was no way he could tell Ava or Brant. They would freak out and make things worse. That only left Ella and that seemed like too much to spring on someone you had just started seeing.
She looked surprised, “Sure. I guess I should have asked, are you married?”
Grimacing, he shook his head, “No, I’m not. I’m seeing someone though and I would like to bring her.” Seeing the hesitation on Julie’s face, he raised a brow and added, “Relax, she’s nothing like me. She’s a nice person and likes kids.”
“Oh . . . Okay. When would you like to meet? How about this weekend?”
“Why not tonight?” he countered. He hated to admit that he was afraid to have too much time to think. After he saw the child, he would be requesting a DNA test. She seemed sincere, but life had taught him that facts in black-and-white seldom lied, but people were another matter.
“I thought you would need more time. You’re actually taking this better than I would have expected. Are you sure you aren’t in shock?”
Declan smiled his first genuine smile of the strange meeting. “More than likely I am, but I’m not much for indecision. I need to see your son and I’d prefer it be sooner rather than later.” He could tell that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with his thinly veiled demand.
“Alright, but this is how I want to do it. Evan and I will be at McDonald’s at six in the playground area. I think it would be best if you came a little after that. I’ll introduce you as friends, although he is very bright and will probably wonder why I’ve never mentioned you before. Also, if you could buy food and have it with you, I think that would look less suspicious than you dropping in without eating. I’ll also need your date’s name so that I can introduce him to you both.”
Clearing his throat, he said, “It’s Ella Webber.”
“Evan will spend a lot of his time running around and playing so don’t expect him to sit down to talk for a long period,” Julie added fondly, “Plus, conversations at McDonald’s are a little difficult sometimes depending on how many kids are there.”
Declan said, “Yeah, I can only imagine. Will half past six give you enough time to get there and settle in?”
“That’s fine. Just remember, please, that we aren’t mentioning anything about who you are other than your name.”
Standing, he said, “I’ve got it.” He waited for Julie to stand and followed her out the door. “I’ll see you later.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned back toward Danvers International and knew that the rest of his day would be a total waste. How were you supposed to go back to business as usual when something like that was dropped in your lap? On the other hand, sitting around his apartment brooding about it wouldn’t do any good either. He’d go back to the office and get lost in work for the afternoon. He also needed to tell Ella what was going on this evening. He hoped that after, she would be willing to go with him to see his son . . . fuck, that was unreal to even think. Yet this was how things went in life. You were coasting on a good wave and the next minute you were spitting out dirt.
First, he needed to make sure that Evan was actually his and he would begin that step tonight. No need to look ahead until everything was confirmed. Possibly it would be better to wait until that happened before he told Ella, but he needed her tonight. She was always the calm to his storm and never had he craved that more than right now.
Chapter Thirteen
Ella ran a critical eye over her reflection in the mirror. Declan had said to dress casual this evening and she hoped that the Capri slacks and sleeveless top that she was wearing fit the bill. She had only seen him briefly since this morning, just long enough to confirm their date for this evening. He had seemed scattered and distracted. Butterflies danced in her stomach when she heard his firm rap at the door. Even his knock sounded sexy. Gosh, she could be such a pathetic girl sometimes. Opening the door she thought to herself as she saw him, oh yeah, it gets even better.
“Hey, Ellie.” Before she could answer, he was through the door and she was in his arms. She lost track of their surroundings as he devoured every inch of her mouth. She heard his answering moan when she lowered her hand and slid it along his firm butt. It might be a bit superficial of her, but she loved this part of his anatomy. It was tight and firmly muscled, just begging to be stroked.
As Declan pulled back to look at her inquiringly, she muttered, “Whoops, sorry.”
He rubbed his thumb over her cheek as he said, “I hope your hand on my ass and the laugh that followed isn’t related.”
Ella patted him one more time on the area in question and shook her head. “Nope, I was just trying to talk myself into having some self-control where you are concerned.” She promptly wanted to kick herself for admitting that to him. She needed to work on the bad habit she had of blurting out whatever was on her mind without thinking about it first.
Chuckling, Declan pulled her further into her apartment and toward the couch. “Don’t go doing that on my account, Ellie, I like you just fine the way you are. How was your day?”
Ella groaned and fell down on the couch dramatically. “My mom finally got me on the phone. I was afraid she would come in person if I kept avoiding her calls.”
Giving her a sympathetic look, he asked, “How did that go?”
“Ugh, about how I expected. She ranted for a while and then told me how embarrassed she would be if anyone else found out. The worst part was the speech on safe sex. I think I’m scarred for life.”
Declan pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, baby, I bet that was rough. She isn’t planning to make another surprise visit anytime soon is she?”
“I don’t think so, but you can never be sure where she’s concerned.”
“Let’s just cover our bases and stay at my place then.”
“Deal.” Pulling back slightly, she looked up at him and asked, “So how was your day? You seemed a little stressed.”
She had been expecting him to laugh it off as something work related so she was surprised and a bit wary when he took a deep breath and took her hand. Surely, he wouldn’t have mentioned staying at his place if he were going to end things between them. But there was definitely something that he appeared to be trying to work his courage up for. “Declan?”
“Ellie . . . I don’t quite know where to start. Hell, I’m still in shock myself so how can I expect you to react better.”
When he paused as if looking for a starting point, she squeezed his hand in encouragement. “You’re starting to scare me. Just start at the beginning. You obviously need to get whatever it is out.”
“I know . . . you’re right. This morning Claire had a friend with her at the office.” Ella nodded her head to let him know she had seen her. “Well, I ran into them in the hallway and she seemed to know me. She even called me by name.” At her sudden stiffening, he rubbed her arm saying, “I know what you’re thinking and you are partly right, but that doesn’t have anything to do with what has happened. Just hear me out.”
“Okay, sorry. Please go on.”
“She asked if we could go somewhere to talk and we settled on meeting around the corner for lunch. Before you think the wrong thing Ellie, there wasn’t anything sexual about it. She obviously knew me and I was curious enough to see why seeing me had her so rattled, so I went.” Ella urged him on when he stopped to gauge her reaction. “I’m not proud of the fact that one-night stands were the norm for me when I was in the military and she was one of them. I thought at first that she was just there to question me about why I never called her or something like that even though it seemed a bit strange to go to that much trouble years later.”
