Page 85 of Broken Dreams
She sighs heavily. “Keep that charm going, babe, you’re going to need it with Syd.”
* * *
“And what exactly are your intentions, Mr. Whitlock?”
“Syd,” Declan says as a warning.
“What? I’m asking a question. Besides, I don’t get to make the Whitlock brothers sweat often, this is fun.” Her smile is friendly, but it’s clear she’s enjoying herself.
All night I’ve done my best to answer her questions and not look like a total asshole. Which normally would be no problem, but this woman is fucking devious and I love it.
Each word is carefully measured and if I let my guard down even a touch, she pounces.
Declan shakes his head and drains his beer. “Come on, Grady. We can go out back and leave Addison to chastise my wife for her interrogation habits.”
“I can handle it.”
He quirks a brow. “But do you want to?”
Sydney crosses her arms over her chest and grins. This is a test, but while Sydney is important to win over, Addison said that Declan is actually just as influential and has a lot of contacts I might need for my business.
I get to my feet, take the beer he is extending, and smile at her. “After a beer or two, I’ll be back in here and I’ll answer all your questions.”
She makes a humming sound and tilts her head. “You think you’re getting out easy by going with Declan, but he’s ruthless. Watch him.”
As much as these two are a pain in the ass, I really like them both. It’s clear they care about their friend and their family. Declan seems like a pretty laid-back guy, but I can see there is a lot more to him. He’s protective, almost as though he’s on alert when it comes to his wife, which I respect.
We get outside, sitting on the chairs out on the porch.
“You know I almost lost my wife?” he says as sort of a statement and a question.
“I didn’t know that.”
He nods slowly. “She was pregnant with our son, she had a tumor in utero and needed to have it operated on immediately. The surgery went well, but she didn’t wake up from the anesthesia for six fucking long days. I pleaded with God to take me instead.”
“I understand that,” I say, because I do. I remember when I woke and found Lisa on the couch, unmoving, for hours, she was gone, but God, I tried.
I screamed, prayed, negotiated for her to wake, but it didn’t work. She had died, alone, while I slept and Jett was in his bassinet beside her.
“That fear never leaves you, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
He exhales. “You and Addison share that type of experience, and while Syd recovered, it is something that haunts me still, all these years later. It’s like a part of you is irrevocably changed from loss or even fear of loss like that. Addy has worked hard to come out on the other side, and I’m really glad she found someone who understands it. She means a lot to my family, she’s like a little sister to me and my brothers. We hoped she’d find a guy we wouldn’t want to beat the fuck out of and the fact that the first guy she’s opening herself up to is you makes me not want to kill you.”
I chuckle. “That’s something.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Those fears Addison had about her friends finding out? I get it now. While I don’t know Declan Arrowood for shit, I will really hate it if he ever learns that the things he’s happy about aren’t real.
Addison hasn’t found someone, because we aren’t that. We’re just pretending for money and so she’s not alone at that wedding. Sure, we’re friends and our kids get along great, but it’s not a relationship that goes past a certain timespan.
We’re friends.
Friends who are seriously attracted to each other, and the whole point of tonight was to smooth any possibilities of being run out of town.
Now he’s talking to me like a father talks to a guy coming to date his daughter and I’m not really sure what the hell to say.
