Page 79 of Temporarily in Love

She cackled. “No! My dad was never like that. He trusted I made whatever decisions were right for me. Plus, he loves you.”

I pulled her closer against my chest and kissed her neck. “Happy Halloween, my love.”

She turned in my embrace. “I’m so glad I got to spend it with you and the girls. All my favorite people.”

She gave me a quick kiss, then she promptly fell asleep.

I lay awake staring at the ceiling, wondering when the shit would hit the fan. Wondering how hard it was going to hit me when she walked out of my life again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

LILA

“Lila,” Declan’s deep voice boomed in my ear.

I jerked awake and was surprised to find Declan sitting on my bed in his Halloween costume. Then I remembered I had asked him to stay at my parents’ house last night. I was addicted to being in his arms and the idea of him leaving last night made me sad.

“Hmm?” I asked and stretched my arms above my head.

He gestured to his outfit. “I gotta go home and do the walk of shame.”

A giggle bubbled up from inside my chest. “Sorry. I love sleeping beside you.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I know, my love. I’ll see you later, okay?”

I nodded, but then he kissed me goodbye, and I felt like I was going to melt into the bed in a pool of swoon. When he kissed me, it was like I was floating on cloud nine. I didn’t realize until I came back to town and started this thing with him how alive his kisses made me feel. How all those other men never made me feel what he did.

He pulled away and pushed a strand of hair out of my face. “I gotta go, love,” he whispered.

I squinted at the clock. It was only ten, and I knew the brewery didn’t open until noon.

“I have a sales meeting this morning before we open that I forgot about,” he explained.

I nodded. “Oh, okay. Thanks for staying last night.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile, and he gave me one last quick kiss goodbye.

I laid back on the bed and watched him go, laughing to myself that he had to leave wearing his vampire costume.

Last night, I had been giddy when I saw Declan actually dressed up for the occasion. In high school, he let me pick our costumes. I hadn’t asked him to dress up, so that had been a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t planned on going as a witch again, but when Kels and Bri dropped off the girls, they were too excited to pick. When I put the witch hat on, Cora got excited about us being a trio of witches.

I rolled out of bed and got dressed before heading downstairs. I wondered if my parents would say anything about Declan staying over last night. My mom was cheering for us to be back together, so I didn’t think so. Plus, we were thirty-four, and my parents didn’t lean into the repressed Irish-American thing.

When I walked into the kitchen downstairs, my parents smiled at me over their coffee. “Morning, sweetheart,” Mom said.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the table with them. “Morning.”

“How were the girls?” Dad asked.

“Good. It was good to have Declan with me, or they would have been a handful.”

Mom raised an eyebrow at me. “Did I just see him leave?”

I nodded.

“Hmm,” Dad grunted.

“Did you book your flight home?” Mom asked.