CHAPTER 34
Summer
I plop down on my yellow couch and bring my knees up to my chest. “Let me guess,” I say. “You’re about to explain to me that there’s a glitch in the matrix. And for some reason, ours is the only Las Vegas marriage in the world that can’t be annulled.”
Declan sits on the coffee table in front of me and pulls my legs out straight, sending me back against the cushions. I’m about to complain when he rests my feet on his lap, and begins to massage them.
“That’s not fair,” I tell him.
“That’s the whole point.”
He’s very good at massage, which shouldn’t surprise me because Declan is supremely talented with his hands.
And all his other body parts.
“Don’t stop,” I tell him. He arches his eyebrow at me and smiles a wicked, sinful smile.
A warm wave washes through me and settles in my core. Damn this sex business. It seems that once my body got a taste of it, now it wants it all the time. How am I supposed to put an end to this marriage when I like having sex with my husband this much?
“This isn’t so bad, now is it?” he asks.
“It works for me.”
“You and me. We’re like Forrest and Jenny.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “You mean from Forrest Gump? She died of a tragic illness! Can’t you come up with a better example of a romance?”
“I didn’t mean the sad part,” he says, continuing to massage my feet. “I mean the peas-and-carrots part. You and me are like peas and carrots.”
“Declan MacLaine, you know I hate both those vegetables.”
He drops my feet, hops up, and in one swift movement he’s next to me on the couch, turning me to face him. “We’ve been friends a long time, Summer. Close friends. And now we’re even closer, and, I mean, the sex really isn’t all that bad, is it?”
I tip my head and glare at him. But then he laughs.
“Come on! I’m joking! Don’t you know?”
“Know what?”
He gets serious all of a sudden. “It’s the best sex I’ve ever had in my fucking life. It’s hot and fun and it fills me all the way up, you know?”
“Fills you up?”
“Yeah.” He looks a little embarrassed. “Here.” He points to his solar plexus. “Sex with you engages all of me, body and soul. I’m not sure how you do it, but you make me laugh in the middle of sex.”
“Nuh-uh. You make me laugh. Especially when furniture is breaking under us.”
“We make each other laugh and we make each other cum. Life doesn’t get any better than that.”
“Don’t tease me about sex, Declan. I mean it. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just kind of winging it. Maybe I should read a book.”
“I hear there are some excellent videos on the subject.”
I start to roll my eyes, but he cups my face in his hands. “You do know what you’re doing, Summer. Because you know me, and we fit perfectly, and you want me as much as I want you. Plus, you’re a wild-ass country girl who’s always down to have a fuck-ton of fun.”
He’s right. I am.
“And that, right there, is the secret sauce, bay-bee. What we have is off-the-charts fan-fucking-tabulous.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“It’s just that… you know.” I drop my eyes to the front of my sweatshirt. “I’ve been worried that I don’t meet the standards of the women you’ve been with. I’m relieved that I’m not a disappointment.”
“Am I a disappointment to you?”
I raise my eyes to his. “No. You’re like the all-you-can-eat twenty-four-hour buffet at the Chinese Paradise restaurant in Carson City.”
“So I’m hot and always available?”
“And your portions are huuuuuge.”
Declan leans forward and lightly touches my lips with his, even though he’s shaking with laughter. I close my eyes and lace my fingers in his hair, letting him know that more is okay by me. He doesn’t let me down. I know he’ll never let me down when it comes to this part of our partnership.
There’s other parts, though, that are less of a slam dunk.
When we come up for air, I say, “Declan, I need to ask you something, and I’m dead serious.”
He nods and sits back. “I’m listening.”
“You’re a player. This is not news to me. I’ve seen you operate for a very long time, and I know how you are.”
“Fair enough,” he says, which surprises me. He’s not even fighting me on it.
“I worry I won’t hold your interest. I think you told me once that six dates was your all-time record. I’m no expert, but I think most marriages at least try to shoot for longer than that.”
“What do you need from me, Summer? Tell me. I’ll figure out a way to give you what you need to feel secure being married to me.”
“I don’t think there is a way. Either I trust you or I don’t, and that’s on me. But I’m scared. You’re my best friend. I trust you with anything and everything, in any situation. I mean, I even trust you to fly me thirty thousand feet off the ground in a tin can!”
“You did not just call my twelve-million-dollar jet a tin can.”
“But when it comes to this…”
“Tell me what you need.”
I reach out and place my hand on his knee. “You told me that wanting to marry me did not come from out of nowhere. That’s what I need—to believe that’s true. Because in the back of my mind, I’ll always suspect that the only reason you wanted me was because you took my Big V.”
“Understood. I can see that.”
“You’re being way too agreeable. It’s terrifying.”
Declan lowers his gaze for a moment, and when he looks up again, he’s deep in thought. “It is the truth, Summer. The idea did not come from out of nowhere. There was context. I told you that I’ve always loved you. Always wanted you.”
“You did.”
“And that I’ve been exceptionally clueless.”
“I have, too. But I won’t be able to handle being just another one of your conquests. It would destroy me.”
He starts to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans.
“Declan, come on. I’m being serious.”
“So am I.” He shoves down his pants enough to expose his entire tattoo. He points.
I shake my head. “‘Conquer or Die’? That’s why you suddenly wanted to marry me? Because you conquered me? So it is all about the Big V! This isn’t doing anything to reassure me, just so you know. It’s doing the opposite.”
He points again. “The selkie.”
“The junk juggler?”
He closes his eyes and tries not to laugh. Then he points again. But I’m still not understanding.
“I got this tattoo fairly soon after the rescue, so about six years ago now. That event scared the shit out of me, not gonna lie. I came real close to dying. Everyone in my squad did. And so I wanted a tattoo that tells my whole story—the past, the present, and the future I hope for.”
As I study the truly spectacular design, my whole body begins to buzz with awareness. I suddenly see something oddly familiar. And I can’t believe it. But it’s right there. When I look up, I’m greeted by Declan’s sly smile.
I raise a hand to my mouth in shock.
“So, I went to a studio in Yokohama just to work with this highly recommended artist. I sent him images in advance and asked if he could find a way to morph all the elements into a single, cohesive image. But when I got there, he said he needed to know more about the selkie, because she seemed to be what was holding it all together.”
He laughs at himself.
“And I just sat there, running my mouth, going on about who she is, what she means to me, and what she looks like. Long, thick brunette hair that trails behind her in the wind. Gorgeous face. Knowing gray-blue eyes. A graceful, strong body with long, long legs.”
Declan pauses. He reaches for the fingers I’ve still got clamped over my mouth and gently pulls them away. He cradles my hand in both his.
“I didn’t see it. For years I didn’t make the connection. I am that big of a dumbass.”
I nod in agreement. He really is a dumbass. And so am I.
“She’s you, Summer. My past, my present, and the future I hope for. It’s all you.”