Page 286 of The Maxwell Brothers
“Nothing,” she said. “But I guess no news is good news.”
I patted the bed. "Tell me more about your family."
"You really want to know?"
"Yeah." I wanted pillow talk with Liz. Another first in my life.
She lay back down next to me, fluffing the pillow. "They're amazing. Mom and Dad are both retired. They like to spoil us a lot. Every Christmas, they organized a scavenger hunt for us as kids. It sort of became a tradition, so they’re still doing it. It’s my favorite time of the year, foraging for clues in their backyard. They worked at the general store while we grew up and knew everyone in town. I swear some of the customers would come just to chat with Dad. He could talk your ear off about anything and everything.” She paused, and I could see the wistfulness in her eyes. “Mom and Dad are both special. They're very kind and warm, and so is my sister."
"Is she younger than you?"
"No, she's actually older, but only a year. She's married and gave birth to my niece two months ago. And that little nugget has my heart. I never even knew it was possible to love someone atfirst sight just because they're there, but Amy is adorable, and I can’t wait to watch her grow into a lovely young lady.”
"I know what you mean. I've got a niece too, remember? Kids have this strange power."
"They do. They're tiny and cute, and all odds are in their favor."
"So, how often do you see your parents?"
"Oh, don't start about that. Not often enough. I honestly don't have time to see them, and I don't own a car either. The train connections are horrendous, so I can only go by bus. It takes forever. I went there when my niece was born but haven’t been since.” She yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I'm getting drowsy, aren’t you?" she asked.
"Go to sleep, Liz. I'm right here."
She bit her lower lip. "Are you staying here?"
I frowned. "You don't want me to?"
"Hey, I asked first," she said, sounding a bit more alert than before.
"I'm staying, Liz. You can try to kick me out. Won’t work."
"I won't do any such thing. Are you kidding me? I have this muscly arm and chest as a pillow. No way am I going to kick you out."
I laughed, moving closer until my arm was positioned so she could better rest her head against it. I was going to tease her about my other “muscly” parts, as she called them, but she was completely asleep a few minutes later. Her breath wheezed out at an even pace.
I couldn't fall asleep right away. I'd always had sleeping issues. My mind usually raced at night, but not right now. I was caught up in the moment, enjoying her.
CHAPTER 15
LIZ
The next morning,I woke up when my phone vibrated somewhere in the room. I bolted upright in bed, looking around wildly. I usually kept it on my nightstand so I could snooze the alarm three times before finally waking up. But this time, it wasn't next to me.
Declan groaned. He was still here! Even through my sleepy haze, I felt my heart grow in size. I couldn't remember what he'd told me last night when I asked him to stay. I was already falling asleep when he answered.
Crap.I wanted to silence the phone before it woke him.
I darted out of bed, trying to follow the sound. I went toward my dresser, then realized it came from another part of the house.
That’s right, I left it in the kitchen last night.
I tiptoed that way, grabbing it and seeing I had an unread message. It was from my boss. I groaned. My shift was canceled because the party was canceled. The eight-year-old was sick, so the mom had decided to postpone the birthday party. She was still willing to pay for all the ingredients we’d bought, which was really considerate, but there was no need for me to go to work.
Well, that was that.
I quickly checked if I had any message from Rose, but she hadn’t sent anything. I started to type a message to ask how they were doing, then changed my mind. She was probably resting. If there was news, she or Mom would tell me.
This was an unusual Saturday for me. Richard’s almost always catered a party on the weekend. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t going to get paid for the hours I was supposed to work today. But on the bright side, I had time to enjoy the sexy man currently sprawled out in my bed.
