Ella shook her head sighing, “I have no idea. Usually she’s a carbon copy of my mom, but today she was different. I even caught her checking you out.” Declan gave her a cocky grin, but wisely refrained from commenting.

“What do you say we get out of here for the day and let the smoke clear?” he asked.

She had been afraid that he was going to take off after this and avoid her, like he had before, so she was more than eager to extend their time together. “I’d love that. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, this is Myrtle Beach so why don’t we get our suits and hit the beach for the day?”

“That sounds great, except I don’t even own a swimsuit. My parents never spent much time on the beach and I just never got around to buying one when I moved here.”

“I could use a new one, so we’ll stop on the way and get what we need.” He smiled as she bounced on the bed excitedly. He kept the smile on his face even when she accidently head-butted him while trying to give him a kiss on her way to the bathroom. “Something tells me that being involved with you is going to be hazardous to my health,” he joked.

She gave him her best pout as she walked away. She was grateful that he had been sensitive enough to throw her his shirt before she had left the bed. She was comfortable with him, but it was still a strange feeling to be naked with a man, even Declan.

***

Declan still wasn’t sure where the invitation to spend the day together had come from. He had further complicated things by convincing Ella to purchase her first bikini. Looking at her wading in the ocean a few yards in front of him, he cursed his own stupidity. Not only were his eyes glued to her slender, curvy body, so were every other man’s. This idea of a day on the beach had sounded innocent enough a few hours before. Truthfully, he had been so desperate to get out of Ella’s apartment before her family returned and shot him that he had grabbed onto the first idea he had. Probably not his best, but it had to be better than staring down the barrel of a Smith and Wesson.

He couldn’t believe that he had woken to find a room of strangers staring at him this morning. It was pretty comical once you got past the initial horror of it. The only similar situation he had encountered in his past was a husband barging in. He wasn’t proud of that one and he had ended things almost as soon as it had begun. Today’s intrusion had been unusual for him on a few levels. Firstly, he made it a rule to never stay the night with a woman. He usually wanted to leave and even if he didn’t, he couldn’t risk freaking a woman out when one of his nightmares took over. He needed to talk to Ella about that before he scared the hell out of her.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he almost jumped out of his skin. The fact that someone had gotten that close without him knowing was a testament to his level of distraction. And then he wanted to groan in misery when his brother, plopped down on the sand beside him. Yeah, apparently things could always get worse.

“Hey brother, I thought that was your car parked in front of my house. I was a little skeptical though since you aren’t really a sand and surf kind of guy.”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Declan asked.

“Shouldn’t you?” Brant countered. Declan didn’t bother to reply since normally he would have been at the office. When Brant started squinting at the shoreline, he knew things were about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable. “Hey, isn’t that . . . ?”

“Ella,” Declan supplied, “her name is Ella.”

Brant looked from her smiling face in the distance to his straight-faced expression, obviously making the connection. “So, I’m guessing you aren’t here alone working on your tan? Are you like . . . dating her now?”

Declan snorted saying, “I don’t date. We’re just hanging out.” Hanging out? Where in the fuck had that come from? Beside him, Brant seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Relax, I’m just surprised. This is the first normal woman I can remember you bringing around in a while.”

“Normal? What the hell are you talking about?” Declan demanded.

Brant laughed as he pointed to Ella. “That girl there is prom dates, roses, and diamonds. You’re usually more of a motel, tequila, don’t bother leaving your number, man.” Brant held his hands up in surrender as Declan glared at him. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, she just isn’t your usual type. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Not even close,” Declan admitted, “and I’m probably fucked nine ways till Sunday, but I can’t seem to stop.”

“Well, I’m the last one in the family who should be giving advice on love. Come to think of it, we all suck in that area so I’ll just wish you good luck. For what it’s worth, everyone seems to like her around the office and she is beautiful,” Brant whistled appreciatively.

Scowling at him, Declan snapped, “Stop looking at her. Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?”

“Nope,” Brant replied, “I’m free until this evening.”

Declan suddenly turned the tables on his brother. “I heard you had a bit of an . . . upset at work yesterday morning?”

Brant looked at him blankly until understanding dawned and with it a frown. “How did you hear about that? I swear there is no privacy at Danvers.”

“Still having problems with the new assistant, huh? Maybe you should just trade this one in like you usually do before she kills you.”

Declan enjoyed seeing his normally unflappable brother turn red and start to stammer. “I don’t know how she could have forgotten that I can’t tolerate milk. After giving me a cup of coffee loaded with the stuff, she has the gall to act like it’s my fault. Why didn’t I taste the milk? Why did I drink the whole cup before I figured it out? Why don’t I take medication for it? I’m the one who was miserable for the rest of the day and instead of apologizing, she snaps and rolls her eyes at me like I did something to her.”

“It’s not that I’m defending her, but they do make medication for that and you usually know if you’re drinking black coffee.”

Curling his lip, Brant spat, “I might have noticed had I not been stuck on a very persistent telemarketing call that she put through to my office. While she was killing me with cream, I was trying to convince some idiot that I was happy with my long distance carrier!”

Declan flopped back on the beach towel laughing at his irate brother. He could only imagine how someone as anal as Brant was dealing with this unusual office chaos. He had always been the planner and organizer in the family, even when they were children. Ava was the free spirit—or had been until that bastard ruined her life, while Brant was born wearing a business suit and Declan was the wild child. His grandfather had always called him a hell-raiser. If you were looking for variety, they had a little of everything in their family.

The ride down memory lane was abruptly cut short as his brother caught his breath and whispered, “Wow.”

As Ella walked toward them, Declan was dismayed to see that her small bikini now seemed to cover even less of her curves. She looked a bit surprised as he jumped quickly to his feet and wrapped a long towel around her effectively blocking Brant’s view of her lush body. She smiled at his brother, who was obviously waiting for him to make the introductions. “Ella, this is my brother Brant. It was his house we parked in front of. Brant, this is Ella.” Declan gritted his teeth when Brant remained seated, forcing Ella to bend over him to shake his hand. If his shit-eating grin was anything to go by, the bastard knew what he was doing. Declan took a seat beside his brother, intentionally placing himself between Ella and Brant’s prying gaze.

Ella smiled and said, “The water is great. You should both come in. Brant, would you like to change and join us for the afternoon?”

Waiting just a beat longer than necessary, probably to make him squirm, Brant said, “Thanks, Ella, but I’m not much for the water. I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the sun for a few more minutes though before I head back. So how do you like working for Danvers?”

“I love it,” Ella enthused. “I was terrified when I first started there, but now it’s like home.”

“I believe I’ve seen you around with Beth and Suzy.”

“Yep,” Ella smiled, “I just love them both. Suzy took longer for me to bond with and she still freaks me out half the time, but I really enjoy spending time with her now.”

“Suzy freaks everyone out,” Declan added.

Brant nodded his head in agreement. “That she does. Actually, she scared the shit out of me when I first met her. I like Claire, but I can’t figure out why she and Jason are always handing me their baby whenever I’m at their home.” Declan grimaced while Ella laughed.

“I think it’s a test or something. If you don’t break the baby or make her cry, then you move up a couple of levels in their estimation. Beth told me that she and Nick babysat for them one evening and it almost killed them. She said they ended up changing clothes like five times before they got out of there. I had to remind her that she wouldn’t be able to run from that before long.”

Declan sat back and listened to his unusually talkative brother joke with Ella over Nick’s impending fatherhood and he wondered where his plans for the day had gotten derailed. He had wanted nothing more than to ogle Ella in a bikini for a few hours and instead things had gotten rather domestic. He figured the blame landed squarely on his brother’s shoulders. What was up with him and this bit of socializing that he was doing? Apparently, he wasn’t the only one attempting to turn over a new leaf. Could his tight-ass brother finally be starting to loosen up a little? He had always known that Brant would explode one day from the pressure that was surely building up inside of him. He was relieved to see that he appeared to be more of a slow burn instead of an inferno.

A few moments later, he felt the urge to beat the hell out of Brant when he directed his nosiness at Ella. “So, Dec, are you two dating now?”

When two sets of eyes focused on him, he found himself fumbling for words. “We . . . um, have been out on dates, yes.” He wanted to murder his brother when he saw hurt start to flood Ella’s eyes. What the hell did she want him to say? That they had slept together? It was none of anyone’s goddamn business and the way he saw it, too many people already knew.

“You’re exclusive then? Not dating other people?” Brant asked.

Declan felt the hair on the nape of his neck start to stand up. Surely Brant wasn’t asking if Ella was available. “Just what the fuck are you getting at, Brant?” Declan demanded.

Ella looked at him in surprise and Brant had a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. He had a feeling he had just stepped neatly into a trap. After the initial shock at his tone, even Ella seemed pleased by his angry outburst. Maybe both of them needed some professional help.

Brant got to his feet and smiled down on them. “I was just making small talk, Dec, no harm intended. I’ll let you two get back to your . . . date.” He spent entirely too much time in Declan’s opinion telling Ella good-bye, but finally he was gone. Instantly he felt himself starting to relax without the stress of wondering what would come out of Brant’s mouth next.

“Your brother is really friendly,” Ella began.

He couldn’t contain the laugh that erupted from his chest. “You seem to bring that out in everyone, Ellie.” At her confused look, he continued, “Neither my brother nor I are known for being talkative people. Around you though, we can’t seem to stop talking. You have a way of drawing people out.”

She smiled and then stood up, grabbing his hand. “Come in with me.”

When he shook his head and tried to resist the allure of her smile, she taunted, “Well, okay, but I plan to go in a little deeper and I’m not a very good swimmer.”

As all of her recent accidents flashed through his head, he jumped swiftly to his feet. “Alright, baby, you win. If you drown me though, I’ll come back and haunt you for the rest of your life.” She squealed in excitement and Declan thought about how easy it was to get caught up in everything Ella. She was like the sun coming out after months of darkness.

No wonder Brant had acted so out of character around her. He knew firsthand that it was impossible not to. If you were within proximity, you would get caught in her orbit. He might only be thirty-five, but he had felt twice his age for longer than he cared to admit. She made him feel carefree and young again. It seemed her love of life was contagious and he was high on the happiness that sparkled in her eyes. Tomorrow he would look back on this day and wonder how his life could change so drastically in just twenty-four hours.

Chapter Eleven

Ella knew she had a ridiculous “I had sex this morning” smile on her face when she walked in the lobby at Danvers International, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She had spent another night with Declan and he had woken her in the most delicious way. Her body was still tingling from the thrill of that oh-so-heavenly tongue of his. She felt herself blush at the memory of her wanton response. She was pretty sure the neighbors must have heard her screams of pleasure. She’d never really imagined that she would be that . . . vocal, but she found it impossible to control herself and Declan loved it.