“Declan was your name?” Ethan asked.

“You know it is. You were screaming it last night in your dream, weren’t you?”

Belle gasped. A laugh burst out of her just as Declan spanned that big, warm hand over her lower back and led her away from her ex.

She leaned in toward Declan. “His face is pretty red.”

“Not our problem. Here’s a table by the windows. The view of the mountains is beautiful.” He pulled out a seat for her, and she sat. When he placed the coffee in front of her, he leaned close to whisper, “I’ll get you something for that headache. Be right back.”

She blinked at his retreating body. How did he know she was fighting a headache? Or that she took cream and sugar in her coffee? Maybe he was one of those guys who’d been with a lot of women, and she was just another foregone conclusion. Stereotypical single woman, guzzling champagne and chasing it with whiskey out of a flask.

And throwing her legs over his shoulders and riding his talented tongue…

She didn’t have any regrets aboutthat.

He walked up to an older woman at the back of the room and spoke to her for a moment and then followed her through a door. A moment later, he appeared again and walked straight up to the table where Belle waited.

He dropped into the chair and placed two white pills on the table next to her coffee mug. “This should do the trick.”

His stare flicked over her head.

“Who are you glaring at? Ethan?”

“The jackass just used a napkin and then threw it on the floor.”

“Not surprised. He is the leader of entitlement.”

Declan nodded, mischief in his beautiful golden-brown eyes. “You know, I’ve heard of that country. It’s on the continent of Asshole.”

Again, she laughed. Twice in one morning and it was just after eight a.m.? That might be a record.

“Yes, that’s the place!” She picked up the pills, popped them in her mouth and chased them with a sip of coffee.

“I’d get you a bloody Mary if I thought you could seat a horse with more alcohol in your system,” he said.

“I’m fine. Just a small headache. Stomach is in place.” That didn’t make her want to ride a horse more, though.

He turned his head to look out the window at the striking landscape that he mentioned. Belle was too busy staring at his impressive profile. His chiseled jaw boasted a light dusting of five-o’clock shadow. So did his upper lip. His nose and brow might have been carved from granite by an artist’s hand.

Declan—

Well, whatever his last name was…was a hunk.Andhung like the proverbial horse her bestie had mentioned.

He looked back at Belle. She felt a flush climbing her face at being caught studying him and brought her mug to her lips to cover her embarrassment.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

She lowered the mug. “Okay.”

He dipped his gaze to her lips and up to her eyes again. The small gesture had her stomach lurching low. Very low. Like between her thighs.

“Belle, I was thinking.”

“Does that happen often?” she teased.

His lips quirked. “Big head, big brain.”

What was it with him mentioning a big head? It looked perfectly normal to her.