All I knew was I’d grown used to the packed lunches and all the little things he did to take care of us. Grown accustomed to his laugh, his quiet strength. Yes, everything my mother said was true. That didn’t mean my feelings were wrong, either.

I didn’t want to let him go. Oh gods, what would I do if he didn’t feel the same way?

In the midst of my mild relationship freak out, I’d paused in the doorway. My mother gave me a nudge and we went into the living room. Declan woke up as we sat down, his hair mussed, his eyes still cloudy from sleep. They cleared when he saw me, and he smiled.

I couldn’t help but smile back.

We might have moved fast, but how could I not want him in my life after watching how he dealt with adversity? How much he cared for people? How sweet and kind he was? This was a man who would move mountains for the people he cared about, never once thinking about what they would do for him in return.

He wrapped an arm around me and I settled into the embrace, wondering the whole time if anyone in Declan’s life had ever moved mountains for him. I didn’t think they had. A shame, for sure, but one I was planning on rectifying.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lou

As the days continued to pass without Eva attacking, we both grew more and more tense. It was an awful feeling, waiting for doom to fall. You began to wish it would, just to get it out of the way. We worked, spent time with friends, and spent time together. I began to know Declan’s body as well as my own. I’d never had a partner who seemed so happy to explore every inch of me to see what made me lose my mind.

Unfortunately, some of our exploration didn’t go unnoticed.

Which was why we were spending the morning of our first day off in over a week replacing the shower door. I felt bad about breaking the door, and I had an interesting bruise on my ass, but I didn’t regret the sex. Just thinking about it made my pulse kick up and my nipples tighten.

Declan groaned. “Stop thinking about it, because you’re making me think about it, and one of us is going to end up injured. Sex and power tools don’t mix.”

“Says you. Do you think Trick was mad?” I asked, helping Declan slide the new tempered glass piece into the metal trim at the bottom.

Declan’s lips twitched. “I think he was torn between being impressed and irritated.” He released the glass once it was in place, and I handed him the new corner piece.

“Fair enough.”

A short while later, we finished the door, then Declan cleaned up while I put the drill back into its case. Declan smiled at the neat label with my name on it resting on the bright yellow plastic. “Something sexy about a woman who owns her own tools and knows how to use them.”