Deklan

I squeal as Deklan grabs me from behind, nearly knocking the spatula right out of my hand. He reaches around and slides his hands under my robe and pulls me against his chest.

“The hash browns are going to burn!” I laugh as he pulls me away from the stove and sucks at my neck, tickling my sides with his long fingers.

“Can’t be helped.” He turns me around and presses his mouth to mine, and I feel my body melt into his.

Damn the hash browns. I don’t care anymore.

I tilt my head back and open my mouth, reveling in the feeling of his hands grasping my ass and pulling me up off the floor so he can better reach my tongue with his. The kiss is too brief, and when he sets my feet back on the floor, I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.

Deklan grins at me and gives me one more swift kiss before turning me back around to face the stove. Breathlessly, I go back to turning potatoes.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with work today,” Deklan says. “It’s been nice having a few days off.”

“I’m not sure what I should do today at all.” I finish the cooking and load up our breakfast plates.

Other than the one trip to the Foley residence, Deklan and I have spent the last four days together. He has raved about my cooking and spent a whole lot of time learning every inch of my body, but I still don’t feel like I know him well. Every time I ask him to tell me more about himself, he distracts me with his hands and mouth until I can’t catch my breath long enough to ask any more questions.

I’m not ready for him to return to work.

“You should relax,” Deklan says. “Watch some TV. Read a book. Take a bath.”

“I do have a book I need to finish,” I tell him. “I’m in a book club.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. It’s an online club.” I look at him pointedly, and he stares back at me for a long moment.

“No phone.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I can take you to a place with Wi-Fi whenever you want.”

“I guess that will have to do.” I consider this for a moment, and another concern comes to me. “What if I need to get hold of you when you’re gone?”

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.” Deklan stands and goes to a drawer in the kitchen. He pulls out a prepaid phone and drops it on the kitchen island next to my plate. “If you need something, just use this. There’s only one number programmed into it, and that will go straight to me.”

I pick up the phone and turn it on, taking note of the single number in the contacts list before turning it back off. It’s a simplistic phone and pretty self-explanatory, so with a smirk I decline Deklan’s offer to show me how to use it.

“Only if you really need something,” he says. “I’ll be working and might not be able to answer right away.”

“What if I just miss you?” I look up at him, already feeling alone.

“Then just hold on to that thought, and I’ll make up for it when I get home.”

I nod. As usual, I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.

We finish breakfast, and Deklan kisses me slowly one last time before he leaves. Once he’s gone, I stare at the door for a full minute before I turn around and face the empty apartment.

I don’t want to watch TV. I don’t need a bath, and I’m not much in a reading mood, either. I wander around for a bit, but with only four rooms in the apartment, there isn’t much to keep me occupied.

I glance at my phone on the dresser. I’d like to read, but I realize my only book club is electronic, and I don’t dare turn the phone on. For all I know, Deklan would know as soon as I did, and I don’t want to blatantly disregard his rules. Sure, he’s said he wouldn’t lay a hand on me, but I’m also sure he has limits as to what he’ll tolerate.

I go back to the living room, wishing I had another e-reader. Maybe Deklan would let me get one as long as it couldn’t be traced.

Just to pass the time, I take a long shower, clean up the dishes from breakfast, and then give the whole apartment a good once-over. It’s already clean, and I’m sitting on the couch, bored off my ass, within an hour.

I literally have nothing to do.