Page 95 of Try Me

Loving Miss Hawaii

Declan

He needed a drink.

Declan’s feet moved automatically toward the bar. He sank gratefully onto a stool, feeling the familiar warmth of the worn leather seat.

It felt just like old times as he placed his elbows on the bar and leaned forward to get the bartender’s attention.

Declan slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and asked for a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. The whole bottle.

A moment later, the bartender put the bottle on the counter and then set a glass next to it. Declan took the bottle and left the bar. He walked outside, using the back entrance to avoid the reporters. Sticking close the alleys, Declan walked slowly, swinging the bottle of whiskey by the neck.

A war was taking place in his mind. It was day two hundred and fifty-seven of sobriety, but it was looking like tomorrow would be day one.

Declan gripped the neck of the bottle hard enough to shatter it and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his other hand.

No. He would fight this. He had been through worse. So the woman he loved wanted nothing to do with him? He couldn’t throw away so many hard-earned days of sobriety. Besides, if he did, Pearl would be horribly disappointed in him.

Declan fought the urge to drown his sorrows in whiskey and continued down the street.

“Declan!” A voice behind him called.

Ignoring it, he kept walking.

“Declan, please wait!”

He stopped and turned around to see Claudia Montgomery picking her way over to him in her high heels.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “What are you doing out here? Go back inside.”

“Wait a second, will you?”

Declan waited impatiently as Claudia shimmied over to him, moving quickly in her tight skirt.

“I’m not going back in there,” he said, wrenching off his tie and shoving it in his pocket. “And I want to be alone.”

“What are you gonna do with that?” she asked.

Declan raised an eyebrow. “What do you care?”

“I don’t know why I like you,” she said, “but I do. That’s why I’m not letting you drink this.” Unscrewing the cap, she took a swig, then pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it with a deep sigh. She took a long drag, then exhaled into the night. “My mother told me that ladies don’t smoke and walk at the same time.” She plucked the cigarette from her mouth with elegant fingers and slid Declan a sly smile. “Good thing I’m no lady.”

They started walking. Claudia waited until they got to the next block before starting in on Declan. “What’s the story with you and Miss Hawaii?” she asked.

“Pearl?” Declan asked, he couldn’t even think her name without feeling a stab of regret.

Claudia nodded. “Spill it,” she said. “I’m a good listener.”

“I don’t feel like talking.”

“Fine,” she said, pinching the cigarette between her lips. She inhaled and then blew a cloud of smoke into the air as if she had all the patience in the world.

Declan glanced at Claudia. This was the most they had ever spoken to each other. In the media, Claudia was portrayed as a brainless bombshell. Clearly her public image was as much a lie as his.

Declan sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I love her,” he admitted.

“I figured,” Claudia said. “Did you tell her?”

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