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“Can we come in?” I ask him.
Marian giggles.
“Hi, and welcome,” Ace says, but his gaze is on Marian. We give each other a man hug, and then he kisses Marian on the cheek. “Welcome to the family.”
Luna is at her favorite spot by the large window that overlooks the play area down below. When she sees me, she scrambles to her feet and comes running with all the strength of an NFL player, and throws herself at my legs.
Laughing, I pick her up, and she throws her hands around my neck. “Hello, baby girl,” I tell her. “I’ve missed you.”
“Uncle Clan,” she says.
Luna still can’t say my name, and she’s shortened it to Clan. Lexi appears in the kitchen doorway and comes and gives both of us a hug.
Luna tugs my hand and pulls me to her play area to show me her Barbie dollhouse. I go on my knees, and for the next couple of minutes, Luna and I are in our world as we play with her Barbie dolls, taking them to bed and giving them dinner.
After a while, I kiss her on the forehead and leave her to continue playing. I join Lexi, Ace, and Marian in the living room. I sit on the couch next to Marian.
“Marian was just about to tell us how you guys hooked up in Vegas?” Lexi says.
I turn to Marian. “Go on.”
“On the plane,” she says, her eyes laughing. “The most unromantic and unoriginal way to meet.”
“I’m surprised you two have not met before,” Ace says.
“I told her she looked familiar, but she thought that was a pick-up line.”
We all laugh at that. Lexi doesn’t speak much, and she’s quite a chatty person. This must have really shocked her.
“I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that you two met one day and married the same evening,” she says.
“I must say that your reaction is a lot better than when I told my best friends about Declan. They were not amused and thought that somehow he’d tricked me into it,” Marian says.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Ace says.
“Where is your loyalty, bro,” I say.
Lexi excuses herself to go and check on dinner.
“I’ll help,” Marian says and stands up.
When the ladies leave and Ace and I are left alone, he turns to me, a thoughtful look on his features. “This is about the trust fund, isn’t it?” He holds my gaze.
Ace is more than my brother. He’s my best friend, and the thought of lying to him makes me sick. So, I say nothing.
“I know Marian,” Ace says. “She’s a really sweet person and also very respected in the city. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”
“What makes you think I plan to hurt her?” I ask, indignation in my voice.
“You’re terrible at relationships, Declan. You know that as well as I do.”
I feel deflated, like a balloon that’s suddenly been popped with a sharp object. In my mind, I’d started to fantasize that maybe Marian and I could make it work. But Ace has just burst that bubble. He’s right. I don’t do relationships, and I don’t buy into all that unconditional love. People attach conditions to love, and I’ll never put myself under the mercy of a woman. I’ll call the shots when it comes to my own heart.
The ladies return to the living room and set the table behind us, putting an end to our conversation.
“I’ll take Luna to bed,” Lexi says, a sleepy-looking Luna balanced on her hip.
I stand up and plant a noisy kiss on her cheek, which makes her giggle. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
Marian and I are left in the living room alone.
“They took it well, didn’t they?” she says.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak. I don’t want to break her euphoria by telling her that Ace saw right through it.
“Lexi is very nice,” Marian says. “She’s happy for us.”
I doubt that Lexi believes it either. In the years when Ace was in Afghanistan, we became very good friends. If she doesn’t suspect already, Ace will clue her in.
But they can’t be a hundred percent because I neither confirmed nor denied it.
Chapter 7
Marian
Tension crackles between us in the car. The playful mood in Ace and Lexi’s home is gone. Declan’s profile in the semi-darkness is tense and still as he drives us home.
Seeing him surrounded by his family has ramped up my attraction for him another notch if that is possible. But his relationship with his niece Luna is the one that was an eye-opener. I understand now his hesitance in committing to my condition of him being a non-active parent in raising our baby.
A part of me wants to renege on our agreement, but I force myself to think of all the complications that will come out of having Declan in our lives. He’s an easy man to fall in love with; he’s a gentleman and sexy and kind. So many good things rolled into one.
