Page 56 of The Complication
“Such as the one he’s currently the COO of?”
“That is one of them. His bonus is being split across three charities at his request.”
A scoff broke from the back of my throat. “Sebastian is a lucky man; I hope he realizes that.”
“He does.” Declan pressed a kiss to my jaw before he whispered. “And so am I.”
“Ridiculous,” I mumbled as the tips of my ears burned. When the hell had this man turned into such a sweet talker? Thankfully, Joy provided an excellent distraction. She shouted as if she couldn’t stand not being the center of attention.
Declan released me to tickle the little girl’s stomach. “Where’s Franks?”
“I gave him and Chef Donovan the night off.” Declan’s eyes widened slightly, and I pushed forward. “I wanted to give you a gift to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Joy.”
Declan shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I do! Really, I do. You’ve been so amazing. Especially since we were technicallyfriendswhen all this started…” My voice drifted off as my thoughts grew more awkward.
My lover’s hand dropped to my hip and squeezed. “Maybe I had ulterior motives. Namely, I wanted to date you, and it would have been much harder to accomplish that if you had to spend all your time working, taking care of Joy, and finding a suitable place to live.”
“Whatever. The point is, I wanted to give you something to show my appreciation, and that’s hard to do because you’re so rich.” I narrowed my eyes on Declan, giving him a very pointed look as if it were a bad thing he was so financially well-off. “So, tonight, I cooked dinner for us. Afterward, we will have the big reveal for the front parlor mural.”
“And maybe something extra after Joy goes to bed?” Declan asked with a note of hope entering his voice.
“Maybe.”
Okay, it was going to happen. I could never say no to thissexy man. With the smallest touch, my toes were already curling in my shoes.
I snatched Joy from his arms and took a step back. “You go change out of that suit while I check on dinner.”
While Declan went up to his room to change into something more casual, I hurried off to the kitchen with Joy. I slipped her into her high chair and checked the vegetables in the oven. The steaks were still warm on the skillet, and I’d put the rolls in a bowl as Declan came home. It had been well over a month since I’d last cooked, and I was rusty. Even on the nights that Chef Donovan was off, the man left all the food prepared and in the fridge, waiting for us with reheating instructions.
An incredibly short time later, a hand gripped my hip as Declan peered around my shoulder.
“Smells great,” he murmured.
“Well, I’m no Chef Donovan, but I know how to cook a few things.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I had it under control—which I did—but I also liked the idea of Declan helping me with our dinner. “Could you grab Joy’s food out of the pantry? Chef Donovan said he prepared some new jars for her, and Little Miss has been shouting for the past few minutes that I’m late delivering her meal.”
Declan gave a soft hum as he stepped behind me to get Joy’s food. At the same time, I finished plating both of our steaks along with some roasted fingerling potatoes and green beans. Rather than setting us up in the grand dining room, I opted for the breakfast nook because it was cozy.
With Joy between us, we took turns feeding the baby while we ate. To my shock, Declan ate every bit as if he were starving and even went back for a second serving of potatoes. I might have eaten two rolls, because there were days where youneeded more carbs. Thank God I’d started using Declan’s gym daily. I was still far off from my usual level of fitness, but I’d stopped the slide into full dad bod. It wasn’t just to keep Declan interested in me. This girl was steadily becoming more mobile. I needed to be in shape if I was going to keep up with her.
“I think you’re going to need to teach me,” Declan declared as he put down his utensils.
“Teach you? To cook? Why? You’ve got Donovan,” I demanded, chuckling. But my laughing stopped when the image of Declan in an apron and nothing else danced through my mind. Maybe there was something to this that I wasn’t thinking through properly.
“What if Donovan got sick? He’s also due for a vacation. It’s irresponsible to eat out for that length of time.”
“Hmmm…maybe.” He raised a good point. Of course, it was possible to eat out and eat healthy at the same time if you put in some effort. Typically, I didn’t if I couldn’t be bothered to cook for myself. “I will teach you what I knowifyou teach me your secrets.”
Declan’s eyes widened slightly, and he sat up straighter as his right hand tightened into a fist. “My secrets?”
“Yes. How is it you can get Joy to eat everything you put in front of her, but she likes to fight me on the vegetables?”
Oh, that evil smirk. I knew without him saying a word that he was so damn proud that Joy completely listened to him at mealtimes. My cutie would turn her nose up and spit out her broccoli each time I fed it to her, but for Declan, she gobbled them like they were chocolate cake.
