Page 8 of Desired

She tips her chin at the older man standing by the other cruiser. “Gill saved my life.”

Maverick interjects. “He knew the bastard was after her. Shot him on the spot.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Declan states, impressed. He walks over to who I’m guessing is Gill and shakes his hand. “Way to go, Gill. Good man. Good man.”

“This is Gill Rogers. My boss.” Trudy says by way of explanation. “I owe him my life.”

Gill waves, being modest. “He was giving yet another one of my staff a hard time.” He explains. “I took him to the side and told him to fuck around and find out.”

Trudy covers her mouth, blushing. I gather that Gill isn’t one to curse. She chuckles but gives him a hug.

Another car pulls up, and the cop placing caution tape over everything, tries to halt her with a hand gesture.

“Oh, it’s okay, she’s with me.” Trudy states. “That’s Freya, my best friend.”

A click and a man’s voice comes seemingly from nowhere. “Maverick, can you tell me what happened here?” He asks, snapping a shot of us.

“Hey, what the fuck!” Maverick shouts. “Get outta here, you asshole!”

He snaps a shot of the body lying on the ground before one of the cops pulls him off to the side. After a beat, I still see him shooting footage from his phone, but I ignore him. I think nothing of it, as I assume the media is always present when the Harris boys are around.

“Thank God everyone was out on lunch when this happened.” Gill states. “We only had to evacuate a handful of clients. I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.” Trudy states.

Declan looks at me. “I should probably get you back to the restaurant, now that we know that everyone is okay.” He turns to the body on the ground. “Well,almosteveryone.”

Maverick overhears. “Is that where you were at? A restaurant?”

Declan looks the other way, raking a hand through his hair. “Yes, I was, and I’ll thank you for setting that up, asshole.”

I see Trudy and Maverick exchanging a look that I can’t decipher.

“We’ll talk later.” Maverick states, letting Declan off the hook.

“No, we won’t, jerkwad. And you’re lucky that da isn’t here.”

“Or, you’d what.” Maverick taunts. “You’re the asshole that’s up shit’s creek without a paddle with da, and you know it.”

“I’m outta here.” Declan mutters indignantly under his breath.

“Oh, don’t pull any of that bullshit.” Maverick whines.

“Fuck you, asshole.”

Declan storms beside me to his truck. I have the sense to follow him. As a person with many siblings, I know how difficult they can be. What I also know is that if one of them annoys me, the worst thing someone can do is intervene, especially when I can practically see smoke coming out of Declan’s ears, so I leave him be. Finally, we arrive back at the restaurant.

I test the waters. “At least Trudy is okay.”

He speaks on exhale. “Aye. That’s true.”

We’re standing next to my car. It’s so awkward. My emotions are firing in all directions. I’ve never done anything like this before, and especially to have it end so oddly. I have no idea what to say, so I say nothing. As I get into my car, Declan stops me. “I know that this is not going to come out right. But for whatever it’s with, thanks for a lovely time.”

“And I thought I was going to have the cheesy line.”

He has the grace to chuckle. I have no idea if I’ll ever see him again, and it’s probably best if I don’t. If he were ever to find out about me, he would shower for a year, having slept with me. While I’m no whore, I’ve got a large burden to bear, one that a man of Declan’s caliber wouldn’t tolerate. So I’ll save him the time and energy. I’m sure he doesn’t have much of either to spare.

“Likewise.” I say with a smile, and as I slide into my car, I don’t look at his face. I can’t. As much as I think that this could have been something wonderful, I know that it isn’t possible. What we had this afternoon will always be remembered, and I will cherish it, but I can’t get involved with anyone. Not like this.

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