“Think about it, love,” he said, taking her hand from her lap and kissing the inside of her wrist. There were so many more places he wanted to kiss. “You know where to find me.”
He stood and put his feet back in the hot sand, walking away when she asked, “I do?”
“My number hasn’t changed,” he said coolly. If she knew how many times he’d almost called her…. Had texts typed out only to delete them….
He liked Mia Addler a whole lot—probably too much—but he wasn’t going to beg her to be his.
She had a phone. She knew how to use it. Calls went both ways, even over in England.
He rejoined his friends, and the game of Frisbee broke up. “So?” Jed asked, and Declan shook his head.
“She said no?” Jed didn’t have to sound so incredulous about it, though Declan was a little surprised Mia hadn’t melted into his arms. She fit there, and she’d been plenty melty before.
There he was again, comparing everything to before. He really needed to stop doing that.
“She didn’t exactly say no,” he said, taking off his ballcap and shifting it before putting it back on. If he went anywhere in this town without a proper disguise, he got mobbed. The beach was probably the safest place, because people weren’t expecting a rockstar celebrity. “But she didn’t say yes.”
“So what did you say?” Maverick asked, clicking his key fob to get his truck unlocked. He also rode a motorcycle, though on a much bigger scale than Declan did. Maverick Malone was up to his neck in motorcycles, what with the sales and repair shop he owned and operated. Oh, and the motorcycle gang he was in.
Oops, club. It was a motorcycle club. Declan honestly didn’t get the difference, and Maverick hadn’t been able to explain it. So it was just a different four-letter word in Declan’s mind.
“I said she had my number.” He’d stuck to the script he and Jed and Maverick had talked about.
“Good man,” Maverick said.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Jed said. “I’m starving.”
The man was always starving, but Declan didn’t mind. Jed had been a good friend over the years, and he’d allowed Declan access to a guest house that sat on the edge of his property for nothing.
Declan paid him anyway, because Jed ran a commercial fishing boat on Forbidden Lake and sometimes had lean times. Plus, the house was just his style. Clean. Small. Private. Everything a rockstar needed when he wanted to get away from crowds and just relax.
Or kiss his girlfriend.
“Can we order something?” Declan asked. “I’m not feeling like hiding out in public.”
“I can’t,” Maverick said. “I’ve got a meeting at the shop.”
“Sure,” Declan said. “Is Ruby going to be at this meeting?”
“I don’t know,” Maverick said, but the tips of his ears went bright red in the span of a second. So that was a yes.
“Isn’t she your partner?” Jed asked. “She’ll surely be there.”
“She’s…had one foot out the door for a couple of months.”
“Really?” Declan asked. “Mav, I can’t believe that.”
He swallowed and shrugged. “It’s a long story.” He pulled up to Jed’s house on the edge of town, where the trees took over the backyard and hid the guest house where Declan lived. “See you guys later.”
Declan and Jed got out, and Maverick drove away. “He asked her out,” Jed said. “They dated a little. I don’t think it went well.”
“Obviously not,” Declan said, watching the brake lights flare to life as Mav came to a slow at the stop sign. “So, pizza? Chinese? Or we can order whatever we want and have that food delivery place bring it to us.”
“I can go pick up,” Jed said.
“Only if we order from Souper Salad,” he said. “And I don’t want soup or salad.”
“Whatever,” Jed said, heading for the front door of his house. “Tammy doesn’t even work there anymore.”
“No?” Declan was used to being out of the loop. He didn’t have to like it, but he was used to it. “Who would you go see then? And where?”
“There’s this new woman over at the steakhouse. Maybe you’ll remember her, though she was a little younger than us. Bailey Adams?”
Declan searched the recesses of his memory, but he came up blank. “Doesn’t ring a bell.” He’d been so focused on protecting Marjorie and Kingston growing up. His mother too, if he could. Writing songs. Making tapes. He’d had a few friends, and that was all he’d needed.
Then, and now.
Oh, and it would be great if he could have Mia Addler too. He tried to set her out of his mind as he and Jed went inside, but she refused to go. Hopefully, she wouldn’t refuse to see him again.
But he’d bounced the ball to her, and she held it firmly in her court. She had to know their meeting on the beach hadn’t happened by chance, so the real question was: What would she do with that ball?
Chapter Three
Mia usually enjoyed the family dinner on Sunday evenings. Tonight, Liam had brought his new fiancée—and former au pair—to dinner. Serenity had been at family dinners before, but tonight, she entered under the weight of a towering cone of cream puffs.
Everyone stopped talking, and Liam said, “It’s called a croquembouche.”
Mia knew what it was—fancy. Threads of caramel kept everything together, and Kimmie said, “I helped.”
“Of course you did,” Mia’s mother said, sweeping Kimmie into a hug. “Are you ready for school tomorrow?”
“No,” Kimmie said, and Liam tucked her into his side. Her mother and Liam’s first wife had died while Kimmie was at school, and Mia’s niece had some anxiety over it. But she’d been doing great with Serenity as her caretaker, and she and Liam would be married soon.
“Croquembouche,” Karly said, sidling up to Mia, one hand on her expanding belly and one holding a bottle of diet soda. “That’s so…French.”
“You don’t like Serenity?” Mia looked at her oldest sibling, a little shocked. She’d always gotten along with Sami the best, but she and Karly hadn’t had any problems.
“I like her a lot,” Karly said, looking at Mia. Regret lanced her expression. “Did it sound like I didn’t like her?”
“Yeah, it kinda did,” Mia said. “You don’t have to do what she does. Remember, her job is to be at home and take care of…Liam.”
Karly half laughed and half snorted. “That’s a full-time job, all right.”
Mia giggled, silencing when Phoenix joined them. “What are we laughing about tonight?” he asked. His beard seemed twice as big as it had a few months ago, and Mia reached up to tug on it.
“Nothing,” she said at the same time Karly said, “I saw Declan in town yesterday.”
Mia froze, making it really easy for Phoenix to push her hand away from his face. “Oh, boy,” he said when he realized Mia had turned into a statue. “She’s not with Declan, Karly. Remember?”
“But she wants to be,” Karly whispered.
“No,” Mia said, shooting them both a look and then glancing toward the kitchen, where her parents were enamored with something Kimmie was showing them on her phone. “I don’t.”
“You didn’t see him?”
“No,” Mia said again. “I haven’t seen him or talked to him since I broke up with him.” It was a little lie. No one had seen them at the lake. And it wasn’t her fault he was there playing Frisbee at the same time she was there soaking up the last bit of sun for months. Her mother couldn’t blame her for that.
“No, since Mom and Dad made you break up with him,” Phoenix said.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked them, anger blazing through her now. “You have a girlfriend to keep you busy. And you’re married with a baby on the way.”
“I just think you really liked him, and Mom and Dad will come around,” Karly said, not an ounce of apology in her voice at all.
“Yeah,” Phoenix agreed. “I mean, my girlfriend lived with me for
a few weeks and no one knew. You’re a private person….” He let the words hang there, one eyebrow cocked.
“Are you suggesting I start a second relationship with him?” Mia leaned closer, her blood running hotly through her veins now. “And keep it a secret?”
Phoenix shrugged. “I know you hate getting unsolicited advice, sis. You do what makes you happy.” He walked away as if he’d said nothing. Maybe mentioned it was going to rain tomorrow.
Mia looked at Karly, dumbfounded. “Tell me you two did not plan this little intervention.”
“Oh, Mia,” she said with a smile. “I can’t tell you that.” She walked into the kitchen too, snagging the top crème puff from the croquembouche and taking a bite. “Wow,” she practically yelled. “These are so great, Serenity.”
Mia rolled her eyes and headed for the sliding glass door that would take her into the backyard. Her mind churned like stormy water as she considered Declan’s words from the beach.
I want a second chance.
She wanted that too—but how far was she willing to go to get it?
* * *
A week passed, and Mia did not text or call Declan. She searched his name on the Internet no less than three times a day, unable to help herself. It’s fine, she told herself. Research even, as she was supposed to stay abreast of possible legal trouble in Forbidden Lake.
Not that Declan would be in legal trouble. The man only looked like a bad boy rockstar, what with the long hair and dark-as-night eyes. And that voice….
Mia broke out in a sweat just thinking about listening to him sing. Maybe she played a few of his songs in the car as she drove home. It wasn’t a crime.
What was a crime was how much she thought about him. How much she considered what Karly and Phoenix had practically told her to do. She didn’t want to start a secret relationship with him, expressly against her parents wishes.
It took a few more days until her mind was able to work out a way to see him and have a good reason to do so.
A professional reason.
A legal reason.
Her parents couldn’t stop her from seeing a client. Not only that, everything she and Declan said would be privileged, and she couldn’t help who came into the law office where she worked. Could she?
Of course she couldn’t.
There didn’t seem to be much legal trouble going on in Forbidden Lake as families got ready for Halloween, new routines were established, and life marched on. Mia worked on a case pro bono for a woman with five consecutive restraining orders against her ex-husband, and she really needed another one.
So Declan just needed a pro bono case to land on her desk. She only worked with clients who needed her services for free, as she was the only one in the office who handled such cases. If he came into the office to hire a lawyer, he wouldn’t get her.
Her cases were almost all domestic violence suits involving the safety of minor children. Declan didn’t have kids. He didn’t have any abusive exes—that she knew about.
And so she dug into the web of lies on the Internet, almost desperate to find something he could come see her about.
By the end of the second week, she finally stumbled upon something. A woman named Stacy Keyes had an entire blog dedicated to Declan Phelps. Not the band. Just him.
Page after page and post after post, this woman had been to dozens of Stairway concerts. Mia understood the allure, and Stairway played great music. But even she wouldn’t go to sixteen concerts.
“Where is this woman?” she asked, searching the sidebar for any information she could.
Her heart practically stopped when she saw the simple sentence there. “This blog has been frozen,” she read aloud. “I’m not allowed to post any more pictures of Declan Phelps or the band Stairway, due to a restraining order.”
Mia had never been happier.
Declan probably didn’t need another restraining order, as this blog was about four years old. The last post definitely showed a much younger Declan. Still devastatingly handsome, but definitely younger.
So this Sandra Keyes wasn’t a problem.
“But she could be,” Mia murmured to herself as he pulled out her phone. Now she just needed to word it correctly to Declan so she didn’t come off sounding desperate.
Concentrating, her thumbs waited, poised above the screen. Hey, I’m wondering if you can come by my office sometime next week.
She could erase the text after she sent it. Sure, the police could pull the lugs and see she’d texted him first, but no one had to know what she’d said.
She tapped send, her heart ricocheting around inside her chest. Would he respond immediately? It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon, and he was usually awake at this time. In fact, he usually set his alarm for four.
His rocker lifestyle was so different from someone normal. Her phone buzzed, and she almost dropped it in her haste to look at it.
Why?
“I want to see you,” sounded forward. “To set up a ploy,” made her feel heartless.
We need to talk.
She studied the four words, sending them a moment before she realized how they sounded. So she quickly thumbed out, I think I may have found a way for us to see each other on the down-low.
She could tell he was typing a response, but he paused when her second message went through. It seemed to take an agonizingly long time before another text from him came in.
I’m on my way.
She shot to her feet, her heart pounding.
She’d said next week. Sometime next week.
Not today. Not right now.
Dropping her phone on the desk, she ran her fingers through her hair. It felt limp and greasy to her, though she’d showered that morning and hadn’t used sunscreen in days. She spun, as if she’d see him through her window, but her office sat at the back of the building, and there was only wilderness back there. If she squinted, and all the trees had already lost their leaves, she could see the lake.
But though it had been raining all week, the trees had not started dropping their leaves, and all she could see was the faint reflection of her own panicked face.
Mia drew in a deep breath and smoothed her hands down her body. “It’s fine,” she said. “Just see what he says.”
She hoped she could talk to him without kissing him first.
Standing there in her office, she made herself a promise. “You will not kiss him at all,” she whispered. “Not for a while. That’s what normal people do, Mia. They don’t kiss on the first date.”
Or at the first meeting with their potential client.
Chapter Four
Declan breezed through the door at Bromley, Bailey, and Boyd, wondering if those were really their real names. He’d asked Mia that before, but she’d just giggled and snuggled into his chest.
So they could be false.
A bored secretary glanced up, and Declan felt bad for her. Trapped behind that desk on a Friday afternoon like this. True, the weather made it impossible to deeply enjoy oneself, but still. He couldn’t imagine every doing a job like hers.
“I have an appointment with Miss Addler,” he said.
The secretary’s—Judy’s—eyes widened. “You do?” She shuffled some non-existent papers on her desk. “I didn’t know she had any appointments this afternoon.”
“It was last-minute,” he said. Fifteen minutes ago, to be precise. Declan could’ve gotten here faster, but he didn’t want to seem desperate to get Mia back into his life. It sure had taken her long enough to text.
He’d been driving Jed and Maverick nuts, and Jed had finally told him last night to go to Mia’s house or move on. But all the wallowing? “Has to stop, bro,” he’d said.
And yet, Declan had decided he could wait until Monday. One more weekend of misery. Then he’d figure out how to find the missing piece of his heart he’d already given to Mia Addler.
Judy picked up her phone. “Just a moment.” Her eyes flitted around, landing everywhere but on him,
and Declan was used to that. Lots of people couldn’t look him straight in the eye for some reason.
In fact, that was something about Mia that had attracted him instantly. She wasn’t afraid to look at him. Look through him. See him. Dig deeper than what she saw.
“She’s on her way out,” Judy said. “Do you want something to drink?”
He did, but he just shook his head. They wouldn’t have whiskey here anyway, and he’d given up alcohol years ago. He sure had been tempted toward its siren’s call this past couple of weeks, but as soon as she saw Mia’s tall, lithe frame walking toward him, he knew she was the only drug he needed.
She made him come alive in a way no one and nothing else ever had.
“Mister Phelps,” she said, her face as stony and impassive as he’d ever seen it. “Right this way.” She gestured with her hand for him to go first, and he gave her an odd look as he passed.
Her heels clicked on the carpet behind him, and she closed the door to her office after she’d entered. He kept moving over to the small window behind her desk. “Nice view.” Glancing around, he realized he was the one who couldn’t focus on the person before him.
It was a whole new feeling for him, and he didn’t know what to do with these unfamiliar insecurities and anxiety. “So this is where you work,” he said.
“Yes,” she said, still in that clipped tone that made Declan wonder what he was really doing here. She wore a cute little skirt that barely went to the middle of her thigh, and the violet blouse swelled in all the right places.
Declan cleared his throat and sat down in one of the chairs opposite of her desk. She walked past him, her hand touching his shoulder lightly. So lightly, he wasn’t even sure she’d done it.
She rounded her desk and sat down. When their eyes met, the awkwardness between them broke. He grinned, and she ducked her head as a smile touched her lips.
Risking It All (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 5) Page 2