Fighting for You (6 page)

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.

Giving a thumbs-up, Declan said, “I’ve always admired your wife’s thought process. You are one lucky SOB.” Seeing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman in question walking toward them wearing some type of leopard skin clothing and black stockings. Yeah, he wasn’t lying, Suzy was freaking hot. He was man enough to admit that she scared him a bit. She might be small, but the woman had some balls. He didn’t think there was a pair of male eyes in the lobby not riveted to her as she made her way to their group.

“Hey, boys! What’s the damage this morning?”

Gray put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. “We are working our asses off here.”

With an unladylike snort, Suzy said, “Yeah, more like gossiping like little old ladies. I don’t know why women get a bad rap for that because you guys are just as bad.” Then turning her attention to Declan she asked, “So how did the date go last night? Did you get beyond the ice cream stage or what?”

This is exactly why I don’t hang out with people at work and do the small-talk thing. Damn, this is a nosy bunch.
“We had a great time, thanks.” Suzy stared at him as if expecting something more. He was afraid that one of the others would blurt out what he had said about Ella’s accidents from the night before. He was already regretting sharing that. He didn’t want her to think he was making fun of her, because wearing popcorn and Coke was a small price to pay for her digging into his lap with a towel.

When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to elaborate further Suzy shook her head and said, “Wow, it sounds awesome. I never pegged you for a G-rated kind of guy, Declan, but hey whatever works. I’ve gotta get to work, maybe you all should try it sometime.” With that final parting shot, she was gone.

Declan released a breath that he hadn’t even been aware he was holding.

Gray gave him a smile of understanding. “She has that effect on everyone, don’t feel bad. I’m married to her and I still wonder what’s going to come out of her mouth next.”

Everyone drifted off toward their offices and Declan had to wonder why being social was so exhausting. He felt like going home to take a nap. At least it was Friday and he had another date tonight with Ella to look forward to. Although in the interest of taking things slowly, he probably should have waited a few days instead of asking her before he left last night, but he extended the invitation before he could think better of it.

He liked the way he felt with her. He didn’t remember ever enjoying talking to a woman like he did her. He was afraid it would be awkward taking things to a different level, but she was still his sweet Ellie and even if he had sat through
Die Hard
with a hard-on of his own, it had been worth it. When she had admitted to trying to seduce him, it was all he could do not to throw her down on the couch and take anything and everything she offered. The drink in the crotch was probably pretty well-timed. He had stood in a cold shower for several long minutes when he got home. One thing was certain, his water bill was bound to go through the roof until he finally slept with Ellie.

***

“Shut up! No, you did not!” Ella had to laugh at Beth’s dramatic reaction to her klutz fest from the night before.

“Oh, yeah I did. I practically mauled the man before he finally decided to run for his life. He mentioned something about me strangling him with my robe. He doesn’t even know about the container of powder I dropped in the bathroom.”

“What were you doing with powder?”

“Well, after I fell on the floor, I went to the bathroom and noticed that my face was shining. I looked like I had just run a marathon or something. So I took out a small container of powder and accidently opened it from the bottom. It exploded all over my bathroom and me. I was in there for like twenty minutes trying to beat the powder off my clothes. I used my hair dryer on low to blow it out of my hair and the middle of the floor, in case he needed to use the bathroom.”

“Oh my God,” Beth gasped, as she laughed until she looked about to cry. “Were you embarrassed?”

“Actually, it wasn’t too bad. If this had been the first time we had met it would have been worse, but I’m comfortable with Declan. He was a good sport and never made me feel like he was making fun of me.”

“Sooo,” Beth asked, “When are you going out again?”

Ella tried to contain her excitement, but failed. “Tonight! He asked me before he left last night.”

“Oh man, he isn’t playing around. Where are you going this time?”

“I’m not sure, he didn’t say. I think we can pretty much rule out bowling or anything that requires me to throw a heavy object. He will probably also want to skip sitting beside me when I’m drinking anything hot like coffee. That narrows down the field some.”

Beth giggled and nodded her agreement. “Yeah, you’re safe there. He might take you somewhere childproofed, like Chuck E. Cheese’s.”

Ella’s phone rang and cut their conversation short. “Ella dear, your father and I wanted to see if you could come home Saturday?” Without pausing long enough for her to answer, her mother continued on, “You could spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday. I know everyone would love to see you.”

“Oh, um . . . I can’t, Mom. I’m staying with Beth this weekend. Nick is going to be out of town.” Beside her, Beth shook her head and wiggled her finger.

She could hear her mother’s huff loud and clear. “You know I don’t approve of you spending so much time with that unmarried girl. Why won’t the father of her baby marry her, or is he not even the father?”

“Mom . . .” Ella warned. She was sorry that she had mentioned Beth. She had temporarily forgotten how vocal her mother was in her disapproval over her best friend’s marital state. She honestly couldn’t understand why her mother was so judgmental of others. Of course, she didn’t know why she was surprised. All of her mother’s friends were exactly the same way. Her mother’s behavior embarrassed Ella and she hoped she would never be tacky enough to hurt Beth’s feelings. “I’ve got to go, Mom, my break is over now.”

“Your break? I thought you worked in an office,” her mother huffed.

“I do, Mom, but we can’t stay away from our desks all day. I have to get back to work. I’ll call you tonight.” She could still hear her mother’s sputtering protests as she clicked to end the call.

Beth gave her a nod of approval. “Look at you, girl. Lying to your parents and making out with Declan all in the same week. Your training wheels are well and truly off now, aren’t they?”

Ella put her head down on her desk, groaning. “I love her, I really do, but she drives me crazy. She spends all of her time worrying about how other people view her and sadly, she is right to be paranoid because her friends are just as bad as she is. I’m a huge disappointment to her right now because she is being forced to lie about why I’m not at church every Sunday. Even worse, I seriously believe she is debating whether it would sound worse to just tell her friends that I’m gay or a single spinster.”

“Oh honey, you’ve heard the horror stories about my parents, so I’m right there with you. They are trying to behave a lot better right now, but Suzy and I both know that they would gladly trade us in for a couple of Harvard graduates. I think the only reason they are being halfway decent about the baby is because they hope it will be some kind of prodigy child and live up to their impossible standards. I would hate for them to know that their future grandchild moves like a pole dancer when “Baby Got Back” is playing.” At Ella’s smirk, Beth added, “Hey, don’t judge me, my gym plays a variety.”

After Beth left, Ella was surprised when Declan walked up a few moments later. “Hey, Ellie,” he said in that oh-so-sexy voice.

Fighting the urge to melt at his feet, she smiled and said, “Hey, yourself. Are you having a good day?”

“Not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

The heated look in his eyes made the urge to melt even stronger. “I’m looking forward to it too. What are the plans? I could make us dinner if you like.”

“If you’re feeling brave, I thought I would cook for us. I know it sounds like a guy thing, but I grill a mean steak. You do like steak, right?”

“Oh yeah, I love steak, I’m a huge meat eater! Oh gosh, did I actually just say that? What was wrong with a simple, yes, steak sounds perfect.”

Declan seemed amused by her enthusiasm as he said, “Uh, yeah, good. I’m leaving now for a meeting so how about I pick you up at home around six?”

“I could just come to your place if you give me your address,” Ella offered.

Declan leaned closer and whispered so only she could hear him, “I don’t think so, sweetheart. I have been thinking of another kiss at your door all day. There is no way I would deprive myself of that.”

Before she could do anything—other than stare at him like an idiot— he gave her another smile and was gone.

The rest of her day seemed to drag as she repeatedly thought of Declan’s parting words. By the time she got home that evening, she was counting the minutes until Declan showed up. When he did arrive, she tried not to look like she had been standing at the door for fifteen minutes, after changing into another short dress and her best new Victoria’s Secret underwear set, courtesy of Suzy, Beth, and Claire’s advice.