“Uh-huh, and never once have we talked about Shadow Hill, my dad or that huge whiteboard that used to be in this bedroom and made your head explode.”
At least he could think about all of the investigation information without having his brain shut down now. He hoped that signaled progress. “Thank you for moving all that stuff out of here, by the way.”
“I figured it would kill the mood.”
“I’m not convinced anything could stop me from crawling into bed with you, but I’d prefer not to test it with that board.” Having the boxes stacked in the dining area down the hall and the contents of the board now safely tucked away in folders helped him compartmentalize that part of her life and put it aside.
“We can take the easiest one first.” She folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin on top. With her leg bent, the sheet slipped down, exposing a long expanse of creamy white skin as she rocked it back and forth. “My dad.”
A different kind of heat raced through Declan. This type came from fury. “I’m going to try not to get pissed off on your behalf. Go ahead.”
“Well, there’s nothing much to say since he’s not talking to me. He hasn’t answered a call or been in a room with me since that town meeting. He told Chief Darber he’d speak to me when I apologized and ‘got my head on straight,’ and that’s a direct quote.”
A hollow rumbling started in Declan’s gut. He wavered between his frustration over her father’s stubbornness and an ache for her. She talked tough, pretended it didn’t matter, but Declan has seen the sadness flood through her as she held the phone and waited for him to pick up, something that never happened.
She’d given up so much to be with him. Supporting him and his brothers made her a target, and he was desperate to protect her from anyone who pushed too far, even if that included her father or one of his misguided friends.
“I’m sorry, honey.” His hand slid around to the side of her head as his thumb caressed her cheek.
She leaned into his touch. “You know about difficult fathers.”
That’s what she did. Turned it around and shrugged it off. Not this time. “Don’t be flip. This hurts you and I know it.”
“When Mom left, he changed.” Leah dropped her head to Declan’s chest. Her cheek pressed against his skin as her fingers danced across his stomach. “Or that’s what everyone says. I only remember him as quick to anger and obsessed with all Charlie stole. He taught me to hate your family and made me promise, from the time I was little, to defend the Baron honor and get Shadow Hill back.” She lifted her head and peeked up at him. “Then you walked into that diner and all those years of training blared to life.”
“There’s no dysfunction quite like family dysfunction.”
“Exactly.” She crawled up his body and straddled his hips with her knees. The move brought their bodies together. The friction promised to take them off topic. “But I need you to know I never wanted to hurt any of you. I truly thought I could make an offer and buy you off. That you guys would be looking for a quick buck.”
Declan understood. From his past that would be a likely assumption. He hated the connection and how quickly people got there, but the jump wasn’t much of a jump. “Like Charlie.”
“Yes.” She brushed her fingers over Declan’s lips and slipped one inside. Those sexy gray eyes grew wide when he sucked on it. “But then I got to know you and I forgot about the revenge and everything got confused and twisted.”
He wanted to turn her over and skip the rest of the conversation, but he forced his mind to concentrate. “But you kept the whiteboard.”
“The information on there and in the boxes has been a part of my life for so long that I couldn’t figure out how to break the habit. When I was out of the house, my mind focused on you. I’d step back in my bedroom, and everything would slide and mix again.”
It all made sense, but he still had to know one thing. The answer shouldn’t matter, but he held his breath knowing it meant everything. “Where’s your head now? I mean, you were once, not that long ago, convinced I was a con man.”
“I think it was more that I believed you had to be, because of who you were. I read about your military career and thought it was some sort of setup you put together for when you got out and turned to your real life, the one that included cons. I didn’t have any evidence that was true, and believe me, I have a lot of information on your life, but my gut told me it had to be.”
“I hate that you had all of this stuff on me and that we didn’t get to know each other the usual way, in pieces and over time.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She dropped a soft kiss on his mouth and pulled back before he could drag her in deeper. “But, for the record, I don’t think you’re anything like Charlie. It would have been easier if you had been. I could have written you off as a pretty boy and hugged my anger close. But you aren’t him. You are the anti-him.”
The words zipped through him. He’d been waiting, hoping. Living down his father’s reputation was a lifetime challenge. Knowing Leah trusted him made at least part of the struggle worth it.
He rubbed his hands up and down her bare back, loving the way her skin came alive under his touch and she started to fidget. Much more and that erection poking her would demand attention.
“You think I’m pretty?” he asked because the idea sounded ludicrous in his head. Battle worn and bruised, he was rough, not pretty.
“You most certainly are.” She tightened her knees against his sides. “Hot, handsome. Sexy.”
“All much better words than pretty. Besides, Beck is the pretty one.”
She closed one eye, as if she were pretending to weigh one brother against the other. “You may be right about that.”
Didn’t matter what she thought on that score. She didn’t need pretty. She needed strong and sure, a man who could keep up with her in the bedroom and out. But Declan also wanted her to feel safe. “I’m sorry I lost my cool with you. Years of training broke down when I saw everything. I didn’t expect to walk into that and it stung.”
If she was intimidated she didn’t show it. “Explain.”
“So many people come to me wanting something—revenge, repayment, an apology, recognition of the wrongs done. I know it’s stupid in light of how we met, but I wanted you to be clean from my past.”
She treated him to a little smile as her hand slipped lower, tickling the skin below his stomach. “That’s not possible.”
“I get that now.”
“There’s a sick part of me that’s happy you got all upset.” She leaned down and kissed a line across his collarbone.
Just like that his control slipped then stumbled in a dead sprawl. Fingers swept through her hair and pulled her close. “That is twisted. I almost hate to ask why.”
“I think it means you care.”
His body stilled. With as gentle a touch as possible, he cupped his hands over her cheeks and brought her head up to face him. Gaze locked on gaze. Words vibrated in his chest but he forced them out. “You weren’t sure about that?”
“You aren’t the easiest guy to read. Yeah, the sex is amazing, but I’m talking about something else. Something deeper and more important.” Her hands froze on his body and the muscles over her shoulders clenched, but nothing about her peaceful expression gave her away.
But he understood her now. She waited for him to say the wrong thing or brush her off like other people did. He vowed not to do that ever again. She needed to know he wouldn’t toss her aside like her father had.
“Do you honestly think I’d be with Marc Baron’s daughter if I didn’t care about her? You’re not easy, Leah, but you’re worth it.”
A slow smile spread across her mouth. “Well, that’s nice to hear.”
With his arms wrapped around her, Declan turned them until she lay on her back with hi
m all over her. “Now let me show you.”
***
An hour later, after the internal fires had died down post-lovemaking and Leah drifted off into a deep sleep, Declan slipped out of the bed. Not bothering to get dressed, he took careful steps as he walked out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen. Floorboards creaked under his bare feet and he swore when he jammed his hip into a family room chair.
That would teach him not to turn on the light.
Shifting his way through the dark maze, he made his way to the kitchen. With a glass in hand and the refrigerator open, he saw a shadow in the dining room. He focused on his original task. After pouring a drink of water and flicking on the light under the sink to keep from injuring a body part he wanted to keep, he looked across into the dining room again and gave the boxes stacked against the far wall a quick once-over glance. Some were brown and some were white, but he didn’t know the difference.
The chill in the room registered against his bare skin. So did the need to crawl back into bed and curl up against Leah’s warm body. Drinking as fast as he could, he finished and dumped the glass into the sink and reached for the light.
Out of the corner of his eye, the mound of boxes caught his attention again. He gave them a double take . . . then triple. Maybe a fast review would answer some of his questions or provide needed information about Walker Reeves. Surely there was a folder in there related to that guy.
Declan glanced in the direction of the quiet bedroom, wondering if he should wake Leah up and ask permission. Then his gaze went back to the boxes. This wasn’t a betrayal and he was sure she wouldn’t mind, even though she never officially offered.
He repeated that phrase as he walked into the dining room and turned on the light.
Chapter Twenty
Leah paged through a glossy gossip magazine while Mallory finished up with the two customers at the cash register. They started out buying supplies and by the end of the discussion paid for pottery-painting classes. Mallory could sell bikinis in winter.
She shut the register drawer then flashed a big smile. “Since when do you read those?”
“You’re the one who has it.” Leah picked at the label. “Looks like a subscription, too.”
“It’s for the customers.” Mallory made the last word last about ten syllables.
“Uh-huh.”
After a quick glance around the room, Mallory jumped up, sitting on the counter with her back to the door. “We’re finally alone and since we’re asking questions, tell me about Declan.”
The shot came out of nowhere. Even though Leah had been expecting it, it still hit her like a body slam. “He’s about six feet with brown—”
Mallory banged her boots against the counter’s inside shelf. “The sex. Start talking. Feel free to describe what he looks like naked.”
“I don’t think so.”
She waved her hand and set her bracelets clanging. “Fine, skip that detail, but get to the sex.”
Leah let the words settle over the room before giving in. She made a show of it first. Folded the magazine pages. Smoothed it on her lap. Even took a second to cross her legs. By the time she finished her entire repertoire, Mallory wore a bug-eyed impatient glare.
“Suffice it to say he’s amazing.” As if that word were even accurate.
Being with Declan went so much deeper. The warmth of his voice and strength of his personality filled her with a satisfaction and happiness, a sense of true freedom and acceptance. With him she laughed and smiled. She went hours without thinking about revenge or worrying she would say the wrong thing and be cut off like her dad had a habit of doing to her.
Not all men dealt with women the same way. She wasn’t stupid or broken, so she’d known that deep down. But Declan showed what a true man was in simple things. The soft touch of his hand against her hair had the power to steal her breath. And when he trailed his mouth over her body, she felt cherished even as her skin caught on fire.
Mallory nodded. “No surprise there. He looked like a guy who would know what to do with a woman once he got her naked.”
“Sometimes we don’t even wait until I’m naked.” Just this morning he’d waited until she put on her skirt then pushed it up to her waist and stripped her panties right off. She was twenty minutes late for work but what he did with his tongue made the frown from the woman in reception who answered the office phones worth it.
Leah’s stomach did cartwheels thinking about the sexy scene now. Seeing him on his knees, his hand slipping between her thighs. It would take a long time before she could look at her front door the same way.
“About time you two got busy.”
“We’ve only been dating a short time.” Leah reminded herself of that almost hourly. There was no way her mind and body could have been so in tune to him this quickly.
Mallory clapped. “Oh, look at this. We’re using the d-word.”
Well, damn. “It was a slip.”
“You can call it whatever you want since you love him.”
“Whoa.” Leah put up her hands to fend off the words.
Her mind did a bigger spin. Memories flooded through her, from their first meeting to the kiss goodbye this morning. It all spilled and turned until a shock of dizziness hit her. She grabbed onto the sides of the stool to stay upright.
“You’ve got that mushy girly look. It’s embarrassing, really, but since I adore you and think it’s about time you found a good man, mostly because you can then introduce me to a brother or friend, I think it’s pretty terrific.” Mallory leaned over, balancing her elbows on her knees and smiling like she’d discovered the best cupcake in the world. “Good for you.”
Leah was trying hard not to throw up. “Did you not hear me say ‘whoa’?”
“Oh, please.” Mallory snorted. “Do not waste your breath denying it. The sparkly eyes, the stupid grin whenever you mention his name—and you should see the way you light up when he’s nearby.”
No way. Leah had barely accepted dating Declan and how much she enjoyed his company. The idea of loving him, of having her life and heart bound up in him, scared her witless. She wasn’t even positive he planned to stay in town that long.
The second after she had the thought, a pang of pain punched her chest. “It’s been two weeks.” The words sounded breathy even to her ears.
Mallory drummed her fingernails against her knee. “You keep harping on the timeline.”
“It matters.” It did, didn’t it? Intelligent women didn’t fall for guys six seconds after meeting them, or even a few weeks after sleeping with them.
“Not that I can tell.” Mallory hitched her thumb behind her, in the direction of the door. “If Mr. Perfect For Me walked through that door and I knew it, felt it to my bones, I would jump on him and ride him to Vegas.”
That vision formed all too easily in Leah’s head, and Mallory was not the one doing the riding. Stupid traitorous brain. “Man, I hope that happens for you soon so I can see it.”
“Look in the mirror. You might want to open your eyes while you’re there so you can see what I see.”
“There’s still so much between us . . . and my father.” That fast, the problems filled in, each one clicking in her mind. Leah dropped her head in her hands to make them stop. “Ugh.”
“Marry him and the house gets right back in your family. There, settled.” Mallory added a snap as if she thought her words needed emphasis.
Leah got the point without the punctuation. Accepting the idea proved much harder. Marriage, Declan . . . why didn’t she hate the idea?
Leah peeked up over her hands. “Are you crazy?”
“If so, I hope you catch even a small dose of it.” Mallory reached over, all signs of amusement disappeared as her bracelets jangled and her eyes took on a listen-to-me urgency. “It’s time to move on, and Declan
is the perfect guy to drag along with you.”
Leah waited for her mind to rebel and her stomach heave. Neither happened. The truth was, when she looked into the future, she now saw Declan standing there. It was weird and sudden and totally unexpected, but it was true.
She searched for the words to define her fears, make Mallory see that everything was still so messed up and hard. The shadow at the shop’s door stopped her. No need to announce all of her personal business to the town.
She could . . . the visitor’s face came into focus. “What is he doing here?”
Mallory spun around as the bell above the door jingled. “Declan?”
“Walker Reeves.”
Mallory jumped down and straightened her sweater. “Sexiest name ever, by the way.”
“You really have lost your mind. The guy is a pain in the collective Hanover ass.”
Reeves walked down the main aisle, eating up feet with his long strides. His gaze never wavered. He stayed laser-focused on them and never bothered to check for other people in the store. He kept going until he stood across from them at the checkout counter.
“Ms. Baron. Ma’am.” No smile. No extra words. Just a curt greeting and nod of the head.
“Mallory Able and you can call her Leah.”
Like she wanted this guy being that familiar. “Thanks for that.”
Reeves settled his stance and linked his hands in front of him. His gaze wandered over Mallory and the stress around his mouth eased. It came back the second he looked at Leah. “I need to speak with you.”
That was easy. “No.”
His frown was instantaneous. “Excuse me?”
She’d seen this meeting coming, so she had her speech ready. Didn’t even bother to jump down from her stool. “This is about Callen and his brothers, and I am not interested.”
No Turning Back Page 22
