Only You (The Fitzpatricks #2)

Chapter 1

One

D eclan Fitzpatrick groaned when his phone vibrated on his bedside table. He’d had a long night, thanks to a couple of drunk firefighters. Why any man would fight over a woman who had been playing them both was beyond him. Those assholes not only lost the young woman since she’d hightailed it out of the bar, but the guys were both sporting black eyes. The only thing that saved them from being arrested was that they were both too drunk to do much damage—other than to their pride. He didn’t think either of them would ever hear the end of it from their firehouse.

Finally, his phone stopped vibrating. Thank God. He rolled over, snuggled deeper into his bed, and drifted back to sleep. Since he’d closed last night, and his restaurant was closed for his parents’ anniversary party, he could roll around in bed as long as he wanted today. He just had to be at the restaurant no later than two.

Just as his mind started to shut down and his body was completely relaxed, his phone vibrated again.

With a groan, he rolled back over and grabbed the phone. Without looking at who called—because he was sure it was his sister Kaitlin calling about the party—he answered.

“What?”

“Oh, now that’s rude,” his mother said.

Dammit. “Sorry, Ma.”

“No, I’m sorry because I just realized you closed last night. I shouldn’t have called this early, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help with the party.”

He smiled despite the way his head was pounding. Deidre Fitzpatrick was crafty, but he knew her too well. “Let me guess. You tried to help, and Kaitlin wouldn’t let you.”

There was a pause. He could almost hear her brain moving through her options for attack. Deidre Fitzpatrick had raised six kids, five of them boys, so she had a hard time letting go. She didn’t interfere, like his sister’s aunt-in-law, Joey Santini, but she always wanted to help. He and his siblings had already told her she couldn’t help them. This was their present to their parents, and his mother hated that everyone was doing something for her.

“No.”

He chuckled. “Should I call her and ask?”

Another long pause, then a sigh. “Oh, pooh. I just wanted to help.”

Declan was a stereotypical Irish American man when it came to his Ma. Worse. His love of cooking had always kept him underfoot in the kitchen. He was probably the closest to her out of his brothers, so he knew her well.

“Did she offer to let you babysit? That will keep you busy.”

Kaitlin had recently had the first Fitzpatrick grandbaby.

“No.”

“Call her back and tell her you want to watch Little Mike.”

“She’ll probably tell me that she doesn’t need help.”

His mother was a helper. Always had been, always would be. He was sure she would still be trying to help in her nineties. Kaitlin had joked that their mother had probably already written down a plan for her wake and funeral.

“Tell her you want to spend time with your grandson on your special day.”

“You are my favorite child.”

That was a lie because his mother didn’t have a favorite child. She loved them all with abandon. All six of them knew they could count on her to be in their corner no matter what.

“And, next week, we could do a baking day.”

Fitzpatricks had been in the fire department since the first fire department opened in Baltimore. Declan had been the one to break tradition. He had been the kid who was more interested in how to make the perfect Shepherd’s pie rather than how to put out a fire. He tried to carve out one day a month to spend with his mother in the kitchen.

“Oh, now, that sounds like a grand idea. Okay, we’ll do that on Wednesday.”

That was his regular day off. And, yes, he baked on his day off. It was one of his favorite things to do, and when you ran a bar and grill, you didn’t do a lot of baking.

“You got it. We need to plan our Memorial Day cookie drive.”

“Of course.”

She said nothing else, which was odd. For a librarian, she was always very chatty. He had always thought they would be quiet since they shushed everyone all day, but maybe because she had to be quiet at work, she exploded with chatter when she got home. So, her pause worried him.

“What?”

“I heard Eileen O’Reilly is going to be there.”

When his mother said the Baltimore Police Detective’s name, his entire body reacted. It was disconcerting that as a man in his thirties, his dick twitched while on the phone with his mother. It had been that way since the moment he’d met her. Eileen had been oblivious of him, not for his lack of trying. The detective always had something on her mind, and it wasn’t him.

“Yes. And she has a plus one.” Which irritated him, but it wasn’t like he had asked her out. Ever.

“Hmm, probably one of her brothers.”

“Listen, Ma, I need to get a little more rest before heading to the restaurant.”

“Of course. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, Declan.”

He hung up the phone. Of course, he didn’t go back to sleep. His mind and body were now wholly focused on the woman he had been infatuated with for nearly six months.

It wasn’t something he was used to. He wasn’t a womanizer but rarely had trouble closing the deal with women. If they weren’t interested, Declan had no problem moving on. His mother had raised him right. But he hadn’t even worked up the nerve to ask her out.

It was those eyes. They were somewhere between blue and green. When she showed up at his restaurant, he always ensured she had what she needed. Eileen had a lot of late nights as a homicide detective in Baltimore, and more than one night, she showed up at his place after a long shift. There was something about how she hummed when she ate whatever he put in front of her.

Dammit. Now he was fully aroused.

Knowing that he wouldn’t get back to sleep, he slipped out of bed to jump into a cold shower. By the time he was done, he was shivering, but at least he had his need under control.

He grabbed his phone again and decided to check in with his sister. They were the two in charge of the menu for the party.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I should, but Ma called. She wanted to complain that you wouldn’t let her do anything.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, she can just stuff it. This is a party for her and Dad. She needs to take a backseat.”

“Good luck with that.”

Another laugh. A male murmur was in the background, and he knew it was his brother-in-law, Brando Santini.

“Yeah, well, she keeps bugging me about the guest list. I told her we had RSVPs from everyone.”

In his head, he told himself not to ask. He had been cautious about how he responded to Eileen around his family. He didn’t need any of them getting in his way or causing problems. The Fitzpatricks were very good at causing drama.

“Ma mentioned Eileen was coming.”

Silence. He could practically feel his sister’s curiosity pulse over the telephone.

“She is. The plus one is her brother, Zane. No. It’s Zach. Dang, I can’t remember what Wendy told me. I guess it doesn’t matter which one since they’re twins.”

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“Well, since Ma woke me up, I’m getting up. I’ll be down at the restaurant around noon.”

“I’ll see you there.”

After they hung up, he stared at the ceiling, his thoughts lingering on the delectable detective. She was no-nonsense, a bit abrupt, and she knew how to handle herself. He’d seen her take care of a few rowdy frat boys one night in his restaurant. She’d scared the shit out of them with whatever she’d said. He smiled at the memory. Then it faded.

This infatuation wasn’t something he was used to. This wasn’t attraction. It was like a teenage crush. Or obsession, which did not sit well with him.

He had a lot on his plate today and didn’t have time to sit on his bed, crushing on a woman who always seemed to have more to do than deal with him.

With that thought, he slipped out of bed and decided to go for a run. That was the only thing he seemed to be able to do these days that got Eileen off his mind.

By the time his sister and Wendy made it to the restaurant, he had the tables in place. He’d rearranged the floor for the DJ they’d hired and a little room to dance.

“Nice, bro,” Kaitlin said as she put a box on the bar. “We were going to help with that.”

He gave her a hug. Out of all of them, she looked more like their mother. Her happiness made her glow. Brando made her happy, and he would always be grateful for that. They started off rocky with a surprise pregnancy after one night together. Still, that man knew exactly how to handle his sister.

All six kids had their mother’s fair hair, but Kaitlin was more petite like their mother. Their personalities matched, too. She was a helper just like his Ma.

“First of all, it took me all of about thirty minutes. And both of you are doing other things.”

“Still,” she said as she wandered away. He knew her mind was on about a hundred different things.

Wendy shook her head. “You know, Kaitlin. She wants to help with everything. Just like your mom.”

He gave Wendy a hug, just like his sister. Wendy was her best friend and had been an honorary Fitzpatrick for years before Aeden, and she fell in love.

“So, Ma called you too?”

She nodded as she stepped back. “And Aeden.”

“You sure you should be up doing this? It’s going to be a long day.”

She waved his concerns away. “I’m pregnant, not injured.”

“Yeah, but I bet you’re tired because when Kaitlin was at the end of her second trimester, she was always tired.”

Wendy was four months pregnant with a little girl.

“I was off yesterday, and I did nothing but lay around. It was glorious.”

“Hey, do we want to get the tables set now?” Kaitlin called out.

Wendy and Declan shared a smile. She was already trying to push them along.

“Yeah, let me get the tablecloths,” Declan said. “You wanted the blue ones, right?”

He didn’t have an extensive inventory of tablecloths. His bar and grill wasn’t the type to do that, but every now and then, he booked the restaurant out. These were for the buffet tables. When he returned, his sister and Wendy were already working on the tables.

“Ma call you again?” Kaitlin asked as she put a flower arrangement on one of the tables.

“No.”

“Hmm,” was all she said, then, “Did I tell you Eileen is coming?’

“Yes. Yesterday morning, when we talked on the phone.” He was still irritated with his attraction and the fact that she would be at the party, but he was excited at the same time.

“Not you,” she said.

Declan looked up to find both of them women staring at him. His obsession started affecting his ability to keep his wits about him.

“Oh.”

She studied him briefly, then turned back to her best friend. “Anyway, I made sure to text Joey about her. She has that nephew she’s trying to set up with everyone.”

“What the hell?”

Again, both women looked at him before his sister asked, “You do know that Eileen dates, right?”

“Of course, I know that.”

He didn’t like it, but he knew she did. Or he assumed. Thankfully, he had never had to deal with her bringing a date into his restaurant. Declan understood a woman as stunning and interesting as Eileen would probably get asked out a lot. He just didn’t want to think about it.”

“He’s coming because he and Ma get along so well. He has a bookstore in that little town just west of Warrenton.”

“Why would Eileen care about a guy who lives in Virginia?”

He spat the state name like it was poison. It garnered another look from both of the women.

“She’s young, gorgeous, and you should see her with kids.” She looked at Wendy. “He has a little boy.”

“I thought Santinis married for life,” Wendy said.

It was true. Most people who knew the Santinis, which seemed to be at least half of the Marine Corps since they all served, knew that once a Santini fell in love, they did not walk away. It was one thing he loved about Brando.

“He’s a widower.”

Declan wanted to demand that he be uninvited. He didn’t need some damned Santini strutting around his restaurant, flaunting his stupid Santini genes in front of Eileen.

Jesus. What the fuck, Fitzpatrick? He needed to get his emotions under control, or both his sister and Wendy would pick up on it.

“I need to double-check on the produce for tonight.”

Then he rushed out of the room, heading to the kitchen. The staff wouldn’t arrive for another couple of hours since the entire restaurant was closed for the party. The room was quiet, and that was what he needed. He had seemed to be losing his control whenever Eileen was mentioned.

He leaned against the counter and did not even look at the produce. He knew, without a doubt, they had enough. Everything had been double and triple-checked.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. It was texts from his mother. He shook his head but ended up grinning. She had sent the kid’s pics of Little Mike with Big Mike—his father.

His heart warmed as he scrolled through the images. His parents had been involved in their lives as they grew up. Even his father’s job as a fireman and later Firehouse Captain hadn’t gotten in the way. He had missed a few games here and there, but Mike always knew when one of his kids had something important going on. It might have been his mother making sure he knew, but he went that extra mile and reached out to them. Hell, he had kept up with what was going on with Declan while he was away at culinary school.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and decided to push his thoughts about Eileen back and concentrate on the party.

“He is so obvious,” Kaitlin said the moment her brother was out of earshot.

“Joey is not trying to set up Brennan. That was mean,” Wendy said, but she was smiling when she said it. She carried a box of centerpieces over to one of the tables. After she set it down, she pulled one out.

Kaitlin waved that away, then grabbed two centerpieces. “How many months has he been mooning over her? You would think he didn’t know how to handle a woman. He hasn’t been on a date in forever.”

Wendy frowned. “How do you know that he hasn’t been dating?”

“The bros told me. They all find it hilarious. Didn’t Aedan say anything about it?”

“No.” She already had her phone out and was probably texting Aedan.

Sorry, bro.

“Interesting.” And she understood. The truth was that Wendy seemed to have lost her train of thought lately and just blurted things out. She was usually better at keeping secrets, but pregnancy hormones were doing a number on her brain cells. She told Kaitlin she used all her good brain cells at work. She was a nurse in the trauma ward, so that seemed more important than keeping secrets. Hence why Aedan probably didn’t tell her.

“Still, you should be nicer to him. Especially after all the work he did for this.”

Kaitlin looked around and felt a little guilty. She knew he had not only planned the whole menu but also donated the restaurant and his staff as part of the party. They were getting paid, but it was coming out of Declan’s pocket. Whenever one of the siblings tried to pay him for that part of it, he refused. He said he would put it towards the food, liquor, or DJ.

“Okay, I will be nicer, but he needs to get out of his funk.”

“True.”

“And he has been infatuated with her since she first walked in here. And the fact that she comes here a lot means she likes him too.”

“You don’t know that.”

“This,” she said, waving her hands around, “is a fireman bar. She’s a cop. They usually go to Houlihan’s Bar and Grill, a few streets over. She doesn’t.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that.”

“We just need to figure out how to get these two together.”

Wendy’s eyes widened. “You need to stay out of his business.”

Kaitlin said nothing, just nodded, even though she wasn’t really agreeing. Wendy should know better because she’d been around the family for a decade. Fitzpatricks believed in family, and by that, she meant meddling was just a way of life for them.