He hesitated, so I pushed a little.I hated thinking of him home alone grieving.“I don’t want to mess up your evening plans.Declan and I are freaking out over every little thing.We don’t want to impose, though, so whenever you can make it would be great.”
Declan walked through the door with two large bags.
“I’m not—yes.Okay.I’m on my way.”
“Thank you, Uncle John!We’ll see you soon.”
I disconnected and looked up at Declan.“I invited my Uncle John to have dinner with us.”
“So I heard.”He dropped the bags on the coffee table and sat on the edge of the couch beside me.Leaning down, he kissed me softly, reverently.“This life is as much of a surprise for me, as much of a blessing.”
“Were you eavesdropping?”
He kissed me again.“I didn’t mean to.When I came up the stairs, I heard you two talking.I didn’t want to interrupt, so I waited until you found a way to lift his spirits and get him out of his house.”He gestured to the bags.“And Lord knows, we have plenty of food.”
“It’ll cut into your leftovers.”
“I’ll survive.”He ran his hand over my hip.“You look so cute, all curled up on this too-big couch.”He glanced around.“We need to get you one of those soft blankets like you have on the couch in your studio.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
He pulled me forward, toward the edge of the cushion, then slid in behind me, wrapping his arms around me.“How are you feeling?”
I took off my gloves and turned to him, running a fingertip down his nose and over his lips.“I feel like we should fool around while we’re waiting for my uncle.”
Nipping at my finger, he said, “I feel like you always have the best ideas.”He rolled me over and sank into a kiss that had me losing my thoughts and the understanding of time.
When the knock echoed in the room, we broke apart, both of us breathing heavily.Declan’s hand was under my hoodie and my bra had mysteriously come undone.
“Shitshitshit,” I chanted, popping up and trying to fix my bra.
Declan untucked his shirt, and we looked for any telltale signs on each other of what we’d been up to.
“You look beautiful.”He gave me a quick kiss while finger combing my masses of curls out of my face for me.“I’ll get the door.”
While he did, I looked around to make sure we hadn’t left anything incriminating sitting around.We were both still clothed, so it seemed safe enough.I picked up my gloves from the floor and slipped them on.
“It’s hard to believe this is the same place we used to take the girls to ride the merry-go-round,” John said as he walked in.
I saw the moment pain overshadowed his memory.“That’s because Declan gutted and rebuilt it.The old building didn’t have a second floor.”
“The craftsmanship is extraordinary.My word, you really are quite gifted, aren’t you?”
“Thank you, sir,” Declan said.“I had some great people working on this with me as well.”
Looking thinner, his face more sunken, John studied the living room.“Can I have the tour?”
“Yes!”I patted Declan on the shoulder.“He’s going to give it because I need to use the facilities.Be right back.”I went through our bedroom, through the closet, and into the bathroom.After taking care of bodily functions, I tied my hair up in a messy bun and headed back out as Declan was bringing Uncle John into the bedroom.
“Look at that view,” John said.He turned to me, adding, “You’ve spelled the windows, right?”
I nodded.
“Good.There are too many creeps obsessed with you.”He glanced at Declan.“Nothing personal.”
Declan boomed a laugh.
“I don’t want you to end up having stalkers with binoculars trained on your windows.”
