Declan chuckled, obviously amused at her story. “What about your parents? You said they were pretty strict on you growing up. Do they live locally?”
Groaning, Ella said, “They live in Florence, about an hour away and, trust me, it’s too close some days. I love them, I really do, but they can be nosy and overbearing. When I first moved out, my mom came to visit me every evening for the entire first month. My dad finally complained about the amount of gas she was burning on the trips and she slowed it down to once a week. By now it’s become just once a month. She still expects me to visit them on Sundays. I haven’t for the last few weeks and I’m starting to catch a lot of heat over it.”
“It sounds like they love you, Ellie. Are you an only child?”
“Oh no, I have an older sister who is quite perfect. Her name is Crystal. Her husband is a deacon from the church my parents attend. Her life’s work is to make me look bad.”
Declan lifted a brow, “I can’t imagine that being possible. I would think you would be every parent’s dream child. How can your sister make you look bad?”
“Oh, trust me. She has it down to a science. Since she lives close to our parents, she has the home field advantage and she knows how to use it. She visits them daily, takes them to appointments, and runs errands for them. She never misses a church service. She is so well liked in the community that our parents sit beside her and beam on Sunday mornings, as if they are related to Meryl Streep or something. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they’ve started a fan club for her. How about you? Do your parents live close?”
Taking his time, Declan took a sip of his wine before answering. “My parents died when I was young. I was raised by my grandfather.”
Ella reached a hand out to clasp his. “I’m so sorry, Declan. I had no idea. What happened?”
He gave her hand a squeeze and said, “My father had his pilot’s license and he liked to show off for their friends. One weekend, they decided to fly down to the Florida Keys. They ran into bad weather on the trip and the plane went down in shallow water off the Florida coast. All six bodies were recovered, including my parents. My grandfather, who had been a widower for years, took all three of us kids in. He could be tough but fair, more on my brother and sister than me. He sat back and let me raise all the hell that I possibly could before I joined the military. It’s pretty funny looking back on it now. No matter how much I got into and, believe me, there was plenty, he just laughed when he found out. He told me once that having me around was like reliving his own wilder days. He groomed Brant and Ava to take over his company and—”
“He groomed you to be a younger version of himself,” Ella guessed.
“Yeah,” Declan answered, “I think that’s exactly what he did. He was disappointed when I re-upped for my second tour in the military. I think he expected me to come home then. I’d give anything if I had.”
“Why?”
Shaking his head, Declan said, “It was just bad the last year, Ellie. I wasn’t there when my grandfather died and I never got to know him like I wish I had. I was also stationed at the edge of hell. Shit like that you never get free of.”
“Declan—”
“It’s okay. Let’s just leave that alone. So, what’s next on this date thing?”
Ella let him change the subject because she could tell that he needed to. Maybe it was time to lighten the mood. “How do you feel about an ice cream cone on the boardwalk?” She could tell that he was surprised by her idea, but true to his word, he smiled in agreement, and soon they were on the boardwalk. She ordered chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in a cone and he chose chocolate.
“You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever done this before,” he mused. At her questioning look he added, “The whole ice cream on the boardwalk thing. Most of my recreation when I was in town revolved around tequila in a bar.”
Surprised that he was being so open, she decided to try to keep it going. “So, you came home some while you were in the military?” She knew from their earlier conversations that he was actually from the Charleston area, just as Gray and Nick were.
“Not often, but sometimes. I ended up in Myrtle Beach a lot since my buddies were always interested in spending a little R and R here. I never went home for more than a few days. Brant and Ava had their own lives and, even though I think we learned to respect each other, my grandfather and I never really had much in common. I always felt like he was waiting for something from me that I couldn’t figure out. It was a hell of a shock when he died and left me such a large part of his estate. The only explanation in his will was a note that read, ‘Fulfill both of our dreams with this money.’ Cryptic, huh?”
Ella stopped and turned to face him. “No, it’s pretty clear actually. You said yourself he seemed to enjoy the trouble you got into. I think he spent his last few years living his life through you and he wanted you to live the life that he hadn’t.”
Declan looked at her in surprise. “That’s deep, Ellie.” Then giving her a sly smile, he added, “It’s a bit of a turn-on when you go all serious on me.”
As Ella blushed and sputtered, Declan stiffened at something he saw behind her. “Well, hey guys, I thought you two would be ripping each other’s clothes off somewhere by now.”
Ella whirled around to find a grinning Suzy and a sheepish Gray standing behind them.
“Um, yeah,” Gray murmured as he stepped forward. “Sorry about the rude interruption. Even though the boardwalk almost killed Suzy when she fell down the steps over there, she still drags me out here at least every few weeks to get a hot dog.”
“So what’s with the PG date?” Suzy asked.
“Suzy—” Gray began.
Declan surprised them all when he threw his head back and laughed. Giving Gray a sympathetic look he said, “Man, I bet you never know if you’re coming or going. Hell, I can’t even decide if I’m in love with your wife or if I want to push her off a tall cliff.”
Far from being offended, Gray laughed too. “I see you understand my life perfectly. It only gets harder to answer that question, believe me.”
Suzy put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “Hellooo, I’m standing right here you know. If you guys are finished with your male bonding, I’d like to have my hot dog before I starve to death.”
Gray put his arm around Suzy, giving her a look that made Ella go weak in the knees. “Alright, baby, let’s go feed you.”
Suzy gave her a little shove into Declan’s side as she was walking off, whispering to her, “At least make it to second base tonight.” She could tell by the look Declan shot her that he had heard Suzy’s comment as well.
“Would you like to go to a movie or something, Ellie?”
Considering for a minute, she said, “We could go back to my place and watch something.” She would much rather curl up next to him on her couch than be packed into a theater with a bunch of strangers.
Declan shifted uncomfortably before saying, “I don’t know . . . I’m really not sure we should be alone at your place yet.”
Hurt, Ella asked, “Why not?”
“Because, at some point, I would have you on your back with my hand up your dress.”
Ella’s eyes widened and she whispered, “Ohhh. I’d um . . . like that.”
Declan groaned as if he were in pain. “Oh God, Ellie, don’t say stuff like that. I’m barely hanging on to the whole Mr. Nice Guy thing.”
She put her hands on his chest and gazed up into his eyes. “I don’t want you to be the nice guy. I’ve waited too long already. I want this Declan and I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“Ellie . . .” he warned, “don’t say that. We need to take this slow. I’ll take you home and we can watch a movie. I can do this, but please don’t repeat what you just said to me again, unless you really mean it.”
When she opened her mouth to repeat it, he clamped his hand over her lips and shook his head. “No, Ellie. I don’t want to get arrested on the boardwalk, and I damn sure don’t w
ant Suzy and Gray to have a front row seat to the action. If you need to say sexy things like that, make sure it’s not in a public place.”
Looking around at the families with young children, Ella blushed a bright pink and said, “I see your point. I’ll try to do a little better next time.”
Declan wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on top of the head. “Good girl. Now let’s go home and please keep your hands to yourself.”
Ella chuckled, “I can’t believe the bad boy of Danvers is telling the church girl of Danvers to keep her hands to herself. No one would ever believe it!”
Declan smirked, “Bad boy, huh? Well, then by all means let’s not tell anyone. I apparently have a certain reputation to maintain.”
Smiling to herself, Ella thought that didn’t even skim the surface of all of the things that people had speculated about him. Of course, he would probably be thrilled to know that all of the girls thought he would be outstanding between the sheets.
Nah, he doesn’t need to know that.
* * *
When they arrived back at her apartment, Declan was thrilled to see the movie Die Hard in her video collection. “Don’t tell me your parents bought you this movie for Christmas,” he joked.
“Um . . . are you kidding? I can assure you that my parents don’t even know who Bruce Willis is and they sure aren’t going around repeating the line, “Yippee-ki-yay, mother . . .”
Looking strangely proud of her, Declan said, “Even though you couldn’t finish the ‘mother’ part, I’m still impressed and turned on, all at the same time.”
“Thanks, I think . . . I love that movie. Do you want some popcorn?”
“Yeah, why not. It’ll give me something to put in my mouth, besides you.”
Instead of blushing, like she normally would at a comment like that, she laughed and joked right back, “In your dreams, babe. I’ll be in the kitchen.” While she was waiting for the popcorn to pop, she realized that at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, she was having the best time she had ever had. Was that sad or what? Declan was funny and easy to be with. He wanted to have an innocent date and she wanted to crawl across the couch and straddle his lap.
From what she had read, the thirties were the sexual prime for women and she seemed to be hitting it a few years early. She might be a virgin, but she knew what she wanted and it was sitting out there in her living room. Maybe it was time to make it happen. Before Die Hard was over, Ella Webber would be making her move and if Declan could resist it then he had more willpower than she could have ever imagined.
* * *
“Ellie, really it’s okay. There wasn’t much ice left in the glass.” If he didn’t know better, he would swear that Ella was trying to get rid of him. She had brought in drinks and popcorn from the kitchen earlier and had proceeded to trip and throw the popcorn all over his chest and the floor. Once they got that mess cleaned up, she had settled in beside him still apologizing. An hour later, while pausing the movie for a bathroom break, she had gotten up from the couch and promptly fell on her face when she hadn’t realized that her foot was asleep. The latest in the string of mishaps included her upending her drink in his lap and then attacking his crotch with a towel to clean up the spill. Not that he had ever wondered, but now he had his answer; you could indeed still get a hard-on with ice surrounding your cock.
Ella groaned when he took the towel from her hand and placed it safely away from her. “You must think I’m a total disaster. I thought I could seduce you tonight, instead I have done my best to kill you.”
Declan felt his cock stir even further at mention of her planned seduction. He ignored his wet crotch area and pulled her into his arms. Kissing the top of her head he said, “Honey, I thought we agreed to take things slow. You’ve probably made yourself nervous tonight. We don’t have to be in any kind of hurry.”
“I guess someone this clumsy doesn’t turn you on anymore,” she mumbled against his chest.
He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Ellie, there is nothing you could do that would make me not want you. There has barely been a day since I met you that I haven’t imagined myself buried inside of you. Dumping some water and popcorn on me hasn’t changed that and seeing the beautiful curve of your ass when you fell off the couch certainly didn’t change my mind.”
Ella looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I’m glad you thought that was funny. Would you like to borrow my pink robe while I dry your pants?”
“Nah, I’m afraid you might try to strangle me with it or something,” he joked.
Slapping his arms, she rolled her eyes and said, “Ha-ha, very funny.” Then, looking down at his pants, she continued, “That can’t be very comfortable.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea.” Shifting her to the side, he got to his feet and pulled her up with him. “I’m going to head out. I think this is a very clear sign for me to behave myself tonight.” At her pout, he tapped her chin and added, “I said tonight, Ellie, not forever. Walk me to the door.”
Declan pulled her into his arms and took her mouth in a kiss that left little doubt that his feelings for her hadn’t changed. Just when she felt like she might melt from the heat of his tongue tangling with hers, he pulled gently away from her. Running a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath and said, “You’re dangerous. The next time you kiss me like that, you’re probably going to have to up your game and stab me to keep from taking you to bed.”
Ella laughed; still pleasantly surprised to find that the always serious Declan had a sense of humor to rival hers. She slumped against the wall once he was gone and fanned herself in dramatic fashion. Even with all of the humiliating things that had happened to her tonight, it was still the best date that she had ever been on or could imagine. Well, not that she had much experience to go on, but what could possibly top that kiss?
Chapter Seven
When Declan walked through the doors of Danvers International the next morning, he wanted to do what he had always done when he saw Jason, Gray, and Nick standing around chatting: go the other way. Why was being normal so damn hard? His first inclination was always to be a loner. He did his job and whatever business communication was necessary. His talk with Nick about Ella a few days ago had been a first step. They might all hang out and see each other socially, but he tried to avoid that. He had been forced to on a few occasions and had always felt like the odd man out. These were Ella’s friends though, and if he was going to be involved with her, then he needed to try to fit into her world. He had friends in the military, but it was hard to maintain those friendships when you were once again a civilian and they were back in whatever hellhole Uncle Sam saw fit to send them.
Squaring his shoulders, he walked up to the group. He saw the surprise on each of the men’s faces, before it was quickly hidden.
Jason shifted and clapped him on the shoulder. “Morning, Declan. How’s it going?”
Declan fought the urge to abort this mission and head for the elevators, but stuck it out for Ellie. If he couldn’t manage to make small talk for five minutes, he was really in trouble. “Yeah, good morning.” When everyone continued to look at him, he wondered in a panic if he should start talking about the game last night or something. Hell, was there even a game on? Luckily, Nick could always be counted on to break the ice and this morning was no exception.
“So, Dec, you and Ella, right?”
Looking around the group he wasn’t surprised to see that they all seemed to know it. Were there any secrets around here? “Yeah, I guess you could say so. We, um . . . had our first date last night.”
Gray spoke up, “Hey, that’s great man. I like Ella a lot.” Then with a rueful smile, he added, “I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance for anything that Suzy may put her up to on your dates. I think she has adopted her as another sister, which probably means trouble.”
Declan couldn’t contain the laugh that burst out. “Well, if she was responsible for last night, she has
a long way to go on her seduction techniques.” He inwardly groaned as he saw the sudden attention on their faces. He hadn’t meant to mention anything about the previous night. He knew he would never get out of this now, and he sure as hell would never get a guy card without spilling some of it. Fuck! You should have kept right on walking this morning.
Smirking, Nick jabbed him in the side saying, “You’ve got to explain that statement. I’ve never known my sister-in-law to fail at anything before.”
Declan shifted on his feet, wishing he had kept his damn mouth shut. “It’s nothing really. Ella just had a run of bad luck last night. She dumped popcorn on me, fell on the floor when she got up to go to the restroom, and poured a glass of soda in my lap at the end of the evening. I think she was pretty embarrassed about it, but it didn’t bother me.”
Everyone laughed and Jason said, “Oh, man, I feel you. Claire has what we call ‘mishaps’ and they happen often. I swear the woman can mash her finger on something in the kitchen, walk into the next room, and run into the wall. Last night, I was sitting on the deck with Chrissie, and Claire walked into the glass patio door so hard I expected to see it shatter. She blamed it on the glass. She said it was so clean that she thought the door was open. We started going to Sam’s Club to buy our Band-Aids in bulk.”
Grimacing, Declan said, “Damn, that’s rough. It wasn’t that bad last night. I think she was just nervous. It was pretty embarrassing though when I left and walked by her neighbor with a big wet spot on the front of my pants. He’s probably trying to figure out how to ask Ella if I’m potty trained.”
Everyone laughed. Gray joked, “That definitely doesn’t sound like an evening planned by Suzy. You’ll know when you get to that one. There will probably be handcuffs, Cool Whip, and Ben and Jerry’s involved.”
Frowning, Nick said, “That would be way hotter if it didn’t involve my sister-in-law. You two being married has completely sucked the fun out of that for me.”
“I can’t think of any comment that either won’t sound wrong or get my ass kicked so I’ll let it pass. How about you, Dec?” Jason added.
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