Page 73 of The Bossy One

You can keep this casual.

It won’t break your heart when you have to leave.

When Molly asked me to hang out after work so that we could discuss some changes her publishing friend wanted us to make to our book proposal before sharing it with her boss, it had been almost a relief to say yes. I couldn’t think clearly with Declan around. He made mygiddy,like some teenager with a crush. I needed to spend time with Molly, getting my head on straight and my hormones back to a normal level.

“Olivia! I hoped I’d find you here,” a man’s voice said behind me.

I turned to find Seamus O’Rourke smiling at me, a little nervously.

“Oh?” I had no earthly idea why he’d be looking for me.

He took a step forward. “It’s Declan. I need to talk to him about something important. But every time I try to set up a meeting, he ignores my calls and emails. I was hoping you could put in a good word? Since you got him to come to the summer festival party last weekend?” He smiled hopefully. “Noonehas ever gotten him to do that, so it’s obvious he really listens to you.”

I held up a hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. I appreciate that the dynamic between you and Declan is…complicated, and that it’s not really because of anythingyoudid, personally. But I’m not going to be your go-between. Declan makes his own decisions.”

I moved to step around him, ready for this conversation to end.

Seamus blocked me. “It’s about Catie,” he blurted.

I frowned, confused. “What—”

“I’m her biological father,” he said on a rush, keeping his voice low so no one overheard. “I had no idea, until I saw her in the bookshop, and she looked so much like my sister. I’ve been trying to reach Sinead, but she’s not answering her phone, and she hasn’t posted anything on social media.”

Probably because she’s in rehab, I thought.

“So I tracked down Sinead’s best friend from school. She confirmed I’m the dad,” Seamus finished.

I felt a stress headache coming on. I didn’t want to know this. I didn’t want to get sucked into Declan’s feud with the O’Rourkes.

“I know what you’re thinking. What kind of selfish git doesn’t know he has a child?” Seamus scrubbed the back of his neck, uncertain. “Seven years ago, Sinead and I were on and off. We were off when I found out she was pregnant, and since she didn’t say anything to me about it, I figured she’d found some other bloke.”

“Seamus,” I said. “You need to talk to Sinead and Declan about this. Not me.”

“So help me talk to them,” Seamus begged. “I just want to get to know Catie while she’s here. I understand if Sinead doesn’t want to tell Catie yet about who I really am. I’ll follow any rules she lays down. But if I could just come over, you could say I was a family friend. That would work, right?”

I hesitated. This wasn’t a decision I could make for Sinead—or Declan, while he was Catie’s guardian. But Catie might wish she knew her father one day. And as far as I could tell, Seamus truly meant well, and he seemed so excited to learn that he had a daughter. Surely that was a good sign.

“I’ll talk to Declan,” I said at last. “But I can’t promise anything.”

Seamus smiled in eager relief. With a sinking heart, I noticed where Catie had gotten her dimples.

* * *

That night I was in my bedroom getting ready for bed when Declan strolled in wearing nothing but low-slung gray sweatpants. “It occurs to me,” he said, “I have a pool in the basement. And you’d look great swimming naked.”

I smiled and squirted lotion into my palm. I’d skipped my bedtime rituals the last few nights, and I didn’t want my skin to start getting dry and itchy. “Is everyone in your family an insomniac, or is it just you?”

“Just when I’m trying to work out a problem.” He poked at the jewelry and makeup items I’d left scattered on the top of the dresser, picking things up and absently sorting them into rows and categories that probably only made sense in his head.

“What problem are you trying to solve?” I asked.

Declan shrugged off my question and flopped on my bed, the picture of easy, masculine grace. He looked like he belonged on a billboard, advertising something expensive and irresistible. “Come swimming with me.”

I could feel my blood heating on cue.

I sighed. “I really do need to get some sleep.”

Declan opened my lotion and sniffed it. His smile softened. “This smells like you.”

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