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“What?” Natalie asked.
Declan was staring across the room and out the window, not looking at her. “You two get along.” It was a question but yet a statement.
“We do okay. We’re different, so co-parenting can be tricky, but we try. And although we didn’t work out, we both love Addy and want the best for her.”
“Must be nice.” Declan shook his head.
She’d heard enough at this point to know that Declan and his ex struggled.
“Chris’s mom gives you a hard time?”
Declan scoffed. “That’s an understatement.” He shook his head. “She wants to be here now. Or always. She tosses out threats to get what she wants, and I’m constantly worried that she’ll take him away.”
“Have you set boundaries? Agreements for how you parent?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. But it took over a year to get anything formal done. And I still feel like she has all the control. Like I’m always one step away from not getting any time with him.”
Although she got along with Greg, she understood how it must feel. Because being away from one’s child was hard.
“I’ve watched you with Chris. He loves you. And you’re a great dad. No one is taking him away from you.”
He glanced out at the snow again, silent, his lips pressed in a firm line.
“But.” She couldn’t keep this to herself. Not after the interactions with Lauren she’d witnessed over the few days.
Declan turned back to her, studying her, waiting for her to continue.
“It’s not healthy to let her be in control of everything. She needs boundaries, and you have to enforce them. The constant phone calls, the demands, the disrespect—it’s not fair to you or to Chris.”
“You’re not the first to say that.” Declan sighed and dropped his head back to rest on the chair. He stared at the ceiling, his body tense, but didn’t elaborate.
“Maybe it’s time to listen,” Natalie said, the statement bold.
Her heart skipped when Declan picked his head up and scowled at her.
“You can’t understand what I deal with.” He stood, sucking in a hard breath, his expression shuttering. This time, he wasn’t just grumpy. He was pissed. “Good night.”
Shit. She’d overstepped. Why did she have to open her mouth?
10
Seriously?An hour to pick out a tree? And that didn’t include the time it took them to hike up to the lot from his truck. And all the damn trees looked the same to Declan. Yet finding theperfectone had taken up more than half the afternoon.
In spite of Declan being an ass last night and still not finding the right words to apologize today, Chris had convinced Natalie to come along on their little adventure. And in what was becoming the new norm, she had been the bright spot of the outing; making things that he would usually hate fun.
For himandfor Chris.
Hiking up a snowy hill in the freezing cold, hacking down a pine tree, and dragging it back home wasn’t the chore he’d thought it would be. Even getting it into the stand behind the tweed sofa and making sure it wasn’t crooked hadn’t been bad. And he had to chuckle at how many needles ended up in Natalie’s hair.
Even the slight hiccup worked out. Although Uncle Finn promised there was a box full of Christmas decorations in the basement, he hadn’t considered what a six-year-old would want to adorn the tree with. Ornaments. For Chris, the joy was in hanging the ornaments. Usually in one spot. Then Declan would subtly shift some so the branches would hold. But childless Uncle Finn didn’t know this, so his version ofeverythingwas a few strands of lights and a star.
Natalie once again saved the day by suggesting strings of popcorn and paper snowflakes. So while she and Chris cut out and colored the snowflakes, Declan was popping the popcorn.
With the bowl full of popcorn in one arm, he made his way into the great room, his eyes landing on a perfectly round ass in black leggings. He rushed toward Natalie as she launched up onto the back of the sofa, star in hand.
A vision of the tree and Natalie crashing to the ground flashed through his head, so he tossed the bowl onto the sofa and grabbed her hips to steady her. She jolted in surprise, wobbling a little and making him tighten his fingers around her hips. The curve of her ass almost brushed his cheek, and he swallowed a groan while the blood in his body headed south.
The leggings clung to her ass like a second skin, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. But that didn’t stop his dirty mind from running away with images of lowering the thin black material and running his lips over both cheeks.
