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“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
He nodded and I lightly smacked him on the shoulder.
“Seriously, what’s your biggest flaw, Declan Callahan?”
He thought for a moment, as he leaned against the counter.
“I have nightmares,” he said softly. I waited for him to go on. “My parents died in front of me when I was nine, which is why I live with my uncle and his family now. The nightmares were worse when I was younger. I even used to wet the bed too. Now I just wake up shaking and covered in a cold sweat.”
“Every night?”
He took my cup and sipped at its contents. “For the most part. I can usually only get a good night sleep after staying up a couple days or pills. But I prefer to stay awake rather than take pills.”
“So…” I tried to think back, but each night I usually ended up going to bed before him. “You haven’t slept since we’ve been here?”
“On the contrary, I’ve never slept better. And it’s all because I have you next to me. I haven’t even thought of my parents. At home, it’s obvious. I love my family, Sedric has always made sure that I knew he thought of me as his son. I told you that before. He even takes me out to Cubs games for father-son bonding. I’m so grateful. But—”
“But he still isn’t your dad,” I finished for him. “I understand, what were your parents like? Your mother’s name was Kelly Laoghaire?”
He nodded. “She grew up in Boston, then moved to Chicago to marry my father, Killian. She’d only met him once when they were teenagers.”
“No way? It was an arranged marriage?” People still did that?
He nodded. “My grandfather arranged marriages for both of his sons. He was all about ‘keeping it Irish.’ ”
I frowned at that knowing that if I ever met his grandfather it would be…interesting.
“Don’t worry.” He kissed my lips softly. “Sedric didn’t listen to him either. Evelyn, my aunt, is half Irish, half American. My grandfather almost went insane, trying to get him to marry the woman he chose. But Sedric wouldn’t. He married Evelyn the moment they were both legally able to.”
“What did you grandfather do?”
He smiled. “He disowned him and cut him off from the family money. It was only after my father died that he was forced to get over it since Sedric had to take over the family business.”
“Family business?”
He paused for a second and it was so quick that I wouldn’t have even noticed it if it weren’t for the fact that he looked like he was kicking himself in the head, as he moved away from me and back around the counter to the stove.
“My family owns shares in many small business all around the country.” He stirred the pot.
“If it was so hard back then, how did the Callahans come into money?” I paused thinking more to myself than anything.
He snickered softly. “Fights.”
“You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “At the very beginning, the Callahan family was nothing bunch of hot blooded Irish men in boxing rings. On our family crest it says; Troid le do lámha, bite le do chuid fiacla, déan cinnte a théann siad a codladh.”
I shivered and leaned towards him. He sounded so…exotic when he spoke like that.
“What does that mean?”
“Fight with your hands, bite with your teeth, make sure they go to sleep.” He smiled.
“The fighting Irish.”
“Damn straight.”
I giggled as I shook my head.
“One order of spicy minced beef and pea curry, milady,” he stated as he placed the food in front of me.
I looked up at him as he waited for me to pass judgment on his cooking skills. Taking a bite, I said the first and only thing that came to mind. “Wow.”
Smiling to himself, he came over and sat beside me. “My aunt would bring chefs to the house for cooking classes when we were younger. She said that every man should know how to cook.”
“She’s so wise, keep listening to her.” I took another bite.
“I’ll let her know you think so.”
He grabbed the remote and I turned to him. “What?”
“I love this song. I heard it once before, but I haven’t been able to find it again.”
I put down my spoon and took him by the hand as I led him towards the windows.
“The food—”
“You can’t let a good song go to waste,” I said as I forced him to dance with me.
He spun me around with ease.
“Great. You can dance too.”
“What can I say, I’m almost the perfect man…almost.”
Almost? He was the perfect man.
We were dancing at first and then both of us just started to sway back and forth on the living room floor. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes.
“I don’t want to go back tomorrow,” I confessed.
“Neither do I.”
I smiled. “Run away with me then, this time it will be my treat.”
He snickered and kissed the top of my head. “You make a tempting offer. But I can’t, my family needs me.”
“Yeah, I know.” I knew I was going to have to deal with my family again too.
When the song ended, we were still swaying without really caring about what was playing on the radio.
“What do you want to do tonight…?” I drifted off when my stomach growled.
“Well, one of your requirements was to feed you, so let’s start with that.” He led me back to the kitchen. Grabbing my plate, he covered it before he placed it into the microwave. He only had it in there for a minute before the steaming plate of food was placed in front of me again.
“Step one, done,” I said, taking a hot bite. “What else?”
“Tell me more about you.”
“More? I’m not sure what more there is left to tell about me.”
He nodded as he sat next to me on the bar stool. “What are your hopes and dreams, Coraline? Where do you see yourself in the future?”
“Only if you answer as well.”
“Fine by me. But I can’t promise to answer everything.”
There he went again, pulling me closer while pushing me away. I wasn’t sure what he could possibly think was so scary about him.
“Okay, let see. I hope and dream for something more out of life. I’m not sure what it is exactly…I guess I dream about being happy. But then again who doesn’t,” I said softly.
“And what about in the future?”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
He shook his head. “Close your eyes.”
I put my fork down and did what he said. It was only when he brushed my hair behind my ears and kissed my shoulder did I realize he was behind me. His chest pressed against my back, as his hands slid to my waist and his mouth barely touched my ear.
“Imagine yourself ten years from now. You wake up, and what’s the first thing you see?”
“The sun, it’s blinding me, so I turn around and curl up next to…”
“Next to who?”
Him, but I didn’t want to say that. “I’m not sure.”
“What do you do next?”
