Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
DECLAN
“You have the final numbers?” I ask, looking at my computer screen and into the face of Steven, my executive assistant at the antivirus company I created that eventually exploded into more ventures in the industry.
“Yes, an email with our offer is being drafted as we speak.”
“Good. I need this to happen discreetly and quickly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Call me as soon as you hear back or if there are any hiccups.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Steven, there better not be any.”
“No, sir.”
I end the Zoom and then rub a hand over my face.
Sir.
I fucking hate when they call me that, but I like that they respect me enough to use it.
I close my browser and switch to my email as soon as the notice comes through. I review it quickly, pleased with how things are turning out.
My company is in the top three for my line of work. There’s Collins Corporation, Davenport Inc., and my company, Young Technologies,
Now, all of us have investments in different areas of the tech world, but if you’ve heard of it, one of these three companies more than likely owns it.
In the past fiscal year, the competition between my company and Davenport Inc. has increased substantially, and the only solution that I believe will put me at the top is buying out Collins Corp.
The first offer, of many I’m sure, since much more goes into this, has just been sent.
If I can secure this before Devonport gets wind of it, it’ll be pure luck.
And that’s what I’m aiming for right now.
Fuck, if I can just make this happen, the past few years will all have been worth it.
And I need it to be worth it.
Suddenly, the patio door slides open with a bang.
“Quick! Hide this!” My daughter's voice squeaks with excitement as she runs through the back door and into the kitchen.
I glance up from my makeshift office at the kitchen table just in time to see Max, her best friend, come sprinting behind her, a smile on his face. His run is a mixture of skips and actually running, and the glint in his eyes says they are up to something they shouldn’t be.
“Cabinet, cabinet, cabinet.” He follows her.
I rise and pull off my glasses, catching the exact moment Susie clumsily attempts to put what appears to be a Tupperware of something into said cabinet.
I let out a sigh.
“Did Ruby bake something again?”
Two sets of innocent eyes, one bright green and the other ocean blue, turn to me.
“Blueberry lemon cookies,” Susie whispers as her lips stretch into a smile.
I blow out my breath.
Damn. Those sound delicious.
I move toward the kids, ready to ask them my routine list of questions, because this is not the first time something like this has happened.
In fact, for the last few months, it’s been a weekly event on Saturday mornings.
I was sure they would tire of it and it would stop, but I clearly was mistaken.
My lips part, ready to do my thing, when Susie cracks open the lid and holds the container to my face.
I’m distracted by the sweet smell of sugar and blueberries. I take a deep breath.
“You know you want to try it,” Max says. The last word ends with a little higher pitch than the rest.
I do. He’s not wrong, but that’s not the point here. The point is, these two steal Ruby’s desserts on the weekly and hide them here, which then starts a fight, if we want to call it that, between her and me.
It’s more like she’s annoyed, and I enjoy watching her get worked up, so I play into it.
The woman is determined to hate me no matter what I choose to do, so I may as well get some joy out of it.
To be fair to the kids, it’s really not that hard to upset Ruby when it comes to anything related to me.
Susie could be caught tie-dyeing on Ruby’s white table, staining the wood surface a shit brown, and Ruby would tell her it’s okay, that accidents happen and she can fix it, but the moment I step into the house, she’d tell me I can properly wait outside.
All because once upon a time, I pissed her off and she never let it go.
Her brothers ask me on the regular what I did to their little sister and I tell them if only I knew myself.
Why Ruby Asher can’t stand me remains a mystery.
You’d think that because of that, I wouldn’t be attracted to her.
But unfortunately for me, I am.
I’m attracted to a lot of things about her.
It’s fucking annoying.
“Come on, Dec. Try it,” Max insists.
I hold my hands up and step back, as if that’s going to help.
“No, no. Did you two ask before you took these?”
Susie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.
“Yes, Dad, we asked if we could have them. We asked how many we could have. We asked if we could borrow the container, and we asked if … I could share with you.” Susie smirks. “Her answer took a little longer on that one, but she did say that I could.”
“Did she?” I raise one brow at them as Max hands me a cookie.
“She sure did.” Max grins.
I cave, and take a bite, closing my eyes and letting the warm cookie melt in my mouth. My taste buds burst with every flavor.
Ruby is a gifted baker, but I will never tell her so. You know, because I have to play the part of hated neighbor and all that.
“Max!”
Just as I’m taking bite number two, my mouth still open, Ruby’s voice rings through the backyard and into my kitchen. She appears at the still-open sliding patio door.
She pauses, her bright green eyes taking in the scene.
One kid, mine, sitting on the counter in her pink jean shorts and yellow shirt, hair in a messy ponytail, a Tupperware bowl in her lap and me standing in front of her wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweats and a black baseball hat, barefoot, eating a cookie and staring at her with wide eyes as if I was caught doing something wrong.
Which, I'm expecting, will be the case. As usual.
Her gaze darts over the room but stalls on my bare chest.
I take pride in making sure I eat right and stay active daily, but with the way her eyes linger on me, I'm sure she’s thinking I somehow screwed that up, too.
Then the little boy next to me takes off down the hall. Susie and I both turn our heads to watch him go.
“Maxwell Miles Davenport, get your booty back out here,” Ruby scolds. Then she clears her throat.
As if we are mirrors, Susie and I look back at Ruby.
She smooths her hands over her baking apron and holds her head high in my doorframe.
“Well, are you going to invite me in?”
I know I shouldn't, but I bark out a laugh.
“Your kid practically lives here. I don't think inviting you into my house is necessary anymore. You can just walk in, Ruby.”
Her gaze narrows, and she steps in.
“I don't appreciate you implying that my kid is here with you more than he’s with me.”
I finally take the bite I'd been going for, chew a couple of times, and say, “That, by no means, was what I said.”
And it’s not. One of the many things that attracts me to Ruby is her approach to mothering.
She’s a fucking great one.
Phenomenal, really. How she does all that and stays sane is beyond me.
I hope people tell her that. Lord knows, this town makes sure to tell me anytime I step out of the house.
You’re such a good dad, Declan. Susie is so lucky.
It pisses me off.
Yeah, if she’s so lucky, why didn’t her mom stick around? Oh, that’s right, she left because of me.
I’m the problem. I’m the reason Susie doesn't have a mom, and it fucking kills me every day. Every compliment only makes the wound deeper.
“Well, it sounded like—” Her gaze flicks to my daughter, and everything in Ruby’s face shifts from deep wrinkles of frustration to even calmness. If that's even a thing for her.
Susie is also eating a cookie.
“Do you think the lemon was too much?” Ruby asks, and Susie shakes her head.
“These are so good. They might be my new favorite."
“Wonderful.”
“I won’t lie. I think—”
“I was talking to Susie,” Ruby says in the sweetest voice, shooting a wink at her, then following her son down the hall.
Susie nudges my leg with her foot.
“I think she likes you,” my daughter whispers, and like before, my laugh is loud and deep.
Yeah, no. That's not it. Not even close.
“Why are you laughing, Dad? Don’t kids tease the ones they like? You told me that once.”
Shit. I did.
I grab the container, snap the lid back on it. “I think her son did something wrong and she’s upset. Care to share what that was and if you were a part of it?”
Susie shakes her head.
“I see. That’s how it’s going to be, huh?”
No response.
I put the cookies in the cupboard and lift my daughter off the counter and over my shoulder, one hand holding her in place and the other tickling her side.
“To the trampoline we go!” I say, and Susie instantly squirms with laughter.
“No, no, last time you bounced me, I thought I was going to go over the net.”
Facts. I might have gone a little too hard that day, but she was having fun, and her giggles were so infectious.
Nothing motivates me more than my daughter's happiness.
It will always be my priority. No matter what people say.
“Looks like this will be attempt number two.” I let out an exaggerated evil laugh.
“No, no! Okay, I’ll tell you.”
I slow my steps on the back patio. We stand in front of each other. I cross my arms, and she mimics me.
“Max spilled the salt cup into the second batch of cookies and didn’t tell his mom. So, we took cookies from batch one and rushed them over here to be sure we got the good ones before she found out.”
I don’t really have any follow-up questions aside from who has a cup of salt sitting around and not a shaker, but that’s not exactly what needs to be addressed right now.
“Did you see him do it?”
Susie’s bright smile fades.
She nods.
“And you didn’t tell Ruby?”
She shakes her head.
“Should you have told Ruby?”
She nods.
“I agree. Now, let’s go get the rest of the cookies we have and give them back to her.”
“Alright.”
With her head hanging low, Susie heads back into the house.
I take a moment for myself.
Susie is a good kid. The best, in fact. Even Max is one of a kind, considering that his mother is one of the most uptight people I know.
But they are still kids, and they make mistakes and need a lesson, no matter how small.
Being a single dad is challenging, and I just loathe making my daughter sad.
Some days, I wish Susie's mother had stuck around for Susie’s sake.
In the end, her mother told me I work too much and she was tired of taking the backseat to a dream I was never going to achieve. It didn’t hurt when she said she wanted to leave me, but it killed me when she told me to go ahead and keep Susie.
To keep her.
As if she were the fucking suede couch we bought together and only one of us could take it with us.
She had no intention of being a part of Susie's life when she left, and she left because of me.
Susie cried every night for weeks.
Those nights are forever engraved in my memory and somewhere along the way, I vowed to finish what I started. Achieve my goals. The ones that drove her mom away.
I wasn’t about to let all that hard work be for nothing.
To let that loss in my daughter's life be for nothing.
Once my mind was made up, moving back to Lovers only made sense. I’d reach my goal and slow down enough to make more time for my kid.
Yes, finding a balance has been difficult, but I refuse to give up.
Especially since my daughter's smile has been constant since the day we moved into this house, and it’s only grown by having her best friend next door.
Sure, things will be different once Ruby’s brother and my friend Luca, who is building a house for us, is finished and we live across town, but this town is where we are meant to be.
I head toward the laughter coming from inside my kitchen and pause in the doorway. Ruby is holding the cookies while both kids chase her.
All three of them are grinning, eyes shining with joy. Ruby has discarded her apron onto the counter, revealing her white lacy top and linen shorts.
Here’s the thing about Ruby. She pushes my buttons daily with her snarky remarks. We don’t get along despite the act we put up in front of the kids, and yet … everything about her screams my type.
Smart, witty, long lean legs, strawberry blonde hair that shines in the sun, emerald eyes that captivate you, and a smile that almost makes me forget how much she annoys me.
Like me, she’s started her own business, and from what her brothers and a quick Google search have told me, she’s quite successful with it, too.
It’s a little embarrassing how sexy I find all these things about her. About a woman who can’t stand me.
Ruby pauses, letting the kids catch her and tackle her to the living room rug.
It’s as cheesy a scene as it gets, but one thing is certain.
I’ll put up with the scolding, the snapbacks, the arguing, and the way Ruby’s smile complicates every emotion I have for her on a daily basis if it gives Susie more moments like this.
“Dad!” Susie hollers when she sees me. “Ruby said we can keep the cookies.”
Everyone settles down, and Ruby and Max head for the door.
I step back to let them through, but Ruby stops right in front of me.
“There was one rule, of course.” She looks at Susie with a grin.
“I can keep them as long as I am the only one who eats them.” My daughter lets out a laugh. “I said, no problem!”
I glance at Ruby with an are you serious? look, and she shrugs before she walks out the door.
I close the door behind them, and Susie climbs back onto the counter, peeking out the window over the sink.
We both watch as Ruby and Max disappear through the fence.
Once they are gone, Susie grins and tosses me the container.
“Don’t tell Ruby,” she says.
“Deal.”
Container in hand, we head for the living room to settle in with snacks and a movie.
We’re about fifteen minutes into K-Pop Demon Hunters for the hundredth time when my phone pings with an email notification.
I jump up immediately and move for my computer, which is still where I left it in the kitchen.
I open the email, read quickly, and ball my fists with each word.
Turns out, I’m not the only one trying to purchase the Collins Corporation.