Chapter 15
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’d been attempting to busy myself as much as possible since I came back. Between working extra shifts at the bar and everything leading up to my dad’s funeral, I didn’t know what it was like to have time on my hands. So, you could say it felt a bit unfamiliar to have time to fill.
Sophie gave me the last couple days off, and after helping my mom clean up around the house yesterday, I didn’t know what else to do.
When I found myself pulling up to Declan’s home by Cherry Creek, I suddenly got nervous. How would he react to seeing me after our conversation the other day? How would he feel about me just dropping by with no notice or a heads up? Fuck, what if he had someone over??
I caught myself feeling entirely too insecure, but then I considered the time he dropped by my house unannounced, and we ended up sharing a six pack. Maybe that would be something we could repeat.?
Might as well knock on the door and see what could come of it. I had no idea what I would say when he answered the door, but I’d most likely figure it out in the moment and wing it.
“Go with the flow, Paige,” I whispered under my breath as I brought my fist up to the front door and gave it three hard knocks.
Checking out my surroundings, I noticed his truck was in the driveway and the porch light was on, but he wasn’t answering. Did I knock hard enough?
Maybe his TV had been on too loud, or he was in the shower and didn’t hear me knock.?
Ringing the doorbell this time, I waited but continued to stand there in silence when there had been no answer.
Unsure of what to do now, I made my way toward the patio built down by the creek. I know he liked to spend a lot of time down there, so maybe he was relaxing where we were the other night.?
Last time I made my way down this path, I had his help. He was the one guiding the way in the dark, holding my hand all the way down. I took out my flashlight on my phone and followed the trail ahead. The string lights over the patio gave off a warm glow that bounced off the water in the creek. It helped provide just enough light as I got further down.
Looking toward the patio, I didn’t see him.?
He wasn’t down here either. He must have been in the shower back at the house.
Just as I was tempted to turn around and give up, I heard a splash. What the fuck? Was he in the water? Was it an animal? Getting slightly freaked out, I put my phone back in my pocket. I didn’t want to be spotted if it was a deer or other wildlife running across the water. Like an idiot, I hid behind a tree.
Not like the tree would protect me, anyway.
I tried to get a closer look with the little bit of light that was provided. Poking my head around the tree trunk, my eyes landed on a vision I hoped would never be erased from my memory.
Holy fuck.
I only got a quick glimpse from the waist up when I realized it was Declan popping out of the water like a cannon as he gasped for air. What was he doing? The water had to be freezing this time of year.
I could make myself known but then I’d feel like a creep. How long would he think I was out here in the bushes lurking like some kind of voyeur??
Maybe I should rethink this whole plan to hang out with Declan tonight and get out of here before I got caught. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I stepped back and began tiptoeing away when I realized I couldn’t see much of the trail in front of me.?
As I fumbled for my phone in my back pocket, I noticed a few seconds too late that the flashlight was still on.
“Shit. Fuck. Oh my god, turn off stupid light!” I whispered angrily to myself as I aggressively tapped on the screen in hopes that it would turn off.?
“Hello?”?
“Who’s out there?”
“This is private property!” I heard Declan holler.
I had been caught. Immediately, my stomach dropped as I squeezed my eyes shut. Could I time travel and just disappear? I felt like a little kid again being caught shoplifting a candy bar that my parents refused to buy me. So instead, I took matters into my own hands.?
Ugh, I had no other option but to make myself known.
Coming out of my not-so-subtle hiding spot, I walked down further toward the creek and gave a slight wave in his direction.
“Paige?” Declan spotted me, clearly surprised I was on his property.
“Hey. Yeah, I uh... I was just stopping by to say hi, but you didn’t answer your door, so I came down here to see if you’d be hanging out where we were the other night.” Scratching the back of my neck, I felt more uncomfortable than I thought was possible. I looked down in discomfort as I kicked the small rocks around with my foot.
“You just came over to say hi, huh?” He beamed as he combed his hair back.?
“Yeah, well… I wasn’t up to much tonight. Was going a little stir crazy at my mom’s house. But I can go. You look busy with y-your swimming or whatever.” Pointing my thumb over my back, I started to take a few steps away at the same moment he started to walk out of the water, looking like Jesus himself.?
“Paige, you don’t need to go anywhere. Grab me that towel?” He pointed over to a pile of clothes spread about and the towel that was thrown next to them. How did I not notice the pile of clothes sitting right there? Was he naked? I couldn't take my eyes off him as I awkwardly stumbled over toward the towel.
The water dripped from the long strands of hair that he had combed back with his hand. Continuous drops rolled over his broad shoulders and down his muscular chest. Declan had such a smooth body that there wasn’t much hair to catch the water drops that trailed down him.
Each drop flowed down, hitting every single indent of his abs, and I lost track of how many grooves they ran into. He was solid and powerful with each muscle protruding. My eyes continued to wander down his impeccable body, taking advantage of the opportunity to fully absorb this image.?
He was inches away from me when I realized he had one hand reached down, cupping his cock, and the other extended out to grab the towel I had failed to hand him. He smirked down at me, obviously noticing how distracted I was while ogling his gorgeous fucking body.
Before he wrapped the fabric around his waist, I wasn’t shy about the way I stole one last glance at the deep lines that led down to his large hand covering the part of his body I was the most curious about.?
“Earth to Paige?” His hand waved in front of my face bringing me back to reality. He stood so close to me, I could feel his breath when he spoke.
“Oh, um. Hi. Yeah. Sorry. I’m, uh, sure you needed that towel. I don’t know what got into me.” Fuck, why did he make me feel like a nervous teenager or like I couldn’t think straight? He made me nervous and scattered, like I couldn’t collect myself around him.
“Enjoy the view?” he said with that throaty sound. Stepping backward to create some space between us, I tried to think of something to say to get my head to stop spinning.?
“What are you doing down here in the water? Aren’t you freezing?”
“I come down here to plunge in the cold water when I feel like I need to get my mind off some things.” Oh, that was interesting. It made me think back to yesterday when we were texting. He mentioned choosing a cold plunge or a hot shower. What could he possibly want to get his mind off of? Not knowing what else to say, I blurted out that very question.
“What were you trying to get your mind off of?”
He took another step closer to me when my back was flush against the tree behind me. Raising one of his arms, he placed it over my head alongside the tree while his other arm hung low at his side with his clothes balled up in his hand. My eyes drifted toward the towel and wondered how it could possibly stay up on his hips without falling. I secretly wished it would drop so I could get a sneak preview of what he was working with.?
My eyes were suddenly taken away from his lower half when his fingers found my chin and shifted my gaze up to his face.
“Want to come up to the house? We can talk about our days, and I can make some hot tea.” The way he stared into my eyes in such close proximity to me as he asked me to come inside gave me the chills.?
Was he hoping for a Netflix and chill kind of situation? Or was he just a genuine guy wanting to spend some time with me? Honestly, I’d be content with either. Maybe he was a genuine guy who also wanted to fool around with me. I just knew I wanted to run my hands over his tanned chest and every indent on his stomach. Hesitantly, I nodded my head.
“Come on. Let's get inside so I can warm up and put some clothes on.” Grabbing my hand, he led the way up and I tried my best to keep my eyes off the low hanging towel but failed miserably.
I held back the urge I had to tear off his towel in the middle of the walkway and drop to my knees as we continued toward his home.
“Wow. It’s beautiful in here,” I said in genuine shock. It looked like a professional came in here with a magic wand. The inside of his house belonged in a magazine; it was stunning.?
“Thank you. I had help from my mom. She’s a professional interior designer so I took advantage of her talent.” His admission settled my mind, seeing as how my next question was going to be “Did a woman once live here?” . Because what guy at twenty-five had a home that was put together this well? I was expecting the typical bachelor pad.
“Well, she did an amazing job.” He walked around the house as he started the kettle on the stove and lit a fire in the living room. All while wearing that damn towel. Was he trying to tempt me to rip it off his body?
Between the kettle of tea and the fire, I wondered if this was just how he lived in his day-to-day life. Did he do these things in his everyday life or was he trying to be a romantic because I was here? Either way, I could get used to this.?
“I’m going to get changed. Have a seat on the couch or feel free to look around, I'll be out in a minute.” I frowned, slightly sad at the fact that he was going to cover his beautiful, tanned skin. I took a seat on the big, cozy couch and grabbed the throw blanket to lay over my legs to keep warm.?
“Oh, and Paige?” he hollered from down the hallway. I turned my head to look back at him when he gazed in my direction with that devilish grin of his and he added, “I told you I’d invite you inside on the second date.”
Smiling back at him, I said, “Oh is that what this is now? A date?”
“Nah, baby girl, you’ll know when you're on a real date with me. This is just a regular day in the life.” And with that, he continued down the hallway to get changed, leaving me stunned. He wasn’t trying to be romantic; this is just how Declan was.
Only seconds went by before he came back out with hardly any clothes on. He traded the towel for a pair of gray sweatpants, and fuck, if that didn’t make me weak.?
“I thought you were getting dressed? Seems like you may have forgotten something.”?I stared at his chest, silently praising the fact that he left his shirt off.
“Does me walking around without a shirt on make you nervous, Paige?” That and your ability to walk around with that alpha man persona, yes.
“I’d say it's just more of a distraction, really,” I replied with a long look up and down his torso, not even trying to hide it this time.?
He walked over to the couch after making up some tea, setting two mugs on the table in front of me. Sitting down next to me, not much space left between us, he took the blanket that was draped over me and covered both of our legs with it. With all the confidence in the world, he pulled my legs onto his lap and rested his hand on the back of my calf.
I was a nervous wreck on the inside and Declan was giving that confident, alpha man energy that made my panties wet just thinking about it.
My body had a way of reacting to his touch. Even the most innocent of touches. It was heating up in here and I couldn’t tell if it was the tea, the fireplace, or this sexy ass man with his hands on my legs right now.
“I have to be honest with you, Paige. If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to have a hard time holding back from kissing you.” This fake arrangement that we had going on was quickly taking a turn. Suddenly feeling all too real.
I didn’t want him to hold back.
I gravitated toward him.
I found myself wanting his company, his safety, his touch. What if we didn’t have to fake it when Logan was around? What if we made this legitimate with no question about it? After all, the way I was feeling at the moment, none of it was fake.