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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Declan

I woke the next morning to find Cash bundled in my arms again. I was holding him so tightly I wondered how he could breathe. He squirmed a little, and I drew back.

Cash caught my arm before I could move to my slice of the too-small bed. “Stay,” he rasped. “Just needed to move a little.”

He pulled my arm around him and pressed my hand flat over his heart. It seemed to beat for me, thumping steadily under my palm. I nuzzled closer, breathing in the scent of his forest mint shampoo. It smelled fresh, sort of like a Christmas tree, but it worked for him.

“How are you doing?” I asked, before pressing my lips to the back of his neck.

“Mm. Always good when I’m with you.”

I coasted my hand up and down his chest and stomach. I wasn’t looking for anything sexual. I just loved touching him, absorbing the smooth skin and curves of bone and muscle under my fingertips. It made the moment more real. Cash in my bed, in my arms, in my heart.

When my hand accidentally bumped his cockhead, I peeked over his shoulder to see he was hard.

“Sorry.” He flashed me a sheepish grin. “Body is greedy after all that touching.”

He turned his head, grazing his lips over my arm. “I like it. Just ignore my dick.”

I chuckled and stroked my hand back up toward his heart, where I was more focused today. “How did your talk go with your mom yesterday?”

Cash tensed, but I peppered kisses across his shoulders until he relaxed back into the mattress.

The night before, I’d picked him up from the resort and brought him back to join his sister for dinner. We’d all eaten in my small quarters in front of a baking show on the TV. Katelyn sat between us, preventing us from touching, and I’d been hyperaware of Cash’s distance all evening. So much so, I’d wondered if I was becoming addicted to touching him.

When she’d gotten up to take the plates to the kitchen, we’d reached for each other at the same instant. Cash slipped an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned in, settling a hand on his thigh and squeezing.

Katelyn had taken one look at us upon her return and declared she was going to read in her room. I’d soaked up the affection he gave me so easily—without the expectation of more that my last ex had always placed upon any touch—until his phone rang with a call from his mother.

He’d taken it outside, and afterward he hadn’t wanted to talk much. This morning, he seemed more relaxed, though.

“Mom’s not thrilled about this arrangement,” Cash said as we cuddled in bed, “but she agreed to give us some space. So if you don’t mind us staying a few days…”

“Of course. Stay as long as you like.”

He turned his head a little, his dark stubble scraping along my upper arm and making me shiver. “Promise you’ll tell me if you need Kat’s room. There’s always space at the resort.”

I tightened my arm around him instinctively, as if he might try to leave me.

“I want you here,” I said. “I want us to?—”

My phone alarm cut through the room, and I groaned with annoyance.

“Wow, you actually need an alarm?” Cash teased. “With your early morning gardening, I figured you rose with the sun.”

I rolled over to silence my phone. “It’s not an alarm to wake up. It’s to start cooking breakfast. It’s the weekend.”

“Ahhhh, you can’t just phone it in today, huh?”

“Nope.” I rolled out of bed and opened a dresser drawer to pull out a pair of navy blue shorts and a white button-down with short sleeves. “Feel free to take your time. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Aw.” Cash threw back the blankets and got to his feet, stark naked. Early morning sunlight cut through the blinds, bright stripes of light and shadow playing across Cash’s taut skin.

My gaze skimmed over him, because I might be ace but I appreciated his beauty. Wasn’t sure anyone would be totally immune to that. Cash caught me looking and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re gorgeous,” I said simply.

His lips quirked in a bemused smile. “I didn’t know if you’d notice that sort of thing.”

“Of course I do. I just don’t want to jump on your dick because of it.”

He grinned, taking a loose hold of the hard dick making itself known and stroking it. “Too bad. My dick would like that.”

I moved closer. “Well, tell your dick that I’d love to jump on it some other time. But not because you’re gorgeous.”

“No?”

“No. It’s because you’re so sweet.”

I pressed one last kiss to his scruffy cheek, squeezed his fingers around his dick, making him gasp, and gave him a grin of my own. “Enjoy that shower.”

“You’re evil,” he accused as I backed toward the door.

I could tell my teasing didn’t actually bother him. If anything, he liked it. Judging by the stranglehold he had on his dick, he’d be coming in my shower while moaning my name.

I headed for the kitchen, my heart light. I’d never played with a partner this way before. Never teased him about his desire, because I was always so dang afraid of leading him on. Cash made it easy to be honest, though. He didn’t take my rejections to heart, but knew they were temporary, just waiting for the right moment for my desire to awaken, too.

I put on an apron, got some bacon in the skillet, and whipped up pancake batter. Katelyn joined me in the kitchen, offering to help with the scrambled eggs. She seemed to have the basics down, which was about all I could offer, so I let her go to work.

Cash came in later, flushed from the heat of the shower—and perhaps sexual release—and smiled at the two of us. “Well, isn’t this domestic?” he teased. “Shall I make the coffee?”

“Get to work, slacker,” Katelyn said as she took the eggs off the stove.

We got everything on platters and out to the table by the time the first guests wandered in. And with Cash and Katelyn both there to carry the conversation, I didn’t have to put in nearly as much effort.

I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the salty crispness of the bacon while my newest guests, Rob and Deidre from Oklahoma, asked about a hundred questions about Swallow Cove, the Ozarks, and even our renovation project on The Roost.

“It’s nearly done,” Cash said. “Although we have to start on the greenhouse next.”

“A greenhouse?” Deidre’s eyes lit up. “How lovely. Which of you is the gardener?”

“Declan is a great gardener,” Cash said, a note of pride in his voice. “Kat and I are just guests, really.”

“Oh, I thought…” She trailed off uncertainly.

Another guest across the table, a younger guy who’d been more interested in his phone than the conversation until now, snorted.

“You don’t have to hide that you’re boyfriends. We’re cool.” He glanced at Rob and Diedre, and said in a firm voice that dared them to argue, “ Right ?”

“Yes, of course,” Diedre said, wincing. “You’re not…worried about that, are you? I know we’re in conservative country, but we’re not homophobic.”

My gaze shot to Cash, who—for the first time ever—didn’t seem to know what to say.

Katelyn giggled, saving us both. “It’s just new with them. They don’t know what they’re doing yet, but they’re totally boyfriends, and it’s gagworthy.” She scrunched up her nose. “Cash is my brother, and I do not need to see him drooling over Declan.”

Everyone at the table laughed, the tension easing. The conversation had reminded me, though, of a talk Cash and I needed to have.

We finished breakfast and cleared the dishes.

“I’ll give you a ride to the resort,” I said. “We should talk.”

“Okay,” he said hesitantly. “Nothing bad, I hope?”

“No.” I cupped his cheek, a glutton for touching him. “All good. I promise.”

He turned his head to kiss my palm. “Okay, I’ll grab my stuff.”

We went out to my boat and worked together to untie it and start the engine. I sat down in the captain’s seat, steering us toward the resort.

“What did you want to talk about?” Cash called over the wind.

“Us,” I said. “The future, I mean. After we sell the B&B.”

“Oh.” He looked away, expression pensive. “We can?—”

My phone rang, cutting him short. I pulled it out to check the caller ID, heart thumping when I saw it was the Mallory Investment Group. I’d put out a few feelers for other job opportunities after Nathan freaked out on me.

“I need to take this,” I said. “Do you mind taking over for me?”

Cash and I switched places, and I answered the call. “Hello, this is Declan.”

“Declan, this is Leland Marsden. I heard you’re in the market for some investment work.”

“Yeah, as an analyst,” I said. “I’ve got a resume I can send. You’re based in Chicago, but have offices in New York and LA as well, right?”

“That’s right.”

That boded well. With a business not anchored to one spot, he might be more open to an employee who wasn’t in the same building.

“But where are you?” Leland asked. “Do I hear a boat?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Sorry. I live in a lake town, but we’re nearly to dock.”

Cash throttled down the boat, as if on cue. His attention was focused on the docks ahead, so I couldn’t tell if he’d followed any of my conversation over the boat and wind noise.

“Well, now I’m jealous,” Leland said. “That must be a nice life. I don’t know why you’d want to leave it.”

“I don’t,” I said.

“Ah. Remote work?”

“If it’s an option.”

“I’ll have to think about that. Things move quickly. We need someone available when decisions need to be made.”

“I understand, and I can be available when you need me.”

Cash cut the motor. “We’re here.”

Leland was talking in my ear about projects they had in the works, upcoming deadlines, and how soon they’d need to make a hiring decision. I managed to get him to pause long enough to say to Cash, “Can we have dinner tonight? I want us to talk.”

He cast a wary glance at the phone, then gave me a tight smile. “Sure.”

Leland was back to talking, and I interjected cursory listening sounds while we docked the boat.

I got up to help Cash, but he waved me back into my seat, tying up the boat on his own. By the time Leland gave me an opening to end the call, Cash was gone.

His wallet, though, was lying on the floor in front of the co-captain’s seat. It must have fallen out of his pocket when we switched places.

I grabbed it and headed for the staff entrance closest to the dock. A long hallway ran past the kitchen and eventually exited into the lobby.

Cash was there, texting on his phone. Brooks was beside him, making Cash laugh about something and shake his head.

As I approached, I opened my mouth to call a greeting, but their words reached me before I could.

“…surprised you haven’t gone on a date with Danny before now.”

Cash chuckled. “I know, right?”

“When are you going?” Brooks asked.

“Well—” Cash looked up from his phone and his gaze landed on me. “Declan?”

I held up his wallet. “You forgot this.”

“Oh.” He reached out. “Thanks.”

I slapped it into his hand with a little too much force. “I’ll let you get back to talking about that date with Danny.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, no, Dec. It’s not what you think.”

“It’s okay,” I said, though it definitely wasn’t okay. My throat was closing up and my insides had turned ice-cold. “This always happens. I’m used to it.”

“No, no, no,” he said as I turned away.

He caught my hand, tugging me back around, and raised his hands to cup my face. “It’s not a real date, Declan. It’s just a favor.”

“A favor? I don’t…”

“He wants to make Abe jealous. You know, Abe, at Hot Buns? That’s who Danny wants. He just needed a friend to play along. It’s only a fake date.”

“But maybe it should be real,” Brooks broke in. “Since you’re leaving Swallow Cove and Cash, anyway. There’s no real reason for you to be jealous, is there?”

“Brooks,” Cash said sharply. “I’d never go on a real date with someone else.” His eyes met mine. “For as long as you’re here, Declan, I am, too. I know you got that call about a job and you’re probably leaving soon, but until that happens, I’m with you. I want every moment I can have with you, okay?”

It took me a minute to process everything. Cash wasn’t seeking out another man to date. He wouldn’t do that to me. He said so. But Brooks was right. I’d not given him any reason yet to think I was staying. In fact, that call from Leland had given him the wrong idea entirely. If Cash had been making a real date, I’d have no room to be upset.

“Declan?” Cash prompted. “Do you hear me?”

I sucked in a breath. “Yes, but I’m not going to leave.”

“What?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about at dinner. I’m going to stay in Swallow Cove. With you. If you’re sure you really want to tie yourself to me and not date other men? I know I’m not the easiest?—”

He threw his arms around me, cutting off the rest of my words. “Of course I want to be with you! Are you kidding me? I’m batshit crazy for you.”

I laughed. “I’m a little crazy for you, too.”

He drew back, eyes bright as they met mine. “Just a little, huh?”

“A lot,” I confessed. “I can’t leave you. Not now.”

“But you don’t want the B&B.”

“No, I don’t.”

“And that call this morning?—”

“I’m looking for remote work,” I said. “I’m hoping I can do it from my home office here in Swallow Cove.”

“Took you long enough,” Brooks grumbled.

Cash shot him an annoyed look. “Can you stop?”

“No, he’s right. I should have talked to you sooner, but you had all that stuff going on with your dad, and I didn’t want to put more on your plate. I just wanted to be there for you, not make demands for me.”

“You’re the sweetest,” Cash murmured. “Now, kiss me already, and tell me that you’re my boyfriend.”

“I’m your boyfriend,” I said, my head spinning. I hadn’t ever thought I’d have that label again.

He drew me down into a chaste kiss. I traced my tongue along his lips, prompting him to open with a soft sound of need. Brooks made himself scarce, and I relaxed into the kiss.

When we broke apart, Cash’s grin was mischievous. “So, you were really jealous, huh? Of Danny.”

“Of course I was.”

“Because I’m yours.”

“Well, that’s kind of a caveman attitude.”

He smirked. “Say it, Declan.”

“You’re mine.”

“With feeling.”

I leaned in, growling into his ear. “You’re mine.”

He sagged against me. “Fuck, that’s hot. I can’t wait until you let me get on my knees for you again.”

“Maybe I’ll get on my knees for you.”

He groaned. “So evil.”

I laughed. “Have a good day at work, Cash. I’ll pick you up for that dinner date.”

He drew back. “You still want to do that, even though we talked already?”

“I can’t let Danny be the first one to take you on a date.”

Cash grinned. “Pretty sure the plan with Danny is off. Once I go out with you, Abe won’t ever buy his ruse.”

I hesitated. “Do you want to wait?”

“No way. Declan Sullivan is asking me on a date after I’ve been flirting with him for two years. I’m not saying no to that.”

“Two years? It hasn’t been that long.”

Cash patted my cheek. “Ah, my sweet summer child. It’s probably been longer. It just took you a while to notice me.”

“I see you now.”

His eyes met mine. “I see you too.”

“Tonight then.” I pressed one more kiss to his lips before pulling away, though it was hard. I wanted to hold him all day. I wanted to touch him for a week, a month, a year. I wanted to possess him—every smile, every brush of the hand, every hug and kiss—until everyone knew that Cash had chosen me above all others.

And he could have so many others if he wanted.

My old insecurities tried to rise, but I silently told them to shove it. I had found a man who was patient, sensitive, affectionate, and sexy without asking for anything in return.

Cash Hicks was the holy grail of boyfriends, and he was mine.