Page 39 of Declan
“You were awake when I woke up. Did you sleep any last night?” I crashed immediately. It didn’t matter I was in a bed with Cara. The stress of the drive and the warmth of the bed combined to knock me the fuck out.
She shrugs again, and I want to push her some more, but I bite my fucking tongue. The glimpse I had outside guarantees she and I are going to have some time together. It’s a fucking whiteout, with at least two feet of snow on top of our car, added to everything that fell while we were driving. No fucking way is all of that getting cleared quickly. We’ve got another night, at least, to figure our shit out.
She sits, seemingly content to stay in my lap. And I’m not going to do a thing to make her move. Not when I finally have her in my arms. I finally feel like I can be the man she needs. One who can be here for her when she’s struggling. Now I just have to figure out how to keep being this man. Not the regular computer nerd version of me.
I’m composing sonnets in my fucking mind, odes to her beauty and wit, when my stomach takes the opportunity to howl like a starving wolf. “Sorry,” I mumble.
She smiles weakly. “It’s ok. I’m hungry too. I usually put snacks in my bag, but I packed light this time.”
I shoot her a look, and she slaps at me halfheartedly. “One suitcase is packing light.”
“It weighs fifty pounds, at least. We were going for a fucking weekend, Cara.”
She scowls at me. “I packed the necessities.” She rolls off me, plants her hand on the carpet and pushes up to stand. I sit, staring up at her, admiring the view of her face past the mountains of her breasts. I should write some sonnets about those...or maybe some limericks.
She catches me staring, a smirk covering her face. And for the first time in three years, I don’t blush and shy away from that look. Instead, I give her a slow smile, making sure I let her see every dirty thought I’ve ever had about her in it. Her eyes widen, and she takes a small step away before rolling her shoulders back. It was a tiny retreat, but still a retreat. I’ll take it. Declan: 1. Cara: 5,673. I’m on the fucking board.
20
CARA
H e’s zipping up my coat. Who is this man? My eyes, still gritty from my earlier tears, are watering as he swings the door open, revealing the peaceful white landscape in front of us. I know there’s a parking lot right in front of us, but the cars are just large white blobs, completely hidden below the deep snow.
“Oh my god,” I whisper into the hush of the morning. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Chicago gets a fuck of a lot of snow, but I live in the middle of the city. It’s mud brown before you know it. And it’s never this peaceful. Maybe I’m starting to understand why people live in places like this.
And also, holy fuck, is it cold. My stiletto boots are not built for this temperature. Or this kind of snow. Jesus, I almost ran out into this in my bare feet. I’m really fucking lucky Declan stopped me. I could have been in a world of trouble.
Declan shakes his head. “We’re so fucking lucky we found this place. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if we’d gotten stuck out there.” The way he echos my thoughts about luck is a bit jarring. But he’s right. We’re safe, and we’re lucky. No thanks to a bunch of interfering idiots.
Declan claps his hands. “Ok. The walkway to the pub is covered, but there are still drifts. Those shoes of yours aren’t going to cut it.” He dips down as if to throw me over his shoulder, but I hop back.
“Nope. Not doing that.” He scowls, about to scold me, I’m sure, when I raise my hand and twirl my finger. “Turn around. I’m going to ride you...I mean piggyback.” Shit. I wish I could call the words back, but they’ve already hit Declan. Hard, judging by the wide eyes and choked sound he makes.
Rolling my eyes, I spin him, pulling the door shut behind me, then grab onto his shoulders.
“Ready? Here we go.” I jump, trusting him to catch me. He shakes out of his stupor, thank fuck, and catches behind my knees, pulling me tight to him. I freeze as my pussy is pressed against his back. I did not think this through. At all.
“Okay...let’s go,” he says hoarsely, heading towards the pub.
Trying to distract myself from the strength of his hands and the warmth of him through his coat, I peek into the hotel rooms we pass. Most of the curtains are closed, but the odd one isn’t, revealing little slices of life. A man in his boxers sitting at the end of the bed, remote in hand, as a woman sleeps on the bed behind him...only the top of her brunette hair showing. A mother curled up in bed with her kids, watching cartoons. It all looks normal. Like they planned to be here. But I doubt any of them had this place as their destination. It’s off the beaten path between two bigger towns. Not exactly a tourist mecca. But just like us, their luck held out, and they ended up somewhere warm and safe for the night.
Declan stomps up the step to the wooden porch of the pub. Bar? Restaurant? I’m not really sure what this place is, and I don’t care. Because the smells coming from the building would convince an angel to fall, just for a taste.
Releasing my legs, he lets me slide down his back. Though thanks to the stilettos, there’s not far to go. We push through the doors and stop to take in everything in front of us.
It looks like there was one hell of a party here last night. People are sleeping in booths and on the floor. A couple of people even have sleeping bags covering them. There’s a smiling older lady weaving around the bodies with plates of food. She catches our eyes and hollers out, “Sit wherever kids,” then continues on her way. Dec and I share a look at ‘kids.’
He pulls me towards a small unoccupied booth in the back. We both dive at the menu, starving. The waitress comes by, shaking her head.
“Sorry kids. With this storm, and all the extra people, we’re not really working off the menu anymore. My Cliff has pancakes and sausages on, and he’ll fill you up a plate. Coffee?”
“Please! And anything you bring out, I promise I’ll eat. It smells amazing,” I say.
She laughs, takes Declan’s drink order, and she’s off.
“You don’t want coffee? I honestly don’t understand how people function without it.”
His mouth twists. “We survived on shitty coffee for a long time. I can’t fucking stand the stuff now.”
