Page 74 of Temporarily in Love

I went over to the coffeepot and poured some into a mug he had waiting for me. I sipped on it while he finished breakfast. “Is this Wawa coffee?”

“You know it!”

“Mom sends me their ground coffee, but it’s not the same as when you go to the store.”

“Truth! But still good.”

He turned off the burner and brought the stack of pancakes over to the table. I took the seat next to him. We piled our plates up with food, and I moaned at the taste of the deliciously fluffy pancakes in my mouth.

Declan smirked as he ate his own food.

“Thanks for breakfast. You didn’t have to.”

His hand squeezed my thigh. “I wanted to. What’s your plan for today?”

“Dunno. I have some business stuff to do. You’ll be at the brewery today?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I figured I’ll go in after we’re through, and then I have Sunday dinner at Nolan’s.”

“Oh, right.”

“Do you want to come?”

I shook my head. “No. I think I need to be at my own family’s tonight. But I’ll see you tomorrow to take the kids trick or treating, right?”

“Oh, right. That should be fun. So, when are you going home?”

“Not sure yet. But I’ll tell you when I do, okay?”

He nodded, but he seemed unsure. We ate the rest of breakfast in silence, and I couldn’t help but feel a thick fog of tension surrounding us. I didn’t know when I wanted to go home because I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to anymore.

I offered to clean up after breakfast, but Declan said I’d do it wrong. I rolled my eyes. He was such an anal neat-freak. After he was done, we both got dressed and walked out of his apartment together. Before we walked off in different directions, he pulled me flush against his chest and kissed me goodbye.

I melted into the kiss. All my synapses fired off at once when his lips were on mine. I had dated a lot of men since Declan and I broke up. I'd been engaged twice. But none of those men held a candle to him. Kissing those men was like kissing a dead fish. When Declan kissed me, sparks flew, and my body curled against his, wanting more. Kissing him made me feel safe and warm. Like this man was the home I needed to come back to.

When he pulled away, he brushed my hair behind my ear. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

I nodded. I felt a pang in my heart when I watched him walk in the other direction. That felt like a kiss goodbye, and I didn’t want it to be goodbye. I also didn’t understand why he made me feel like it was a goodbye when I was going to see him tomorrow. I hadn’t even bought a plane ticket yet. I probably wouldn’t leave for another couple of days. We still had a little more time together. So why did it feel like everything was falling apart?

I walked over to the bar and tried to will myself to stop thinking about the weirdness of my love life. The bar had just opened, but Sundays had been busier since I suggested adding Sunday brunch. I found my dad in the office, crunching numbers.

“Hey, Dad,” I said as I pulled up a chair beside him.

“Hey, honey. How was the Halloween party?”

“It was good. How do you think things have been going since we did the rebrand?”

“Good,” he said, giving me a proud smile. “I have to hand it to you. You did a real good job trying to turn it around.”

“Okay…” I trailed off.

I bit my nails and tried to think about how to ask him this question. I wanted the bar to succeed, and I wanted it to stay in the family, but I was afraid my dad would decide not to sell it to me.

“Spit it out, Lila.”

“I want to buy the bar.”

“What?”