15. Liz
LIZ
The next morning, I woke up when my phone vibrated somewhere in the room. I bolted upright in bed, looking around wildly. I usually kept it on my nightstand so I could snooze the alarm three times before finally waking up. But this time, it wasn't next to me.
Declan groaned. He was still here! Even through my sleepy haze, I felt my heart grow in size. I couldn't remember what he'd told me last night when I asked him to stay. I was already falling asleep when he answered.
Crap. I wanted to silence the phone before it woke him.
I darted out of bed, trying to follow the sound. I went toward my dresser, then realized it came from another part of the house.
That’s right, I left it in the kitchen last night.
I tiptoed that way, grabbing it and seeing I had an unread message.
It was from my boss. I groaned. My shift was canceled because the party was canceled.
The eight-year-old was sick, so the mom had decided to postpone the birthday party.
She was still willing to pay for all the ingredients we’d bought, which was really considerate, but there was no need for me to go to work.
Well, that was that.
I quickly checked if I had any message from Rose, but she hadn’t sent anything. I started to type a message to ask how they were doing, then changed my mind. She was probably resting. If there was news, she or Mom would tell me.
This was an unusual Saturday for me. Richard’s almost always catered a party on the weekend. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t going to get paid for the hours I was supposed to work today. But on the bright side, I had time to enjoy the sexy man currently sprawled out in my bed.
Walking back to my bedroom, I stood at the foot of my bed, watching him. He was sleeping on his belly, ass on full display, thighs as well. Yum. I wanted to lick him all over.
I couldn't stand not being next to him, so I carefully crawled in, not wanting to wake him up. But he was already blinking his eyes open.
"What happened?" he asked.
“My shift got canceled."
He opened his eyes wide. "Does that mean I get you all morning?"
I batted my eyelashes. “Maybe."
Without warning, he pushed himself up on an elbow, kissed my shoulder, and then down my back. Then he kissed down my right ass cheek and back up my left one.
"Oh, I like that," I murmured.
"Are you hungry?"
"I don't have anything for breakfast. I usually eat at work."
"I can eat you," he whispered against me, kissing up my back.
Goose bumps broke out on my skin. "You're a dirty talker so early in the morning? You're half awake."
He groaned in my ear. So, he wasn’t a morning guy.
"I'll make breakfast for you," he whispered in my ear.
I wasn't expecting that. I thought maybe we'd grab a bagel or something from nearby.
I turned around until I was facing him, my boobs pressed against his chest. I touched his cheeks, feeling his whiskers, enjoying the prickly sensation against my palm.
It felt like such an intimate thing to know how his beard felt first thing in the morning before he showed everyone the Declan Maxwell he wanted the world to see.
For now, he was all mine. I had no clue how long it would last, but I wasn't worrying about it. I unexpectedly had a free morning, and a sexy man wanted to make me breakfast. I certainly wouldn’t complain about it.
He brushed past my cheek, kissing under my earlobe and down my neck. Oh, sweet Lord, he might have a dirty mouth in the morning, but I had a dirty mind and a very dirty body. I was already on edge. I moaned, leaning into him, and he pulled back.
"No. Why did you do that?" I asked.
He cleared his throat. "I don't have any condoms on me. I only had that one in my wallet."
I threw my head back, laughing. "So that's why you wanted to make breakfast. You needed a reason to lure me into that big house of yours, to your stack of condoms."
He grinned wolfishly. "Among other things."
We both got out of bed and dressed. I refreshed quickly in the bathroom, putting on new clothes.
Declan dressed in yesterday's clothes. A shiver went through me when I remembered he’d been commando in his jeans. Was it insane that I found that unbelievably sexy?
"What are you looking at?" he asked.
I jutted my chin forward, cocking a brow saucily. "I remembered you don't have on any boxers."
"Come on, gorgeous girl. Let's go." He took my hand, leading me out of the house.
"You're not very chatty in the morning, are you?"
He groaned.
"That wasn't even a word. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're not a morning person."
"Not at all."
"I thought that was a requirement for a lawyer."
"The requirement when you’re starting out is to work insane hours, mostly late into the night. I've never been a morning person."
We went up the steps to his house. He'd left it unlocked, which nearly gave me a heart attack. Who did that? I always locked my door, with three different locks.
He went straight to his coffee maker. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Oh, I don't."
His eyes widened. "You don't drink coffee in the morning?"
"No."
“But you did. I brought you one."
"Hey, a handsome man showed up at my door with gifts. I wasn't going to say no."
"Got it. But I need a coffee to wake up."
"Duly noted." I grinned. "So, dancing annoys you, and mornings too? Not much I can do about the latter. Mornings come every day. So, what am I getting for breakfast?”
"I'm making toast. Not much of a cook, even though I had some of the family cooking duties growing up.”
I raised a brow. “You did?”
“Just basic stuff. Anyway, you're welcome to take whatever you like out of the fridge." He turned and grabbed me around the waist.
"Oh, you're giving me the keys to the kingdom. How about that?" I teased as he kissed the top of my nose.
While he went about making toast, taking out the peanut butter and jelly from a cupboard, I opened the refrigerator, finding butter and some fruit and setting it all on the kitchen island.
This morning was so unexpected. To be honest, I hadn't thought he'd still be in my bed when I woke up, and I sure as hell hadn’t counted on us having breakfast together.
Something vibrated nearby.
"It's not my phone," I said immediately.
"No, it's mine." He took it out of his pocket. "Give me a second. I'll turn off notifications."
"You're not going to look at it?" I asked.
"No, I've got a strict rule. I don't work on weekends."
"Wow, that's cool. You have your own law firm, right?"
"I'm the firm, more or less. It consists of me, two associates, and my assistant."
"Did you ever work for one of the big firms?"
"Yeah, in the beginning after law school. After passing the bar, I worked three years at Baker didn't work well. I'm much better working on my own."
I watched him put peanut butter on his toast, taking in the way his body moved.
He was so muscular and strong. His dark hair was sticking out in every direction.
I liked seeing Declan early in the morning.
Usually he was so put together, no matter if he wore a suit or jeans, but now he had sleepy eyes and messy hair. I loved it.
"How did you even become a lawyer? I mean, your parents own a huge chain of bookstores, right?"
"They sold it when I was in college. And anyway, I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer."
"How come?"
"No idea, though if you ask my brothers, they’ll insist it was because I was the level-headed one always getting them out of trouble."
I burst out laughing. "Were you?"
"Yes. I also tried to keep them from getting into trouble, but that was impossible. I was unsuccessful more times than not, but it was on me to get them out of it."
"Was it? Or could you just not help yourself?"
He narrowed his eyes. "A combination of the two, probably."
"You're a great brother. My sister never got me out of trouble, but that was because I never felt like she was the older sister. Sometimes we told people we were twins."
“Do you have any news from her?”
“No, I checked this morning. But I’m taking it as a good sign. She’ll text me when she can. I’m so happy my niece is okay. I was so worried.”
Without warning, he lifted me up by my ass, putting me on the counter, and captured my mouth.
I sighed against his lips. I didn't think I could ever tire of him kissing me.
He was breathing life into me, making me acutely aware of my body and how lucky I was to be here with him.
I pressed my heels at the back of his thighs and curled my arms around his neck.
He lifted me and walked with me throughout the living room, then lowered me onto something soft.
The couch. He deepened the kiss, and I felt every stroke of his tongue intimately.
I grasped his T-shirt, curling my fingers into it. I was getting wet already.
"When does your next shift start?" he asked, pausing and pressing his forehead against mine.
"It’s at six o’clock at the bar."
"Spend the day with me," he said. The way his voice dripped with authority set me on edge.
"Your chances are good." I tried to sound teasing, but my voice was pretty breathy.
"What am I competing against?”
“Dancing.”
A sly grin appeared on his handsome face. “I like my chances.”