20. Winona #2
His voice is deep and serious, his eyes fixed on me as he propels himself into the living room. He glances at Cass.
“Hi, Declan,” she says, raising her hand and waving it back and forth rapidly like a dashboard bobblehead.
He smiles, obviously amused at my sister’s ridiculous loss of composure. “Hey, Cass.”
“I’ll just …” Cass waves around at our two burritos. “... skedaddle to the kitchen and make myself scarce … like a rabbit into her hole … or something.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. Cass is usually so self-contained. Nothing puts her off balance.
She grabs up our burritos and hurries down the hall toward the kitchen.
“Sorry. She’s a fan. She’s actually normal most of the time.”
Declan nods. “Can we talk?”
“Yeah. Of course. Have a seat.”
I wave my hand toward the living room and take my place back on the couch where I’ve been sitting for nearly an hour now.
Declan follows me, resting his crutches and sitting where Cass had been.
“Winona.” His hand lands on my knee and I glance down at it—so large and strong it nearly engulfs my kneecap.
He clears his throat. His eyes pinging between mine.
“Why are you here, Declan?”
I ask the question even though I’m inwardly hoping it’s for the reasons I’m imagining. He’s touching my knee, after all, and now his thumb starts caressing a spot, gently moving as if he can’t help himself.
“I had this thought that you might be freaking out when you didn’t answer my text.” He searches my eyes. “Were you?”
I nod. I may as well admit my state of mind. What do I have to lose? Besides, before our kisses, we were friends. And I could tell him pretty much anything.
So, I take a breath and confess. “I was. A little. But also … not. And then I was. I just needed space.”
Declan nods. And then he scoots a little closer.
“I’m serious about you,” he says, staring into my eyes with that deep intensity I’ve come to both admire and crave.
“I don’t know what happened this morning.
One minute we were enjoying a little time in the kitchen over coffee, and the next a woman my mom invited shows up and you’re dumping your coffee and rushing out.
“I didn’t ask Snow to stop by. I don’t even remember her.”
I glance at Declan’s hand, still resting on my knee as if he needs to keep me here.
He sighs. “I’ll be honest with you. Women like Snow are a part of my life. Not by choice. They just exist around the fringes. I’ve learned to live around them. And it probably isn’t fair for me to ask you to put up with women throwing themselves at me, but I want to ask if you would consider it.”
His eyes plead with me even more than his words.
I set my hand over his.
He smiles softly, his voice careful. “I want to see where this could go between us. I really like you, Winona. If I didn’t make my feelings for you clear last night or this morning, I wanted to make sure I made everything clear now.”
“I really like you too,” I say. I don’t add a lot.
I definitely don’t tell him how I like him better than any man I’ve ever liked before.
We’ve only known one another for a month and a half.
But it’s been intense. We’re together nearly every day.
Like it or not, Declan has become one of the most important people in my life in that short span of time.
And mostly, I like it—a lot. Except when women like Snow blow into town.
“How will this work?” The words are out of my mouth before I second-guess them.
“This, meaning us?” he asks.
“Yes. I mean … I’m a woman who does odd jobs to pay her bills. You’re a professional athlete … Right now, we’re just Declan and Winona. But what about when you go back to playing full time?”
“We’ll still be just Declan and Winona,” he says.
His hand stills on my knee, the grip slightly firmer as if he’s holding on to me, unwilling to accept if I were to say no.
“I know my life comes with a lot of spotlight. But I’ll keep you out of the fray as much as possible.
I want to protect what we have. The media could make a mess of it. You’re better than all that.”
“Better?”
“So much better.” His eyes meet mine in a sort of sincerity that passes my defenses and hits me like an arrow to the heart.
I see everything in the way he looks at me. His plea. His care. The way he wants me.
“Please.” He says the word softly. “Give us a chance. Let me show you how this can work.”
I nod. “Okay. Of course. I mean, how can I turn you down when you make that face?”
He chuckles softly, and then he pulls out his phone.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
He snaps a selfie. “I need a photo of this face so I can practice it for when I need you to say yes.”
“Not fair,” I tease.
Declan has the power to break my heart. The thought hits me out of the blue.
But just as quickly, another thought follows.
I want him more than I want to guard my heart.
I stare at him. He came here. He could have stayed home. Could have waited ‘til I showed up at one. But he came.
“You don’t need a photo of any look,” I tell him. “I don’t think I could resist you anyway.”
“So, I’m irresistible to you?” He wags his brows playfully.
“Mostly.”
“Well,” he says, scooting even closer. “You are most definitely irresistible to me.”
He leans in and kisses me, cupping my jaw and moving his lips over mine softly and slowly in a kiss that sends chills through me. I lose myself in the feel of him—the way we fit together. And something loose from this morning settles.
When he pulls back, he smooths my hair.
“My hair!” I shout. “I must look crazy.”
“You’re beautiful,” he smiles mischievously. “In a wild, I didn’t brush my hair this morning sort of way.”
I playfully punch his bicep. And then I pull my fist back, rubbing my knuckles.
“I’d better get back to Darlene,” Declan says, searching for his crutches and standing.
“I forgot she was out there waiting,” I say. “Tell her thank you.”
“Are you kidding me? When she saw you leave, she pulled me aside and offered to drive me over here. She just met you, but she can already tell you’re special.”
As much as I loved Declan calling me beautiful, when he says I’m special, my heart practically explodes.
“We’re really doing this?” I ask, unable to absorb the full reality.
“I hope so. That’s up to you, Winona. I’ve wanted you for weeks. But I won’t force you into anything you don’t want.”
“I want you, Declan,” I say.
He smiles, leaning down and pulling me in for a hug. He kisses the top of my head.
“I’m telling the guys. This isn’t a secret. Just from the public. But I’d take out a billboard if it weren’t for the fact that the vultures would come circling.”
“Okay,” I say, not loving the idea of circling vultures, but so happy he wants to tell his friends.
“They’re going to give you so much crap when they see you. Gird yourself for some serious teasing.”
“I can handle them,” I say.
“I know,” he says with a smile.
Then he leans down and places one more soft kiss on my lips. “I’ll see you at one.”
I nod. “See you.”
I walk behind him to the door and shut it when he’s halfway down the porch steps. I sink into the wood, sliding down to the floor and running my fingertips over my lips with a sigh.
Declan and I are … dating? Something. We’re something.
Cass comes out of the kitchen, her timing revealing the fact that she was listening, at least listening enough to know when he left.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she says, holding her hands up in innocence. “I heard the door shut.”
“He wants to see where things can go between us,” I tell her.
“And?” She’s practically bouncing on her toes with giddiness.
“And, I’d rather have this time with him and possibly lose him than not give us this chance.”