Page 8

Chapter eight

Noel

S eeing Declan at the cemetery yesterday caught me completely off guard. I knew his mother had died when he was young, but I’ve never seen him there in all the times I’ve been in the last six months. In some morbidly weird way, I felt obligated to tell Nate about Declan. Oddly enough, it felt like I had been caught cheating when I saw Declan on my way out from essentially breaking up with my dead husband.

He barely spoke, letting his dad do most of the talking. Then he made it clear he noticed I took off my ring. Since the exchange felt loaded, I’m feeling a little awkward about our lunch plans today. I keep checking the time on my phone, halfway expecting him to cancel based on the assumption that I may not be over Nate.

When 11:45 rolls around, there’s a knock on my door. I look up from my computer to see Declan opening the door. He leans into the doorframe with his arms crossed and a heart-stopping smile on his face.

“Hey, sunshine,” he says.

Taking a breath, I smile at him. “Hey.’

After gathering my things, I walk over to him. He runs his knuckles across my jaw before taking my hand and leading me out to his truck. As we drive off, I notice the radio is on, but it isn't vibrating my seat this time. I look over at him, and he winks at me.

“So, what’s for lunch?” I ask.

“Culinary Dropout. Sound good?”

“Sounds delicious!"

“I’m noticing a pattern here.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re always in a good mood when there’s food involved,” he observes.

A small giggle bubbles up my throat mostly from nerves. “Isn’t that every girl?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll keep you fed if it means I get to hear that cute little sound again.”

I take a steadying breath, trying to remind myself that he says the right things because he’s had plenty of practice. We don’t talk again during the short drive as the silence is filled with Halsey’s “Bad at Love.” He takes my hand again when we meet at the front of the truck, running circles over my knuckles with his thumb as we walk inside.

The hostess blushes under his stare as he tells her we need a table for two. I can’t even blame her. He is gorgeous, and the smile he flashes her is the best kind of torture.

“This way,” she manages to mutter, and we follow behind her to a table.

He holds the chair out for me, and the poor girl almost melts into the ground before she can give us our menus. Once he’s seated, she tells us that our server will be around soon and hurries off.

“I hope our server is a guy,” I joke.

His expression turns murderous. “Why is that, Noel?”

Oh, shit!

Realizing he took my comment to mean I preferred a male server, I rush out, “Because women can’t think around you. We may never get our food if our server is anything like the hostess.”

His face relaxes only slightly. “I’m sure whoever it is will manage.”

“How has your week been?” I change the subject.

He tilts his head to the side with a smirk. “Productive. Enlightening, actually. Are you ready for Friday night?”

Panic seizes me at the reminder that I’ve agreed to get inside of a race car with him. “Nope,” I answer honestly.

He chuckles. “I think you’re going to like it.”

He wiggles his eyebrows at me and grins, setting my insides on fire. My appetite for everything on this menu turns to dust. His eyes flash and his expression grows serious when he notices my change in mood. We stare at each other from across the table, and everything around us seems to disappear.

He props his chin on top of folded hands, and his ankles cross with mine under the table. He slowly looks down to my lips then my chest. His gaze travels back up to my eyes again just as slowly as he began. His tongue appears to wet his lips before a subtle smile graces his beautiful face. A small whimper slips from between my parted lips with a quick exhale of breath, and I look up from his smile to his burning, golden brown eyes.

“Hey, yall!” Our server appears abruptly, pulling us out of the moment.

I blink a few times before I look up at the middle-aged woman standing next to our table. Declan, however, stays locked onto me as I try to stay in the present to answer her questions.

Looking away from him completely, I glance down at the menu and rattle off the first thing that catches my eye. When I look back up, his stare is waiting to capture me again as he orders something without looking at the server at all. The only thing I hear is the deep, husky tone of his voice.

She walks away, leaving us in our vacuum a little while longer.

A few moments pass before he loosens his hold on me by looking away. Casting my eyes down, I drink my water as though it can put out the flames within.

“Where’s the next country on your list?” He asks, effectively giving us something to talk about.

My straw swirls around the ice cubes of my water. “I’ve only been to Italy so far, so next would be France,” I say just above a whisper. I clear my throat to get rid of the rasp in my voice.

“We still have the whole list to tackle?” The surprise is obvious in his voice.

My head shoots up at the implication. “Um…” I try to decide how to respond. Something in his eyes tells me to go with it. “I guess so.”

“Even better.” His smile spreads, showing off those damn dimples I'm such a sucker for.

“I was surprised to see you at the cemetery yesterday.” Unable to hold it in any longer, I broach the subject with him.

“Is that where you left the ring?”

I’m not so sure he needs to know the rings are locked away in my safe at home. Avoiding his question, I tell him what I've wanted to tell him since I saw him there yesterday. “I told him about you.”

“You don’t owe anyone an explanation, Noel.”

“Maybe not, but I wanted you to know anyway.”

Leaning closer to me from across the table, he clarifies, “You don’t owe him an explanation about me.”

Oh.

“Declan, I-,” I stammer, unsure what to say to him. “This is new to me.”

“This is not new. It was paused. Interrupted. But you were mine before him, and you’re mine now.”

My breath catches, and I’m paralyzed by his declaration. The pounding of my heart is so loud I’m sure he can hear it too. The promise sounds so irresistible that I almost forget the interruption he’s referring to was of his own design. Almost.

“Hm. Interrupted. And whose-,” I start.

Our server chooses now to deliver our meal and asks if we need anything. I don’t even remember what I ordered, so I shake my head. Looking down at my plate, I’m relieved to see a cup of soup and a sandwich.

“Eat. There will be plenty of time for rehashing the past later,” he says, guessing what I was going to ask.

We eat in silence, and I’m aware that Declan has yet to remove his feet from mine. Each time we’re together he finds ways to touch me. The gentle displays of affection are such a contrast to his no-nonsense personality that it makes me feel special. The fact that he has probably had a lot of practice wooing woman over the years isn't lost on me, and I have to remind myself that I decided to take a step forward to push the doubt away.

When we finish our meal, Declan leaves cash on the table and leads me out of the restaurant. His hand rests gently on my lower back, and my skin tingles beneath his touch.

“Declan,” a man calls out to our left when we get to the parking lot.

He grabs my hand as he stops walking to see who is calling him. When I look over, I tense as I recognize the man to be Isaiah, one of Nate’s friends. Isaiah has always given me a bad feeling that I couldn’t describe. Most likely, it’s because the only times Nate and I ever really fought was when he went out with Isaiah. He was just a bad influence. Now my stomach is in knots wondering if he and Declan are also friends.

Declan answers him with a polite, “Hey man, how’s it going?”

Isaiah stops to shake his hand then notices me. “Noel?” He looks at Declan then down at our hands. “Alright! Good for y’all. Guess the good guys do finish last, huh, Dec?” He pats Declan on the shoulder and laughs.

“Something like that,” Declan says in a strained voice. He pulls me closer to him with his arm in front of me, and I get the feeling that Declan thinks of Isaiah the same way I do.

“See ya!” Isaiah calls out as he walks off in a hurry.

Declan wraps his arm around my waist holding me close to him, and runs his knuckles across my cheek. “Has he ever tried anything with you?” His touch is gentle, but his glare is deadly.

“No,” I manage to squeak out. “His dad and mine are friends, and he was close with Nate. Why did he say that about good guys finishing last? What does that mean?”

“If he contacts you in any way, I want to know about it.” His voice is low and threatening.

“Okay. But why?”

“I'm not sure that I trust him.”

His mood has shifted, and he’s quiet as he drives me back to work. After a few minutes, I decide to break the silence.

“Do you remember when you challenged me to paint a feeling?”

“Did you ever do it?”

“I did, and it’s hanging in my house. But I never told anyone it was mine. I said that I bought it locally and didn’t know the artist,” I admit.

“I’d like to see it,” he says, glancing at me.

“I’d like that too.”

“What feeling inspired you?”

I smile to myself at his happier tone. “Let’s see if you can guess when I show you.”

He turns into JV Marketing’s parking lot. Leaving the truck on, he walks around to open my door for me. When both my feet are on the ground, he runs his thumb across my bottom lip and says, “Challenge accepted.”

I smile at him, and he winks.

“Thank you for lunch.”

“See you Friday,” he answers and gets back into his truck.

Like a true southern gentleman, he even waits until I’m inside before he drives away.

I haven’t heard from Declan since our lunch date, but I’ve thought about him almost nonstop. I’m so thankful I have plans tonight at Joey and Amanda’s to have a way to pass the time. Since my house is in the opposite direction from theirs, I decided to work until it was time to go to their house. Walking through the lobby, I notice through the front window that a piece of paper is flapping on my windshield. I’m surprised Julie didn’t notice solicitors walking through our parking lot. Uncle Joe or Joey usually run them off for her.

When I get to my car, I take the paper out from underneath my windshield wiper to see it’s not an advertisement flyer after all. It’s a handwritten note.

Noel, I’d like to meet you for dinner this Saturday night. Grant wouldn’t give me your cell number, so I’m resorting to leaving a note for you to find. If you could find it in your heart to see me, I’ve made reservations for us at Chez Fonfon at 7pm. With love, Jaclyn

I look around the parking lot wondering how long ago she was here but don’t see anyone lurking around or leaving. Getting into my car, I throw the note onto the passenger seat and drive to Joey and Amanda’s. I suppose I expected her to reach out at some point, but I have nothing to say to her. Taking a deep breath, I decide the right thing to do would be to give her whatever closure she's hoping to find.

I pull into the horseshoe driveway in front of the massive red brick house. I grab the bottle of wine from the passenger seat before getting out of the car because wine is the way to Amanda's heart. When I open the front door, I'm bombarded with all the commotion of their five children running around. I make my way into the kitchen, knowing that's where I'll find her.

“Noel!” Amanda exclaims and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so glad you came! Joey invited this friend of his, and I’m not a big fan of his wife,” she whispers.

“Well, I needed a little distraction myself,” I tell her with a smile.

“You know me so well!” She laughs and takes the wine.

While she sets to work opening the bottle and pouring us each a glass, I continue stirring her sauce on the stove. We catch up on life, mostly about her kids' busy schedules, as we sip the wine. Choosing to keep Declan to myself a while longer, I keep up the pretense that work is the only thing going on in my life.

Not long after I arrive, Joey brings the couple he invited into the kitchen. I recognize the man right away as one of our clients. I’ve been involved in several meetings with him, so he introduces me to his wife. She stays in the kitchen while the guys venture into Joey’s bar off of the dining room. While Amanda and I plate dinner and set the table, the other woman stares at her phone without offering to help. It’s pretty obvious why Amanda doesn’t like her before we even sit down to eat.

Dinner is delicious, and the conversation is enjoyable. After helping Amanda clean up, I get roped into putting their three-year-old, Gracie, to bed. By the time I’m able to sneak out of her room, I’m half asleep myself. I tell everyone goodbye and drive home.

Checking my phone one more time as I crawl into bed, I’m tempted to send Declan a text. I’m not very experienced when it comes to dating. Period. Add the fact that I have zero experience with it as an actual adult, and I’m more than unsure. But if there's anything I've learned from being married, it's that your true self comes out at some point anyway. Besides, I'm an adult who is capable of sending a text simply because I want to.

Hope you had a good day. See you tomorrow.

Holding my breath, I wait for his response. And within seconds, I have it.

Always worth the wait, sunshine. Sleep well.