Page 2 of This Feeling

Her eyes widened. “So it’s dangerous?”

I gave a one-shoulder shrug. “It can be, yes.” Wanting to change the subject off of myself, I asked, “Mymom told me you’re engaged?”

A wide smile broke out over her face. “I am! We’re getting married next summer.”

“Do I know him?”

She shook her head. “No, we met in college. He lives in Albany, so we’ve been doing the long-distance thing for a bit.”

“Will you be moving then?”

With a nod, she replied, “I’m moving there in two weeks.”

“Wow! Well, congratulations, Candice.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Thank you, Declan. What about you? Anyone special?”

I forced myself not to look at Harper. With a shake of my head, I said, “Nah. I’m gone too much with work, and honestly, I don’t have time for a relationship. Plus, I don’t think I’d want to put anyone through so much worry.”

She frowned. “That sounds like a pretty lonely life.”

I shrugged.

“Well, I hope that changes soon for you.”

Harper came bouncing over to her sister. “Sean asked me out!”

Candice groaned. “No! Don’t you remember how mean he was to you?”

With a laugh, she replied, “In elementary school, sure. I said yes, and we’re going to dinner tomorrow night, and right now he wants to go get coffee.” Then Harper noticed me. Her smile grew bigger. “Declan!”

She threw herself at me, catching me off guard momentarily. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her before gently easing her back.

“I didn’t know you were home!”

Feeling my face heat, I nodded. “Um, yeah, for a week.”

“Your parents must be over the moon.”

I nodded and caught Sean out of the corner of my eye, walking over. He gave me a look I couldn’t read before glancing at Harper.

“Ready, Harper?”

“It was great seeing you, Declan. I hope you’ll be home for the holidays.”

“I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to make it home or not.”

Sean touched her arm. “We should get going.”

“Right,” she replied. Turning back to me, she stretched on her toes and kissed me on the cheek. “I hope to see you again before you leave, but if I don’t…stay safe, okay?”

Smiling, I replied, “Will do. See you later, Harp.”

As they walked away, Sean glanced back and shot me a warning look.

Candice chuckled. “Well, that was interesting. Sean didn’t seem to like how friendly you and my sister were.”

I dragged my gaze away from the two of them retreating. “Nah, Sean is just hard to read.”

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