Beth accepted the tissue with a smile. “I started crying last night when I made Nick take me to McDonald’s. I just wanted a small hamburger and then I saw the sign saying the McRib was back. Nick was horrified. He kept stuffing napkins in my face trying to dry me up while the cashier looked at him like he was denying me food.”
Suzy tried hard to maintain her look of disgust, but Ella could see the smile playing around the edges of her lips. It was obvious even through her tough exterior that she loved her sister. How nice would it have been if she and Crystal had grown up with that type of relationship? They were barely more than polite strangers most of the time. Other than Crystal’s uncharacteristic display of normalcy when she was ogling Declan, she had never been able to understand or relate to her sister.
Ella waved when she saw Claire and a pretty blonde walk toward their group. She hoped that no one mentioned her recent sexual encounter around the stranger. “Good morning, everyone,” Claire smiled. After putting a hand out to indicate the woman beside her, she continued, “I wanted you all to meet my good friend, Julie. We um . . . used to work together.” Claire finished the introductions and luckily didn’t mention anything personal in front of Julie. “Julie has the most precious little boy and tomorrow is his birthday so Auntie Claire has a present for him. Julie and I are going to go on up so I can grab it. Talk to you guys later.” With Claire’s departure, the rest of the group headed toward the bank of elevators.
Ella waved to Beth and Suzy as she stopped at her desk and they continued down the hall. Declan had promised to bring her a coffee later on and she couldn’t wait to sneak a brief moment with him. On her mental wish list beside ‘have a hot man bring you coffee’ she placed a check mark and giggled quietly to herself. Yep, it was going to be a good day.
***
Declan was walking down the corridor of Danvers in an unusually good mood. He’d even caught himself whistling during his morning commute. To say this wasn’t his usual Monday morning demeanor would be an understatement. Hell, this was never his mood, morning or not. He had spent the whole weekend with Ella and had broken about every rule he had concerning a woman. After having her with him all night, he thought he might have even found the cure for the nightmares that had plagued him since leaving the service. The only uncertainty that niggled his mind was about when his feet were going to be knocked out from under him. If there was one thing life had taught him, it was that with every good thing that happens, five bad ones are usually waiting around the corner to bite you in the ass. He had his answer on the first bad thing when Claire and a vaguely familiar attractive woman walked toward him.
“Good morning, Declan,” Claire smiled warmly, “How are you?” He was so busy trying to piece together where he knew the woman at her side, that he barely uttered a reply. From the look on the blonde’s face, he knew he wasn’t imaging things. He knew her from somewhere and she damn sure seemed to know him. “Let me introduce you to my good friend. Declan Stone, this is Julie Nelson, Julie this is Declan.”
Julie continued to stare at him as if in shock before finally uttering, “Declan?” He was still wracking his brain trying to make the connection that Julie had obviously already made. The only thing he was sure of was that he had had sex with her. He wasn’t proud of it, but one-night stands had been the norm for him when he was in the military. Pretty much anytime he had returned home, he had found a hotel room and a willing body to share it with, at least for a few hours. Even though she didn’t look like the type to indulge in quick hook-ups, he had to figure that was how they knew each other.
He finally just decided to throw a general reply out there and hope it was enough to save her feelings. Asking how they knew each other was probably not a great thing. “It’s nice to see you,” he said.
When Claire gave them both a confused look and asked if they knew each other, he stayed silent, hoping Julie would answer. “Yeah,” she murmured quietly, “we met briefly several years ago.” Well, that answered that question. She had pretty much admitted what he thought to be true. Giving him a nervous look that made him start to sweat, she asked, “Do you have time for cup or coffee or something?” Oh f**k. There’s no way we’re taking a trip down memory lane, lady, no matter how attractive you are. As he started to decline, she stepped forward and grasped his arm. “Please Declan, it’s important.”
Well hell, despite himself, he was intrigued. He had no interest in her sexually, but he was damned curious about the desperation he saw in her eyes. Just what was going on here? Was he wrong about how they knew each other? She wasn’t acting like a woman trying to entice him, she just looked scared. Claire’s head was going back and forth between them with her mouth hung open as if in shock. She seemed to be at a loss for words and he knew just how that felt. “I’ve got some conference calls that I can’t miss this morning, but if you’re free around noon, I can meet you at Meg’s Sandwich Shoppe around the corner.”
Julie nodded eagerly looking strangely relieved. “Thank you, that would be great. I’ll be there.” Declan was relieved when Claire turned toward Jason’s office and Julie followed along with her. What. In. The. Hell! He walked toward his own office determined to remember just who she was. Something was off there and he planned to find out what it was exactly.
***
Ella felt the dreamy glow that she had lost to her hectic morning of work return when Declan came striding toward her desk with her promised cup of coffee. He was so sexy. Just looking at him made her want to start panting. “Good morning again, Ellie,” he rasped in that deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.
Looking around to make sure they were alone for the moment, she whispered, “Good morning yourself, handsome. How is your day going?”
“Strange,” he replied, but waved away her concern when she started to ask why.
Giving him a smile of encouragement, she asked, “Rough morning?”
“Just the usual. How about you?”
She was pretty sure by his distracted manner that there was something he wasn’t saying, but she decided to leave it for now. All of the magazines said that once she had a man, she shouldn’t nag him or try to change him. She was determined to adhere to that advice. She liked him just the way he was, and things were too new between them for her to push when he so obviously didn’t want to talk about whatever had thrown his day off. “Do you want to grab some lunch today?” she offered.