Page 61 of The Havenport Collection

Declan

I was still reeling from my conversation with the Captain when I realized I needed to head to the brewery.

Our Tuesday night crew at Liam’s brewery had expanded over the past few months.

I sometimes missed the days when it was just me and my brothers, but the newcomers fit in well.

The more people there were, the less I had to talk, so that was a win.

Ginger and I had arrived at six to meet with Liam and Callum about our plans for building a beverage distribution company.

After years of rejecting our financial help with the brewery, Liam had approached us recently wanting to expand his business to include distribution of his own products as well as those of other microbreweries around New England.

The idea was just taking shape, but each of us brought our own skills to the table.

I would never admit this, but I felt proud to be working on something of my own with my brothers.

They were the entrepreneurs in the family.

I was just a fisherman who worked for my dad.

But distributing beer, or other types of alcohol, was in my wheelhouse.

Quinn Fisheries delivered thousands of pounds of fresh-caught fish to restaurants and supermarkets around New England every single week.

Cold storage, transport, and logistics were a huge part of my skill set.

They respected me and my ideas. It was going to take some time, some strategy, and some capital, but we were going to build this together.

After the meeting, the three of us walked to the taproom where everyone was laughing at some story Nora was telling about a date she went on last week.

In addition to my two brothers, Trent, Liam’s best friend and assistant brewer, was there along with Cece, my future sister-in-law.

Her friend Nora had stopped by as well. She was a bit of a wildcard, way too loud for my taste, but a really genuine person nonetheless.

She loved Cece fiercely and helped my idiot brother get it together when they hit a rough patch.

She had proven herself to be a good person many times over, so I tolerated her always loud and sometimes shrill presence in our lives.

Nora eyed me sharply when I walked in and took a seat at the bar. Trent immediately poured me my favorite beer, the double IPA, and slid it over to me wordlessly. I really liked that guy.

I took a sip of beer and grabbed a handful of pretzels that Cece offered me. Before I could shove them in my mouth, Nora started up. “Hey, Declan, I met your friend this morning.”

All eyes immediately locked on my face. Friend? What was she talking about?

“Astrid? Your neighbor? She came by my store.”

“Oh, right.” I tried to feign indifference but ended up scowling instead.

I took another sip of beer and tried to ignore the five sets of eyeballs that were staring at me in awe.

Callum broke the silence. “That can’t be right, Nora. Declan doesn’t have friends.”

Nora rolled her eyes at Cal. “Nope. She told me she was Dec’s neighbor. We hung out for a while. She’s a really cool girl.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. “That’s interesting,” Cecelia said. “Because Emily texted me that you invited her hot cousin over for a romantic dinner last weekend.”

“That’s definitely her,” Nora said. “She is super hot.”

I couldn’t argue there. I grunted. Just thinking about her made me smile.

I had to suppress it with a frown so my nosy brothers didn’t notice anything.

But there was no denying I liked her. I liked her curious green eyes, her quick wit, and her sassy mouth.

I liked the way she carried herself. Her confidence was incredibly sexy.

And I would be lying if I wasn’t intrigued by her body.

Granted I had only seen it hidden under winter clothes, but she was sexy as hell and I wanted to see so much more.

“Use your words, bro.” Liam giggled. I liked it better when he was afraid of me. Now that he was engaged, he was a lot more comfortable busting my balls.

I shrugged. “There is nothing to say. Astrid is staying at the cottage across the street from my house. We have become friends. Even Ginger likes her.”

“Ginger doesn’t like anyone.”

“She likes her.”

“What is she like? Are you dating?”

“She’s fine. A perfectly fine person.”

“Oh please, Declan, don’t be too effusive with your praise.”

“She is awesome,” declared Nora. “An ass-kicking corporate lawyer who looks like Charlize Theron. She is amazing.”

Liam and Callum exchanged bewildered looks. “Then she is definitely not dating you.”

“Unless she has a weakness for man buns and dirty boots.” Liam laughed. Little prick.

I turned and shot Callum a glare. “Pipe down, Fabio. We all know you are jealous of my luscious locks. Not all of us iron our underwear.” Callum was as clean-cut and image conscious as you could get.

Liam and I had a lot of fun over the years teasing him about his vanity.

In college, he had done a bit of modeling, and we never let him live it down.

Tonight he was wearing a dress shirt and slacks and really fancy-looking shoes.

We were both tall, with dark hair and blue eyes, but the similarities ended there.

It was like we inhabited different worlds.

“Be careful,” I continued. “Wouldn’t want you to mess up those fancy red shoes.”

“They are not red,” he huffed. “They are oxblood. And they match my belt.” I rolled my eyes.

Nora jumped in. “I like your shoes, Cal. Very on trend.”

Callum straightened his collar. “Thanks, Nora.”

“So let’s circle back to this beautiful neighbor, shall we?

” Cece said. I adored the girl, but I wish she would let this go.

When she showed up here last summer she was all quiet and shy.

Since getting with Liam she seemed to have no problem busting my balls as much as the rest of them.

I suppose it’s a good thing. She would fit right in with us Quinns.

“Is she going to be your date for our engagement party?” My parents and Cece’s mother were throwing a huge engagement party for the happy couple in a few weeks. My mom had been stressing about me bringing a date, which I generally ignored.

“I don’t know. Haven’t asked her.” I stared into my beer.

“Ask her, dumbass. Your mom is already threatening to set you up on another blind date,” Trent interjected.

“What? How do you know that?”

Trent shrugged. “We talk a lot. And she’s worried about you being lonely up in the big house by yourself.

” Trent grew up in foster care and had a really difficult childhood.

Since grade school, my parents had always taken an interest in him and helped him out.

My mother, especially, had a soft spot for Trent.

We joked that he was her favorite son, and he adored her back, always stopping by, helping out around the house, and generally being a model son.

Sadly, I was not remotely surprised she was talking to him about this.

I shot Trent a glare. He put his hands up. “Dude, I’m just the messenger. Take it up with her, she’s your mom. Plus, what’s the big deal if you bring her?”

“Yes.” Liam poured another round of beers. “Let’s discuss. So are you actually planning to date the beautiful neighbor? Or is she just another one of your tourist flings?”

I curled my fist and tried to suppress a growl. “She’s not like that, Liam.”

“Like what?”

I didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t one of my flings.

My dating preferences were well known to my brothers at this point in my life.

And I wasn’t ashamed to say that I enjoyed the company of ladies now and again.

And I happened to prefer tourists who would eventually leave, therefore sparing me any need to end things myself.

But Astrid was in a different universe than those girls.

I didn’t have the words to explain it, but she occupied a completely different place in my mind.

“Just shut up. She’s a nice person. Don’t talk about her like that. Actually, don’t fucking talk about her at all.”

I prayed this conversation would end soon. I didn’t want to fight with my brothers, but the way they were asking questions was making my blood pressure rise.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“I invited her to join our coven.”

“Nora,” Cece sighed, “for the last time we are not converting to Wicca. But good work. Is she going to join Monday breakfast?”

“Yup.” The girls high-fived, and I had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

I just knew I had to get out of this conversation as fast as possible.

I was so confused. Astrid was cool and undeniably gorgeous, but what could I possibly do about it?

There was no way she could be interested in a guy like me. Right?