very busy at work. I meant to call you back, but I’ve been so tired, by the time I make it home that I just go straight to bed.”

Her mother cut her eyes to Declan in clear disapproval before replying, “Yes, I’m quite aware of why you go straight to bed.”

Ella could feel her face flushing at her mother’s insinuation. She knew this wasn’t the kind of conversation to have in front of a child and she couldn’t believe her mother was being so tactless. Turning to Declan she flashed him a strained smile and asked, “Do you think you and Evan could watch television in the bedroom for a few minutes? I need to discuss something with my mother.”

Declan hesitated, obviously torn between leaving her to face the lion and running like hell to make his escape. He shot her mother a look of distaste before nodding and taking Evan’s hand. “Come on big guy; let’s go see if Bugs Bunny is on. Ellie needs some privacy.”

In typical Evan fashion, he gave his father a pitying look saying, “Bugs Bunny doesn’t come on on Sunday. What’s priv-cy?”

She heard Declan saying, “It’s privacy and it means Ellie wants us to go to the bedroom.”

Ella waited until she heard the door shut behind them before turning back to her mother. “Mom, this has gotten absurd. I’m too old for you to be barging into my house unannounced and embarrassing me in front of my guests.”

“Your guests,” her mother sputtered, “Do you mean the man you are fornicating with? And who is that child? Don’t tell me he is married with a family. Good grief, Ella, where have your morals gone?”

Ella was momentarily distracted from her mother’s running diatribe by the spectacle of her sister making choking motions behind her back. My God, her sister really had gone off the deep end. What was up with her? “Mom, enough already. First, I’m pretty sure no one actually says fornicate anymore and, second, Declan is not married. That is his son Evan.”

Her mother interrupted her explanation with an exasperated, “Of course, I should have known. He has a child out of wedlock.”

“Whoa, alert the media!” Crystal added.

Voicing the exact same thing she had been wondering, her mother turned to Crystal and said, “What in the world is wrong with you lately? I swear, you have gotten as bad as your sister. I’m going to have a talk with Bill about your behavior, young lady.”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “Bill isn’t my father and I’m pretty much finished with listening to him nag me.”

Apparently, this argument with Crystal had been going on for some time because even though their mother looked disgusted, she didn’t look surprised. “We’ll address this later.”

“Now, Ella, I had to leave right after church because I couldn’t stand any more embarrassing questions about why you never come. I’m not leaving until you agree to meet us there next Sunday.”

A refusal was on the tip of her tongue until she had an idea. “Sure, Mom, I’ll come, but only if Declan comes with me.”

“Wha . . . what! I just don’t think that’s appropriate. I mean, people will ask questions.”

“Why would they ask questions, Mom? I’m old enough to have a boyfriend. I’d also like to bring Evan. He is Declan’s son.”

“Ella! Are you trying to ruin our name? First, you want to bring a strange man with you and now you want to bring along his child? You know what people will think!”

“No, I really don’t, Mom. Why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Why, they’ll assume that the child is yours.”

“And why is that horrible?”

Next came a statement from her mother that was a complete shock to her and even Crystal looked stunned. “Well, if you insist on this, maybe I can explain it to a few people ahead of Sunday. I’ll just tell Joanne that you and Declan were married quietly last year and have adopted an older child. They would understand since you felt it was your Christian duty.”

“Oh brother,” Crystal moaned, “you have officially lost it, Mommy dear.”

“Mom, do you even hear yourself? You’re harassing me about not going to church, yet you want me to lie to everyone there? Doesn’t that go against everything that church is supposed to represent?”

Her mother had the grace to flush guiltily before snapping, “Your father and I are well known and respected in our community. We have a reputation to uphold. You should be more sensitive to our feelings instead of trying to make things worse.”

Ella felt like her head was about to explode. If this continued, she was going to say something unforgiveable to her mother so she decided the only course of action left was to get rid of her. “Mom, I have company that I have neglected for too long. Tell Daddy I said hello.”

“Are you asking me to leave?”

Crystal stepped over and opened the door. “I think that’s our cue, let’s go, Mom. I’ve got an appointment for a tattoo at three.”

Ella didn’t think it was possible to distract her mother when she was irate with one of her daughters, but that one statement did it. Her mother’s voice raised in disbelief as Crystal ushered her toward the door. She gave a quick thumbs-up to Ella saying, “You owe me big time,” before shutting the door behind them.

With the closing of the door, Ella sagged back against the couch and muttered one of Declan’s favorite lines, “What the fuck?”

Chapter Seventeen

Let me get this straight, Ava said, “You’ve got a kid now and a girlfriend?”

Beside her, Declan’s friend, Mac, chuckled, “Yeah, I’m still having troubling processing the girlfriend part. The kid thing freaks me out.”

Always the most serious one of the group, Brant pinched the bridge of his nose. “When were you planning on telling your family about this? I had to hear it from Gray? He was pretty horrified when he figured out that I didn’t know.”

Of course, Declan should have known when he opened the door to find the three of them standing there that no good could come from it. He was just glad that Ella was staying with Beth tonight while Nick was out of town. They would have been on her like stink on shit. “Was I supposed to Facebook message you or something? Maybe a memo? Give me a break, it’s not like I’ve known that long and we aren’t exactly the type of family from a Norman Rockwell painting.”

“Declan,” Ava snapped, “can we skip all the sarcastic humor and get to what is going on?”

He bit back a reply knowing Mac would probably kick his ass if he hurt Ava. Talk about a complicated relationship. Mac had been in love with his sister for as long as he could remember. He thought at one time back when they were teenagers that eventually Ava would finally admit that she felt the same way. Unfortunately, some bastard had taken her innocence in the most heinous way possible and now it was a toss-up as to which sibling was the most fucked up. Mac had taken care of her that night, as he always had, and he knew that even though his friend was no monk, Ava would always be it for him.

“I recently found out that I have a six-year-old son. His mother and I had a one-night stand when I was in town one weekend. We recently ran into each other at Danvers. Apparently, she is a friend of Claire’s. I would appreciate you all holding your ‘I told you so,’ if you can manage it.”

“Shit, Dec,” Brant groaned, “I thought you said you were always careful.”

“Well, obviously I had more alcohol than sense that night.”

“How do you know you can trust what this woman says?” Mac asked.

“We’ve already had a paternity test. Evan is my child.”

Brant ran a hand through his hair looking even more stressed. “Does he know, the boy?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool with everything. He spent the night with Ella and me over the weekend.”

Looking incredulous, Ava said, “You’re really serious about this woman, aren’t you?”

Declan squirmed, feeling more uncomfortable about this topic of conversation than he had about Evan. “Yeah, I am. She’s different for me. Hell, she’d probably be different for anyone. But don’t start freaking out. I still don’t do the long-term commitment thing with women.”

“She’s beautiful,” Mac offered. “I’ve seen her around the office when I’ve visited.”

“Yeah I bet,” Declan growled. Mac just smiled at him and he suspected he had stepped neatly into a trap on that one.

Surprising them all, Ava said, “I’d like for all of us to go out to dinner one night. As far as I know, she’s the only woman you’ve ever been with for more than a week so she must be something. She knows you have a family so she probably wonders why you haven’t formally introduced us.”

“I met her at the beach,” Brant offered.

Mac grinned in agreement. “I’d like to meet her too.” That statement earned him a frown from both Ava and Declan.

“I would rather not do this whole charade of pretending we are a normal family. Ella and I aren’t getting married or anything, so you don’t need to bring her into our dysfunctional fold. That would probably just hasten her departure.” Giving them an evil smile he said, “I tell you what though. If you would like to meet Evan, I’m sure I could arrange something with his mother for a McDonald’s meet-and-greet.”

Brant wrinkled his nose. “McDonald’s? Why would we want to meet there? That’s strictly a kid place.”

“Guess what, Einstein,” Ava deadpanned, “Evan is a kid.”

“You know what I mean,” Brant argued, “it’s scary there without a kid to cover you.”

“Brant,” Mac sighed, “brother, we’ve got to get some blue collar into you somehow. Your grandfather had breakfast at Denny’s every morning for twenty years so I don’t know where you get these hang-ups about fast-food places.”

Ava smirked, “It’s because of his Irritable Bo—”

“Ava! For God’s sake, could you please keep it down? I don’t have that!”

Declan finally decided to take pity on them and invite them to come over next weekend. Evan was supposed to come by on Sunday for a few hours. He just needed to make sure Ella wasn’t there. He didn’t want his family to torture her. After a few more laughs, mostly at Brant’s expense, everyone headed for the door. Mac and Ava were the last to leave and he knew that Brant had intentionally moved swiftly to the elevator to give them some time alone. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to love someone like Mac loved Ava and never be able to have her. Declan knew she loved him in her own way, but it wasn’t the way that Mac deserved.

He shut the door behind them and got ready for bed. He was burnt out from too many sleepless nights. His nightmares reliving Craig’s death had almost stopped after he opened up to Ella, but the last week had seen a return of the dream with one heart-stopping change. Craig had been replaced by Ella. The first night he had had the dream, it had been so vivid, more real than any of the others. His beautiful Ella had landed at his feet in the dream, her eyes vacant, and her body lifeless. The only thing he was grateful for was that he hadn’t woken Ella up by screaming. Instead, he had been gasping for air, choking on his own bile. After assuring himself that she was still very much alive and lying next to him, he had been awake the rest of the night, almost afraid that something would happen to her if he shut his eyes.

The fight with her mother seemed to have kicked everything off. His first dream had been that night. He couldn’t help but acknowledge what his subconscious was trying to tell him. He didn’t think he was killing her by being around, but he damn sure was starting to question whether he was ruining her life by continuing this relationship. She had obviously been a loyal daughter before he had come along and blown her family dynamics all to hell. Was her mother bat-shit crazy, hell yeah, but was that his call to make?

He had let this relationship deepen with her almost against his will. She was just so easy to be with and damn hard to be without. He loved who he was and how he felt when he was with her. She cracked him up with her strange love of action movies. The woman masturbated in front of him with the confidence of a seasoned pro, but then in the next minute, her innocence brought him to his knees. He found it impossible to stay away from her during the day at the office. If he had an extra five minutes, he went by to see her even if he barely had time to make it there and back to his office. She calmed his rage, buffered his guilt and soothed his soul. She made every breath that he took sweeter.

For all that she did for him, what exactly did he do for her? What had Ella gotten out of this relationship besides a war with her mother? To top it off, he had turned into a single father almost overnight. Evan was a great kid and, while he learned how to be a father, he would probably forgive him for screwing up his role in his life. How about Ella though? Could she forgive him for screwing up her life? Things never went well for the people in his life that he cared about—his parents, his grandfather, Ava, Craig. The list seemed endless and his gut twisted as he thought about Ella being added to that list.

In typical guy fashion, this would be the point where he started putting some distance between them. Maybe force himself to stop seeking her out during the day. Make some excuses not to see her at night. Stop taking and returning calls. Just the typical asshole behavior his sex had perfected. With all that had happened in his life lately, she probably wouldn’t even hate him over it.

God, he couldn’t have her wondering what was going on. He owed it to her to shoot straight. If he wanted to end their relationship, he was going to have to man up and officially end it. She had done nothing to cause a break-up and he had done everything. He had to let her go before things got worse. He cared about her too much to let this continue, knowing he could never give her what she needed. He’d already taken her virginity, something he had no right to do. But he was just selfish enough to want the rest of the week with her before it was over. He needed to store up enough memories to get him through the bleak days ahead without her. In the end though, he would be saving her, something he wished he had been able to do for Craig.

* * *

Another night of seeing Ella die before his eyes while he slept had him restless and about to crawl out of his skin. When the doorbell rang at six a.m., he could only figure that the person on the other side had a death wish. When he swung the door open to find a smiling Ella before him, looking young and beautiful in a green dress and sandals, he felt his bad mood start to slide. How could you be pissed with something so damn perfect standing in front of you. He could feel his resolve starting to falter as he grabbed her hand to pull her inside.

“I just left Beth’s and thought you might like some bagels, so I—”

That was as far as she got before he hauled her into his arms and his mouth came crashing down on hers. He heard the bag hit the floor with a thud as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her curves against him. Within moments, her dress was down at her waist and her panties were torn and sliding down her legs. When his hand found her sex he groaned. “Ellie, you’re so wet. Wrap your legs around me, baby, I need to fuck you. He lowered the waist of his jogging shorts, freeing his cock. She let out a wild moan as he positioned himself at her entrance, rubbing back and forth in her warm heat. Unable to hold out another moment, he surged forward, burying his length in her.

“Declan, mmmm, feels so good.”

The sound of her voice seemed to break the last shreds of his control and his hips pounded forward. She locked her ankles behind him, lifting her hips to meet him thrust for thrust. He leaned down to take one nipple into his mouth, nipping the tip sharply. He felt her body shudder at the small bite of pain mixed with pleasure. He went wild when she repeated the move on his nipple. Feeling those small teeth against his nub, sent him off into orbit. He set a relentless pace and she was with him every step of the way.

“I can’t hold back any longer baby.” That was all it took to push her off the end along with him. Their shouts of completion filled the apartment. Anyone unfortunate enough to be walking down the hall at that moment would get more than they bargained for.

Too weak to stand for much longer, he staggered back until he felt the couch against his knees. He collapsed on a soft cushion and Ella sprawled on top of him. When they had both caught their breath, she pulled back giving him an impish grin. “I guess this means you’ll take me to the new Expendables movie? It’s got everyone in it, including Jason Statham. I just loved him in all of the Transporter movies.” Feeling his chest shake, she pulled back wrinkling her nose in an adorable fashion that was all Ella. “What?”

“You know you make my dick hard when you start talking about stuff like that. Your bad-girl side is so damn hot, Ellie.”

She gave him a grin, slowly swiveling her hips against his ever-growing erection. “You like bad girls, Mr. Stone?”

Pulling her hips down and grinding against her clit, he growled, “You bet your sweet ass I do, as long as they are you.” Her laugh turned into a moan as he bucked upwards, sliding deeper into her hot depths. Declan knew it would be a miracle if they made it to work on time now. But how could he be expected to walk away from the beautiful woman riding him now with such abandon? Impossible.

Chapter Eighteen

“Alright, where did you go?”

Ella knew she must be giving Beth a blank look but she had no idea what she was talking about. Beth rolled her eyes, “That’s about the third time you’ve zoned out on me. I even told you my vagina was on fire and you didn’t even blink.”

Ella felt herself blush. She was supposed to be helping Beth with her wedding plans, but instead she was obsessing over Declan. “Do you think it’s weird that Declan didn’t invite me to meet his family today? Evan was spending the day with him at his place and Brant and Ava were coming over to meet him.”

Beth dropped the bridal magazine she had been holding in her lap. “Oh honey, I don’t think so. You know how weird men are.”

“You met Nick’s parents really early on didn’t you?”

“Well sure, but they are also Gray’s parents so it was kind of hard not to and, heck, those two are more like buddies than parents.”

“I know it’s silly,” Ella signed, “but he acted almost guilty about it, like he was intentionally keeping me away. We went to dinner and a movie last night. We went back to my place, which usually leads to . . . well, you know. Instead, I got a kiss, just one, and then he focused on some point past my shoulder and told me he had to get going because he had an early morning since Evan was coming over for the day. We had been talking about taking him to the zoo. When I mentioned that, he got all shifty, and mumbled something about his family coming by to meet Evan instead. Then he actually said, ‘See ya, babe.’”

Nick must have caught the last line as he came into the room, because he quickly started to back out. “Whoa, where are you going?” Beth asked.

“Anywhere but here. This sounds like a conversation I could lose my guy card over.”

Beth rolled her eyes and waved him back in the room. “Just answer a question and we’ll let you off the hook. When do men usually introduce the woman they are dating to their family?”

“Like never,” Nick deadpanned, “Unless they are thinking long-term. I mean really long-term here. In dating, your family is the Holy Grail and you don’t let anyone make that trip until they are worth it.”

Ella felt her bottom lip tremble. “So, I’m not good enough for the Holy Grail? I’m not a long-termer.”

Beth shot Nick a dirty look. “Oh, shit,” he moaned. “I knew I shouldn’t have stayed in the room. Why couldn’t you just let me leave?” To Ella he said, “I didn’t mean you. I was a bastard when I was single, so you can’t go by anything I say. I’m sure Declan doesn’t think you’re a short termer. You probably have weeks or even months left together.”

“Oh my God,” Beth groaned. “Please just stop and go away.” Nick took off at a fast clip, obviously relieved to be dismissed before things got worse. “Ella, honey, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. That was just his off-base opinion. I’ve seen the way Declan is with you and he isn’t just sleeping with you. He cares about you a lot. He probably thought that it would be uncomfortable for you to meet his family. He doesn’t know how they’re going to react to meeting Evan.”

She gave Beth a weak smile of reassurance. “That’s probably it. I’m sure I’m just making too much out of it.” She didn’t believe what she was saying any more than Beth was probably buying it, but at this point she knew that her friend had enough on her mind without worrying about her love life. If Declan didn’t want her to meet his family, she couldn’t exactly blame him. Look at how well both meetings with her family had gone. She should just count herself lucky. If another person besides her mother called them fornicators, she wasn’t sure she could take it.

* * *

“Where’s your girl?” Mac asked.

Declan knew it was useless to play dumb with one of his oldest friends. Mac could read him like a book. He had arrived ahead of the others and they were sitting on the deck outside, while Evan played with his toys in the doorway. “I thought I would spare her from this painful family hour today.”

Mac tapped his thumb against his thigh, looking off into the distance. “I see. I was surprised to hear you had gotten involved with someone. It isn’t your usual MO.”

“No, it’s not,” he admitted. “It just happened before I realized it.”

“So where do you think it’s headed?”

Declan shot him a look of surprise. “Nowhere, you know that. Just because we’ve been together more than one night doesn’t mean I’m picking out china patterns. I’m not settling down, and Ella damn well deserves better than some fucked-up mess like me.”

“Don’t you think that’s her call?”

“What about you?” Declan snapped, “I don’t see you making any life-changing decisions. How many years are you going to waste, hung up on my sister?” Declan sat back and waited for Mac to explode. Usually anything to do with Ava was a sure trigger with him.

Instead, Mac settled back in his chair and took a moment before replying. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not exactly a great example, but at least it’s not from lack of trying. I’ve loved Ava since we were kids and I know she loves me in her own way. Sometimes it’s just not enough. I’ve . . . been thinking of moving on with my life. I’m not getting any younger.” Pointing to Evan, he added, “and I wouldn’t mind having one of those at some point.”

Surprised, Declan said, “That was about the last thing I expected to hear from you. I never thought you’d throw in the towel there. Maybe you should talk to her before you do that.”

Giving him a sad smile, Mac said, “Why? For years she’s kept me—and every other man—at arm’s length. She’s . . . well, she’s like you, Dec. She has sex with a guy, and then moves on. She doesn’t do it near as often as you, but it never happens more than once.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

Smirking, Mac said, “Come on, I run a security company. You should know I’ve kept a tail on her for years. I hate like hell to read those reports sometimes, but I won’t let anyone else hurt her, man, I can’t. Even if I hadn’t promised your grandfather to watch over her, I would have anyway. She’ll always be mine, even when I move on.”

Declan tipped his beer back before replying. “Is there anyone normal among us? I guess Brant is about it, even though he’s as strange as they come.”

Mac grimaced. “Boy, that’s just sad isn’t it? So what about you? When will you finally move on?”

“I don’t have anything to move on from. No long lost loves or anything.”

“Dec, give me some credit for knowing more about you than the average person you bullshit. You may not have an Ava in your past, but you damn sure have a Craig, which is probably worse. When are you going to deal with all that baggage and move forward? You know he wouldn’t want this for you.”

“I’m fine. I was the way I am years before Craig came along.”

“You might have had some of the usual issues, but Craig changed you. We were all there, Dec, and everyone hated it like hell. You just took everyone’s guilt though and carried it. Nothing you could have done would have saved him. If it hadn’t been that day, then it would have been another one.”

Declan jumped to his feet which made Evan give him an uneasy look. He gave him a reassuring smile before lowering his voice. “Craig had a family waiting for him. I promised I would get him back home to his wife, and I failed her and him. How am I supposed to move on with my life when I ruined someone else’s?”

“You need to go see Amy.”

“Amy? As in Craig’s Amy?

Nodding, Mac said, “Yeah. I still check on her and the kid on a regular basis. They’re both doing really well. She went back to school and finished her teaching degree and now she teaches kindergarten. She asks about you every time we talk. She really appreciates the money you sent them.”

Declan stared off into space, thinking of the woman and child that he barely knew. Craig had wanted them to have their own place and not have to depend on her father. It had been important to Declan to make sure that dream came true for Amy after Craig died. “She doesn’t want to see me. She probably hates my guts.”

“You’re the only one who feels that way, bro. I . . . actually, Amy is going to be up here on vacation next month and she asked if we could all get together while she’s here. She wants us to meet Renee, their daughter.”

Even as he shook his head, almost in a panic, Mac was saying, “Just think about it. You don’t have to decide right now, but you need this. You need the closure.”

“Yeah, that’s what my shrink says.”

Mac gave him a look of surprise. “You’re seeing a therapist? Shit, when did this happen?”

Nodding towards Evan he said, “About that time that he and Ella came into my life. I can’t keep losing my fucking mind in the middle of the night with one or both of them around. I was scared I could hurt someone without even waking up. I hurt Ella once when she tried to wake me up during one. I . . . I can’t risk that. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention this to anyone else, especially her. I need to tell her in my own time.”

“You know I won’t, man. This might sound a bit paternal, but I’m proud of you. I know this is a big step.”

He had never been so grateful to hear his brother’s voice as he called out to them from within the apartment. No, his family never did anything normal like knock, but this was one time he wasn’t going to bust Brant’s balls over it.

As he walked past Mac, he heard him quietly say, “Promise me you’ll think about seeing Amy.” He nodded his head briefly as he walked away. Just thinking about what Mac was asking filled him with an unreasonable fear even though his therapist, like Mac, had tried to convince him that it would be good for him. He was terrified of seeing the look of hate that would surely fill Amy’s eyes.

Chapter Nineteen

Why was she so nervous? This wasn’t her first date with Declan. Heck, she didn’t think she had been even anywhere near this nervous then. He had spent Sunday with his family and Evan, and then had to go out of town on business for the rest of the week. They had talked on the phone each day, but they hadn’t been together in what seemed like ages. It was almost like starting over. She had missed feeling his arms around her. Missed burying her nose in his chest and inhaling his scent. Missed the way she always felt his lips against the top of her head when he was hugging her. He might not be a relationship guy, but when they were together, she felt cherished. He took care of her and in such a low-key way that she never realized it was happening until she thought back on all of the little things he was constantly doing for her.

His plane had landed a few hours ago and he was going to his apartment to shower before meeting up with her. To save time, she had insisted on meeting him at his place. She didn’t want him to have to drive all the way across town when the restaurant was so close to his apartment. She was in love with the seafood place on the strip and he had promised to look the other way while she terrorized the buffet.

She was a few minutes early, so she decided to stop off at the market and pick up a bottle of wine for after dinner, plus, on an impulse she added a bouquet of tulips to her purchase. She knew men weren’t usually into flowers, but she thought they would look so pretty on his table. She paid the cashier and walked back out to the crosswalk. The walk sign flashed and Ella hummed to herself as she walked across the road. Her thoughts were so preoccupied with the evening ahead that she never saw the car coming toward her at a fast clip. If she had had just had a few seconds of warning, she could have quickened her pace and possibly avoided the glancing blow from the car that barreled through the intersection.

All she would remember was the feeling of weightlessness as she flew into the air like a rag doll, the jarring impact as she fell to the asphalt, and the tulips, brightly colored and lying mere inches from her eyes. Plus the question that kept running through her mind before she lost consciousness: Would someone pick them up for her and make sure Declan got them?

* * *

Declan paced the length of his apartment as he checked his watch for probably the hundredth time. Where the hell was she? Ella was never late, she was usually early. She was now two hours late and had completely fallen off the grid. He had called her, all of her friends, and then all of his. No one had spoken with her since she left the office hours earlier. He had been to her apartment, but her car wasn’t in her space. He had even insisted that her landlord let him in, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there.

When his phone rang, he grabbed it immediately. Beth had been trying to get a hold of her parents or sister to see if they possibly knew where she was. He heard the same panic that he was feeling in her voice as she said, “They haven’t talked to her in days, and neither has her sister. Something’s wrong, I just know it. This just isn’t like her to disappear.”

Before he could reply, his phone beeped with another call and he saw Mac’s name come up. “Beth, that’s Mac. I’ll call you back.” Without waiting for her to respond, he clicked over to his friend’s line. “Mac, tell me you’ve got something. I’m about to lose my fucking mind over here.”

“Yeah, I found her, man.” He expelled a loud breath before continuing. “She’s in the hospital. Some fucker hit her in the crosswalk in front of the supermarket on 17. Shit . . . it was a hit-and-run.”

Declan’s ears roared and his vision blurred as he fought the urge to collapse. Even as he spoke, he was barreling toward the door. “I’ve got to get to her. Where is she?”

“She’s at Grand Strand General. I’m downstairs at the entrance to your place. I’ll take you.” Declan ignored the elevator and took the stairs two at a time.

As promised, Mac’s truck was at the curb and Declan bounded in the door with a quick, “Go!” When he pulled into traffic, Declan asked tensely, “What happened to her exactly?”

“According to some witnesses at the scene, a car ran the light and clipped Ella as she was walking across the street. If she had been hit head-on she’d probably be dead. Instead, she was caught by the right fender and thrown several feet. One of the people at the scene was an off-duty paramedic and he controlled the scene until the police and ambulance arrived.”

“The bastard just left her there? He hurt Ellie and fucking left her,” Declan growled.

“Yeah, bro. He, she or whoever did just that. The police are working on finding the driver.”

Declan snapped his head around, “You don’t wait for the police. I want you to find out who did this to her. I don’t care what it costs, you find who did this.”

Mac nodded, and they both knew he would leave no stone left unturned until he found the person responsible. He hadn’t even needed to tell him that in so many words. It was a code among the brotherhood. Ella belonged to Declan and, as such, she was afforded the same loyalty that he was given. No questions asked. “I’m already on it. I’ll get you an answer.”

Declan finally worked up the nerve to ask the question that was tormenting him. “How is she, Mac?” Clearing his throat, he whispered, “Is she going to be okay?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, it’s not pretty. They’re still working on her. She was unconscious when they brought her in, but my contact there says her vitals are stable. They know she’s got some broken bones and they are trying to determine if she has internal bleeding.”

Declan squeezed his eyes shut, feeling moisture gather there. He slammed his fist down on the dashboard yelling, “Son of a fucking bitch! I will kill whoever hurt her!”

Mac put a restraining hand on his arm. “Get it together, man. If you tear my truck apart, we’ll never make it there.”

He took some deep breaths, trying to bring his emotions under control. He laid his head back against the seat, running an unsteady hand through his hair. “I was going to break up with her tonight,” he said quietly. “I was going to push the best thing that ever happened to me away and turn my back on her. I stayed out of town a couple of extra days because I didn’t trust myself. I thought the extra time away from her would help me to do what needed to be done.” Pulling his hair at the roots, trying to use the pain to center himself, he continued, “I am a coward. I couldn’t stand to lose someone else like I did Craig. The thought of letting her go has been eating me alive, but I was still going to do it. I was going to take her to dinner, probably make love to her because I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, and then give her some version of the it’s not you, it’s me talk.”

“Dec, stop. Just don’t go there.”

Before he could respond, Mac was pulling up to the doors of the emergency room. Without waiting for the truck to come to a complete stop, Declan jumped out his door and bolted into hospital and to the reception desk. “Ella Webber, where is she?”

The woman behind the desk looked up with an annoyed expression on her face. “Excuse me, sir?”

“Ella Webber,” he growled. “She was brought in a few hours ago. Where is she?”

“Declan?” He whirled around to find Julie standing before him, obviously on duty. He’d forgotten that she worked at this hospital. He reached out to her like a lifeline.

“Ellie’s here somewhere. Damn it, please, please find out what’s going on.”

Julie was already running toward the doors to the nurses’ station as she yelled over her shoulder, “Webber, right?”

He was pacing the floor, not so patiently waiting, when Mac walked in. “What do we know?”

“Not a fucking thing,” he snapped. Just as he turned to go back to the reception desk, a much more subdued Julie walked back toward him. “What?” He didn’t realize that his voice had now taken on a pleading tone.

She took his arm and pulled him over to a sitting area in the corner. “I’m just going to give this to you straight, okay?”

“Yeah, shit, give it to me.”

She took his hand, holding it firmly while looking him dead center in the eyes. “It’s bad, Declan. She has internal bleeding that they believe is coming from a ruptured spleen. Her pelvis is fractured and her shoulder is dislocated. On top of that, she is pretty banged up.”

He jumped to his feet, “I need to see her.”

Julie came up with him, holding him back. “You can’t right now. They’re prepping her for surgery.”

He was pushing Julie aside, determined to get to Ella before Mac grabbed him. He swung around, full of pain and anguish. “Take your fucking hands off of me, man. I’ve got to get to her. I have to help her.”

“Dec, you’re not going to help that girl if you barge back there and cause a commotion. You need to let them do their job.”

“I . . . I need to see her. She doesn’t know. What if something happens to her and she never knows?”

Both Mac and Julie looked confused. “Brother, what are you talking about?”

A single tear ran down his face as he whispered, “I love her. She doesn’t know that I love her. She’s my fucking life. I’ll never live through it if my Ellie doesn’t make it. I wouldn’t want to.”

Julie stepped forward, a determined look on her face. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to try to get you back there for a minute while she is wheeled down to the operating room. You have to leave when I tell you or we will both be escorted out of here by the police.”

He followed her through the emergency room doors and down one of the vast hallways. The air was heavy with the smell of disinfectant and the noise level seemed deafening to him after the relative peace of the waiting room. When they approached a set of double doors with a sign reading, “Trauma 4,” Julie told him to wait while she went in and cleared his visit. He tried to control the shaking in his limbs as he braced to see what awaited him on the other side of the doors. Julie finally opened a door and motioned him inside. A nurse stood at the head of the bed checking an IV monitor. He was dimly aware of Julie promising her that they would be gone in two minutes. She touched Declan on the arm and told him she would be right outside and that he didn’t have long before they would take her to surgery.

His beautiful Ellie lay in the bed, very pale and still against the white sheets. One side of her face was filled with a long, red angry looking road rash. The sheet hid the rest of her injuries. She looked so peaceful lying there almost as if she were just sleeping and had not been involved in a serious accident. He approached the bed and took her hand gingerly, afraid to do anything to cause her further pain. He had no idea if she could hear him. “Ellie, baby, I’m here.” He used his other hand to gently push the hair back from her face, tenderly stroking her uninjured cheek. “I’m so sorry, baby, so damn sorry.”

When he leaned down to kiss her, he was shocked to see her eyes twitch before opening just the barest slit. Her lips trembled, but no sound emerged from them. He knew his time was almost up. He put his lips against her ear whispering, “I love you, Ellie. Please don’t leave me.” He could have sworn that her finger pressed against his hand for just a brief moment, but he wasn’t sure if he had just imagined it because he wanted so badly to believe that she had heard him.

Julie came back in, her eyes gentle with understanding. “We’ve got to go. They’re coming in for her now. I promise, I’ll let you know everything that’s going on.” He gave Ella one last soft kiss and backed away from her bed just as two nurses came into the room and started preparations to roll the bed down the hall. He followed Julie out feeling like his heart was being ripped from his chest.

What he walked into in the waiting room made him wish that he had stayed in the hallway. Ella’s parents and sister had arrived and, from the looks of things, they had offended everyone there in the short time he was gone. Nick’s face was flushed and Beth was holding onto his arm, speaking quietly in his ear. Gray appeared to be holding Suzy back bodily and even Ava looked like she was seconds from attack mode. Walking up to Mac, he asked, “What the hell’s going on?”

Mac grimaced, “If those are gonna be your in-laws at some point, you should probably go ahead and bail now. No one would blame you. The mother is a real piece of work. She came barging in with the father and girl trailing behind her. Instead of asking how her daughter is doing, she starts attacking Beth and even throws in an insult about God punishing Ella because she’s friends with an unwed mother. Beth took it better than most would but her sister and Nick are about to go ape shit. I hate to throw this on you now, but you probably need to do something quick before this gets worse.”

“Fuck,” Declan muttered under his breath. This kind of drama was the last thing he needed, but he owed it to Ella to take care of this for her. She would be horrified about her mother hurting her best friend. If he could deflect some of the anger onto himself and save a riot, then that’s what he had to do. Stepping forward, he had a strong urge to tuck his tail and run when Ella’s family zeroed in on him. “Mr. and Mrs. Webber. I’m glad you are here.” Shit, he actually got that out with a straight face. “I know you’re worried about Ella. They just took her back to surgery and my friend, Julie,” he looked around, but Julie had apparently taken one look at the situation and decided to bail, “Well, she is a nurse here and she has promised to keep us all updated.”

“Who put you in charge of my daughter’s affairs?” her mother snapped. Waving her hands around to include everyone, “If it weren’t for all of you people, this would have never happened to Ella. She would be safely at home right now instead of in some hospital.”

Ella’s father and sister had been quiet through the exchange up until that point. Her father stepped forward and laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Dot, this is not the place.”

Crystal stepped up beside her father saying, “I agree with Daddy. This isn’t doing Ella any good. We don’t even know what happened.”

Her mother huffed, “I don’t care to know what happened from these people.”

“Dorothy, that’s enough!” Everyone in the room jumped a foot as Ella’s father’s voice reverberated off the walls. “Our daughter has been in an accident and her friends are here to support her. If you cannot control yourself, then please go home. I will not have you embarrass Ella any further with these attacks.”

Crystal gave her father a look of admiration before saying, “You go, Daddy.” Declan found himself smothering his first smile of the day at this quirky girl who reminded him so much of Ellie in that moment that it made his heart literally hurt.

Ella’s father stepped forward and extended a hand. “Declan, wasn’t it?” At his nod, he said, “Bob Webber. Could you tell us what happened please?” He was happy that Bob had decided to formally introduce himself since their first meeting had been under less than ideal circumstances. One quick glance showed Ella’s mother standing off by herself, clearly unhappy with her husband’s words, but wise enough to stay quiet for the moment.

Declan filled them in on everything he knew about the accident and Mac stepped forward to let them know that the police would be by to speak to Ella as soon as she was able to talk. He assured them that he was doing everything he could in the meantime to find out what happened and to locate the driver of the car.

The tension slowly lessened in the room as the Webbers settled into one side of the waiting room and the rest of them in the other. He wasn’t sure how long he had been staring off into space when someone tapped his shoulder. He was surprised to see Crystal sit down beside him. “It’s okay,” she smiled, “I’m not going to go all crazy on you like Mom.”

He gave her a smile in return, once again struck by how much she resembled her sister when she smiled. “That’s good to know. I don’t think I could handle another round this soon.”

“I’ll bet,” she laughed. “She means well most of the time, but she has no idea how to go about communicating with people. She is so caught up in what people think about her that it has taken over her life. I just know she is as miserable most of the time as she makes all of us. Poor Daddy, I’m so proud of him for finally sticking up for Ella today. He used to be kind of like Mom, but I think he has gotten burned out from all of the social climbing. He’d love nothing better than to be left alone in his workshop to putter around.”

Declan really looked at her for probably the first time, seeing a lot beneath the surface. “It must be pretty tough on you with Ella gone from home.”

Crystal sighed, and then looked down at her hand for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “I was pretty jealous at first,” she admitted. “I was trapped in a marriage that was mostly miserable and I had completely bowed to the pressure of trying to be the perfect daughter. When Ella moved out and seemed to be doing so well, it finally hit me that instead of being jealous of her for finally getting a life of her own, I should take control of my own. I’m not saying it happened overnight, but I’m trying. I may end up in divorce court before it’s over, which of course means that Mom will never speak to me again, but I’ve got to live my life.” Her voice caught on a sob when she added, “Ella showed me that.”

He could feel a lump in his own throat as he thought of the woman he loved lying in surgery. That woman meant so much to the people around her. He had tried to fight it. He had railed against it, denied it, and just downright lied to himself—and her—but if he was honest, he was a goner from their meeting at Suzy’s house. When she had ended up sitting next to him at dinner, he had been hooked. She was so obviously ill at ease that he had felt all of his protective instincts kick in. When Nick had flirted with her to put her at ease, he had wanted to kick his ass. That night had begun a cycle for him. He had started seeking her out almost every day, first making it look accidental and later, as their conversations had gotten easier and increased in frequency, he had begun bringing her things like her favorite coffee or candy. Hell, he didn’t even know when the habit had started. He just knew she had become the focal point of his day. His Ellie deserved so much better than someone as fucked up as him, but if she would give him a chance, he would spend the rest of his life trying to become a man worthy of a woman like her.

Mac gave him a nudge when Julie walked back in the room. He jumped to his feet, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. Ella’s parents also walked toward their group hoping for some news. He couldn’t tell anything from Julie’s expression. When she gave him a brief smile before she started talking, he felt like sagging to the floor in relief. “Ella is out of surgery,” she began, “and she’s stable right now. They are confident that they found the source of the bleeding and repaired as much as they could. She will probably still need another surgery when she is stronger, but the goal today was to stop the internal bleeding.”

“When can we see her?” Ella’s mother demanded.

“She’s going to be out for hours now. It will probably be tomorrow. I would advise you all to go home and get some sleep tonight. She’s going to need you all during her recovery so you need to be strong for her.”

Declan knew there was no way in hell he was leaving the hospital until he saw her again. He was relieved when her parents seemed to be taking Julie’s advice and gathering their things. Her father walked over and gave him a piece of paper with his cell phone number on it and asked if he would call if there was any change and assured him they would be back first thing in the morning. Crystal also gave him a wave and he was pretty certain that both she and her father were leaving the hospital before her mother could inflict further damage. He walked back over to their friends. “You guys should go home for the night, too. Beth, I know Ella would be pissed off at me and Nick if we let you sit in these hard chairs all night.”

Beth clearly didn’t want to leave, but Nick was ignoring her protests and steering her toward the door. “Princess, I promise we will come back bright and early tomorrow and they will call us if anything changes. Your feet are swollen and don’t forget the doctor said you needed to keep them up as much as possible.” They were still arguing as Nick ushered her gently out of the door.

He convinced Claire and Jason to go next, knowing that they had a baby at home who needed them tonight.

After their departure, Suzy raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not pregnant and we don’t have a kid at home waiting for us. I’m staying right here and Gray has even offered to make a Starbucks run so we won’t have to drink this hospital crap.”

“Same here,” Ava added, while Mac and Brant nodded in agreement.

True to his word, Gray took everyone’s orders and went down the street to pick up coffee. Brant went with him to help him carry it all back. Suzy leaned forward after they left and said, “Man, Ella’s mother is a stone, cold bitch. I’m still pissed at Gray for not letting me tell her off.”

Declan now knew why Gray looked so happy to be going to Starbucks to juggle coffee cups. He would probably go to the one in another state just to buy a little time away from his wife. “She’s a little . . . difficult.”

Even Ava looked at him with disbelief. “Difficult? Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. This is a whole new you, brother. I can’t believe how serious you are about this woman. I’m surprised and strangely impressed.”

“How about inspired?” Mac muttered under his breath. Declan was pretty sure that either Ava hadn’t heard his reply or chose to ignore it.

When Gray and Brant made it back with the coffee, everyone settled back in their seats and talked comfortably while CNN played on the television beside them. When Julie came back in, Declan was surprised to see it was after midnight. He had to wonder if he had dozed off at some point.

Julie stopped beside his seat. “Are Ella’s parents still here?” When he shook his head, she looked relieved. “I can sneak you back for a few minutes. She’s still asleep, but you can see her.”

Eagerly, he jumped to his feet and gave her a smile of gratitude. “Thanks, Julie, I really appreciate it.” He followed her down another corridor into the ICU wing.

“She’ll be here for a few days until she’s moved to a regular room. It’s what we call the penthouse of the hospital,” she joked.

The first thing that struck him when he walked into the room was how small Ella looked in the bed. She looked childlike and he felt every protective instinct in him come roaring to the surface. He would lay his life down to spare her from what she was going through now.

How could someone do this to her and then drive off and leave her there? What if another car had struck her before someone could help? Not only had they hurt her, they had left her lying in the fucking road like she was worthless. That was what haunted him the most. His sweet Ellie, hurt and him not knowing for hours. What if he never had the chance to tell her how he felt? What if she had died thinking he wanted nothing from her but sex? If he had manned up and came home on time, things might have been different. In the back of his mind, he knew how things would have played out. He would have broken it off with her, been at home licking his wounds, and miserable as hell without her. Wouldn’t it be worth it though if it would have saved her from where she was at now?

The door clicked as Julie walked back out and he gazed down at the woman he loved. Tears tracked down his cheeks and his vision blurred. He felt no shame at his loss of control. After finally letting himself love someone, he could accept that in order to be strong, you had to open yourself up to being vulnerable. Ella was his strength and his weakness. She was all things to him and he would never stop trying to be all things to her. He dropped in the chair next to her and took her hand before laying his head on the bed beside her. He kissed her palm and felt peace at the steady pulse beneath his fingertips.

* * *

Ella blinked several times trying to clear her vision. She felt like she was trying to see through a thin film over her eyes. After several attempts, the room started to come into focus and confused her even more. Where was she? This wasn’t her apartment and it wasn’t Declan’s. She looked down and saw the dark head resting against her arm. It took some effort as her limbs felt so heavy, but finally she was able to lift her hand and stroke Declan’s hair. It was always so soft, almost like a baby’s. He groaned under her touch, starting to stir. She studied her hand against his head with an almost detached curiosity. Why was there a tube taped there? Her thought process was so slow that it was hard to form any kind of rational thought.

Declan groaned at the weight of her hand against him and suddenly bolted upright. When he saw her looking at him a huge grin split his face. “Ellie, baby! Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” she croaked. Her throat was dry and felt rusty. “Water?” she asked.

He pushed the button for the nurse, still grinning at her. “Hang on, baby, someone is coming. How are you feeling?”

“Where . . . what?”

He picked her hand back up, moving gingerly around the IV. “Honey, you were in an accident, a hit-and-run.”

She searched her memory, trying to remember what he was describing. “Your flowers,” she whispered.

Clearly not understanding, he leaned closer, “What, baby?”

“Someone made me drop your flowers . . . so sorry . . . your tulips.”

Declan felt a kick to his gut. She had gotten hit by a car, but was apologizing to him about flowers? Was her injury making her delusional?

He stroked her uninjured cheek. “Just rest, Ellie. You are going to be alright.”

“Bought you flowers, something hit me . . . I . . . dropped them.”

Holy fuck! She was in the hospital and she was upset over dropping flowers she had bought for him? If he hadn’t already admitted to himself that he loved her that would have surely brought him to his knees. “Ellie,” he whispered near her ear. When her eyes fluttered back open, he said, “I love you, sweet girl. I love you so damn much.”

“Love you,” she muttered before she drifted back off. As far as first declarations of love went, it was brief, but he knew it was a moment that would be etched on his heart forever.

Chapter Twenty

Ella had been in the hospital for over two weeks and by now she was ready to climb the walls. She knew that she should just be grateful to be alive and she was, but being poked, prodded and woken at all hours of the night was getting old. Declan had been her saving grace. True to form, they had fallen into a pattern that revolved around love almost as easily as they had established one around friendship. He visited in the morning before work, then during lunch, and once he was done with work for the evening.

She had been vaguely aware of him telling her that he loved her before her first surgery, but he had done more than that since. He had showed her in so many ways. He dealt with her parents like a pro and, even though she would never admit it, she was pretty sure that her mother was actually starting to like him now. Her father and Crystal had been easier to win over. He had even brought Evan by a few times to see her and on their last visit, they smuggled in Happy Meals for all of them. A hamburger had never tasted so good. Declan also helped her shower, wash her hair, and was infinitely patient with her when she was feeling sorry for herself or frustrated by her body’s limitations.

The nurses had fallen in love with him as well. For someone as standoffish as Declan had been, this suddenly social Declan was truly something to experience. He was always dropping off donuts or some goody for the nurses because he wanted to thank them for taking such good care of Ella. They turned a blind eye to the visiting hours policy where he was concerned. He came and went as he wanted, and they had no problem with it. He had even been caught several times in the bed with Ella when she couldn’t sleep. Instead of scolding him, the morning nurse had actually praised him for taking his shoes off first.

Ella was up and walking each day now. The doctors had been forced to remove her spleen when it ruptured and she had also undergone an additional surgery to repair the damage to her pelvis. She was now more like the bionic woman than she would have ever wanted, thanks to the plates and screws it had taken to stabilize her fractured pelvis. She was still walking with a limp, but it improved as her flexibility returned in small measures.

When the door to her room opened, she felt a smile tugging at her lips as Declan walked in carrying his latest contraband item. She was pretty sure the cup he carried contained her favorite white chocolate mocha and the bag in his other hand contained a cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting. The man certainly knew what she loved. He gave her an easy smile in return as he pulled her tray over to the bed and settled the coffee and bag on top of it. He leaned over and rested his lips lightly against hers. He dropped one more kiss on the tip of her nose before pulling back. “Hey, baby, how’s my girl today?”

“Going crazy here,” she pouted. “I’m ready to go home.”

“Awww, I know, Ellie. I might have some news that will interest you though.”

“Oh, please tell me you have some good office gossip,” she moaned.

Chuckling, Declan said, “Nope, sorry, I guess you will have to settle for going home tomorrow instead.”

“What! Oh my God, please don’t be kidding about that!”

“I’m serious, baby. Julie said that the doctor is planning to release you tomorrow, as long as you are still doing as well as you are now. He is supposed to be by to talk to you later this morning.”

She felt tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. Since her accident, it seemed like she cried whether she was happy or sad. One of the nurses told her that a traumatic event caused your emotions to be unsettled for a while and that sure was the case with Ella. She went through a box of Kleenex every few days. “I’m so happy,” she whispered.

Declan gently wiped her tears away and said, “Yeah, I can see that, Ellie. It’s going to be okay. Is there anything in particular that you need from your apartment? I’ll try to get everything this afternoon so we can go straight to my place tomorrow when you’re released.”

After some initial opposition from her parents, it had been decided that Ella would live with Declan until she was fully recovered. He had an elevator in his apartment, which would make it easier for her to come and go until she was healed. She had been worried about being a burden on him, but the idea seemed to thrill him. She had to wonder if he ever intended for her to return to her place. “I could use some of my clothing and um . . . underwear.”

“You got it. Ellie . . . I love you.”

Ella melted as she did every time he said those words to her. Would she ever get used to hearing them? “I love you, too.” Oh crap, more tears. She didn’t think she had ever said those words to him without crying either. Ugh.

He mopped her up from her latest round of waterworks and handed her the cup of coffee he had brought. When she was finished, they took a walk in the corridors until she was tired and her limp more pronounced. When they returned to the room, Mac was waiting for them.

* * *

“Hey, guys. I figured you were around here somewhere. Ella, you look even better than you did yesterday.”

Ella smiled at the man she had grown close to in such a short amount of time. “Thanks, Mac. You’re early today.” He usually dropped by in the afternoon to check on her and bring her some new reading material.

“Yeah, I’ve got some news and I hoped to catch Declan here.” Declan sent him a questioning look and Mac nodded slightly. “They have the person who hit you in custody, Ella.”

Declan pulled her against him, bracing her as she started to tremble. “Who is the bastard?” He knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. Mac rubbed his forehead before releasing a deep breath.

“She’s just a scared and freaked out, seventeen-year-old kid. The police were close to identifying the car from the video cameras at the supermarket. Well, this morning the girl and her parents walked into the police station and she turned herself in. Said she just couldn’t take it anymore. She told her parents everything and they all came in together.”

Declan heard Ella release a ragged sob and he knew the feeling. Fuck! Since the accident, he had dreamed about the moment they would find the monster that had hurt Ella and now he felt even more helpless than before. His anger was all that had kept him going for those first few days. His need for justice and, hell, probably even revenge. Shit.

“What’s going to happen to her?” Ella asked.

“They pulled her cell phone records and she was texting right around the time she hit you. She admitted that much herself. They were booking her when I left. I have a buddy there who let me know and I swung by there. She’ll probably get hit with a fine and she could either see some jail time or probation and community service.”

Declan knew Ella was crying again. It was part of the healing process for her. She had been to hell and back and she needed the release that it brought. “Ellie, baby, let’s get you back in the bed. I’m going to call the nurse and have her bring you something.”

She let him settle her back into the bed, but grabbed his arm as he started to straighten back up. “I want you to help her.”

He stiffened as the meaning sank in. “Ellie—”

She looked at him and then at Mac. “I want you both to help her. I’m alive and, even though she made a horrible mistake, I don’t want her more traumatized than she already is. This will probably haunt her for the rest of her life. What else could I possibly do to her that hasn’t already been done?”

“Ellie, she hurt you. She could have killed you. I don’t know if I can let it go,” Declan pleaded. His heart felt like it was breaking as tears continued to stream down her face unchecked. He felt his thirst for retribution slowly drain out of him as he looked into the anguished face of the woman he loved. For her, he could let it go. If Ella could not only forgive, but try to help the person who had hurt her, could he do any less? He pulled her gently against him, whispering against her neck, “Okay, baby, shhh, I’ll take care of it.” He rocked her for a few minutes until she had settled down and was surprised to see that she was asleep when he finally pulled back. The emotional upheaval had drained her weak body completely. He looked around and saw that the room was empty.

As he suspected, Mac was waiting in the corridor. Declan knocked his head back against the wall once in frustration before saying, “You heard her, find out what we can do to make this as easy for the girl as we can. I only have one stipulation. When this is over, she will come to Ellie and see the person she could have killed. I want an apology, in person, from her to Ellie. She needs to completely understand the ramifications of her actions. That is nonnegotiable to me.”

“Agreed,” Mac replied. “She’s really something,” he added admiringly. “After all she’s been through; she was more worried about that girl than herself. If I weren’t so damn happy for you, I’d hate your guts.”

Declan clapped his friend on the shoulder knowing he was thinking of Ava. “Yeah, she is something and I was about to give up and walk away from her just a few weeks ago. It took almost losing her to kick some sense into me. Loving Ellie helped me to deal with some of my baggage; maybe Ava needs to lose you before she can deal with hers.”

Clearly frustrated, Mac said, “Ava knows I’ve been here for her all along. She doesn’t want the help or, if she does, she doesn’t want it from me.”

“You know Ava had it worse than all of us. That bastard really messed her up.”

“I know that, Dec. I’ll never get the picture out of my head of when she crawled to my door that night. Shit, don’t you think I know all of that?”

As he started to answer, he heard Ella calling his name from the room. “Just think about what I said, okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Mac muttered.

As Declan started back into Ella’s room, he turned back to Mac who had already started down the hall. “Mac?” When he turned around, Declan took a breath and said, “Let me know when Amy gets into town. If I’m making the girl who hit Ella face her, then I need to step up and meet Craig’s family.”

Mac smiled and said, “Good deal,” as he headed back down the hall. No matter how things went at that next step, Declan felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was officially facing another major hurdle in his life and he knew he owed it all to the woman smiling at him from her hospital bed. But if she noticed that he held her for just a little longer than usual that day, she didn’t mention it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Declan carried Ella through the door of his apartment and deposited her gently down onto the couch. She settled back against the cushions and moaned in bliss. “I’m so glad to be out of that hospital. I’m sure all of the nurses are going to miss you, though. I felt like I was leaving with Tom Cruise or something.”

He threw her a sheepish smile as he dropped her bag onto the chair next to her. She would swear that he was even blushing. All of the nurses had lined up in the hallway when the pair left and, instead of wishing her well, they had all hugged Declan and told him to stay in touch. She was pretty sure that they had forgotten that she was actually the one that had been hospitalized. He sure had a group of loyal fans there.

“Baby, are you sure you’re up to having Evan here for a few hours? I can get you settled in bed and keep him out here while you rest.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit beside her. “Mister, you are gonna have a fight on your hands if you try to put me back in bed.” Giving him a wicked grin, she added, “Well, unless you have something in mind other than me sleeping?”

“Ellie,” he groaned, “Don’t look at me that way.”

“What?” she asked innocently as she trailed her hand over his crotch.

He took her hand and put it back beside her on the couch. He laughed as she pouted. “Behave yourself. I don’t need Evan asking why I’m walking around hunched over. I’m still battling the hard-on I got from carrying you in the door. I don’t need any encouragement where you’re concerned.”

She still had to fight the urge to squeal like a girl and shout, “He loves me!” Unlike her parents who had wanted to make all of her decisions, when Declan took care of her, she felt loved. He was so gentle with her and sensitive to her every need. Even though it went against every instinct he had, at her request, he asked Mac to help the girl who had hit her. Sara had come by the hospital that morning to apologize. She and her parents cried as they apologized and thanked her profusely. Thanks to Mac’s influence with the district attorney, Sara would not do jail time and instead would perform community service at a local children’s shelter. Sara told Ella she had gotten rid of her cell phone, and she never wanted another one. Ella was pretty sure she would change her mind about that later on, but was happy that she realized how dangerous it was to use while driving.

The next thing she knew Ella jerked awake. She couldn’t remember dozing off, but she must have. Evan sat beside his father on the coffee table in front of her. “Do you think she’s okay, Dad?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. I bet she must be hungry.”

“Are we gonna ask her?”

“Yep, you know what to say, right?”

Ella had shut her eyes while she listened to father and son talk. She wondered what plan they were hatching. She felt Evan poke her in the shoulder and opened one eye to look at him. “Yesss?”

Evan giggled. “She’s alive, Dad. Are you hungry, Ellie?”

“I’m starving, Evan. Whatcha got for me?” Evan and Declan moved to the side and she spotted a pink cake behind them. “Mmmm, is that strawberry, my favorite?”

Evan nodded. “We made it for you. Can you sit up ‘cause I got something to ask you.”

Ella smiled. Could he be any more adorable? She looked over at Declan who had been strangely silent through their exchange. He looked a little pale. Maybe he should find something else to do with Evan besides baking. She settled back on the sofa after getting comfortable and said, “Alright, kid, lay it on me.”

Evan cleared his throat and looked at his father. When Declan gave him a slight nod, he said, “We made you your favorite cake so we can celebrate if you give us a good answer.”

Ella lifted a brow. “So what you’re saying is I have to answer the question right or I don’t get any cake?”

“Yeah. Daddy says we can only ‘cept one answer. Can I ask you the question now?”

“Please do, I’m starving.”

When Evan and Declan each dropped to one knee in front of her, she laughed. Boy, this must be something major if they were reduced to this. When Evan asked, “Ella, will you marry us?” It took her a few seconds for the words to sink in. Her head started spinning and her heart was racing. She heard Evan say, “What’s wrong with her, Daddy? She hasn’t said anything.”

“Ellie?” Declan was starting to sound a little panicky.

As the implication of what was going on hit her, Ella started laughing. “Oh my God, yes!” She threw her arms around a nervous looking Declan and an excited Evan. “I’d love to marry you guys. I can’t think of anything in this world I would rather do!”

Evan squirmed out of her hold, running to the kitchen to get some plates for the cake, while Declan crushed her against him. “Is this a real yes?” he asked.

She felt tears running down her face as she said, “Yes. I . . . I’m so happy and surprised.”

With a huge grin, Declan said, “I knew you couldn’t say no to Evan.”

“I couldn’t say no to his daddy either.” When Evan came back into the room, they were lost in a long, drugging kiss. He wedged his way between them holding up a ring box.

He held it out to Declan and said, “I got her ring like I was supposed to.” Then looking confused he added, “We really will need plates though, won’t we?”

Declan slid the beautiful princess-cut diamond ring on her finger and asked her formally, “Ella Marie Webber, will you marry me?”

Her tears continued to fall as she said, “I would love to marry you, Declan, and you, Evan.” Father and son beamed, and the three admired the diamond on her finger.

“Ellie, I only have two more things to ask of you. Please don’t make me wait long and please don’t let your mother hurt me.”

She burst out laughing thinking there was something really wrong with her. How could she be crying one moment and laughing the next. Being in love had shown her one thing, she never knew what to expect, even from herself.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The bride was radiant in an off-the-shoulder, white silk gown. And the other bride glowed in an empire waist, organza dress that clearly showed her advanced stage of pregnancy. Flower petals lined the aisle, courtesy of a handsome flower boy named Evan. The bridesmaids consisted of Claire, Suzy, Ava, and Emma. The groomsmen were Jason, Gray, Brant, and Mac.

Declan smiled at Evan as he fidgeted beside him. On the other side of the altar, Nick fidgeted almost as much. Ella and Beth stood inside the double doors at the back of the church waiting for the wedding march to begin.

Declan had to marvel at the changes that falling in love with Ella had brought about in him. He had led such a solitary existence until he met her. Now he had friends he socialized with, and he was marrying the woman of his dreams, in a double ceremony, no less.

A couple weeks after he asked Ella to marry him, she had come to him with a hopeful expression on her sweet face. Beth wanted to marry Nick before their baby was born. She wanted to prove to herself that she could walk down the aisle while she was pregnant and not give in to her need to lose weight first. He didn’t fully understand it, but Ella did. She knew that her friend badly wanted to carry through with her plans, but was very nervous about being the center of attention. Ella had come up with a plan for Beth to have the wedding she wanted, but not have to be alone in the spotlight.

Declan was helpless to deny her anything when she looked at him with those big eyes. She said she had been fully prepared to beg or bribe him if necessary. He had agreed without any need for begging, but enjoyed her enthusiastic thanks just the same.

In true fashion, the idea of a double wedding with her daughter’s pregnant best friend had appalled Ella’s mother, but faced with the possibility of not being a part of her daughter’s wedding, she had given in and taken over a lot of the planning. Originally, Beth had wanted a beach wedding like her sister, but with her pregnancy and Ella still recovering from her surgeries, they had decided it wasn’t a great idea to walk down an aisle made of shifting sand.

Ella’s mother had surprised everyone when she stepped forward and suggested the family church for the wedding. Declan had expected her to suggest a location in another state to make sure none of their friends attended, but he had underestimated her ability to adjust when it was necessary. He had no doubt she was going to be the mother-in-law from hell, but since she had already busted in on them in bed, what was left, really?

The wedding march started and he felt his eyes start to well up as the best friends clasped hands and started down the aisle. Their fathers had agreed to walk behind them in a nontraditional show of support. At nine months pregnant, Beth waddled a bit, but she was beautiful as her eyes clung to the man beside Declan.

Ella still walked with a slight limp that was hardly noticeable to those who didn’t know about her accident. She was radiant and as always, he felt like he was the only man in the world when she looked at him. He was world-weary and battle scarred, but with her love, he had a fresh thirst for life that he would never have thought possible. He might never forget the traumas he had experienced, but when the shadows came, she was there to push them back with the light.

Even his nightmares had lessened in frequency and intensity over the last few weeks and he knew he owed that partly to Ella and her unconditional acceptance as well as to his sessions with his therapist. Ella had been just as happy as Mac when he finally told her about his weekly meetings. She had even accompanied him to a few of them. Even though he was dealing with his memories better, he still planned to keep seeing Dr. Robertson. He never wanted to return to his darkest days again. He thanked God he no longer had dreams about her dying, but had to wonder if somehow the previous ones had been some sort of a warning. He liked to think that maybe Craig was looking out for them from above. He would always be rough around the edges, but he suspected there was a part of her that loved leaving her straight-laced upbringing to run with him on the wild side.

As the vows were exchanged and Beth became Mrs. Merimon and Ella became Mrs. Stone, there wasn’t a dry eye in the church. Even Suzy, who was usually the tough one, was openly sobbing and looking extremely pissed off about it. She would probably scold them later for making her ruin her makeup. Nick had swept Beth into an elaborate dip and he was pretty sure Beth was going to kill him when he finally got her back up. Declan had Ella tucked safely against his side, where he planned to keep her for at least another fifty or sixty years, and beyond that if he had anything to do with it.

“I love you, Ellie,” he whispered in her ear.

She beamed at him, looking happy and peaceful. “I love you too, husband.” He couldn’t help himself; he bent down and kissed her again . . . and again.

The pastor cleared his throat saying under his breath, “I think we’ve already covered the part where you kiss the bride.”

Declan pulled away and noticed everyone in the church smiling at them and beside him, Nick gave him a nudge, “Save something for the wedding night, bro.”

He chuckled, “There’s plenty more where that came from.” And then the four of them exited the church together with Beth and Ella holding hands in the middle.

* * *

The reception was held at a local country club. Servers circulated with champagne or, for those who preferred the nonalcoholic option, sparkling water. After the cocktail hour there would be a full dinner with a choice of prime rib or smoked salmon. There were also options for the guests who were vegetarians. Ella stood beside her new husband smiling as he joked around with Gray, Jason, and Nick. He had come so far from the standoffish man he used to be. He would never be a party animal, but she had no doubt, he would be one of the best friends that these men would have in their lifetime.

Her hip gave a small twinge from all of the activity of the day, but it was minor. She was grateful that her sister had plied her with Advil before the ceremony. Thinking of her sister, she looked around the room until she spotted her standing beside her husband. They were going through a rough spot. Crystal had spent so many years trying to be everything to everyone that she had started to crack under the pressure. She had finally decided that in order to keep her sanity, she had to make some changes and finally be the person that she wanted to be. Bill was scrambling to keep up with the new Crystal, but the look of adoration he had in his eyes when he looked at his wife told Ella that no matter how hard change was for everyone involved, if there was love, then eventually they would find their way back to each other.

“Ellie.”

The bride turned her attention from her sister and back to her husband as he cupped her elbow to turn her to see a strawberry-blonde woman, who appeared to be in her twenties, and a little girl approach. The pair that looked so much like a mother and a daughter stood next to Declan’s friend, Mac. Ella returned the woman’s friendly smile as Declan shifted and looked suddenly nervous. “Honey, this is Amy and her daughter, Renee.”

It took Ella a moment for everything to click into place. Craig’s Amy. Ella had sent her an invitation through Mac since she knew that she was visiting the area. She had desperately hoped that Craig’s wife would come. Declan needed to see the wife of the friend he held so dear. She stepped forward and pulled Amy into a hug. “I’m so happy to meet you,” and smiling at Renee she added, “and you too, Miss Renee.”

Amy returned her embrace and then turned to Declan. She put her arms around him and for a few moments they simply held each other, both lost in the memory of the man they loved. They both had tears in their eyes when they pulled back. “I’m so happy for you both, and I am thrilled that you included me in your special day. You have no idea how much this means to me.” She clasped Declan’s hand tightly in her own, “Craig would have been overjoyed and I know he is up there somewhere enjoying this day along with us.”

An obviously emotional Declan handed her a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. “I brought this for Ella, but I think you and I probably need it more right now.” His joke lightened the mood and everyone chuckled before he turned serious again. “Thank you, Amy, for coming. I . . . I’m sorry I never came to see you after . . . but I just . . . didn’t know what to say truthfully. I let you both down.”

Amy started shaking her head, “No, you didn’t. Craig talked about you all the time. He was always telling me how you looked out for him. He wouldn’t have been the man I loved if he hadn’t tried to save someone he thought was in trouble. My husband died a hero, and that is what I will always remember. My husband was a hero, Declan, and neither of us can take that away from him.”

Ella clasped Declan’s hand as she saw some of the weight visibly leave his broad shoulders. Knowing that Amy didn’t hate him for Craig’s death was something that would make this day even more memorable. All of the guilt and self-hatred was falling away and the wonderful man beneath it all was starting to shine through. Ella had always known he was there and her heart melted as she saw Declan realizing it as well.

Mac stepped forward looking pretty emotional, but trying to hide it. “If you two are finished with all of the crying, it looks like we’re missing a great party.” He gave Amy a quick hug and escorted her and Renee to a table.

Declan turned to Ella and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you for that, baby. I don’t even have the words to tell you how much it means to me.”

She pulled back and tenderly stroked his handsome face. “I know. You don’t need the words. I’m just glad you aren’t mad at me for not telling you. I talked to Amy last week, Mac gave me her number. She doesn’t blame you, she never has. She is so happy that Craig had you. He thought of you as a brother.”

Declan kissed her nose before nuzzling against her neck. “I could never be mad at you. You are the only one in my life who has ever understood what I need. You saved me, baby. Your love has made me the man I never thought I could be.”

“Oh, Declan,” she whispered, “You were already that man. That’s why I fell in love with you. I saw the real you, I always have.”

* * *

After dinner and a toast from Suzy that had everyone laughing, the brides cut the cake and the floor was cleared for dancing. Suzy had booked a band that she often used for special events at Danvers.

Ella laid her head on her husband’s shoulder and sighed in pure bliss. She smiled as Claire and Jason passed by in each other’s arms with Suzy and Gray not far behind. Julie and Graham gave them a happy smile when they danced by. Ella was happy that they seemed to have worked out their problems and she figured that another wedding was right around the corner. When Beth and Nick got near, she reached out and clasped hands with her best friend, both of them still emotional. When Beth gripped Ella’s hand with all her strength, both couples came to a halt.

Nick patted her on the back and joked, “Princess, you need to let go. I’m all for a little girl-on-girl, but at our wedding and you pregnant, it just seems a little wrong.”

Declan chuckled. For the most part, he had gotten used to Nick’s sense of humor.

Ella looked closer at Beth’s face, finally noticing the pale color. “Beth . . . ?”

Nick suddenly jumped back, looking down in horror. “Honey, did you just . . . pee on me?”

All of the dancing in the vicinity came to a halt and Nick’s voice seemed to echo off the walls. “I think my water just broke!” Beth squeaked out.

Claire and Suzy rushed over, while Nick paled an even lighter shade of white. “Oh, shit, the suitcase is in the car. Let’s go.”

They all gaped at him as he took off toward the exit without Beth. Suzy put her hands on her hips, “Where is that fool going? Unless you two are playing switch the baby, he kind of needs you in the car.”

Jason smirked, “Yeah, hopefully that will hit home before he actually leaves.”

Ella put her arm around Beth and Suzy took the other side. Claire cleared a path. The men followed behind, clearly at a loss as to how to help. Gray stepped around saying, “I’ll, um . . . go find my brother.”

They had almost made it to the door when Gray came back in with a harried-looking Nick. “Princess, I’m sorry. I lost my mind there for a minute.”

Gray shook his head. “He was actually backing out of the parking space when I found him. I think he would have continued on to the hospital.”

Suzy rolled her eyes and stepped back for him to take Beth’s side. Nick was trying to be calm, but still looked ready to pass out. Suzy and Beth’s parents walked up behind them with Beth’s mother stepping forward. “Your father and I will take care of your guests here, if you need to leave now.”

The whole conversation felt a little awkward to Ella, but she had mother issues of her own so she couldn’t really throw stones. Beth nodded her head, adding a quick “Thanks,” as they separated and went to their cars.

By the time they made it to the hospital, Beth was gasping in pain and Nick was in danger of losing his mind while he tried to do breathing exercises with her. Gray and Nick’s mother planned to be in the delivery room. She had also invited Ella, but Ella felt like it should just be their families. Brant and Emma were the last to arrive at the hospital. They came down the hallway arguing. Brant was shaking his head saying, “Where on God’s earth did you learn to drive? You almost killed us three times.”

“Well, you should have driven yourself, Mr. Dictator,” Emma huffed. “Oh wait, your car was blocked in so you couldn’t. Wow, it seems like I did you a favor.”

“You call almost killing me a favor,” Brant said incredulously.

“Please tell me you aren’t staying,” Emma moaned.

“Fuck me,” Declan whispered, “What’s wrong with them?”

Jason shook his head while Claire smiled. “I think they’re kind of cute.”

Ella nodded in agreement.

Suzy raised a brow, “I think it’s some kind of redneck foreplay.” Gray patted her shoulder and rolled his eyes. John, Gray’s father, looked amused as he studied the bickering couple.

Beth and Suzy’s parents came to the hospital a few hours later and, after exchanging a few words, they retreated to the waiting room across the hall. Ella knew things were strained there, but she was glad they had come to the hospital to support their daughter. She looked around at the rest of their group. No wonder people were staring at them as they walked by. She was sitting here in her wedding dress, while the rest of them looked like they were going to the prom. The women still had on their long bridesmaid dresses and the men were in their tuxedos.

They had been waiting almost three hours when Nick’s mother walked into the waiting room crying softly. Everyone jumped to their feet and her husband walked to her side, lovingly embracing her. With tears still rolling down her face, she said, “We have a new baby. Henry John Merimon was born twenty minutes ago and weighs seven pounds and ten ounces. He’s . . . perfect.”

Ella saw tears in John Merimon’s eyes. He had looked surprised and touched to find out that Beth and Nick had named the baby after him and his wife’s father. Suzy was wrapped in Gray’s arms and they looked a little teary over the new Merimon family addition.

A few minutes later, Nick walked out with the baby. A nurse was hovering behind him to take the baby to the nursery for his first checkup. Ella felt her own tears gathering as she looked at Nick with his new son. The look of awe and happiness was enough to have everyone in their group a little misty eyed. She couldn’t help but imagine Declan standing there showing off their baby. She must have been pretty transparent, because she felt his hand slide across her flat stomach and rest there. Maybe in the near future, Evan would have a new brother or sister to play with. Between her and Declan, and Julie and Graham, that was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Epilogue

It was her first Christmas as a married woman and Ella was giddy with excitement. She had been married for four months and she still had to pinch herself to make sure it was all real. On Christmas Day they would be having lunch with her parents and dinner with Declan’s family including Julie, Evan, and Graham. They had all become a family unit and had even double dated with Julie and Graham a few times. Understandably, Graham had been thrown when Declan entered their lives. He had been afraid of losing Julie and Evan. When he finally understood that there was nothing romantic there, he had been happy that Evan would have two father figures in his life.

Beth and Nick were settling into their roles as new parents. The first few months had been a little rocky for them and they still looked terribly sleep deprived, but Beth had never looked happier. Unlike Claire and Jason who were happy to have anyone hold Chrissy, Beth and Nick were just the opposite. They were terrified of someone dropping Henry or giving him some kind of illness. Beth joked that Nick had turned into a major phobic about germs and was driving her crazy with his constant nagging about her hand washing. Suzy had even overcome her aversion to kids for her new nephew. Nick had grudgingly allowed her and Gray to babysit one evening so that he and Beth could have some time alone. Gray had snapped a picture with his cell phone of Suzy’s reaction the first time Henry spit up on her. In one word . . . it was priceless.

Declan walked in as Ella placed the last wrapped present under their tree. She could still remember how choked up he had gotten as they had decorated their first tree together. He hadn’t had a tree since his parents were alive and it was an emotional moment for him. He helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms. “Hello, wife.”

Smiling she said, “Hello yourself, husband. Where have you been?”

“Getting your Christmas present.”

She looked around, not seeing any bags on the floor. With a mischievous smile, she lowered her hand to his crotch. “Should I start by looking here?”

He groaned, giving her a sexy laugh. “Um . . . there is definitely something in there for you, Ellie. But right now, we need a car to go get your first present.” Pushing his hardening cock against her hand, he added, “You can have that present when we get back.”

She rubbed her body against his, teasing him. “The car, huh? I think the seats recline—”

Declan pushed her away from him saying, “Ellie, behave yourself or we’ll never make it to your present tonight.”

Intrigued, Ella let him bundle her into her coat and settle her in the car. They appeared to be heading toward Gray and Suzy’s. Surely a visit with their friends wasn’t on the agenda for tonight. When they passed Suzy and Gray’s she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Just a little further, baby.” After a few more miles, Declan turned into the driveway of a two-story colonial house.

Confused, she asked, “Who lives here?”

Tweaking her nose, he said, “We do,” before leaving her in the car with her mouth hanging open.

She was still stunned when he opened her door and helped her out. “We do?” she repeated weakly.

“Yep.” He took her hand and led her up to door. “Apparently, when you work at Danvers, you get married and buy a beach house. Claire and Jason are a few miles further down the road and I think you saw Suzy and Gray’s house on the way. I have some insider information that Nick and Beth will be moving into the neighborhood very soon as well.”

Ella was still in a state of shock when he put the key in the lock and opened the door. He picked her up in his arms and carried her over the threshold. “Welcome home, Ellie.”

“Oh my,” she whispered.

When he lowered her to her feet, he took her hands in his and, with his voice full of emotion, he dropped to his knees and said, “Ella Stone, love of my life and woman of my dreams, will you live with me in our house, make it a home? Will you be the mother of our children and teach them to love just as you do? Will you love me every day as you do today even when you want to kill me? Will you—”

Ella put her fingers across his lips, whispering, “Yes. The answer to all of your questions is yes.” She moved his hand lower, placing it over her stomach. “I have a present for you and I brought it with me.”

He looked down at her and it took a moment for her meaning to sink in. He reverently lifted her shirt and looked in awe at her still-flat stomach. When he looked up at her, she nodded her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. He placed his lips against her stomach and she ran her fingers through his hair, holding him against her. Pulling back he gave her a wicked grin, “I guess it only takes one time, huh?”

She burst out laughing thinking of the night they had been out of condoms. She stopped taking the pill after they were married because they wanted to start a family in another year or two.

One night when things were hot and heavy, Declan reached for a condom. They were horrified to find the box empty. Declan’s famous words at the time were, “Just one time isn’t going to hurt, right?” She was so hot for him at that point, that she would have agreed to anything.

Ruffling his hair, she said, “Sometimes, once is all it takes.”

Then Declan pulled her into his arms and they started christening every room in their new home.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A huge thank-you to all of you who have embraced the Danvers series and continue to support it so enthusiastically. I am so touched by your letters and your comments on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for keeping me going and not letting me slack off!

A special note of thanks to my dream team. My agent, Jane Dystel, who has been a constant source of invaluable information and support and my editor, Kerry Donovan, who turns my vision into a work of art. It is always such a pleasure working with you both.

Now that you’ve enjoyed the latest book in the Danvers series, don’t miss WEEKENDS REQUIRED, where it all began for Claire and Jason! Keep reading for a special preview.

WEEKENDS REQUIRED is available now from Signet

“Holy smoking buns, a butt like his should be illegal.” Claire looked up in time to see the object of her coworker and best friend’s admiration walk past their table in the cafeteria. Jason Danvers truly did have a butt to admire. At well over six feet tall with dark brown hair that tended to curl up at the ends, compelling ice-blue eyes that looked right through you and a rugged and tanned, athletic build, Jason Danvers was very hard to ignore. His presence always seemed to dominate a room. His every movement impatient, Jason never seemed to relax. Every lady in the cafeteria was craning her neck to get a better look.

“Suzy, keep it down before Mr. Smoking Buns hears you.”

“Oh, puleeze. Don’t tell me the drool isn’t pooling in your mouth as we speak.”

“Suz, you’re too much—what’s Jeff going to do with you?”

“Well, I don’t know what Jeff has in mind, but I’ve got thoughts of handcuffs and whipped cream, myself.”

Claire had met Suzy on her first day at Danvers International, and it hadn’t taken long to form a bond with the outspoken, flashy, and hopelessly sex obsessed wisecracker. Suzy was what every little girl wanted to grow up to be: gorgeous and confident. With long dark red hair, a tall, slim build with curves in all the right places, Suzy loved pushing the fashion envelope at the office. She handled special events for Danvers International and, as she often told anyone who would listen, she was damn good at her job.

Her boss had long ago given up trying to stress the importance of the professional dress code to her and now suffered in silence when Suzy showed up for work in various forms of leather and lace or neon-colored T-shirts with catchy slogans. Claire suspected that Suzy was so beautiful that no one actually cared what she wore, as long as they could admire her every day.

Claire considered today to be a subdued day for Suzy, wearing only a blue-jean miniskirt and a rainbow-colored shirt with a peace sign on it. She often wondered how they’d bonded so quickly. Suzy had a colorful and sexy fashion style, to say the least. Claire preferred a more tailored look. Classic slacks and tops or pencil skirts in neutral tones were her usual work attire. Whereas Suzy favored I’ve-just-had-hot-sex hair, Claire’s tresses were long, auburn, and tended to curl when loose, so for the most part she kept her hair pulled back from her face in a discrete ponytail.

Suzy also loved the tanning salons, even though Claire often lectured her on the dangers of that particular pastime. Wherever they went, men stopped to stare at Suzy, and Claire might as well be a picture on the wall or a potted plant for all the attention they paid to her. Suzy always begged Claire to let her do a makeover. Claire shuddered at the thought.

“I don’t know how you work so closely with him without attacking him.”

“I value my job, and I just don’t think of him in that way—or any man for that matter right now.”

“You’re way too uptight. Live a little, Claire. You might actually enjoy it.”

Thankfully, Suzy seemed to run out of steam in a relatively short time with her “live a little” pep talk, and packed up her tray. “Want to catch a movie later or check out the new bar on the corner?” Suzy asked.

“I’ve got to run over to mom’s to pay her bills for the month.”

“One day you’re going to have a wild moment, and I hope I’m still young enough to appreciate it,” Suzy said with a dramatic sigh. “Okay, catch ya later—and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with Hot Buns.”

No matter what the differences between them, Suzy was a breath of fresh air in Claire’s otherwise dull daytime routine. She laughed under her breath and thought to herself, If Suzy had any idea what I was doing last night she would probably die of a heart attack on the spot. She hoped that would be over before anyone ever knew the lengths she was forced to go through to pay her mother’s medical bills. She gathered up her own tray and headed to the front to drop it off.

“How’re you doing today, my love?” George asked. George had been with Danvers running the cafeteria for thirty years, hired back in the day Marshall Danvers, Jason’s father, started the company. George always had a smile for everyone and, in truth, a soft spot for Claire.

“I’m good, George. Thanks for asking.”

“When are you going to let me take you away from all this?”

“Now, what in the world would Sara say, George?” Sara was George’s lady friend, as he called her, and the two were just a perfect match.

“Sara would understand if I had to trade up. We got an understanding.”

“George, you wouldn’t even know how to get up in the morning without Sara. You better hold on to her with both hands. She’s a keeper.”

“That’s true, but a guy can dream, right?”

“You’re hopeless, George. You have a good day.”

“You too, love. See you tomorrow.”

* * *

Claire walked down the hall to the elevator bank. No corners were cut with the decor of Danvers International. Everything here was gleaming: white marble floors, soft off-white walls, and stainless steel elevators with mahogany walls inside. As she stepped into the elevator she once again forced herself to remain calm. Confronting her fear of enclosed spaces was what forced her to take the elevator every day instead of the stairs. While the stairs might be better for her physically, conquering her claustrophobia was far more important.

Danvers International was a huge glass-and-steel building with twenty-five floors. Jason Danvers’ office was on the twenty-third floor, and his personal space was on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth floors. The door to Jason’s large office was closed, as usual. Putting away her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, she settled into her chair in the reception area.

Jason liked the office to be very impersonal and she was always careful to have no personal items on her desk. His one concession to some type of informality was to address her by her first name, and he liked to be addressed by his as well.

She had been working as Jason’s assistant for three years. Her job generally required her to handle all the liaising with clients, suppliers, and other staff. She was Jason’s right hand and ensured that all appointments, meetings, and projects were scheduled and staffed as needed. Her office life was never slow or boring. He was a fair boss and always treated her well. In the time they had worked together they had managed to create a comfortable relationship. It wasn’t exactly a friendship, because they didn’t have personal conversations. It was more of a mutual respect for each other’s abilities.

She was checking her e-mail when the office door opened and he strolled out. His normally wavy brown hair was rumpled as if he had been running his hands through it, and his mouth was pulled in a tight line.

“Claire, could I have a word with you in my office?”

Normally he just relied on the telephone to give orders, so it was somewhat of a surprise to be summoned personally. He waited for her to step out from behind her desk and precede him into his office. Claire was initially surprised at how at odds Jason’s office seemed to be with his personality. Jason was very direct and a person of few words. His clothing favored darker colors with his style usually expensive and conservative. At thirty-five years old, he could easily pass for someone in his twenties. His office, however, had a nautical motif. Jason had several beautiful colorful pictures of the ocean and various beach scenes, and the room was reminiscent of an expensive seaside hotel.

She had been shocked the first time she’d entered his office at how comfortable and soothing it was compared to the rest of Danvers International. She’d heard from various employees that Jason loved the sea, which was a major reason Danvers International headquarters remained in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, rather than moving to bigger cites that would offer more benefits to a company of its size.

She’d spent a lot of time in this office imagining rolling around on the floor buck naked with her boss—carpet burns be damned! Just because Suzy was her best friend didn’t mean she had to tell her that her fantasies of Jason were probably better than anything Suzy had dared to imagine. Carefully schooling her face into a neutral expression, she looked at Jason with what she hoped would pass for professionalism and not “do me” desperation.

“Claire, I need you to work this weekend. I know I usually don’t impose a weekend work schedule; however, the contracts for Mericom are supposed to be finished on Saturday, and I’ll need you to be on hand to handle any last-minute changes that may take place.”

“That’s not a problem. What time should I be in the office on Saturday?”

“That’s the problem. Unfortunately I’ll be going out of town this evening to Columbia, and I’ll need you to travel with me. My friend Harold is getting married on Sunday, and I’m expected at his home for the weekend since I’m in the wedding party.”

Oh, great. I’ve not worked weekends for over a year and rarely travel on business and now I’m being asked to do both!

“Jason, I have a previous family engagement for the weekend, but I’ll be glad to be in the office during the day on both Saturday and Sunday.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t going to work. I don’t need to remind you how big this deal with Mericom is to Danvers, do I?”

He had been working for close to a year on the acquisition of Mericom. Danvers International was the second biggest communications company in the U.S., and with the addition of Mericom, Danvers would move firmly into first place.

“No, that’s fine. Would it be a problem if you gave me directions so that I could meet you tomorrow morning?”

“I guess that’s okay. I’ll e-mail the information to you shortly.”

When Jason’s cell phone rang, she took the opportunity to excuse herself from his office. Crap, crap, crap, what am I going to do about this weekend?!

Continue reading for a special preview of

BETTING ON YOU

Available from InterMix January 2014

Mia Gentry walked through the glass doors in the lobby of the Danvers International building while singing to the music piping through her earbuds. At twenty-eight, she supposed she should feel like some dirty old lady for listening to Justin Bieber, but she loved his music. She stuck the foot of her hot-pink pump in the door of the elevator to hold it. Suzy and her husband, Gray, were standing just inside the door as she made her way inside. God, she felt like such a frump standing next to her fashion idol and her GQ man. She wondered idly if they were into threesomes. She had never tried that, but she had a bit of a girl-crush on Suzy, and Gray was smoking hot. Yeah, she wouldn’t think twice if they asked her. She smiled and muttered “Morning,” as the doors closed.

Oh my god, he had his hand on her ass. That was it for Mia. Any man confident enough to feel up his wife in a corporate America elevator was the total shit as far as she was concerned. She knew she had just found some new material for the session with her battery-operated boyfriend tonight. Suzy and Gray stepped out on the fourth floor and as the doors were closing, Suzy flashed her a grin saying, “I love your shoes.” Luckily for Mia, she managed to contain her squeal until the elevator was moving again. Yeah, this day was looking up. Her fortune cookie from last night was right: good things do come to those who wait.

She stepped off at the sixth floor into the hub of the Installation and Support department for Danvers International. This place was heaven for a geek such as herself. She had worked there for three years now and loved every minute of it. She had started out doing customer support and eventually moved up to site installation. She supervised a crew of ten people, and depending upon the job, some or all of them traveled to each site. Although, when she had moved into management, she had given up a lot of the travel that once had been required. She now went onsite for only a few days for the larger jobs or to fill in as necessary.

She grabbed a cup of coffee from the break room on her way to her corner office. Her space was small, but she treasured the window with the view of downtown Myrtle Beach. It was a big upgrade from her starter cubicle in the cube-farm down the hall. Just as she was running through the emails that had accumulated since yesterday, her boss, Hank, walked in and sank down in the chair in front of her desk.

“How’s it going, kid?”

She smiled at his standard greeting. Hank was in his forties and saw everyone around him as his kids. He had a thick mane of gray hair and if she squinted just right, he reminded her of Richard Gere. He had more than a few admirers in the office, both male and female, so apparently everyone else agreed with her assessment of his looks. “It’s going, no problems to speak of.”

Hank shook his head, giving her a rueful smile before saying, “Well, I’m about to mess that up for you. I know you’ve got half of your crew in Alabama this week, and Nikki is out with her . . . um . . . lady problem, but I’ve got a local install that just came through and it’s VIP.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “First of all, Nikki just had a baby; how is that a ‘lady problem?’ And secondly, who’s the local VIP? Unless we’re talking about something for the city, it should only require a couple of technicians, tops.”

“You know the Oceanix Resort?” Mia nodded even though it wasn’t really a question. Most locals could never afford to stay there but everyone still knew of the Oceanix Resort. It was high-end luxury. She would never voluntarily admit that she had been there to her coworkers, but she suspected that Hank knew she might be familiar with the resort. “They’re replacing their entire system with ours and the Myrtle Beach location is to be the first install. If things go well, the other nine locations will be next. The catch is they want to start on Monday, which means that the preliminary work needs to be laid out this week. Since you’d normally send Nikki on a local job, that leaves you, kid. This needs to go off without a hitch so we can’t send some wet-behind-the-ears newbie and besides, those are your people, aren’t they?”

Indeed they had been at one time. You didn’t grow up as the only child of Jefferson and Madeline Gentry without rubbing elbows with some of the privileged elite. Her parents were what you would call “old money.” If there had ever been a poor Gentry in the family tree, it was too far back to be found. She had bowed to parental pressure and attended an Ivy League college, which was probably why Hank suspected that she was from money. After she graduated, she had started to pull away from the crowd she had grown up with. The pressure to fit in had long ago gotten old and she had been eager to experience life without a constant safety net under her.

Of course, her parents had been less than thrilled with her choices. She would have thought her computer science degree would have tipped them off, but apparently they just assumed she had spent four years in college to study a hobby. When she moved out of her gated childhood home in a posh oceanfront section of Garden City Beach, they had been quite vocal in their disapproval. She had struck a compromise with them and had moved into a condominium that her father owned in nearby Surfside Beach. She wanted to hate it, but truthfully she loved her two-bedroom home right on the ocean. It was a small twelve-unit building and even though she was well paid at Danvers, it would have been out of her price range.

She rarely saw any of her childhood friends anymore. Most of them just didn’t understand her these days. As was often the case, they had all moved on. She had new friends now, such as her good friend and coworker, Nikki, who was currently on maternity leave and had named Mia the godmother of her first child. Indeed, life was different, but much better now. Her parents might never understand her, but she hoped in some tiny way they respected her need to make it on her own.

Hank snapping his fingers jerked her from her trip down memory lane and back to the present. Damn, what was his question again? Oh yeah, her people, hmmm, how to answer that? “I don’t know about that. I’m not familiar with the owner or owners.”

He grinned, obviously amused with her efforts to sidestep his question. “Have you ever been inside the Oceanix Resort?”

Well shit, he had her there and he knew it. “Er . . . a few times. They have a good Sunday brunch.”

“Whew, I can only imagine how much a meal in that place would set you back.” Without waiting for an answer, he continued on. “So, at least you’re familiar with it. Bullshit aside, Merimon asked that we send you.”

Mia’s heart stuttered. Oh my God, Gray Merimon knew she existed? Maybe that threesome idea wasn’t all in her head. “Wow, okay. If Gray asked for me.” Before she could start mentally picking out lingerie, Hank busted her bubble.

“Gray? No, the other one, Nick. He handled the contract and requested the team leader. He even mentioned you by name.”

Talk about having the rug pulled out from under you. It wasn’t that she didn’t find Nick attractive; he was delish. His fiancée, Beth, was hot as well, but she was pregnant. It seemed wrong to have a fantasy about someone knocked up. Oh well, it was probably for the best. She would just continue to admire her idol from afar. “Yeah, I’ll head on over there this morning and get everything started. Who do I need to ask for?”

Hank pulled some paperwork from his shirt pocket and handed it over to her. “Seth Jackson is your contact. He also indicated that you can speak with someone named Margie if he isn’t in.” Then Hank’s name was paged for a call and he left her office with a curse.

Mia spent the next hour answering emails and returning calls. She packed a bag with her iPad and a notebook to jot down some quick notes. She stopped off at the restroom to survey her reflection before she left. She had dressed a bit casually for a customer visit, but it would have to suffice. She was wearing black skinny pants, with her high-heeled pink pumps and a matching pink-and-white striped top. Her wavy brown hair was styled in the usual intentionally messy look, and her makeup consisted of pink blusher and a sheer lipstick. Yeah, it would have to do. She seldom spent a lot of time with management in the preliminary stages anyway.

Sydney Landon is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Danvers series. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children, who keep life interesting and borderline insane, but never boring. When she isn’t writing, Sydney enjoys reading, swimming and being a mini-van driving soccer mom. Local bookstore: Books a Million, Greenville and B&N, Greenville.

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Content

Fighting For You
Danvers 4
by
Sydney Landon

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Now that you’ve enjoyed the latest book in the Danvers series, don’t miss WEEKENDS REQUIRED, where it all began for Claire and Jason! Keep reading for a special preview. WEEKENDS REQUIRED is available now from Signet

Continue reading for a special preview of BETTING ON YOU Available from InterMix January 2014