by Katie Ashley
Declan.
As I reached for the vase, Sylvia winked at me. “I think I know who sent this.”
I cocked my brows at her in surprise. “You do?”
With a knowing look, she replied, “I’ve seen the two of you getting back together for a long time.”
Well then. l picked off the card to read the inscription. I couldn’t hold back my smile as I read the words.
Poking her head out the door, Jaycee asked, “Just one rose? Is Declan teasing you or something?”
At the somewhat disgusted look on her face, I busted out laughing. “Let me guess. You’re thinking Declan is a cheap bastard for not popping for a whole dozen?”
Pink tinged her cheeks. “Um, maybe?”
“Don’t feel bad. I would think the very same thing.” I grinned before handing her the card. “Declan knows from back in the day how I think its wasteful to spend money on flowers, so he would always just give me one red rose and then spend the rest of the money on something else.”
Jaycee’s eyes widened as she jerked her head up from the card. “To thank you for caring for Moose, he gave the money for ten dozen roses in your name to the College of Veterinarian Medicine at UGA.”
Sylvia swept a hand to her chest. “Oh, my, that’s so romantic.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Tilting my head, I said, “Slightly excessive on the donation, but at the same time, I’ll take it.”
“I’m sure the school is happy to take it as well,” Jaycee remarked as she handed me the card back.
As I slipped it into the envelope, I said, “I’ll have to call and thank him after we finish up with the next neuter.”
With an impish gleam burning in her eyes, Jaycee said, “You know, you could go down and thank him in person.”
“Oh, I could, huh?” I replied with a grin.
Jaycee nodded. “For a gift like that, I think you should express your gratitude thoroughly and completely in person.”
When she waggled her brows, I laughed. “I’m not giving Declan a mid-morning delight.”
While Sylvia gasped in horror, Jaycee countered, “Why not?”
Because he’s withholding his fabulous cock from me so we can rebuild our relationship based on emotional intimacy. “Well, for starters, I have patients to see about.”
“Oh please, like Bubba the barn cat can’t wait fifteen minutes more to lose his balls.”
“Yes, I’m aware that he would probably welcome more time with his manhood.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
As diplomatically as I could, I replied, “We only just started seeing each other again, and we aren’t to the physical level yet.” You’re such a liar.
Jaycee’s expression told me she thought I was completely bullshitting her, and I couldn’t blame her for thinking that. It only made sense you would rekindle an old relationship with sex. God knows I tried the other night.
Sylvia nodded. “I think it’s good the two of you are rebuilding your foundation first before becoming physically intimate.”
Okay, she was starting to get a little creepy with how well she knew Declan and me. “Thank you.” I stared pointedly at Jaycee. “I’m glad one of us can see that.”
Jaycee laughed. “I suppose after everything the two of you went through, it’s the right thing to do.”
“I appreciate that.” I jerked my thumb the door. “I’ll go sit these down in my office, and then go thank Declan.”
Waggling her brows, Jaycee replied, “Yeah, you go do that.”
With a roll of my eyes, I headed out of the operating room to go to my office. After depositing the vase on my desk, I slipped out the back door to head to Declan’s. When I swept through the door to his office, I inwardly groaned at the sight of Receptionist Barbie aka Anna. After my performance here last week, I couldn’t blame her for eyeing me warily. I forced a smile to my lips. “Good morning, Anna. I was wondering if I might speak with Declan for just a minute.”
“He’s actually between meetings at the moment. But have a seat while I check if he wants to see you.”
I didn’t miss the subtle jab. Apparently, Declan hadn’t made her aware that the two of us were together again. She was merely going off the spectacle I’d made of myself the other day.
Before she could buzz his phone, Declan appeared in the hallway. At the sight of me, his face lit up. “I thought I heard your voice.”
“I had a few minutes between patients, so I thought I’d come down in person and thank you for the rose.”
With Receptionist Barbie’s wide eyes on us, I swept around the desk before throwing myself into Declan’s arms and slamming my lips down on his. When his mouth opened in surprise, I slid my tongue inside, which caused him to groan in pleasure. I poured all my gratitude into that kiss. I knew I was really hitting it out of the park when I felt Declan’s appreciation growing against my thigh.
Unfortunately, he came to his senses and broke the kiss. When I opened my eyes, he was grinning at me. “I would say after that kiss, it was worth every penny.”
“And from your reaction, I’d say I’m even closer to wearing you down.”
Declan snickered. “I feel like we role reversing from when we were teenagers.”
With a giggle, I replied, “Yes, I’m the horndog now trying to steal your virtue.”
At Receptionist Barbie’s sharp intake of breath, Declan said, “Do you have a minute to come back to my office?”
“It depends on what you plan on doing in that minute,” I teased.
Declan rolled his eyes. “In that case, I’ll just ask you out here.”
“Ask me what?”
“I wanted to invite you to dinner. Are you free tomorrow night?”
“If I say I am, do I sound too forward?”
“I think you’d sound like you live in a small town with limited entertainment.”
I giggled. “Then yes, I’m free.” Batting my eyelashes, I asked, “Where are you planning on taking me, Mr. St. James?”
“To my house.” Okay, I certainly wasn’t expecting that. I was extremely curious about what his house looked like. In a way, it was like seeing what would have been between the two of us if we’d built the house we’d always talked about.
“Are you planning on ordering in?”
“No. I’m going to cook dinner for you.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “You cook?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Color me surprised. Back when we were engaged, the only thing you liked to do was marinate and grill.”
“What can I say? I’ve evolved since then.”
“I would say so.” The fact the man wanted to cook for me had my pulse racing. Call me crazy, but there was something so sexy about a man preparing you food. And it wasn’t because he might be doing it shirtless…or naked. It was the level of care that went into the process. Yeah. I know. I’m not believing myself either.
After licking my lips at the thought, I asked, “What are you cooking?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, I see. What time would you like me?”
“How about seven?”
“That will be great. I can run home and shower before coming over.”
“You can always shower at my house.”
“Will you be showering with me?”
Declan groaned. “No. But thanks for the imagery.”
“You’re welcome.” I dipped my head to give him a final kiss. “I’ll see you at seven.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
When I glanced past him to Anna, her shock was evident by the fact her eyebrows had practically disappeared into her hairline. “Have a lovely afternoon, Anna,” I said as I started around the desk.
“Uh, yes, thanks. Same to you.”
I started back to the clinic with the goofiest grin on my face.
Chapter Twenty
Anxiety pricked its way along my spine as my car’s GPS directed me towards Declan�
��s house. I’d spent most of the day on edge, and then the closer it got to seven o’clock, the more I felt like I was going to come out of my skin. I could only chalk my anxiousness up to the fact it felt like I was going on a first date. In this case, it was a first date with a man I’d once been engaged to.
Everything seemed to be transpiring at warp speed, which didn’t help matters. It had only been forty-eight hours since our post Ice House make-out session. Since then, we’d gotten back together—something two months ago I would have said was completely and totally impossible. Like to the same level as hell freezing over. And now I was driving to Declan’s house where he was preparing dinner for me.
Yeah, it was epically surreal.
Turning on Declan’s road, I wondered why in the hell he thought it was a good idea for us to be alone together when we were abstaining from getting physical. It seemed like we were setting ourselves up for failure. Or I suppose I should say Declan was setting us up. It felt just like we were teenagers again and had the house to ourselves while our parents were out. Of course, I wouldn’t have dared to turn down his offer to cook for me. He was really going above and beyond to show me how much he’d changed, and I had to say I was loving every minute of it.
As I neared his street number, I couldn’t help leaning forward in my seat. Since I’d been back, it had taken everything within me not to stalk by Declan’s house. Although my curiosity had been at a fever pitch, I had managed to temper it with the worst-case scenario of being caught by Declan. The last thing my pride would have allowed was that to happen.
When the GPS announced I’d reached my destination, my mouth dropped open. In my mind, I had imagined something modern with sharp edges and a cold, soulless look. Of course, that had been based on my previous attitude towards Declan. Now it made total sense his two story-farmhouse looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. It wasn’t exactly the house we’d planned on building, but it was still gorgeous.
I inhaled a deep breath to fortify my strength before exhaling it as I made my way up Declan’s front walk. I climbed up the steps of the wide front porch filled with rocking chairs. Before I could reach my hand out to ring the doorbell, the door jerked open, and Cameron’s grinning face stared back at me. “Hiya, Doc!”
After a few ridiculous moments of my mouth opened and closing like a fish, I finally said, “Well, hello there.”
Tilting his head at me, Cam asked, “Wanna come in?”
“Yes, please.”
As I stepped into the foyer, my gaze flickered around my surroundings. Not only had Declan hired an amazing architect to design the house, but it looked as though Joanna Gaines had personally done the decorating. Everything was farmhouse chic, and I was in serious love.
“Is your dad home?”
“He’s upstairs changing his clothes.”
“I see.”
Declan’s voice floated down from the upstairs landing. “Cam? Was that the door?”
“Yeah, it’s the Doc.”
I caught a flurry of movement before Declan came pounding down the stairs. While he looked positively delectable in his white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and khaki pants, his expression was somewhat flustered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the doorbell.”
“That’s probably because someone anticipated me before I could ring it,” I replied with a grin.
“He got pretty excited when I told him you were coming over.” Declan ruffled Cam’s hair. “Didn’t you buddy?”
Cam bobbed his head emphatically. “Hey, Doc, you wanna see my new nerf gun Daddy got me?”
“Um, sure.”
After Cam sprinted off, I cocked my brows at Declan. “I see it’s going to be a party of three, not two, for dinner.”
Wincing, Declan put his hands out in front of him. “I’m so sorry. Mom and Dad are puking their guts out with some sort of stomach flu, and every other babysitter I tried was busy tonight.”
“It’s okay. If you’d called, I would’ve taken a rain check.”
He shook his vehemently from side to side. “After everything we have been through, there was no way in hell I was going to cancel on you.”
My heart fluttered at the thought he was willing to go through so much to keep his word. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
He grinned. “You might rethink that response later.”
I laughed. “I doubt that.”
Motioning me with his hand, Declan said, “Come on in. As soon as the bread is finished, we can eat.”
As I sniffed the air, a delicious tomato smell filled my nose. “Did you make spaghetti?”
“Homemade lasagna.”
“Wow, like really homemade or you ‘took it out of the box and put it in the oven’ kind of homemade.”
Declan gave me a withering look. “No, smartass, I didn’t take it out of a box.”
“My apologies and color me impressed,” I mused as we walked into the kitchen. The moment I saw the quartz countertops and distressed cream cabinets, I was in love. “This is gorgeous.”
“You really like it?”
“Like it? I love it.”
The farmhouse kitchen table was set with fine china and crystal water goblets. Although it was beautiful, I couldn’t help wondering if the place settings were part of his and Bailey’s wedding china. Ugh, it seriously sucked being in a house of Declan’s ex-wife. Just how many touches and elements were because of her? I felt that scratchy skin feeling working its way up my back. I can’t undo time or his marriage. So, if was time to pull up my big girl panties.
“Would you like some wine while we wait on the bread to come out?”
I gave him a quizzical look. “You have wine?”
He grinned. “For you.”
“Seriously, you didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s okay.” With a wink, he added, “I was never a fan of the taste anyway.”
Although I could have used some wine to calm my nerves, I decided against it. I wasn’t going to tempt Declan’s sobriety even if he wasn’t a fan of wine.
When Cam reappeared with his nerf gun, he asked, “Daddy, is it a holiday?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Cause Grammy only uses the candles on holidays.”
When Declan’s face somewhat flushed at being called out by Cam, I had to bite down on my lip to keep from laughing. “Sometimes you use candles for company.”
“And she”—Cameron pointed to me—“is our company?”
“That’s right.”
“I like having company.”
“And I like being your company,” I replied.
Tugging on my hand, Cam asked, “Hey, Doc, you wanna see my fish Mr. Blue?”
“Her name is Peyton, or you can call her Dr. Beasley,” Declan corrected.
Cam rolled his eyes. “Okay, Pey-ton, you wanna see Mr. Blue?”
With a grin, I replied, “I would love to see Mr. Blue. I don’t see too many fish in my practice.”
“Let’s go!” Cam jerked me over to the stairs. He pulled me up the steps at a frantic pace. When we got to the landing, he hurried us down the hallway. Although they were somewhat of a blur, I eyed the framed pictures lining the wall. I had a feeling they’d been arranged by Bailey in happier years. A pang entered my chest at the sight of what I imagined were the perfect family images.
Cam’s room was done in a John Deere theme with a mural of farmland and tractors painted on one of the walls. “Wow, this is a really cool wall you have here.”
“My mommy painted it.”
Shit. I’d walked right over that potential landmine without even trying. I cut my gaze over to Cam to see if my gaffe had reduced him to tears. Thankfully, he appeared unfazed by my reference to his mom.
“She’s very talented.”
“She doesn’t live with us anymore.” He peered curiously up at me. “What does bitch mean?”
Oh sweet Jesus, this just continued getting worse. Glancing past Cam, I debated whether I shou
ld make a run for it. Maybe I could fain the need to use the bathroom to get out of answering his question. After a few agonizing seconds of Cam staring at me, I replied, “Uh, I think you might need to ask your daddy about that one.”
“Granny called my mommy that to Daddy.”
I don’t blame her. “It’s just a word grownups use. You shouldn’t use it though.”
“Okay.”
The sound of the smoke alarm going off interrupted us. We hurried out of Cam’s room and then down the stairs. When we got to the kitchen, smoke billowed from the oven. “Motherfucker!” Declan bellowed as he fanned the smoke with a magazine.
I couldn’t help giggling. “What happened?”
“I burned the f—” He clamped his mouth shut at the sight of Cam. “The lasagna.”
Sweeping a hand to his hip, Cam waved a finger at Declan. “Daddy, I told you not to cook. You always burn everything.”
Once again, Declan’s face turned scarlet. “I didn’t the last time I tried.” He gave me a knowing look. “There was too much pressure tonight.”
I smiled. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all good. I should have known better than trying to put it back in to reheat it.
“If it helps, it really smelled good when I got here.”
Declan laughed. “Thanks.” Sweeping his hands to his hips, “We can always go out or order in pizza.”
Cam danced around me shouting, “Pizza, pizza, pizza!”
I nodded at Declan. “That sounds good to me.”
Reaching into his back pocket, Declan produced his phone. “Pizza it is.”
As we waited on the pizza to arrive, Declan walked me and the burned lasagna to the edge of his property while Cam ran along ahead of us, shooting off his nerf gun. After throwing the contents of the dish over the fence, he mused, “At least the possums and raccoons might get some enjoyment out of that.”
I giggled. “That’s kind of you to think of all the woodland creatures.”
“Or torture them.”
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate your culinary delight.”
When we started back to the house, I admired his property. “You have a gorgeous home-place, Declan.”