Chapter 19 Bubble Glitter and Satin Scarves
BUBBLE GLITTER AND SATIN SCARVES
CLAIRE
I woke up with a heavy arm draped across my stomach. When I tried to move, Declan’s hand tightened, pulling me back into him. The memories of last night came flooding back.
Declan’s face between my legs.
His hand around my throat.
Him all the way down my throat.
My eyes went wide, unsure if Declan was going to regret it. If he did, we could play it off. We were lost in a fleeting moment of lust. It didn’t have to be repeated. No big deal.
So what if I now knew what his cum tasted like?
I could forget.
Totally.
Already forgotten.
“I can practically hear your brain overthinking.” Declan’s raspy morning voice sounded from behind me.
I slammed my eyes shut, feigning sleep.
Declan leaned on one elbow so he was peering down at me. “Oh, you’re asleep? Really?”
I didn’t respond, nestling into the pillow a little deeper to try and play it off. I thought that I had him fooled until his traitorous fingers started an assault on my ribs. I let out a squeal, thrashing my body to try and escape him.
“I knew it,” he laughed, pinning me down with one hand so he could tickle me with the other. “You little liar.”
“Stop! Please!” I wheezed.
A laugh burst out of him as he leaned down and kissed me.
Guess he didn’t regret it, after all.
“Good morning, Bear,” he said against my mouth.
“Good morning, Boss Man.”
He hummed. “I think I like being the boss of you.”
I snorted. “Of course you do.”
He rolled off of me and stood out of bed before slipping on a pair of pajama pants.
“What’s on the agenda today?” I asked, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. I pulled the blanket up to cover my naked torso because while he’d seen me naked in the dark, the sun was now shining at full blast through the windows.
“We have the morning off so we can do whatever you want. Then later, I have a surprise.” His eyes sparkled with mischief which admittedly piqued my interest.
“What is it?” I asked immediately.
“You’ll see,” he said as he walked into the hallway.
“Will I like it?” I called after him.
“Probably,” He shouted back.
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“No,” he responded.
I huffed as I grabbed one of his t-shirts and threw it on so I could chase him up the stairs.
“Please?” I asked, hugging him from behind sweetly.
“Not a chance,” he said sternly.
I let out a soft growl. “Fine. Bite me.”
“I’ll do that after the surprise.” He dropped a kiss to my cheek and walked to the stove to make us breakfast.
“Bingo?” I asked, mildly confused why this was a big, well-kept secret.
“Hold your judgement until we get inside,” he said, holding open the door to the main lodge so I could walk in.
I’d been pestering him for the entire day. I didn’t like surprises. I was way too nosey and knowing there was something I didn’t know was sending me into a spiral. Declan held firm the whole day, not giving me a single hint as to what tonight's activity would be.
The only thing he told me was to dress casually. I wasn’t sure if our ideas of casual were the same, but I went with my definition since his casual probably involved real pants. I wore leggings and a green sweater with a puffy tan vest and my snow boots.
After Declan made me breakfast and coffee, we headed up the mountain to rent snowboards again. My cheeks flamed when we stepped foot in the cable car, and I was pretty sure Declan felt it too from the look on his face.
The entire time we were on the slopes, it was light and fun in a new way. Declan openly held my hand and kissed me whenever he wanted. It felt like something in him snapped and he wasn’t holding back anymore.
I didn’t know how to feel about it, but at the same time I really liked it.
We raced down the mountain over and over, laughing and razzing each other. Neither of us held back, like the power dynamic between us was balancing itself out.
The whole afternoon, I tried to hold back the thoughts that crept in like a virus.
The thoughts that Declan was the kind of man I had been searching for and hadn’t been able to find.
He balanced me. He wasn’t necessarily disorganized, but he didn’t care as much.
When I needed things to be perfectly in line and spotless, he let me do it.
When I was doing too much, he calmed me down.
I could be messy with him. I could joke with him. I was comfortable with him.
I found myself wondering if he was some type of anomaly or if my person was actually out there. A person who made me feel the way he did, but within my tax bracket.
Declan placed a palm on my waist as we made our way to the ballroom in the lodge where you could already hear a crowd of voices gathered.
When we stopped inside, there was a sea of tables filled with women dawning white and grey hair.
Everywhere I looked there were glitter covered, hand-made sweatshirts and satin scarves in women's hair.
I turned to Declan. “What is going on here?”
His lips tipped up in a smile. “It’s bingo night. They look forward to this all year.”
“And we’re here because?”
I wasn’t complaining, okay?
This just didn’t seem like Declan’s scene.
“My friends would be very disappointed if I skipped it this year.” Declan landed a kiss to my cheek as his palm found my lower back.
These little and constant touches seemed like second nature to him, like this was how he acted with a woman he was interested in. But, it was abnormal for me.
My dating history was a mixed bag of hook-ups because I was too busy to date the men, and men who treated me like I was lucky they even looked my way. I had no experience with men who wanted to show me off or actually have me around for anything other than sex.
Declan guided me to a table of women who were dressed in matching neon pink sweatsuits. The second they noticed our approach, conversation halted and five sets of eyes burned holes in my skin from head to toe.
“Ladies,” Declan cooed.
“About time!” One woman in bright red lipstick yelled from the opposite side of the table.
“We thought you were a no show this year,” a tiny woman on her side said in a more even tone.
Declan slapped a hand to his chest as his jaw dropped in utter shock. “I would never miss bingo night.”
Another woman with pink streaks in her white hair, pursed her lips but kicked out a chair in offering. Declan hit her with a smile so charming, it even had me ready to melt. Her face softened as he draped an arm around her shoulders.
Suddenly, I was the only one standing and the ladies shifted their focus to me.
“Claire, these are The MistleHos.” He gestured to the table.
I held in my snort in fear that I would get beaten by a walker. “I’m sorry, did you say MistleHos?”
“Declan has been an honorary member for five years now,” the woman with red lipstick said with a firm nod.
“You’re Mr. Ho?” I arched a brow at him.
“Damn right.” He smiled and it just about made me pass out. It wasn’t one of his smirks that he shot me when he was being an ass. It wasn’t a reserved one he tried to hide. No, this was a full teeth, beaming smile.
A week and a half ago, I would’ve told you that Declan was the biggest asshole I’d ever met.
He never smiled or made eye contact, and he was pompous.
But, I was wrong. This man was none of those things.
His eyes were soft as he fell into conversation with the women around him, as if he’d known them his entire life.
“Dexxy, are you going to introduce us to your girl or is she going to creepily keep staring at us?” Red lips barked.
I snapped to attention; I wasn’t staring.
Declan pulled me to stand next to him. “Ladies, this is my fiancée, Claire. Claire, these are my girls.” He pointed to the two women directly next to him.
“This is Mary Lou Walsh, and Greta Wethers. Mary Lou’s son works for the Los Angeles office, and Greta’s daughter works in Atlanta.
” He moved on to red lips. “This is Polly Langford, her son and daughter in law met at the Seattle office. They got married last year.” He turned to the tiny woman next to her and the one on her right.
“And finally, this is Gloria Fringe and Carla Russell. Gloria’s daughter works in Denver, and Carla’s son is in New York. ”
My eyes ping ponged from lady to lady, realizing these were the grandmothers of our peers, and Declan knew personal details about each and every one of them.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, taking a seat next to Declan.
Polly eyed me for a minute before Declan cleared his throat.
“Nice to meet you too, dear,” she finally said. With her acknowledgment, her little minions broke their cold stares and greeted me with smiles.
“You all better be nice or I won’t share the prizes with you this year,” Declan said, winking at me.
“Dexxy, you would never do that to us,” Gloria said, looking appalled.
I leaned toward Declan so I could whisper in his ear, “what is the prize?”
He chuckled. “A Hermès silk scarf. I swear these women would get into fist fights for them.”
A laugh bubbled out of me.
Over the next three hours, we played more rounds of bingo than I ever thought I would in my entire life. Declan and his MistleHos joked the entire time, a smile never leaving his face. With his help, every single lady at our table won a round and claimed a coveted silk scarf.
At first, I thought he was joking, but every time one of our team members went to collect, they got dirty looks from the other teams.
I couldn’t believe the coordination of the night.
Every team had matching uniforms covered in bubble glitter and tinsel.
You could tell this was part of the year that these ladies looked forward to and planned out.
I was grateful that Declan allowed me to be a part of it—allowed me to see this side of him.
He truly cared about these women. He knew who their children, grand children, and great grandchildren were.
He asked for updates from their years. He asked Polly about her husband who was suffering from Parkinson's, and Gloria about the new beach house her daughter bought.
He asked Carla about her needle point hobby, and Mary Lou about her pregnant daughter in law.
He wanted updates on their lives and remembered. He cared.
It wasn’t lost on me that he knew intimate details about these women but didn’t know my favorite color or the city I grew up in until a week ago.
By the time we wrapped up the table, and said our goodbyes, I was exhausted and dawning a silk scarf of my own around my neck.
Declan laced his fingers in mine as we walked out into the snow filled air.
I turned to him and playfully slapped his arm.
“Ow,” he whined, rubbing his arm.
“How could you keep this a secret?”
He barked out a laugh. “I knew you would love it.”
“Seriously, what was that?”
Declan tugged me closer to him as we walked.
“Paul Driscoff’s mother started it. When I was in college, she practically dragged me down here for a night away from Sarah.
She had become friends with some of the other grandmothers and they wanted to start a team.
After that year, I became an honorary member of their team.
I haven’t missed a year since. Sadly, she passed away about five years ago. I took her place on the team.”
My heart melted. “They love you.”
“And I love them,” he agreed.
His face had an expression I’d never seen before. He looked almost… content. We walked toward the chalet as the snow fell around us, covering the ground like a soft white blanket.
Before we made it to the front door, I grabbed Declan’s arm and twisted toward him. His hands naturally fell to my hips as mine landed on his chest.
“You okay?” he asked, stepping further into my space.
“I wanted to say thank you for bringing me tonight. It was wonderful.”
I leaned up on my toes and kissed him.
Not because people were watching.
Not because we were in bed.
Not because there was pressure.
Because I wanted to.
And in that magical moment, covered in snow and being dwarfed by the Swiss Alps, I felt a spark that I never thought I would feel.
I was dangerously close to falling for Declan Alexander, and once the free fall began, there would be no stopping it until I splattered face first into the ground.