Page 40 of One Night Only
She gazes at him with watery eyes. “How do you know?”
“Because I’m a secret romantic,” he says. “And we know a thing or two about this stuff.” He lets go of her hand and sits on the ground, stretching his legs out. “If you cancel the wedding tomorrow, it won’t make a blind bit of difference. It’s only a wedding. People have them every day. But I think if you love him and the only thing stopping you from wearing what I’m sure is a very beautiful, very expensive dress is that you’re worried things might get hard in a few years, then I think you should marry him. Because things will get hard whether you do or don’t. At least this way you get some happy memories to go with it. And a toaster.”
Annie’s brows draw together. “You got me a toaster?”
“They’re more expensive than you might think. This one does four slices at once.”
There’s a flicker of a smile on her face. “Don’t tell Paul,” she whispers.
“Never.”
“I love Paul.”
“I know.”
“He’ll make fun of me.”
“He will,” Declan says seriously. “And we can’t have that.” He slaps his hands against his thighs. “Now, you’re getting married in less than twelve hours, which means you’ve got an awful lot of sleeping to do if you want to stay awake for the after-party.”
“Oh God,” Annie groans. “I’m going to be a mess.”
“Just get through the vows. He’s stuck with you then.” He pats her knee as if talking to a child and hoists her up into an almost-standing position. “Come on,” he says. “Deep breaths.” I grab her other side and her weight shifts instantly between us.
“I’m okay,” she mumbles. Declan and I glance at each other and slowly let her go.
Annie immediately starts swaying.
“Alright.” He sighs and with one quick movement, his hand catches the back of her knees and she’s up in his arms. She doesn’t complain, her head dropping wearily to his shoulder.
His eyes meet mine. “I wasn’t kidding about that bad back.”
“Right,” I mutter and hurriedly open the door as he brings her inside, laying her gently on the bed.
“At least she won’t have to stand for several hours in a heavy dress tomorrow.” He steps back, rubbing his neck. “You might want to get a bucket.”
I shoo him aside and go to remove her heels. I’m about to tell him to leave when the door clicks shut behind me.
Oh. Fine.
Annie stirs enough to help me undress her and I run a makeup wipe over her face to get the worst of it off.
“Sorry,” is all she mumbles before I shush her.
When I finally get her under the covers, I set a glass of water on the nightstand and an empty champagne bucket on the floor. Just in case. Paul is spending the night in the village out of some semblance of tradition, so at least I know she’ll be undisturbed, but I still feel bad leaving her. Only when I’m sure she’s asleep do I lock the balcony door and slip out into the hallway.
To my surprise, Declan is still waiting for me, sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. They open when I emerge.
“She’s asleep,” I say.
“She’ll suffer tomorrow.”
“I’ll deal with it.” I lean against the opposite wall, keeping space between us. It doesn’t make any difference. I still feel a jolt inside when he looks at me. “Was any of that a story?” I ask to distract myself.
“All true. Scouts honor.”
“You were never a scout.”
He shrugs and slowly gets to his feet. I take a step back. “I’m going to bed,” I say.
