He kisses me quickly and heads to the bathroom. I shoot a quick text to Charlie to let her know I’ll call soon.
When Declan gets out of the bathroom I tell him which suitcase has my bathing suits and he runs to the car. I clean up the mess of our clothes and realize for the first time in three months I feel whole again.
*****
“It was pretty amazing. I was surprised and shocked all at once. I had such a hard time leaving and then when I saw Declan, my world stopped.” I’m trying to be discreet but I know Declan can hear the whole conversation with Charlie.
“Did you jump his bones in the ATL terminal? Was it messy?”
“Um, no I did not. It was sweet.”
“Jeesh, you’re boring. That long apart and no PDA to talk about. I think you’re holding out on me. I bet Finn was amused.” I flinch at her statement but don’t correct her.
“Charlie, I’ll be home tomorrow. Can we talk more when I’m not sitting at a public pool with Declan less than a foot from me?”
“Yeah, bitch, we can. I miss you so much. I know we have a lot to talk about; call me tomorrow night if Jenna and James don’t hold you hostage.”
Declan talks over me before I can answer, “Tell her it’s not Jenna and James that will have you hostage.”
“I heard that. Give him my love and tell him I will get my time alone even if I call Naughty Nightie Night!”
“Will do–love you”
“You too.” She says as she hangs up.
He smiles over at me with a mischievous look and rakes his eyes over my body. Out of all my suits, he picked the skimpiest pale pink bikini I bought up in Paris. I haven’t worn it before, so I didn’t realize how revealing it was until I put it on.
“Like your suit babe. Doesn’t leave much to the imagination.”
“Neither does yours.”
“I wasn’t planning on staying more than a day so I only brought athletic shorts.”
“I’m not complaining, just saying you’re already hot
body is even more ripped now than before. Good thing we have a private cabana.”
“I can say the same thing about you. You’re stunning.”
“Yes she is,” a voice whispers behind me and I jump at the intrusion. A waiter is standing there and obviously didn’t miss our exchange. Declan is not happy.
“Are you staring at my fiancée?”
Poor guy clears his throat trying to backpedal but I laugh and wave him back over. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s very jealous. I’ll have a margarita and water and he’ll have a beer–Budweiser will be fine.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He walks away but throws one last glance at me.
“I’m gonna kill him. Did you see him looking at you?”
“Nope, wasn’t paying attention.”
“How could you not see it?”
“Because I was too caught up in you calling me your fiancée.”
“Get used to it.” He doesn’t say anything else but looks at me with a hard stare, so I drop it.
The rest of the day goes without problems. We leave the pool around five and go back to our room for dinner. Declan insists we take a bath before ordering dinner, so I get everything ready and sink in the tub. He joins me and pulls me to his chest. He’s nervous and doesn’t say anything for a while.