Page 86 of My Husband Problem

Heat swirls through me. I wet my lips and need to change the topic before I just give him blanket consent for anything and everything forever.

“And you bought everyone Team Declan shirts?”

He isn’t the one who answers me, though.

“He definitely won a bunch of people over,” Marianne Wilson tells me, having overheard my comment and holding up her Team Declan shirt.

“By putting in new windows at my house?” I ask.

“That helped,” she agrees. “We love that he’s so protective of you. But we also heard about all the money he’s distributed. He gave Michelle twice as much as she asked for.”

“He gave Allan double too,” someone walking past says. I don’t see who because I’m staring at Declan.

“I think he gave everyone double.”

“That’s what I heard too. And he’s meeting with more people tomorrow.”

The voices continue around us as if Declan's not standing right here.

But I can’t look away from his face. He actually looks a little uncomfortable.

“You gaveeveryonedouble?” I ask softly.

He lifts a shoulder. “They needed more than they were asking for.”

I nod. That has actually been the case when I’ve met with people too. When I first came up with the idea for Declan’s “foundation” where I spend my husband’s money on real people with real problems, people have been surprisingly careful. No one has been greedy. No one has been crazy in their requests.

“That’s really kind of you,” I tell him.

A little crease forms between his eyebrows. “Is it? Or would it be ridiculous for me not to do it?”

My brows, on the other hand, arch. “It absolutely would be,” I agree. Because it would. “And you have people coming over again tomorrow?” I ask.

“If they need it, they might as well stop by. I don’t have anything going on.”

I laugh and look at the house. “You don’t?”

“Well, I won’t after this is finished. And I talked to a couple of people in the midst of all of this. It’s not like I was really vital to this project.”

The self-deprecation is entirely too attractive. My stomach and my nipples have been tight since I showed up here, and I’m acutely aware of both of them right now. Even more, I’m aware of the fact that my heart is pounding in my chest.

“Well, now they can walk up a new front path and not worry about falling through my front porch,” I say.

He grins. “But they’ll have toknockon the front door.”

I can’t help but laugh. Then I look at the door. And then I frown. “Does that have a keypad on it?”

He glances over, too. “That made the most sense. This way we don’t have to worry about keys floating around. I know you were going to make another one and hide it somewhere else.”

I just press my lips together. I won’t lie to him.

He clearly makes a note of that, arching a brow. “This way we can give people the code if they need it. Patty and Wilson can come and go. But if the neighbors decide to shout the code across the front yard, we can change it before the serial killers get inside.”

I just stare at him. My heart is racing now. He realized that there are people who need to have access to the house. And he came up with a solution. A really good solution. One that will make people still feel welcome and included but will make him feel like everything is secure. Okay, one that will make things secure.

“Dammit, Declan,” I finally say. “I might actually have to say thank you for all of this.”

He grins. “Well, let’s not get crazy. I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”