Declan tensed as a knock sounded at the door of his apartment. Glancing at his watch in impatience, he noted that he only had about fifteen minutes before he had to leave to pick up Ella. When he saw Brant standing on the other side, he cursed silently. His older brother was constantly trying to bring what was left of their family together. He wished he would save all of his attention for their sister and leave him for the lost cause that he was.
Swinging the door open, Declan motioned him inside before shutting it behind him.
It was ironic that even though Declan had turned down a position working in the family business, he still ended up working with his brother and sister at Danvers. Stone Electronics manufactured a component that Danvers International used and Jason Danvers had been very interested in acquiring the small, but solid, company as a part of his company’s expansion. Gray and Nick Merimon had come on board at Danvers when Jason also acquired their company, Mericom. Declan thought that Brant and Ava were relieved not to be running the company on a daily basis any longer. Jason had kept the siblings on in vice-president roles since Danvers remained short staffed after its explosive growth and because they were damn good at their jobs. Declan’s grandfather, who started the company, would probably have another heart attack if he knew the company was no longer family owned.
He was surprised to see his brother looking visibly ruffled. “What’s up, Brant?”
“Do you have the folder for the Reynolds contract?”
Giving his brother a puzzled look, Declan asked, “Why would I? That’s your baby.”
“Yeah, no shit, but my new assistant has all of my paperwork f**ked up. Did she pull the Myers file for you?” Declan nodded his head. “Where is it? I looked on your desk, but didn’t see it.”
“It’s in my briefcase. I grabbed it on my way out this morning, to thumb through later.”
“Can you look and see what you have? I think she mixed up the files and I’m flying out tonight to meet with Reynolds tomorrow.”
Declan rolled his eyes and walked over to his briefcase. Sure enough, when he sorted through the stack, he found the missing file. He almost felt sorry for the woman who had made the mistake. His brother was a perfectionist and would lose sleep over something like this for days. “So, what is this, like the third assistant to bite the dust since you’ve been at Danvers?”
Brant looked at him in surprise. “I’m not firing Emma over this. I’m not happy about it, and she will know it, but I don’t think it warrants termination.”
Now Declan was the one looking at Brant with a surprised expression. “Emma, huh? I’ve never heard you call one of your assistants by her first name. Maybe I need to come up for a visit and meet the famous Emma.”
“Screw off and stick to your own damn office.” Seeing Declan look at his watch again, he asked, “Were you going out?”
Declan shifted uncomfortably, “Yeah, I have plans soon. I’ll walk down with you.”
Seeming much too interested, Brant asked, “What kind of plans? Is there someone left in Myrtle Beach that you haven’t bedded yet?”
Declan slammed the door shut behind them and flipped off his brother. “Very funny. Don’t you have somewhere to be? I’d recommend going to the airport early, just in case your assistant booked you the wrong flight as well.” With a smile of satisfaction, Declan saw his brother’s face go white and he took off for his car at a fast clip. Declan laughed, unlocked his Porsche Cayman, and settled in the driver’s seat. It might be a bit of a stereotype, but he loved his car. Of course, he also owned a truck. Sports cars didn’t make that much sense other than the rush you felt when driving them. He was also pretty sure that if Ella wore one of those dresses that she usually wore, the odds were good that he might get an eyeful of leg when he helped her out of the low-slung car. Yeah, in the end, he was just a guy.
Chapter Six
Ella fought the urge to pinch herself as she sat across from Declan in the crowded restaurant. How many times had she dreamed about just this moment? Conversation flowed easily just as it always did with them. He looked so handsome that she would have been content to stare at him across the table for the entire evening. And if she didn’t know better, she would swear that he started off just as nervous as she had. Luckily, due to the work friendship that they had forged, it was easy to slip back into the comfortable camaraderie that they had always shared.
Declan smiled at her across the table midway through the meal and asked, “How’s the lasagna, Ellie?”
She quickly swallowed the bite she had been savoring and rolled her eyes in bliss. “It’s wonderful. I’m glad that Claire recommended this place. She said it was where she and Jason had their sort of first date, whatever that means.”
“They seem happy. I met Claire’s mother last week when she came by the office with their daughter. She was pretty funny, and reminded me a lot of Claire. I heard she was really sick for quite a while.”
Ella nodded her head, “I’ve met her too. She’s great. And her housekeeper, Louise, who Claire calls her other mother, is hilarious. I thought I would pee myself when those two started cracking old age jokes the last time I was at Claire’s. Ugh, did I just tell Declan that I almost peed myself? Too much information, dingbat!
Declan chuckled, obviously amused at her story. “What about your parents? You said they were pretty strict on you growing up. Do they live locally?”
Groaning, Ella said, “They live in Florence, about an hour away and, trust me, it’s too close some days. I love them, I really do, but they can be nosy and overbearing. When I first moved out, my mom came to visit me every evening for the entire first month. My dad finally complained about the amount of gas she was burning on the trips and she slowed it down to once a week. By now it’s become just once a month. She still expects me to visit them on Sundays. I haven’t for the last few weeks and I’m starting to catch a lot of heat over it.”
“It sounds like they love you, Ellie. Are you an only child?”
“Oh no, I have an older sister who is quite perfect. Her name is Crystal. Her husband is a deacon from the church my parents attend. Her life’s work is to make me look bad.”
Declan lifted a brow, “I can’t imagine that being possible. I would think you would be every parent’s dream child. How can your sister make you look bad?”