Page 53

Finally

Declan

I stopped pacing when I heard the key in the door.

I turned, and there was Abi.

And a brunette.

Who was grinning from ear to ear.

I tried reading Abi’s face, but I had no idea what was going on there. She no longer looked mad, sad, and closed off. No, she looked…mysterious. Like she was trying to be mysterious.

“This is my friend Lauren,” Abi said, pointing to the only other person in the room.

“Hi,” the woman said, smiling so widely that it was almost alarming. She looked fucking insanely happy to see me. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” I said, glad that Abi’s friend didn’t seem to hate me.

But I felt like something was going on, like some sort of gotcha was underfoot.

“Where’s Roman?” Abi asked, looking around me.

“In my office,” I said, a little annoyed by all the extra company. I just needed to talk to Abi alone, damn it. “Why?”

“Roman,” she yelled, and I really hated not knowing what was going on. I felt like I had zero control of this situation.

The office door opened and Roman walked out, carrying one of the finished bouquets that I’d told him not to bother with because it was too fucking late to pull off that romantic gesture. “Yes, Abi?”

“Can you keep—”

She stopped talking, her eyes on the bouquet of hydrangeas.

Holy shit, Roman did a great job.

“Are those… inhalers ?” Lauren asked, looking at the flowers through squinted eyes, like she was seeing something offensive.

“And EpiPens,” Roman said, grinning like it’d been his idea. “Perfectly placed by yours truly among these lovely hypoallergenic hydrangeas.”

“You’re kidding me,” Lauren said.

“There are three more bouquets just like it in the office,” he said proudly, the little shit. “Romantic as fuck, am I right?”

“Can you two leave?” Abi said, those brown eyes on me as she said it. Her face was impossible to read, but that gorgeous amber gaze held me in place like a vise grip.

“ What? ” Lauren asked. “I just got here. You brought me up with you, remember?”

“She doesn’t mean me,” Roman said to Lauren. “I mean—”

“Please leave us,” Abi said.

“Don’t Pretty Woman me,” Lauren whined, and I had no fucking clue what she meant but I was glad to see her turn toward the door. “Come on, Roman.”

“I don’t think she means—”

“Get the fuck out of my house, Roman,” I said, feeling like I might die if I didn’t get to talk to Abi alone.

Roman and Lauren were talking over each other, thankfully taking the chaos with them as they exited my apartment. Once the door clicked shut behind them, it was quiet.

Until Abi started moving. She walked toward me until she stopped only inches away, setting her hands on my chest. At her touch, I felt a spark of hope spread through me and my whole body was buzzing as she moved both of us until my back was against the wall.

Just like Kansas City, praise Jesus. Her voice was low and husky when she said, “Before we were interrupted, you asked me what you can do to show me.”

My arms wound around her so fucking fast. “I’ll do anything. Just name it.”

“Forgive me,” she said, looking up at me with so much seriousness on her pretty face that it hurt a little. “Please forgive me for assuming the worst about you.”

“What, uh…,” I said, torn between wanting to know what changed and wanting to shut the hell up and just go with it. “What changed?”

She bit down on her lower lip and tilted her head, watching me like she was trying to figure out her next words. “I know about RestWell.”

“ What? ” That was the absolute last thing I expected her to say. I was shocked and didn’t even try to deny it. I just asked, “How the hell did you find out about that?”

“So it’s true?” Abi looked up at me like she couldn’t quite believe it. “It’s actually you and Roman who do all of this…Robin Hooding?”

“It is,” I admitted, wondering if she knew that she was the only person in the world besides me and Roman who knew.

“I definitely want to talk about that, but first will you forgive me for being a judgmental asshole?”

“Done,” I said, sliding my hands up to cup her face. “Forgotten.”

“And the things I wrote were not about you,” she said, speaking quickly like she was in a hurry for me to know. “They were inspired by your lifestyle, but never about you, Dex.”

“Never?” I teased. “I mean, your asshole character’s name is my middle name.”

“Mostly never,” she corrected, a giggle in her voice. “He was created in the image of who I thought you were the first day I met you.”

“Ah,” I said. “When I promised to get you fired and maybe arrested.”

“That’s so Connor,” she replied. “Right?”

“I love you,” I said, feeling like I couldn’t go another second without saying it.

“I love you, too,” she said, and something about hearing her say those words made me weak.

I kissed her mouth, a small kiss that would’ve been appropriate all the times we attempted to pull that off, but I quickly pulled back. Because I needed to hear her utter those words one more time. “Say it again, Mariano.”

“I love you,” she said, her face glowing in complete happiness that I fucking adored.

“Again,” I said, lowering my mouth, and I knew what she was going to say before she even said it.

“You’re not the boss of me,” she said, biting my bottom lip. “But I’m saying I love you because I want to say I love you.”

“Fucking thank you for that,” I said, then I went in for everything.

I kissed her with everything I had, trying to make her feel what I felt for her. Her fingers gripped my cheeks, her tongue licked into me in a way that made every muscle in my body tense, and her lips were fucking wild.

We were fucking wild for each other.

I maneuvered her into my office, wanting to work fucking hard on Abi on top of my large mahogany desk. I lifted her, in love with the way she felt in my arms, but when I reached for her idiotic NEW YONK shirt, she pulled back.

“What are you doing?” she asked, a snotty little grin on that addictive mouth.

“Oh, you want mine off first?” I teased, reaching over my shoulder to grab the back of my shirt.

“No,” she said, pushing my chest a little and climbing off the desk. “I mean, we can’t get naked, are you kidding?”

“Why not?”

“I have to work,” she said, her eyes narrowed like I was the one saying nonsensical bullshit. “I’ve already wasted too much time, to be honest.”

“Are you talking about cleaning my place?” She couldn’t be serious. “It looks great and I don’t care. I’ll tell them you scrubbed the place all night long.”

“ No ,” she said, her eyebrows furrowed. “Masterkleen is paying me to do a job, so I’m going to do it. You need to leave or, like, retire to the bedroom.”

“Abigail Mariano,” I said, grabbing her shirt and jerking her back to me, “so help me God, I am going to call Ken Adams and get you fired, just so you have to stay here all night.”

“You wouldn’t,” she said around a laugh, and I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten lucky enough for her to choose my apartment to squat in.

“Try me,” I said.

“What if we made some sort of a deal,” she said with a grin. “You agree not to get me fired if I…?”

“I thought you didn’t want me to make any more little deals.”

“I don’t ,” she said, groaning. “I was trying to be sexy.”

“Oh, is that what that was?” I asked, even though her watching paint dry would probably be sexy to me.

“It was . You were supposed to suggest something overtly sexual, to which I would agree, and then I could go scrub your damn windowpanes while we both suffered from raging need. Now…you ruined it.”

“I ruined it?” I said, laughing my ass off.

“ Yes ,” she said, laughing, too. “Now you’re just going to have to keep me company for the next few hours while I clean. So much more boring.”

“And after that…?” I asked, giving her an obnoxious eyebrow waggle.

“After that, I go home to my place,” she said, and disappointment settled into my belly. After a month without her in my life, I didn’t want to be apart from her for a minute, much less a whole night.

But before I could argue, she added, “If you’re good, I might just invite you to join me.”

“You sure I won’t get infected with anything?” I teased. “If I go to your ‘slumlord jackass’ apartment?”

“No,” she said with a grin. “But don’t worry. When I got an infestation, it ended up being the best thing to ever happen to me.”