His to Protect: A Fireside Novel(29)

“Declan’s been helping me. I like him, I really like him, but I’m having a hard time trusting myself, leaving one guy to fall for the first guy I meet, even if he is a good guy. And yeah, I think he likes me, but I’ve been under someone else’s control for so long that the idea of being by myself, living on my own for a while, is appealing. Yet that means having to leave Declan’s house.”

“But not Declan.”

I lifted my eyes to Suzanne’s and shook my head. “No, it wouldn’t mean leaving Declan.”

“Just his bed at night.”

I chewed on the inside of my lip. Since we’d been back from Chicago, we shared a bed every night, but we hadn’t been intimate again. I thought being with Declan in Chicago would change that aspect of our relationship, but it seemed as if Declan was taking a step back. At the very least, he hadn’t pushed us forward.

I simply liked sleeping with Declan’s arms around me. I liked being with him, even if I still worried it was too soon. But the fact that Declan hadn’t touched me again in anything more than a comfortable way had me worried. Was he having second thoughts about us? Second thoughts about me?

As if sensing my nervousness or my embarrassment, Blue spoke up. “You’ll decide when you know what’s right. But I’m with Suzanne on this one. Since I’ve known him, Declan seems like the best of the best, and if he’s said you can stay at his place, he means it. He doesn’t throw bullshit around and say what he doesn’t mean. He’s not that kind of guy. But if you need to live on your own for a while, feel the independence that most women want, he’ll get it. Based on what I saw today, it won’t change anything about the way he feels for you.”

The way he felt for me. The words rattled inside my brain and made me dizzy.

I wanted to ask her what she meant by what she saw today. Based on Declan’s behavior the last few days, I had my own questions, yet I was too chicken to ask.

Maybe she saw what she wanted to see, not what was really there.

I bit my tongue, shrugged, and took a sip of my drink. “I’ll figure it out soon, so you can find another sublet if you need to.”

She grinned. “No worries. We’ve got time.”

I opened my mouth to ask her when she was planning on moving in with Tyson when, from across the table, Chelsea cursed. “Ouch! You brat!”

Paige giggled and I looked up to see Chelsea scowling at her while rubbing her bicep.

“What?” Blue asked and then turned her head in the direction of the bar, looking where Paige pointed and where Chelsea’s eyes were fixed.

I twisted around, following the movement of the rest of the women, and saw Aidan and Derrick standing at the bar. Derrick reached for a stack of food containers while Aidan slid his credit card toward the bartender.

As Derrick grabbed the food, he turned in our direction and immediately spied all of us staring at him and his dad. He looked back at Aidan and said something before turning back to us. “Hey, Miss Dwyer! Hi, Trina!”

I lifted my hand and smiled as Aidan himself pushed away from the bar. His eyes scanned the table and he dipped his chin to acknowledge us.

I might have been crazy, but I swore his eyes lingered a little bit longer on Chelsea.

“Hello, Derrick,” she replied, and waved to Aidan. “Mr. Devereaux.”

“Miss Dwyer.” He glanced around the table again. “Trina. Ladies. Have a good evening.” He flashed us a soft smile and patted Derrick on the shoulder, silently telling him to grab their food, I figured by the way Derrick moved.

He picked it up and turned back to us. “See you at school tomorrow, Miss Dwyer!”

He turned his back and all of us watched the men leave. When they were gone, Chelsea glanced at me. “You know Aidan and Derrick?”

I took my chance, based on the awe in her voice, the blush on her cheeks, and replied. “You have a crush on Aidan?”

Paige choked on her margarita.

Suzanne snorted.

Camden threw her head back and laughed. “Yeah, she does. She has for years, but for some crazy reason refuses to do anything about it.”

“Derrick is a student at my school. It wouldn’t be right.”

“But he’s not your student,” Paige said. “He’s just a student, and you’re the librarian.”

Chelsea shook her head in an exasperated way. I assumed they’d had this conversation many times before. “It still wouldn’t look good.” Her head came up and she smiled. “How do you know them?”

I figured telling her that Aidan dropped Derrick off at Declan’s a couple weeks ago for an overnight visit wouldn’t go over well. I went with the easiest half-truth. “They stopped by Declan’s one night, and I met him then. They seem really great.”

“They are.”

“Enough about Aidan and Chelsea being too sissy to do anything about her unending crush,” Suzanne said, cutting in and grinning at me like she just ate a canary. “Tell me more about Declan and what he’s like in bed.”

This time I choked on my drink.

Paige giggled.

And all the women’s eyes landed on me, as they waited with bated breath.



“Thanks for getting them home safe.”

Declan muttered this to Tyson in a deep voice as he walked into Tyson’s house, where Blue and I were hanging out on the couch.

I should have passed out hours ago, but I wanted to wait for Declan to come and pick me up after the restaurant was closed.

Tyson had showed up hours ago and brought Blue and me to his house.

Since then, Blue and I switched to drinking water and spent the last few hours sobering up a bit.

It appeared that in some ways we had a lot in common. A family who didn’t exactly care for us, choosing their own selfish desires over what was best for their daughters. I learned the entire last ten years of Blue’s story, including time she’d spent on a goat farm in Colorado with her hippie aunt.

Envisioning someone as beautiful and calm and collected as Blue slopping around in the muck was still making me chuckle, which brought Declan’s eyes to mine.

The dark-brown eyes flickered with humor and he smiled. “You ready to head to bed?”

It was an innocent question.

It still sparked heat inside my body.

“Yeah…”

His smile disappeared with my response and his gaze dropped to my mouth. “Right, then. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

He didn’t wait for me to answer, just slid his arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest.

“Your purse,” Blue called out from behind us, and I felt the leather straps slide into my palm. “Have a good night.”

“Thanks for the invite tonight.” I looked back over my shoulder and smiled. “I had a lot of fun.”

She smiled and I watched Tyson’s arms slide around her waist from where he stood behind her. He held her just like Declan was currently holding me. “We’ll do it again. Lots.”

Sounded perfect.

Declan led us out the door and ushered me into his truck, keeping a firm grip on my waist until he was forced to let me go so I could climb into my seat. Once I was settled, he closed the door behind me and then walked around the hood before climbing in on his side.

“You had fun?”

“I did.”

“From where I was in the kitchen, sounded like you did.”

My eyes widened. “You heard us?”

“Hard not to hear six women wasted on margaritas. My guess? The entire block heard y’all laughing your asses off.”

My lips twisted, and for just a brief moment, I felt ashamed of my behavior, and how loud I’d been. But then I thought about how much fun I’d hadpossibly the best time in my life since I was a sophomore in collegeand quickly decided that I didn’t care.

I glanced over at Declan and saw him looking at me with the same wary expression I must have worn just a moment ago. I shrugged. “I don’t care. I had a freaking great night.”

His laugh was my reward, as was the way he slid his hand onto my thigh and squeezed. “I’m glad, Trina.”

We were in his driveway and then inside his house in a matter of minutes. As Declan entered the house behind me, reaching over my shoulder to flip on the lights, I turned around and faced him once the door closed.

“Declan,” I asked, fighting the uncertainty in my voice and in my body. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him. I hadn’t been able to stop remembering the way it felt when he slid inside of me in Chicago.

I lifted my hand and pressed it against his cheek, hoping he understood.

“You’ve been drinking.” His eyes slid to my mouth again and I saw his pulse jump at his neck.

“I sobered up hours ago.”

Our voices were whispers, barely audible.

I took a step back into the living room and he followed me.

I heard Boomer’s paws pounding toward us on the carpet. He bumped into my leg, almost throwing me off balance, but Declan wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Chill, Boomer.” I looked down at my dog and scolded him with my glare.

My dog was ruining my moment.

The moment.

“I’ll put him outside.”

“Wait.” Summoning all the confidence I’d been trying to find to tell him this, I inhaled a deep breath and watched his eyes narrow. “I have something to tell you.”

At our hips, Boomer whined, and I shushed him.