Shattered Heart: The Donnellys, Book 3 (12 page)

Chapter Twenty

S
hane checked his cell after cleaning up the painting equipment in his mother’s formal living room. With a smile, he read the text from Cyn. She was having dinner at the Donnelly house and he was expected to join.

Shane:
I’ll be there. Need me to bring anything?

Cyn:
You know better than that.

Shane:
True. Gonna stop by your place and clean up first.

Cyn: Cool. Grab my blue sweat jacket from the hall closet, please?

Shane:
So much for not needing to bring anything. Lol

Cyn:
Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it up to you later. ;P

Shane:
Holding you to that.

Cyn:
Hope so. See you soon.

Shane slid his phone into his back pocket and finished gathering the tools. Tomorrow after laying down the trim, the room would be done. In less than a week he’d be on a plane back to Texas. He didn’t want to go, but other than not wanting to leave the woman he’d spent every spare moment with over the last week, he had no reason to stay.

There was a business and a life to get back to in Texas. Though, thanks to Cyn, Shane feared the life part of that package would now be lacking. Damn if that didn’t just suck to high heaven.

Once he was done at his mother’s, he drove to Cyn’s house. He’d moved his things from Joey’s place after their un-date on Monday night and had stayed with Cyn the rest of the week. The time with her had been out-of-this-world amazing. They’d had sex in pretty much every corner of her house, and always in her bed in the morning.

The sex has been mind-blowing. But falling asleep, with her cradled tight in his arms, and waking up with her warm, soft body pressed against him, had been the best parts of each day.

How in the fuck he was going to give her up, Shane had no idea. He just knew he had to go. They hadn’t talked about it at all, plus she hadn’t mentioned anything about wanting him to stay—hadn’t even hinted around it. Which kind of sucked, but he wasn’t going to read into it.

Not wanting to spoil what little time they had together, Shane hadn’t mentioned his impeding departure either. It was just this unspoken thing that hovered over everything. And that definitely sucked too.

Shane grabbed Cyn’s blue hoodie and headed out the door to her parents’ house. An evening at the Donnellys would be awesome too. Jimmy and his girl, Sonja, and her daughter, Casey, were still in town. Ryan and Maiya weren’t leaving for their honeymoon in Paris until Saturday, so they’d be at dinner too.

The Donnelly clan had grown by leaps and bounds with all the marriages and kids being brought into the world. He was beyond grateful to still be considered part of the family. But tonight, he’d be by Cyn’s side, and Shane had no clue if the rest of the clan knew they’d been together pretty much since he’d gotten back into town. Joey knew, of course, and Ryan did too. If Ryan knew, then Jimmy definitely knew. Angie and Celia for sure knew. As far as everyone else, Shane had no idea. It wasn’t something he should be worried about, but he couldn’t help but feel a tad nervous at what their reaction would be.

Brushing off his unease, Shane stepped up to the front door and raised his hand to knock.

Angie swung the door wide before his knuckle connected with the wood. “You know better than to knock.” She stepped aside and ushered him in.

“It’s been a long time, so I wasn’t going to assume, Angie. Good to see you.” He bent and placed a kiss on her cheek.

She closed the door and linked her arm inside his. “Don’t matter how long it’s been. Family is family, Shane.”

“Thanks, Angela.” He smiled at her as they walked down the main hallway to the kitchen. Mrs. Donnelly was at the counter mixing up her famous potato salad. Shane moved straight to her and held his arms open. “Can I get a hug from my favorite Mom?”

“Of course you can!” A warm smile graced her elegant face as she wiped her hands on the towel. Rising on tiptoe, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “So good to have you home, Shane.”

He kissed her cheek. “It’s been really good to be home. Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes!” She pursed her lips and raised one brow. “You can take your handsome self out of my way and to the backyard.”

Angie laughed. “You know better than to ask something like that. Boy, you
are
slipping.”

Shane shook his head and sighed. “Just being polite.”

“You always were a polite boy. By the way, Cyn’s been waiting for you, and driving everyone crazy in the meantime.” Mrs. Donnelly winked at him. “I’ve had to kick her out of the kitchen three times already. So hurry and let her know you’re here before Mary tries to rein her in and the hair pulling begins.”

Apparently Mrs. Donnelly was aware he and Cyn had been spending time together. That woman always knew more than any of the Donnelly kids gave her credit for, which of course always got them into more trouble. Some things never changed. “You got it, Mrs. D.”

“See? Always polite.” She nodded at Angie. “You and your siblings could take a few lessons from Shane.” She patted his shoulder. “But, Shane, you can call me Roseanne now.”

Shane frowned. He wasn’t sure if he could. “I… But, Mrs.…” She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side. Shit. Yeah, okay. Polite or not, she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Yes, ma’am.”

She rolled her eyes and moved back to the potato salad. “It’s a start. Now shoo. I need to finish cooking for an army.” She stirred the spoon in the bowl. “Not you, Angie. You stay. But go find Celia first. I need her too.”

Angie pouted. “Aw, Mom. I want to go see if Mary and Cyn are gonna duke it out.”

“There won’t be any of that.” Shane walked toward the back door. “You have my word on it, Mrs. D—Roseanne.”

“That’s better.” Roseanne smiled. “Thank you, Shane.”

Shane stepped just out of earshot as Cyn’s mother started giving Angie instructions on what she needed done. No doubt Angie would be along soon enough though. Shane stepped out to the back patio and found Cyn in the middle of the yard. She was running in circles with a gaggle of kids chasing her, a red dodge ball tucked tight in her arms.

She glanced over and stopped short as soon as she caught his gaze…and a big, bright smile spread across her lips.

All the air left Shane’s body like he’d been sucker punched in the stomach. Fucking hell, she was beautiful. Six more days was all he had left with her, including the rest of today as well as the day he was flying out.

He better make the most of it, because leaving her was going to suck more than he could imagine.

C
yn spotted Shane as soon as he stepped foot onto her parents back patio. As always she lost herself in his beauty and bulk. He was utterly perfect physically. Damn near perfect in every other way too.

“Auntie Cyn, throw the ball!” Mary’s son, Cam Jr., yelled as he ran past her.

Cyn shook herself, focusing back on the kids just as Tori, Katie’s daughter, tackled Cam, taking him to the grass. “Man down!” Tori rolled over, laughing.

“That’s not how dodge ball works, Tori!” Cam got to his feet and ran after her.

“Hey, hey. Break it up.” The kids ignored Cyn and then Jacob came running over to join in the fray. “Come on, you guys.” Ah, the hell with it. She loved the kids, but she had other things on her mind now. Cyn tossed the ball into the growing pile of children and walked toward the tall drink of water watching her with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face she couldn’t wait to kiss off.

As she got closer, her heart raced in anticipation of touching him. She’d spent a lot of time touching all that hard muscled yumminess in the last week. And she hadn’t yet had her fill. He was leaving soon and Cyn didn’t want to think about it, had refused to even allow the thoughts to surface. The one time she’d given his too-soon departure any light, her heart had sunk in her chest…and that meant feelings had shown up.

Feelings were not supposed to bloom in her heart for Shane Conlon. Hell, they weren’t supposed to bloom for anyone. Cyn was supposed to be single right now, figuring her shit out. That’d been her plan until Shane showed up with all his fineness, flipping some unknown switch in her body with his magic tongue and cock.

The new plan was to have a lot of really incredible sex with Shane until he left, and then get down to business. So far she’d been on course, or so she thought. Until now.
Dammit.
A severe case of the feels hadn’t been factored into the budget. If she let the feels out to play, she’d never get back to her goal.

Plus… Shane was leaving…going home to Texas. Sure, she’d get back on track, but what worried her was that she’d now be doing it with a longing heart. And there was definitely no freaking budget for that either.

When she reached him, Shane dropped his arms to his sides and gazed down at her. His blue eyes sparkled in the fading sunlight and Cyn wanted to drown in them. “Been wondering when you were gonna get here.” She pulled him down, circling her arms around his neck.

Shane smiled and his hands went right to her waist, sliding around to her lower back. “I’m here, girl.”

“Yeah, you are.” Cyn licked her lips and Shane’s eyes darted to her mouth. She loved that he paid attention to the little mindless habit she had, turning it into something she tried to always do in front of him now. Almost every time, it earned her a kiss. “Come here, baby.”

“Told you, I’m here.” His features, along with his tone, softened and he stroked a hair away from her eyes.

“Yeah, but I need you here.” Cyn pressed her lips to his. Shane moaned, slid one hand up her back and into her hair as he pulled her closer with the other. God, he tasted good. Like mint and a flavor that was all Shane. Careful to keep the kiss G rated in front of the kids, she broke from his lips and pressed her forehead to his chin. “That’s where I needed you.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You got me. Anytime you want me.”

A shiver ran through her. He’d been saying things like that to her the last day or so. She wasn’t sure if he meant them, considering he was leaving. But he was wrong because soon enough, she wouldn’t be able to have him anytime she wanted.

He’d go and she’d have nothing…
Fuck!

The goddamn feels had for sure taken hold, dragging her into the deep end of the pool.

Cyn let out a sigh and ran her hands down Shane’s arms. She glanced over just as Angie stepped outside, and Maiya and Celia walked out right behind her. All three stopped and looked at Cyn like they could see it too.

What the fuck was she going to do now?

* * * * *

C
yn sat on the bed, legs curled under her, in the bedroom she and Mary had shared as kids. After everyone had finished dinner and dessert, Maiya, Angie and Celia had dragged her away from Shane’s side and brought her upstairs.

“What are you going to do?” Angie rolled to her side on the bed and propped her head in her hand.

“Fuck if I know. I didn’t plan this.” Cyn tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Maiya laughed and stretched out on her stomach. “Chica, the good stuff is never planned. You should know that.”

“Yeah, but Maiya, he’s leaving. Talk about piss-poor timing.” Celia sat on the edge of the mattress and stroked Cyn’s hair.

Cyn groaned. “Exactly.”

“I know it’s complicated, but maybe you should just go with the flow and see what happens?” Maiya rubbed Cyn’s thigh.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that he goes. I mean, it might make the being single plan easier. I’m still game to do it with you.” Angie picked at her eyelashes.

“Right, because I’ll be all sad and pathetic so I won’t even bother looking at other guys.” Cyn dropped her face into her palms and then drove her fingers into her hair. “Ugghh! What a fucking disaster.”

“When does he go?” Angie laid her head down on the mattress.

Cyn stretched out, resting her head on Angie’s hip. “Six days. Well, technically five if I don’t count the day he actually goes back to his life in Texas.”

Celia stroked her fingers through Cyn’s hair again. “Better make the most of it.”

“Tell me what to do. I mean, isn’t that what you’re all supposed to be doing right now?” She looked between the three of them, all too aware of the desperation threading her tone.

“Chica, you gotta do what’s right for you.” Maiya clasped Cyn’s hand.

“Maybe the long-distance thing might work. Or—” Angie groaned.

Cyn looked up at her. “Or what?”

Angie pursed her lips. “Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but have you thought maybe you could move to Texas?”

“Are you insane, Angie? I can’t—” Cyn pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I have a business to run, plus family and all my friends here. No way am I moving to Texas.”

“Okay, breathe, firecracker.” Angie laughed. “You know I don’t want you to go. You’re like my best friend, next to my best friend of course, but you know what I mean. I love you, Cyn. I’d be heartbroken if you left.”

Maiya frowned. “Angie, jeez. What if the only way for them to be together is if she has to move there? You’d support her, and you know it.”

Good Christ, they practically had her packed up and living in Texas already. Cyn just wanted to figure out how to brush off the feelings she was having for him, not jump into dreamland talking about moving in with him. For fuck’s sake, she didn’t even know if he had feelings for her. “Okay, time out, you two. I’m not moving anywhere. So let’s just drop that little debate. I don’t even know if he’s interested in anything more than sex.”

The three exchanged a look before Angie rolled her eyes. “Oh, he totally is.”

“Yeah he is.” Maiya laughed and Celia nodded, laughing too.

Cyn glared at her sisters and sister-in-law. “All right, psychic trio. What makes you say that?” All three laughed again—which only annoyed Cyn more. What were they seeing that Cyn wasn’t? “I’m serious.”

Angie sat up and pulled her long hair over one shoulder. “Cyn, the man stares at you like he’s over the moon in love with you.”

“At the very least, he’s in some serious like with you. But yeah, Angie’s right, definitely over the moon.” Maiya nodded.