Page 46 of The Billionaire's Accidental Daddy Duty
Laughing, I dropped my head into my hands. I would never be able to win when it came to this man. He had me utterly smitten. No, it was more than that. I was falling in love with him. I didn’t know when or how it had happened, but he’d stolen my heart.
“Hey.” He put his hand under my chin. “Where did you go? You got all serious.”
“No, I was just wondering what’s gonna happen whenyou return to the UK?” I glanced around me then started picking up the plates that had fallen. I couldn’t even look at him.
He sat on his ankles next to me and caught both of my wrists with his hand, cocking his head so he could look me in the eyes. “You don’t have to do that. What’s going on?”
“I’ve never had sex in a restaurant before.”
“I’m your first.” He beamed at me. “I rather like that.”
The butterflies in my chest fluttered something crazy, and then I was reminded how Declan had the power to break my heart into a million pieces. Not to mention he also had the power to ruin my career, possibly my entire life.
“Hey.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when the Windsor project ends. But whatever it is, I’m fairly certain I want you to still be in my life. I need you.”
“Fairly certain?”
“It’s an expression.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.” He tightened his hold on me. “I’m not good with relationships. I don’t know how they work. All I know right now is that I can’t stand being apart from you. I can’t imagine going home and not see you there, in my kitchen, in my living room, in my bed.” He puffed out a breath. “I feel things I’m not used to feeling.”
The desperate look in his eyes made me wonder, and hope a little, that maybe he could love me back someday. Was he capable of such a thing? I cupped his face and kissed him—soft at first, and then a bit more desperately.
“Ahem.” The server cleared his throat from the entrance to our little haven. If he could tell what we had just done, hedidn’t show it. “Mr. Noble, sorry to interrupt, but it’s important. Your chief of staff has been trying to get a hold of you for the last hour. She called the restaurant and asked me to get your attention.”
“This can’t be good.” Declan turned to me. “You think she found out about us?”
“If that were the case, I think Casey would’ve waited until we returned to the office.” I grabbed my purse to check my phone.
“Is that it, sir?” The server nodded once.
“Yes. Just the check. Thank you.” Declan pulled out his phone from the inside of his suit jacket and walked over to me. “I have twenty missed calls. You see what you do to me? The world falls away when you’re with me.”
I was wrong. I wasn’t falling in love with Declan. I was already madly in love with him. He held my gaze for a few beats as if he wanted to say something else. I stepped toward him but stopped when his phone rang again. He tapped the screen and spoke into it.
“Casey, what’s the emergency? I was in a very important meeting. Did you not see that on my calendar?” He winked at me.
“I know you’re extremely busy.” Casey’s voice boomed in the small tent. “But you’re trending on Twitter. I thought you should know. Actually, more than that. We need a game plan. How long before you get to the office?”
“Ten minutes.”
“I’ll call back.” Casey ended the call.
“Oh, no.” I placed a hand over my mouth. “They released the picture of us.”
“Fuck me. Probably not a good idea to go home rightnow.” He rubbed the side of his face and dialed Tommy. He left it on speakerphone so I could hear. “We need to get back to the office.”
“Yeah, I’m here. But there’s a bunch of reporters out here.” He let out a breath. “Not sure what’s going on.”
“Hang on.” Declan gave me his phone. When the server returned with our check, Declan gave him his card and a couple of hundred-dollar bills. “Is there a private entrance we can use?”
“Of course. I’ll show you.” He waved for us to follow.
After a quick stop to run Declan’s credit card, he escorted us to a freight elevator that led to the kitchen. From there, we took another elevator that took us all the way to a parking garage that was fairly empty. Declan dialed Tommy again and gave the server the phone so he could tell Tommy how to find us.
In three minutes flat, Tommy pulled in and drove off. Despite Declan’s efforts, the paparazzi were outside waiting with flashes that blinded me on the spot. He pulled me into his arms and blocked me from view as Tommy maneuvered through the streets.
