He rubs her back. “Game’s not ‘til eight tonight.” He’s talking to her, but his eyes are locked on mine. I shouldn’t love the way he does that. “I’ve got time. I let Dad know what’s going on. I’m good for now.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Declan.” She pulls back and looks at her brother adoringly.
“Me too, kid. Me too.”
My attention is taken away from the gorgeous man in front of me by Sabrina when she sits down next to me. I’m glad to see she seems okay after whatever hell her mother put her through last night. My relief disappears when she snatches my coffee away. I reach for it, but she takes a quick sip. “Hey! Give that back. My head is killing me in a way only caffeine can fix.”
She moves it further out of my reach. “I’ll give it back when you tell me what Declan is doing here.”
Damn it. Of course, Sabrina’s going to pick up on it right away. She’s too smart for her own good. Or well, at least for my own good right now.
She takes a second to look me over head to toe, then squeaks, “You’re wearing his clothes. You slept with him!”
I grab her hand and drag her off the stool and into the dining room. “Could you please keep it down? I don’t think Nat has caught on to that yet, and I’d like to keep it that way if I can.”
“Oh, come on, Belles. You’re wearing his clothes. I’ve never seen you in men’s sweatpants before, and I’m fairly sure you didn’t play football for Notre Dame.” The shock from seconds ago morphs into excitement, followed by confusion. “Seriously, where are your shoes?”
“Yeah well, I didn’t exactly pack a bag for last night.” I start pacing around the dining room, trying to calm my nerves. It’s not working. “He was supposed to drop me off after the fundraiser. But then, one thing led to another, and we ended up going back to his place instead. Even then, I thought he’d be dropping me off at my own house this morning. I thought I’d have time to change before I came to get Tommy. I figured I’d just wear my dress from last night home. It was supposed to be a classy walk of shame, okay?” My voice is getting louder with each word.
Sabrina smiles a very self-satisfied smile. “So, you giving up those batteries?”
“No. It was a one-time only thing. A mistake that will not be repeated. What sucks is it was a really good mistake. Like, fucking amazingly good. Seriously—I’m going to have to buy a new vibrator and back-up batteries, I’ve never come so hard in my life—good.” Leaning against the wall, I thunk my head as reality sets in, and I groan, “Declan Sinclair ruined me. Fuck me.”
“Nope.” Sabrina raises her hands up in front of herself. “Not fucking you. Sounds like Declan’s already been there and done that, and I’m not into sloppy seconds.” She flicks her hair over her shoulder dramatically and smiles proudly at her comeback.
“What the hell, Brina?” My chest shakes with quiet laughter. “Just do me a favor, and don’t mention this to Nattie. I’d like to pretend it never happened.” For my own sanity as well as my patience with Little Sinclair.
We hear Rocky howl, and I spin around. “Oh shit, Tommy.” We rush into the family room to find Tommy still happily sitting on the couch, but Rocky’s now scratching to be let outside with Nattie trying unsuccessfully to attach the leash.
I stop next to her just as Murphy, Bash, and Brady walk down the stairs and head toward the kitchen. Nat grabs my hand and squeezes before she crosses the room to stand with Brady.
Tommy doesn’t need to be here to listen to this, so I attach the leash to Rocky’s collar and call out to Tommy, “Come on, bud. Let’s take Rocky for a walk. Grab your coat.”
When we finally drag Tommy away from Rocky and get him into Declan’s beloved Bronco, exhaustion is weighing me down. My emotions are all over the place, and I would love nothing more than to allow myself to fall into Declan Sinclair’s arms and let him tell me that we’ve got this right before we slept away the rest of the day. I don’t remember what it’s like to have someone tell me everything will be okay. My dad used to be so good at that. It didn’t matter what time of day I called, he’d drop everything to talk to me and tell me we’ve got this.
I miss those comforting words.
I realize I’ve been staring out the window, lost in my thoughts, when I feel Dec’s hand on my knee. “Belle... Is it okay with you?”
Son of a bitch. I guess I checked out. “Sure. It’s okay.” I have no idea what I’m agreeing to.
“Sounds good. I’ll bring the pizza, kiddo. You pick the movie.” Declan is smiling at my brother through the rearview mirror.
I turn my head and catch a beautiful smile spread across Tommy’s face. “Plain pizza, please.” He asks so nicely I kinda want to do a happy dance. Yeah, I definitely need to get some sleep.
“Plain pizza. Gotcha.” Then he quickly glances my way. “Any special request for you, Belle?” God, his face is so perfect. I see his supermodel mother in his features when I look closely, but for the most part, he’s all chiseled sexy man. Coach and his ex-wife made a trio of beautiful children.
I spin the ring on my finger, the smooth gold band reminding me to slow down. It’s a habit I picked up years ago when I had to learn to think before I speak. “And when exactly are we doing this pizza and movie night?” I raise my brows in question but can’t be annoyed when Tommy is happily bouncing in his seat in the back.
Declan grins back into the rearview mirror before answering, “Friday night.” He pulls into my driveway and turns to face me. “It’s a date.”
“It’s a date, Belles. It’s a date,” Tommy happily sings as he unbuckles and grabs his Rex and the dinosaur book-bag he took with him last night before he runs to the front door.
Declan’s voice drops low, “You heard the man, Belles. It’s a date.”
If I had panties on, they’d be damp from his voice alone.
How does he do that?
Reaching down, I grab the canvas grocery bag filled with my dress, purse, and shoes. So much for a classy walk of shame. Then I turn in my seat and stare into those blue eyes that remind me of the color of the ocean after sunset. Eyes I could so easily get lost in. “That sounds like a perfect date for you and my favorite guy. Let me know what time you’re coming, and I’ll make sure I’m scarce,” I say, giggling.
Declan glances at Tommy, who’s standing outside our front door. He reaches one hand under my hair and cups the back of my head. “We’ll see about that, Belles.”
I rest my face briefly against his arm and then turn back to open the door. “I had an amazing night, Declan. Thank you for giving me back a piece of myself for a few hours.”
God, how I wish it could be for more.