I quit caring what people thought and said about me the moment my photos were splashed across newspapers and magazines nationwide.
No one knew the full story except for those who experienced it.
And their opinions were the only ones that mattered to me.
Fortunately, in the last several months, I had also found a great network of friends who I now considered family. The girls I’d met on that girls’ night so many months ago were now more like sisters I’d never had and always wanted.
We still drank too much on Margarita Thursdays. We still laughed loudly enough to disrupt the entire restaurant, and Suzanne still ogled Declan every moment she could. Fortunately, I’d also spent a lot of time around her husband and Paige’s, and was fully assured that her jesting and teasing was all in good fun.
My life was perfect.
It was that thought that had me moving straight to Declan. I waited while he plated several meals, his movements so sure and quick that he seemed to do it all at the same time, and then I rolled to my toes, pressed my hand to his shoulder, and kissed his cheek.
“I love you,” I whispered, before moving away.
He didn’t let me get far.
His arm snagged me around my waist and he held me against him, looking down at me with dark eyes and a full smile. “I love you, too. How’s it going out there?”
I grinned. “Busy.”
“You still up for a night off?”
My grin grew. Declan was taking me out to dinner tonight, downtown. I didn’t know the restaurant we were headed to, but I had seen the dress he bought for me to wear laid out on our bed this morning after I woke up. It was black, lacy and satiny, fit me perfectly, and I couldn’t wait to wear it.
I had also seen a pretty, red-velvet ring box in the drawer last week when I was putting away his laundry.
I knew that tonight was going to be special. Declan would make sure of it.
I couldn’t freaking wait.
“Yeah.” I sighed and my gaze softened when his eyes went glassy. “I can’t wait to see you tonight.”
All that muscle dressed up in a suit. I hadn’t yet seen him wear one. My thighs tightened at the thought…but I was thinking more about taking it off him later.
My phone began vibrating against me in my back pocket and made me jump out of his hold.
“I love you, Trina. More than I ever thought possible.”
“Love you, too,” I whispered, reaching into my back pocket for my phone while he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
Had the phone not vibrated in my hand, I might have forgotten I was getting a phone call.
Declan’s kisses still did it to me. They made me forget there was a world outside of just us.
“Hello?” I said as soon as I answered the phone. I was already so turned-on by the brief kiss from Declan that I hadn’t looked at my caller ID.
“Trina? Oh my God, Trina. I need your help. I need Aidan’s phone number.”
My heart immediately dropped to my toes when I heard Chelsea’s panicked voice coming through the phone.
“Chelsea? What is it?”
“I can’t. Oh my God. Trina. Aidan. Can you call him? Or Declan? It’s Derrick.”
She sobbed into the phone.
“Chelsea. Take a deep breath.” I looked at Declan and his brow was furrowed, tension already tightening his shoulders. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s Derrick!” she cried, and I watched Declan’s head snap back. He’d heard her. “I’ve called the ambulance. But there’s been an accident. I need Aidan!”
“Oh my God,” I whispered and my eyes went wide at Declan’s expression. “Call Aidan, honey. He needs to get to”
“Detroit General,” Chelsea supplied. “Oh shit, Trina. This is bad. It’s so bad.”
I already felt tears welling in my eyes. Not Derrick. “He’ll be okay, Chelsea. Tell me what happened.”
“Skateboarding accident. Right outside my house. I’m here with him. But Trina…I can’t. It’s so bad. I’m so scared.”
I tried to calm her with soothing tones as her words rambled on. I barely felt Declan’s hand on mine as he ushered me out of the kitchen and into his office. I saw his mouth moving as he spoke into the phone, but didn’t hear the words he said. I only hoped, as Chelsea described what she’d heard and what’d she seen, that Declan was talking to Aidan.
It sounded bad, and tears rolled down my cheeks.
He snapped the phone closed and looked directly at me.
“He’ll meet us there. As we were on the phone, he got a call from Shane’s mom, too.”
“Chelsea?” I said, trying to talk over her cries and her murmured words of comfort to Derrick’s friend, who was with her. “We’ve gotten a hold of Aidan. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”
As I spoke, I heard sirens through the phone.
“Okay. Okay, Trina. Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself, Chelsea.”
Another sob came through the phone. Voices echoed in the background.
“I have to go, Trina. They’re here.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
I didn’t know if she heard me. I just knew she’d hung up.
My eyes went to Declan’s and his hands came to my shoulders. “What happened?”
I shook my head, already feeling more tears in my eyes. “Skateboard accident on the hill outside Chelsea’s house. It sounds bad, Declan.”
“He’ll be okay.” He pulled me to his chest and hugged me. “He’ll be okay.”
I didn’t think the second statement was for me.
I figured he was more trying to reassure himself.
“We need to go,” I told him. His arms squeezed me tight before he let me go and I grabbed my purse.
I pulled the strap over my shoulder, entwined my fingers with Declan’s, and followed him out of the restaurant to his truck.
And then I prayed the entire way.
Because I knew…I knew that based on what Chelsea told me over the phone…it would take a miracle for Derrick to be okay.
Acknowledgments
I have been a part of the book-writing community for just over three years now, and I’m so thankful for the incredible friendships I’ve made with authors and bloggers and readers. Some of you, you know who you are, have become my dearest friends. I can’t begin to express how much I value all of you.
Thank you to my agent, Michelle Johnson, for always believing in me. I love that you’re in my corner, helping me with any crazy question or idea that I have. I can’t wait to see what else we can do together.
To Sue, thank you for totally getting this series. Your kind words and support help keep me going.
Thank you to Shannon, my PA, for keeping me organized and on track. You’re the bomb to my diggity.
To all my ladies in BACP and FTN, thank you for always being there for me. When I’m ready to bang my head against my computer, when I can’t get the scene to do exactly what I want, it’s always wonderful to know there’s someone who understands, someone who can help…and someone who will drink with me.
To all the readers and bloggers who leave a review, send me a message, or share my books with their friends, thank you will never be enough. You’ve allowed me to turn a hobby into a career, and I’m always so incredibly grateful for you.
And because I like to save the best for last, thank you to my family. Your unconditional love and support and random brainstorming sessions are everything to me.