Page 88 of The Ex Next Door
Eventually, they’d have every weekend together, but it would take a ring for that to materialize. Declan was ready to go ring shopping, but he’d decided not to scare Amy off. She’d just come out of a marriage, and probably didn’t want to pole-vault right back into another one. Were it all up to him, they’d elope and get it done in Vegas tomorrow. He didn’t need a big wedding, just his life with her and the kids to start immediately.
They were both scheduled to work the entire weekend, which would cut into some of that time, so he was pleasantly surprised when Amy showed up at his door on Friday afternoon. She wore jeans and a cami top with those thin straps, her hair down, her eyes shimmering, lips lush.
“The kids just left.”
He hauled her inside, never able to resist her eagerness. They were kissing before the door was closed. He turned and shut it with one hand while busy kissing the breath out of her.
“I missed you so much.”
She jumped into his arms, straddling her legs around his waist, climbing him like a tree.
He carried her into the bedroom, where she slowly slid down the length of him. Then she surprised him by pulling off his T-shirt in the middle of ravishing his mouth with her wicked tongue. When her fingers glided up and down his back, he thought he’d lose his mind with lust. Her fingers settled on the waistbands of his jeans and there was no shyness in her now. Her lips were soft and warm. While she was busy undressing him, he unzipped her jeans and tugged them down over her hips. She stepped out of them, pushing them aside with her feet, and he nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw her underwear.
His Amy, his sweet and shy and conservative Amy, wore a plunging black bra and a matching thong that barely covered her. He took a moment to enjoy the view, the milky softness of her curves. Her long and luscious legs.
“Wow.”
“I went shopping for fun underwear,” she said. “For you, mostly.”
“Thank you.”
“No, no. Thankyou.” She took his hand and led him to bed. “You’re the only one who makes me want to blow my lingerie budget just so I can see your face when you take off my clothes.”
“It will always be my pleasure to relieve you of your clothes.” He grinned. “Slowly.”
And, as it turned out, they were both late for work.
* * *
To Amy, the weekend passed in a glorious state of domestic bliss. She and Declan were definitely playing house, and for the sake of ease, they were mostly staying at hers. His toothbrush and shaver had migrated to her bathroom, which hadn’t seen evidence of a man in ages. Now all the pain of the past year, all the grief at the loss of a marriage dissolved. She was happier than she could ever recall, the blush of love coloring every minute of her day. Had someone told her in the dregs of her despair after Rob left that she’d be this happy again this soon she wouldn’t have believed it. It almost seemed unfair to be this happy because she hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
She woke up on Declan’s arms late Sunday morning after their late-night shift the night before. He cooked her breakfast, too, and then they wound up sitting next to each other on the couch, each with a laptop. Amy was still studying for her certification test and Declan was researching lesson plans. He was also—he wasn’t kidding her—working at a strategy to take their team to the state division. There were phone calls to Mr. Sheridan, who had his own ideas and input. Declan took notes. Amy couldn’t help but think all of it was very familiar.
Once, she and Declan sat together side by side on a couch but at that time they were the students. Soon they would both be the teachers. Full circle. She was so proud of Declan for going back to teaching, not allowing that one horrible experience to take away the joy he found in molding young minds. He would make a difference that would be felt for decades to come, she was sure of it.
But when they didn’t once go out all weekend, Amy worried. It occurred to her that most girlfriends might want to go out more than she did.
She crossed her leg over his and got his attention. “Am I boring?”
“Boring?” He squinted. Declan wore glasses whenever he used the computer, and they made him adorably geeky in a way he could never achieve otherwise.“You?”
“I don’t drink, I don’t dance and I’m not big on going out to eat.” She listed them off one by one. “I thought I’d do more of that when the kids got older but somewhere along the way I became a homebody. Maybe I always was.”
“You’re not boring, babe. This is what I signed up for. Guess who else is secretly a homebody?”
“That’sright. Isn’t that what you said to me on the first day I moved back in? How you also wanted to get married and have children.”
“On the first day we met again, you mean.”
“I confess I didn’t think you really meant it.”
“Now you know better.” He squeezed her thigh. “I’ve always wanted what my parents had. Love and a partnership. I got all the drinking and sowing my oats out of my system in college, anyway.”
Later, they ate lunch together, a quick ground beef and vegetable stir-fry that Declan threw together.
“Are these tater tots?” She asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
