“Oh, wow,” Lisa sighed dreamily, her attention suddenly riveted towards the door. “Nancy was not exaggerating when she described him. We were supposed to meet up a while back, but it fell through. It took her forever to get him to agree again, but damn was he worth the wait. Talk about tall, dark, and handsome.”
My head swiveled to the side and my gaze landed on the man she was so delighted to meet. He was easy to spot since his tall, muscular frame towered over everyone else. A lock of his thick, dark hair had fallen onto his forehead, and my fingers itched to sweep it to the side. His fierce brown eyes were scanning the room like he owned it, while his firm lips were stretched into a taut line. There was no denying he was worth waiting for, especially not when you considered that I’d spent the last four months unable to get the thought of him out of my head. Or my heart.
Lisa’s blind date was none other than Declan McGowan—the father of my unborn child. And it seemed Lisa and I weren’t the only ones excited to see him because the baby chose that exact moment, while my head was already spinning, to kick for the very first time. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or faint.
Chapter 2
Declan
I felt a little bit of déjà vu as my eyes swept a room full of dancers once again. I’d kept my night with Juliette to myself, not ready to share her with anyone else yet. Unfortunately, it led to my best friend’s matchmaking wife harassing me constantly about meeting her friend. It probably made me a complete asshole, but when her last attempt to nag me included the information that the event was a party for the returning dancers, I finally agreed to ‘attend’ it. I made it clear I was not going on a blind date though. It looked like she’d ignored me, because she and Kevin were nowhere to be found.
I’d waited four months, as patiently as I could, but I was done. Living without Juliette any longer was not an option, and it was time she knew it too. My eyes landed on a pretty, blonde woman, working her way towards me through the crowd, an eager look on her face. Shit. Nancy clearly hadn’t told her friend about my adamant refusal for a date. I needed to figure out how to handle this without being a complete douche. All considerations on that front went flying out the window when I spotted the woman she’d been talking to.
I would recognize those beautiful violet pools anywhere, but she was different. She’d filled out a little bit, her skin was practically glowing, and her eyes . . . were filled with tears. She turned and headed in the opposite direction and before I could take a step forward, I was faced with the evidence of Nancy’s meddling.
“Declan?” she asked, her eyes bright and a wide smile on her face. I tried not to scowl at her interference.
“You must be Lisa. It’s nice to meet you. Listen, I’m sorry Nancy gave you the wrong impression, but I’m actually seeing someone, so it would be ungentlemanly of me to lead you on in any way,” I rambled.
Her face fell and I felt like a jerk. I’m going to kick your ass, Kevin. But, I didn’t have time to dwell on it, Juliette was fast disappearing. “I really am very sorry, Lisa, but you’ll have to excuse me.” I stepped around her and started after my woman. She turned a corner and I plowed through the crowd, determined to get to her.
I found myself in a darkened hallway and exploring a little farther in, I discovered the doors for the restrooms. Two women were just exiting and both stopped whispering as they walked by me. I ignored them and slammed through the door they’d just exited. Juliette was standing at the counter, her hands under the faucet, her eyes shocked and wide as she stared at me. A woman at the other end was in much the same position, and I glared at her. “Out.”
She frowned at me, but she must have seen the murderous look in my eyes, because she grabbed a stack of paper towels, along with her purse, and scurried out of the room. Once she was gone, and it was clear the other stalls were empty, I flipped the lock on the door and stalked towards my sweet Juliette.
The room was plush and fancy, gold wall paper and fixtures, red carpet, and the thing I was most interested in, a red, velvet couch. I casually walked over and took a seat. “Juliette,” I greeted.
She patted her face with water, then dried it and her hands before turning to face me. “Declan, how nice to see you.” Her words were stiff and she wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “You’re being awfully rude to your date; don’t you think?” She finally looked at me and I was temporarily lost in the turbulent purple orbs.
I raised a single eyebrow. “Date?”
She huffed, “Yes, your blind date with one of the other dancers. Holing up in the women’s powder room seems quite the poor date etiquette.”