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Molly was quiet for a long time. “If you’d never met me, and things with Julia had evolved to where they are now, would you two be…together?”
We both knew the answer to that question, so I tossed it back to her. “If you’d never met me, and things between you and Will had evolved to where they are now, would you be happy with him?”
Molly frowned. We stared at each other until the timer on my phone went off.
“I could stay out here and talk to you all night, Moll. I don’t think either of us is surprised by the things we’ve just admitted. But now that we’ve said what we needed to say, we need some time to think things through—alone. That’s the reason I set the timer.”
Molly smiled sadly. “You’re a smart cookie.”
I winked. “Don’t tell anyone. I prefer to be underestimated and let people think I’m just a pretty face.” I paused. “Why don’t you go get some sleep? I think we could use a few days to think about everything.”
She nodded. “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”
Molly stood. For a few awkward seconds, she looked unsure how to say goodnight to me. Eventually, she walked over and gave me a hug. “Goodnight, Declan.”
God, she smelled so damn good. Where the hell was a caveman’s club when I needed it?
Molly walked toward her bedroom. When she got to the door, she stopped and spoke without looking back.
“Hey, Dec?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe you should lock your door tonight. That margarita really went to my head.”
I smiled. “You too, babe. You too.”
CHAPTER 17
* * *
Molly
“So what’s going on in the adventures of Molly these days?” Emma twirled her fork in a container filled with spaghetti and shoveled it into her mouth.
“Not much. The usual. I’m supposed to go out with Will Friday night, and last night Declan and I admitted that if there were no Will for me or Julia for him, we’d be banging all over the apartment.”
Emma’s eyes bulged, and she started to cough. “Oh my God. You just made pasta go down the wrong pipe.” Her eyes watered as she reached for her bottle of water.
I chuckled. “Sorry, but you asked.”
Since we worked the same shift in different departments, we sometimes managed to schedule our dinner break together. If it hadn’t worked out for us tonight, I probably would’ve asked her to go for coffee after our shifts ended, because I needed to talk to someone.
“Last week you said you were attracted to him, but he had no idea how you felt.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I was wrong.”
Emma shook her head. “So the feeling is mutual?”
“Apparently…”
“And you guys talked about this, but nothing physical happened?”
I nodded. “We’re taking a few days to think about things.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have no damn idea.”
“Well, you’ve been head over heels for Will for years.”
“I know I have. And honestly, if it weren’t for Declan, I’d probably be super excited about where things are going with Will and me. At first he said he wanted to keep things casual, but he’s since told me he could see things progressing with us, and that someday he wants a wife and kids and stuff.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you want? A guy you’re crazy about who’s looking to settle down with the right woman?”
“It is, but…” I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m confused.”
“Well, let’s look at the pros and cons of each relationship. Tell me what you like about Will.”
“We have a lot in common. He’s an obstetrician, and I’m a labor and delivery nurse. He’s handsome and levelheaded. I love the way he’s always so good under pressure, and how much passion he has for his work. He’s smart, yet he never tries to show off, like a lot of other doctors do.”
“Okay. That all sounds awesome. Now tell me the cons.”
I couldn’t think of much. “If we were to go into a serious relationship and then split up, it might be awkward at work.”
“That’s fair. What about Declan? Tell me what you like about him.”
“I like how thoughtful he is. When I first found out about my dad’s illness, Declan had just moved in. Yet he always asked how Dad was and made sure he was around when he thought I might be upset and needed to talk. He just seems to know when I need support, and he makes himself available and never makes me feel like it’s a burden. He’s very funny and makes me laugh all the time, and…” I pointed to the eggplant rollatini I had in front of me. “He’s also a great cook. And, of course, let’s not forget that he’s ridiculously hot.”
“And what about the cons?”
Unlike Will, there were some glaring cons related to Declan. “Well, for starters, he lives two-thousand miles away in California. He also travels all the time for his job, and he travels with Julia—the woman he’s currently fooling around with that he’s been pining over for almost as long as I’ve been dreaming of a relationship with Will. We don’t have that much in common—he’s kind of a leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher because you’re just gonna use them anyway kind of person, whereas I like things put where they belong.”
