I turn to Marian. “Go on.”
“On the plane,” she says, her eyes laughing. “The most unromantic and unoriginal way to meet.”
“I’m surprised you two have not met before,” Ace says.
“I told her she looked familiar, but she thought that was a pick-up line.”
We all laugh at that. Lexi doesn’t speak much, and she’s quite a chatty person. This must have really shocked her.
“I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that you two met one day and married the same evening,” she says.
“I must say that your reaction is a lot better than when I told my best friends about Declan. They were not amused and thought that somehow he’d tricked me into it,” Marian says.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Ace says.
“Where is your loyalty, bro,” I say.
Lexi excuses herself to go and check on dinner.
“I’ll help,” Marian says and stands up.
When the ladies leave and Ace and I are left alone, he turns to me, a thoughtful look on his features. “This is about the trust fund, isn’t it?” He holds my gaze.
Ace is more than my brother. He’s my best friend, and the thought of lying to him makes me sick. So, I say nothing.
“I know Marian,” Ace says. “She’s a really sweet person and also very respected in the city. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”
“What makes you think I plan to hurt her?” I ask, indignation in my voice.
“You’re terrible at relationships, Declan. You know that as well as I do.”
I feel deflated, like a balloon that’s suddenly been popped with a sharp object. In my mind, I’d started to fantasize that maybe Marian and I could make it work. But Ace has just burst that bubble. He’s right. I don’t do relationships, and I don’t buy into all that unconditional love. People attach conditions to love, and I’ll never put myself under the mercy of a woman. I’ll call the shots when it comes to my own heart.
The ladies return to the living room and set the table behind us, putting an end to our conversation.
“I’ll take Luna to bed,” Lexi says, a sleepy-looking Luna balanced on her hip.
I stand up and plant a noisy kiss on her cheek, which makes her giggle. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
Marian and I are left in the living room alone.
“They took it well, didn’t they?” she says.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak. I don’t want to break her euphoria by telling her that Ace saw right through it.
“Lexi is very nice,” Marian says. “She’s happy for us.”
I doubt that Lexi believes it either. In the years when Ace was in Afghanistan, we became very good friends. If she doesn’t suspect already, Ace will clue her in.
But they can’t be a hundred percent because I neither confirmed nor denied it.
Chapter 7
Marian
Tension crackles between us in the car. The playful mood in Ace and Lexi’s home is gone. Declan’s profile in the semi-darkness is tense and still as he drives us home.
Seeing him surrounded by his family has ramped up my attraction for him another notch if that is possible. But his relationship with his niece Luna is the one that was an eye-opener. I understand now his hesitance in committing to my condition of him being a non-active parent in raising our baby.
A part of me wants to renege on our agreement, but I force myself to think of all the complications that will come out of having Declan in our lives. He’s an easy man to fall in love with; he’s a gentleman and sexy and kind. So many good things rolled into one.
I’ve never spent as much time with a man I’ve just met as I have with Declan. The more I know him, the more my wall of defense is chipping away. I’ve been there before. All men start like that. They’re attentive and sweet until the relationship becomes old.
I draw out my rational side. I’ve made it in the cutthroat billion-dollar wedding industry by refusing to allow my emotions to have a part in my decisions. I do this now and push my growing feelings for Declan away.
The problem, as I see it, is that he’s too attractive. Panty-melting attractive. Declan has a body that gives a woman instant arousal. Even now, just sitting next to him in the car is enough to make me ache between my legs.
As long as I remember that what I’m feeling is crazy, mad arousal, I’ll be fine. It didn’t help that Declan kissed me, and now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t help wondering how it would feel to be held in his arms. To run my hands over his muscled shoulders.
We get home too fast before I can organize my thoughts. I haven’t come to a solution.
“We’re home,” he says to me as he kills the engine. Is his voice thicker than usual, or is it just me hearing what I want to hear?
“I had a great time at your brother and sister-in-law’s house,” I tell him.
“They loved you,” Declan says.
“Thanks,” I say.
We sit staring at each other, saying nothing, the sexual tension between us growing by the second. My whole body comes alive, and it feels like every part is aching to be touched.
Declan’s hands are etched in my mind. They are big and strong. The streetlights illuminate us, and I feel as if I’m melting under Declan’s heated gaze.
I don’t know who makes the first move. All I know is that in seconds, our mouths mesh together, and time stops as we kiss as though our lives depend on it. His big hand curls along my jaw and angles my head to give him better access to my mouth.
His scent is an aphrodisiac, invading all my senses so that all I can think about is how much I want more. The low rush of Declan’s breathing matches mine. My limbs turn to water as I cling to him,
