Page 23 of Maid For Each Other

“Was I supposed to?”

Was I supposed to bring a muffin for Warren Freaking Hathaway?

“I got so busy today that I didn’t get a chance to ask her,” Declan said, setting a hand on my back. He looked down at me and said, “Warren heard about your amazing baking from my parents, so he kind of wanted a muffin tonight.”

“Well, if your dad hadn’t eaten so many, maybe Warren could’ve had one,” I said, loving it when his father started laughing. These people didn’t matter to me, and later they would never remember me, but I took pride in my work so it felt good, excelling at my fake girlfriending.

“Are you coming to the activities tomorrow?” Warren asked.

Declan jumped in and answered for me. “Unfortunately not.”

He was probably desperate to ensure I didn’t insert myself into his life after tonight, which made total sense.

“Aww,” his mom said, pursing her lips into a pout.

“No Abi tomorrow?” his dad repeated, giving me almost the exact same expression as his wife.

“Everyone else’s spouses and families are forced to endure the shareholder weekend,” Warren said with a teasing smile, “so why does Abi get to miss it?”

“Obviously, I wear the pants in this relationship,” I said, which made him laugh. “And I have some previous commitments.”

Warren gave his head a shake and looked genuinely disappointed. “Well, that’s too bad because Dex’s face looks better when you’re with him.”

“Does it?” I asked, grinning at Declan, who looked like he hated hearing that.

“The kid’s always too serious,” he said. “It wouldn’t hurt him to relax a little sometime.”

“Oh, I don’t think you want me to relax too much,” Declan replied, “because then I might start ignoring your calls at three thirty in the morning.”

Warren waved a hand. “I’m willing to risk it.”

“Safe gamble,” I said, knowing it was the truth even though I truly knew nothing about Declan and these round-the-clock phone calls.

“We have to get going,” Declan said. “Because Abi’s going to turn into a pumpkin if I don’t get her home in time to feed the animals.”

It was ironic, this lie about my having a hypoallergenic cat, because that was the one truth I’d uttered all night. I reallywasallergic to basically every animal with fur, and it wasn’t just a sneezy kind of allergy, either.

My pet allergies were the kind that settled into my lungs and brought on severe asthma attacks and unwelcome hospital stays, hence the expensive medication and need for Benny’s Natural Grocers health insurance.

“Well, I’ll let you kids get out of here,” Warren said. “But you should reconsider about this weekend, Abi. Surely you need to take a break from commitments to get some fresh air and socialization.”

“With thousands of shareholders?” Declan commented with a smirk, and I found it interesting the way he was so comfortable teasing this world-famous billionaire.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, liking Warren even though hismassive bank account meant he was probably a monster underneath the grandfatherly exterior.

We said goodbye to Declan’s parents before leaving and exited the building without speaking. It wasn’t tense, though. I didn’t get any murderous vibes from him even though I probably deserved it for my little anecdotal surprises, but it just felt like there was no reason for either of us to talk when we were about to go our separate ways forever.

It wasn’t until we were in the car and he was pulling away from the restaurant that he asked, “Was that absolutely necessary?”

His face was illuminated by all the lights of the fancy car’s interior, and it probably spoke volumes about how attractive he was that I thought,he looks good in dashboard lights.His tie was loosened but everything else remained perfect, giving him the appearance of one of those hot guys in luxury cologne commercials.

“It absolutely was,” I replied, reaching out to turn on his radio because I needed to drown out the awkwardness that was sure to accompany us on the ride home.

I scanned for songs, going around the horn over and over again because I couldn’t find anything good, and his sigh told me he wasn’t enjoying it.

Am I obnoxious?I wondered. I usually wasn’t, but something about Declan brought out the inner shit in me, the snotty teen who wanted to push back on everything.

So I just kept scanning.

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