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“How are those pancakes,buddy? Did I get enough chocolate chips in there for you?” Declan askedGriffin.
Kate leaned against the counter and took a drink of her coffee, watching as Griffin tried to grin around the pancakes almost overflowing hismouth.
“Perfect,” hesaid.
Declan pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!” He turned toward Kate and pulled her into his arms. “I still think Mommy should eat before work, don’tyou?”
He was talking to Griffin, but his eyes burned into Kate’s, his hands resting on her hips. Desire flared inside her the way it always did when he touched her, and she had a flash of him the night before, moving between her legs, stoking the fire in her body until it erupted into a sizzlinginferno.
“Mommy doesn’t eat breakfast,” Griffinsaid.
He was blocked from Kate’s view by Declan’s broad shoulders, stretching the seams of a white T-shirt that made his eyes look bluer than usual, his dark hair shining under the September sun that made its way into thekitchen.
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Hear that? Mommy doesn’t eatbreakfast.”
Declan sighed. “You rebel,you.”
She laughed. “Yeah,right.”
She was the logical, reasoned one in their relationship. He was the rebel. It had been that way since they’d met in college, and while he’d matured in the six years they’d been apart, she’d remained as rational as ever, the best student in her father’s school of life, a school that taught logic over emotion, business over pleasure, head overheart.
She kissed him again. “I have to head out. You sure you can get Griff to school before yourmeeting?”
“I’m sure.” He ducked his head toward her ear and inhaled. “Hmmm… you smellgood.”
She felt the stirring in his jeans, the press of him against her belly, and laughed. “Easy, tiger. It’s 7 a.m. Let’s keep it PG.” She pushed him playfully away, but not before she had a tempting memory of tangled sheets, tousled hair, bareskin.
“What’s PG?” Griffinasked.
Kate hesitated, searching for a kid-friendlyanswer.
“Pigs and goblins,” Declan answered smoothly, and she was amazed all over again at how easily he’d adapted to full-timeparenthood.
Griffin giggled. “That’ssilly.”
Declan leaned across the kitchen island, his expression somber. “You know what’s reallysilly?”
“What?” Griffasked.
“How crazy the pigs and goblins get when we’re late for school.” He picked up Griff’s empty plate. “Go brush your teeth. And do it right, because you know I’m going tocheck.”
“I know, I know,” Griffin said, hopping off the stool and heading for thebathroom.
Declan rinsed the plate and set it in the sink, then turned to look at Kate. “What?”
She hadn’t realized she’d been staring. It wasn’t just that he was nice to look at, although no woman with a pulse would ever deny that Declan Murphy was hot. He was a source of endless fascination to her: the way he moved from the gorgeous heartthrob that set her pulse racing to the tender father that sometimes caused tears to sting her eyes when she least expectedit.
“You’re a great dad. That’s all,” shesaid.
He grinned. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said tome.”
She could tell he meant it. “It’strue.”
After raising Griffin alone for the first six years of his life, she was still getting used to having a partner. Before Declan had re-entered their lives, she’d relied on her mom for help, and every now and then, her brotherAiden.
After her dad’s death — hismurder— she and Griffin had moved back into the big house on the Walsh property overlooking the water in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Her mom had taken care of Griff during the day while Kate went to work at Walsh Media Group’s world headquarters in downtown Boston. On the nights when Kate couldn’t get home in time, her mom had fed Griffin dinner and read him his bedtimestory.
