Page 34 of Only You

“Beautiful but tired. Come on, walk me to the door.”

He held her hand as he walked to the door. After pulling on his coat, he faced her again. The hall light wasn’t on, but her porch light was. The dim light hit her perfectly, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward to brush his mouth against hers.

It was simple, just lips against lips, but then she opened her mouth, and Declan lost a little control. He slipped his tongue into her mouth as he crowded her up against the wall. He skimmed his hands down that tight body of hers, enjoying her slight curves. It took every bit of his control to pull back. They were both breathing heavily.

Eileen lifted her hand to brush her fingers over her mouth. “Wow.”

She said the word in a hushed whisper.

“Yeah, wow.”

He swooped in for another kiss, then stepped away. If he didn’t leave right then, he knew he wouldn’t make it out of her house.

“Let me know if you can’t make it Wednesday night. We’ll reschedule.”

She nodded and watched him as he ambled down the stairs. “Lock the door, Eileen.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been caring for myself for a while, Fitzpatrick.”

“Time to get used to someone else helping.”

He stood by his car and waited. With a huff, she shut the door. Declan was humming when he slipped into his car. He might have just figured out how to handle Eileen.

He stood across the street,his concentration on the house in front of him. He watched as the giant put his paws on Eileen O’Reilly. The fucker had no right to do that. When he had seen her show up at the crime scene the night before, it was a sign he couldn’t ignore. But this…this was unacceptable.

He watched as the idiot drove away. He didn’t know the man well, but most people in Baltimore knew the Fitzpatricks. How could she let a man from that family touch her?

He drew in a deep breath…calming his nerves. He needed something else to gain her attention, something that would make Eileen understand that they were meant to be together.

Seven

Eileen smeared a bit of lip gloss on her mouth, then took in her appearance. It wasn’t Wednesday like they had planned, but the following Monday. There had been a significant gang bust on Wednesday afternoon, which required all hands on deck. Declan hadn’t complained. He just told her Monday would work for him.

Now, she was nervous. He would be there in less than five minutes and her stomach kept turning over. She hadn’t been this nervous about a date in…she couldn’t remember. Maybe ever? There was just something about Declan that made her anxious, but not in a scary way. Eileen just never knew what to make of him.

Her phone vibrated, and she saw her mother’s face. This was going to be tricky. She loved her mother, and she did stay out of her business, but she would pick up on something being off tonight.

Pulling in a deep breath, she clicked to answer.

“Hey, Ma.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Why would you say that?”

A beat of silence went by. “Okay, I’ll let that go. I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat tonight. Your father is out with his old cop buddies, and I felt like a pizza.”

“I have a date.”

Another beat of silence.

“Not another cop.”

She frowned. “No. You know I don’t date cops.”

“You dated Bryan.”

“That was at the academy, and it taught me enough about guys I work with. Anyway, he’ll be here soon.”

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