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“I am, Ma.” I rubbed her hand and withdrew mine. I shot her a half-playful look. “And Dad feeds me well.”
The doubt in her eyes flickered for just a second before she returned to her youthful blush. One of her hands lowered to Dae’s thigh and I forced my eyes to look up.
“I am happy you’re spendin’ time with us, though.” She smiled and dropped her mug. “It takes a lot of written applications to get you here.”
“Oh, Ma ...” I knew where this conversation was heading, and it was heading there very fast. “Don’t exaggerate.”
She shrugged her shoulders, brushed her long brown hair behind her ears, and leaned forward. As far as looks went, the only thing I had in common with my mother was a small nose and perfectly proportioned lips. My father and I had everything else. Well, except for his temperament.
I always thought I had better control of my temper.
“Okay, maybe not written applications but... you know what I mean, sweetie. When was the last time we talked about it, I don’t know. Everything? We haven’t gone shopping in a year, I don’t know what career path you want to choose, I don’t... I don’t even know if you have some boy—”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” I raised my hands and heat crept up my neck. Dae might be nice and all, but I didn’t think I was comfortable talking about boys with him in the mix. And the more she talked, the more I realized my Ma and I lived in different worlds. She wanted a normal life for me, but she didn’t know that I couldn’t have that. That wasn’t an option for me. Not anymore.
Dae was about to say something when an abrupt knock on the door stopped him.
Ma went to the door to open it, and the sight of the familiar face in the living room was further proof that my life was anything but normal.
I was shocked to see him, but regardless, I offered a welcoming smile. Ma didn’t.
The tall blond with his overwhelming presence—and strong perfume—entered the house, the soles of his polished derbies thudding on the carpet. When his ocean-blue eyes settled on mine, he grinned.
I blushed.
“Dae. Maeve,” he greeted my stepfather and my mother, his eyes still fixed on mine. A warm, familiar tingle made my toes curl and I looked away.
“Declan.” She breezed past him, frowning as she stood next to my barstool like a guardian angel trying to protect me at all costs. But she didn’t need to protect me from Declan. With me, he was as harmless as a puppy.
And quite handsome too. With just a smile, a thousand ladies would swoon and fall at his feet. With a snap of his fingers, he could command any woman he wanted, any day, any time. I saw it with my own eyes, one night at my father’s club.
It had been an accident. I wasn’t supposed to be in that room when he snapped his fingers and had some red-haired stripper drop to her knees between his legs.
The point was, that Declan O’Malley had the potential to have the world at his feet, and even if he didn’t look like some drool-worthy Roman god, his I.Q could be considered as sexy.
Ma cleared her throat, and the sound cut through the silence like a knife. “What brings you here?”
That caught my attention. I turned my head and glanced only long enough to hear his response. What was he doing here?
He gestured toward me, cutting to the chase. “Ava.”
One word. One solid meaning. I understood it clearly, and so did Ma and Dae. The only problem was ...
“No.” Ma shook her head. “No, no, no, Declan.”
He remained standing in the middle of the room, and his presence made everything else seem dainty and small. The smile disappeared from his face and the blue in his eyes became even more intense. It didn’t matter that I had only spent eighteen months with him in my father’s mansion, I knew him well.
Declan had different shades, and like a chameleon, he changed color when the situation called for it. He had his gentlemanly façade, but on more than one occasion I’d seen the rogue who got his hands dirty without batting an eyelid.
“Maeve...”
“Cian can’t do this.”
“He can.”
My mother was fuming. She and my father didn’t get along at all, and they never pretended to.
She blushed and stamped her feet. Dae had to stand by her to calm her down. “He can’t. She’s only been here two days. He promised us two weeks.”
