Declan’s pulse raced as he waited for the officers to talk among themselves. He wanted to go over to Taylyn to comfort her. He could see the tears running down her cheeks and couldn’t stop his feet from moving. He found himself in front of Taylyn, brushing away her tears and pulling her close. He felt her relax against his body. He hugged her kissed the top of her head and just held her, whispering softly to her.
♡
Taylyn sighed. He felt so good, and that felt so wrong. She didn’t want to feel good with him. She didn’t want to have feelings for him. Taylyn had thought about what he’d said about the kiss, and she wanted to believe him. Maybe he was a nice guy, a rare breed. She kept searching her memories, trying to find one where he had treated her badly, and she couldn’t. They may not have been the best of friends, but every memory she had of him was a good one. She didn’t want to like him. She didn’t want to get hurt again. She was glad her hands were cuffed because she really wanted to hold him and not let go. That scared her more than she wanted to admit.
“Shush, I got you.”
Taylyn didn’t say anything in reply. She didn’t trust herself to speak. She closed her eyes, soaked in his warmth, and let him hold her. Just for now, she could pretend this was real and that he cared.
“Well, it seems you were right. Taylyn was here first. None of the bystanders can say they saw Taylyn assault Trent according to officer Randell out there. A few of them did see Ella assaulting him. Fortunately for you, Ella, he’s not willing to press charges against you.”
“Lucky me.”
Taylyn laughed at Ella’s sarcastic reply. She felt the handcuffs come off but didn’t make a move to pull away from Declan. She stood there with her arms at her sides, still letting him hold her. His warm lips pressed a kiss against her temple. She raised her arms, wrapping them around his waist. She shouldn’t be standing here with him like this, but she couldn’t pull herself away.
“I want Trent trespassed from here. He’s no longer welcome at JD’s. How do I make that happen?”
Declan’s voice vibrated through her body as he held her tight and spoke with the officers. Did he just ask them to trespass Trent? For once it was someone else that was no longer allowed on the property. What was happening here? She felt Declan pull away from her but not break the embrace. She looked up at him, and his thumb felt rough against her cheek as he brushed a final tear away.
“You have to come with me and fill out some paperwork. We’ll then escort Trent off the property if he hasn’t already left,” the officer told Declan.
“Why don’t you sit down on the couch while I get that bastard out of here. I’ll be back as soon as I can and then I’ll get you home. Okay?”
Taylyn nodded. His lips were so close, mere inches away. She could feel his breath on her lips. She wanted to reach up and kiss him. He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her forehead. She didn’t like the warmth that spread through her from that one little kiss.
Chapter 11
As soon as the office door close behind Declan, Taylyn went back to the cooler to get a beer. Water was for fish. She twisted off the cap, tossing it into the trash in one smooth move. She could hear Declan’s words replay in her mind. “You’re shut off.” That didn’t count when she served herself, right? She didn’t care; she needed a drink.
Thoughts of the day ran through her head again. The appointment with her new probation officer went as expected with the exception of the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Mrs. Roberts had said that since Taylyn was already under the care of a psychiatrist and therapist they could address the substance abuse counseling requirement. The anger management course was a must; in fact, her first class was tomorrow night. If she thought about it, she did get off pretty easy. The lawyer that Sebastian hooked her up with was the reason for that. Had it been a public defender in her corner, she most likely would have done some time. And that would have been the end of her. She’d lose her job, her apartment, and she was so close to graduating college. She looked at the empty bottle in her hand, tossed it into the trash, and grabbed another one.
She scoffed to herself. A.A. was such bullshit. All those drunks sitting around taking turns sharing how wonderful life was without alcohol. Fuck that. Booze made life livable. Life was so much better when you couldn’t feel the pain. She took a hefty dose of her liquid painkiller when Declan walked back into the office.
“Hey, I brought your pocketbook. What are you doing?”
“Drinking a beer?” She showed him the bottle in her hand.
“I told you no more.”
Declan crossed the room and attempted to take the beer from her. Taylyn held tight to the bottle and a standoff ensued. Neither she nor Declan would let go of the bottle. Declan took a step closer to her, and her heart sped up. She took a matching step backward, finding herself pressed against the cooler. Declan’s smile said he had her caught. She smiled back when he tugged on the beer still gripped in her hand.
“Give me the bottle, Tay. I shut you off.”
“I severed myself.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
As the standoff continued, Taylyn tried to think of a way to get him to let go of the bottle. Should she kick him? Maybe a quick knee to groin? While she was busy thinking, Declan was slowly leaning closer. She felt the tickle of his warm breath on her cheek. She looked up at him, and he was slowly moving closer, his lips parted. Taylyn closed her eyes. His lips brushed over hers and she sighed. With a line of soft kisses along her jaw, she relaxed against the cooler.
“Got it.”
The beer was pulled out of her hand, and the warmth of Declan’s body went with it as he took a step back, smiling and looking so damn proud of himself.
“You’re an asshole. Give me the beer back. I need it.”
“No, you don’t. You’ve had enough.”
Didn’t he know there was never enough? If she could still feel, she hadn’t had enough. And right now, he was making her feel all the things she didn’t want to feel. She needed to get out of here. She shoved Declan out of her way and went to her pocketbook on the table. Digging around for her keys, she didn’t hear him come up behind her.
“What are you looking for?”
“My keys. I need to go home. I need to get away from you.”
Declan laughed. “You are not going to find your keys in there. I have them.”
Taylyn turned around, her face burning with anger. “Give me my fucking keys.”
“No. You are not driving. I’ll take you home. Come on, let’s go. I already drove your Blazer around back here.”
“I wasn’t going to drive. That’s why Ella was here. She was driving me home, I called her.”
“Well, I sent her home with Autumn. I closed the bar down early. The staff is shutting things down, and I’m bringing you home.”
What the fuck? How long have I been in here?
“It’s been about forty-five minutes. Time flies when you're drunk, right?”
“I'm not drunk.”
“Really? Wanna place a bet? I’ll give you the standard sobriety test. If you win, I take you home and you go to sleep. If I win, I take you home and you go to sleep. Deal?”
Pfft, that was easy. She could totally pass a sobriety test. Taylyn tried to contain her smile when she reached her hand out for him to shake. “Deal.”
What was he smiling about?
“Okay. First up, walk a straight line, heel to toe, for—”
“Nine steps, turnaround in a small circle, blah blah. Get out of my way.”
Declan stepped back, and Taylyn began her nine steps. She felt herself sway a bit on the fourth and tried to right her course. She overcorrected the step and tumbled into Declan. She straightened up and attempted the walk again, this time failing on the sixth step. Declan snickered behind her. Determined to do it this time, she stood up straight, took a deep breath, and slowly, carefully took nine steps. Proud of herself, she did a little dance as she turned around to take nine
steps back to Declan.
“Seven, eight, and nine! There, I did it. Now give me my keys.”
“Baby, I’m over here.”
Huh?
Taylyn looked behind her. “No fair, you moved!” She dropped down to sit on the couch. “And I’m not your baby.”
“I didn’t move. You took a right on the fifth step when you should have gone straight to the sixth step.”
“Whatever. I’m still not your baby.”
“Come on, baby. I’ll take you home.” Her reached out his hand for her.
♡
“You need to get those belts replaced,” Declan said after starting the Blazer.
“Can’t afford it right now.”
“I can change them. Get the belts, and I’ll do it this weekend.”
“I can’t afford to get them!”
“They’re like twenty bucks, Tay.”
Declan turned onto Washington Street and reached for the radio, finding an empty hole in its place. “Where’s your radio?”
“I pawned it a few years ago. I needed gas money. Google, play music.”
The lyrics of Always the Love Songs filled the air, and Declan was brought back to their first kiss. “This is the song that was playing that night. At the party. When I kissed you.”
“Oh. Where are you going?”
“Bringing you home.”
“You’re going the wrong way.”
Declan slowed down, then pulled over to the side of the road to park in front of the Carpenter house. He stared at it, then looked at the mailbox with Carpenter in big, bold block lettering. This was Taylyn’s house. He knew it was. He had dropped her off here before and watched her walk in. This was her house.
“This is your house. Are you that drunk?”
“I haven’t lived here for like three years. It was never my house. You should probably move now.”
“Well, where am I’m moving to? Where do you live?”
“River Edge. The old canning factory.”
Declan pulled back onto the road, heading off to Taylyn’s place on the other side of town. Taylyn was quiet as they drove along the dark back road. Declan wondered again what had happened to her while he was away at college. The girl he came home to was not the same girl he used to know. This Taylyn was cold and distant. The Taylyn he knew was friendly, sweet, caring. Always ready with a smile, she was happy. What had changed? What had he missed?
“Hey, stop at the packey for me. I wanna grab something.”
“No.”
“Why not? Ya know, for a bar owner, you’re really anti-alcohol.”
“I’m not anti-alcohol.”
“Aren’t you, though? You seem to love keeping people away from it.”
“Tay, I grew up in that bar. I’ve seen what happens when people have too much to drink. I’ve seen girls getting taken advantage of. I’ve seen bar fights happen because someone bumped into someone else. I’ve seen the death and destruction caused by a drunk driver. I’ve seen it all. I couldn’t do anything back then to stop these things. I can now.”
Declan pulled into the parking lot, found a spot halfway down, and parked. He turned off the ignition and just sat there. This was it. Their night together was over, and he was no closer to her than when it started. If anything, he was even farther away from his goal. What was it going to take to get to her? Didn’t she understand? She was all he wanted.
“You wanna come up?”
“Yes.”
He knew he shouldn’t go upstairs with her. He knew it would be a bad idea. He’d want another kiss, and she was still drunk. He really shouldn’t have said yes. Declan was out of the Blazer and rounding the front end when Taylyn stepped out of her side. He waited for her to take the lead and followed behind her. He’d walk her to the door, then leave. He wouldn’t go inside.
Chapter 12
Declan sucked in a breath at the sharp pain that shot through his knee. Every step caused more pain. His leg was throbbing so badly that he had to stop on the third-floor landing to rest a minute. Taylyn had continued up the stairs. He hoped she didn’t get too far ahead of him; he hadn’t asked her which floor she lived on, but he hoped it was the next one. He started up the stairs again, noticing Taylyn had stopped halfway up the next flight. She was looking down at him, but he couldn’t see her too clearly in the dimly lit stairwell.
“Why are we climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator? And why is it so dark in here?”
“The elevator is broken, and I’m gonna guess there are a few lights that are out. Come on, only two more floors.”
Two more? Fuck.
“Why would you live in a place with a broken elevator?”
She had waited for him to catch up to her, thankfully. Declan’s breathing was labored, and his knee was screaming at him. He never should have agreed to come up with her. Had he known about the stairs, he would not have. Taylyn glanced at him with a concerned look on her face. Her hand reached for his, and she held it.
“Are you okay? You don’t look good. Your face is all red, and you’re kinda sweaty.”
“Ah, yah. I’m all right. Stairs are still a bitch for me. Sorry. What floor are you on? Go on ahead, and I’ll meet up with you.”
“Fuck. I didn’t think of the stairs and your knee. I’m so sorry. I never would have asked you to come up. I wasn’t thinking.”
Declan felt a warm fuzzy feeling flow through him that had nothing to do with the pain in his knee. She was concerned about him. She cared. The way she bit her lip was causing a different warm and fuzzy feeling below the waist. He had to stop that line of thinking quickly, before any visible evidence could surface.
“It’s okay. I’m good now. Let’s go. Almost there, right?”
“Yah. Just up this flight and the next. So, like twenty more stairs.”
They finally arrived at Taylyn’s door. Taylyn leaned against the wall beside it, looking at him expectantly. Did she think he was just going to say goodnight and turn back around? That might have been his plan when he agreed to come with her. However, the climb to the fifth floor did him in, and he needed to rest before he went back down.
“Well, are you gonna unlock the door? You still have the keys, right? Please don’t tell me you locked them in Blazer?” There was a slight panic in her voice.
“Oh. Yah, I’ve got them right here.”
Taylyn laughed, and Declan dug into his pocket to get the keys. He unlocked the door, letting Taylyn walk ahead of him. Taylyn uttered three words that had him stopping just over the threshold, his stomach dropping to his feet.
“Honey, I’m home!”
Declan saw an orange tabby come running from deeper inside the apartment and started breathing again. She had a cat. Damn, he really had to find out if she was still single or not. He thought she was, and according to Autumn she was. These ups and downs and the wondering needed to stop. He had to remember his goal, stick to the plan. She looked so fucking cute cuddling with that cat. He felt a twinge of jealousy, then scoffed at himself for being an idiot.
“Hey, dude. Did you miss me? How was your day?”
Did that cat just meow back at her? Is she actually having a conversation with the cat? Declan closed the door behind him and walked over to Taylyn and the cat. He reached out to pet it, and the cat hissed at him. He pulled his hand back quickly and scowled at the beast.
“Declan, this is Baron Numbnuts the First. Baron, this is Declan, that jerk I told you about.”
Baron hissed at Declan again, then jumped down to the floor and went back the way he came from. He was clearly unimpressed with the houseguest.
“You told him I was a jerk?”
“Yes. In my defense, I thought you were at the time. If what you say is true, and after your whole ‘no more alcohol’ bullshit tonight, I kinda believe you. Then you weren’t a jerk that pushed me away. You want a beer?”
She talked to her cat about me?
“No more. Fuck it, you’re home. Yah, I’ll take a beer. D
o you have any ibuprofen?”
“Yah, bathroom cabinet. It’s the store brand, hope that’s okay.”
“That’s fine, thanks.”
Declan tried to hide his limp as he crossed the room to the bathroom. Why was he up here with her? This was a bad idea, and now he was going to have a beer with her?
It would be fine, he could control himself. She probably wouldn’t be up much longer, and then he’d call for a cab and leave her. Alone.
Something Real Page 6