Without Doubt (17 page)

“
Ava, I know you think
this is too quick. And, hell, maybe it is for some people. But it’s
not for us. It’s really difficult on all three of us to try and see
each other, spend quality time together, while living twenty
minutes apart. Your schedule is ridiculous and I hate it. I hate
that you have a roommate and you and Harper have to share a room. I
hate that you live in a shithole when you don’t have to anymore. I
am crazy proud of you for all that you do on your own, but it
doesn’t have to be so hard anymore, baby. Let me take on some of
the load your carrying. Just move in with me, let me see your
beautiful face every morning. Let me help tuck in Harper every
night. Just say ‘Yeah, Dec, I’ll move in with you.’” During his
speech, he turned his chair sideways and faced me head on, cupping
my face with both hands and whispering softly.

I’m about to lose it. I can feel the tears
welling up and I’m only kind of trying to hide them. I feel all of
the stress of my entire adulthood right at this very minute and I
just want to let it all go. “Yeah, Dec, I’ll move in with you.”

Making the decision to move in with your
boyfriend is a big deal. It’s exciting and maybe even celebration
worthy, but not so much tear worthy in my opinion. But my opinion
isn’t stopping me from letting the welled up tears flow. I just
want the weight of my life to be released some, even just a
little.

“
I’m just so tired, Dec,”
I admit. “I’m exhausted all the time. I love you and I can’t get
enough of you, but you’re very demanding. You take up a lot of time
and space in my head.”

He looks wounded and I laugh as I wipe away
tears. “That better be a good thing,” he says on a low growl.

“
It is. It’s a great
thing. I’ve never been so consumed by anyone before and it’s
amazing. It’ll just be so nice to be able to have you next to me
while I sleep. It’ll even be nice to be able to have the time and
privacy to get to have sex with you.”

I wink and he rushes
forward to kiss me hard and unabashedly. We should
not
be kissing like this
in this restaurant, but I’m not going to stop him. I don’t want to
and he would be super pissed if I tried, anyway. Dec does what he
wants when he wants and as long as it’s within reason, I don’t stop
him.

“
So that’s it. When we get
home, you don’t stay at your place anymore. You’re coming straight
home with me after we get Harper. Agree?”

I know he’s asking but he doesn’t expect me
to disagree with him. Disagreeing on this point is not going to be
acceptable. “Agree,” I whisper to him with my eyes still
closed.

He just might be my happily ever after and I
can’t wait to get started.

Ava

After a very long weekend in Vegas, we are
finally getting home. Harper is sleeping, so we’re going to go over
to Declan’s first to start planning the move. I don’t have a lot of
belongings, but Harper does; her things are overtaking my
apartment.

I’m sitting in the car with Macie while Dec
and Greyden take Macie’s bags into her house. She’s looking a
little sullen. I’m not sure what went down with her this weekend,
but I have a feeling something happened because she’s been a bit
off the last couple of days.

“
You okay, Mace?” I ask,
turning to her in the backseat as she collects her
things.

“
Yeah, I’m great. I just
have a lot to catch up on tonight and a million things bouncing
around in my mind,” she responds with a smile.

I don’t believe her, but apparently she
doesn’t want to talk about it so I’ll just have to get with her
this week and find out what’s going on.

“
I had so much fun with
you this weekend, Ava. Let’s get together and do lunch this week,
okay?”

“
Okay, call me if you need
to talk, Macie. I’ll see you in a couple days.”

She smiles a big fake smile again and gets
out of the car. Dec comes back to the car alone, which means
Greyden is staying here with Macie.

“
Ready to go home,
Sunshine?” Declan asks as he puts the car in reverse and heads
home.

“
I am, actually. I can’t
wait for Harper to wake up. I miss her like crazy.”

Declan laughs and grabs my hand. “Is it
weird that I miss her too?”

“
Not weird at all. It’s
actually kind of adorable.”

“
Just don’t tell the guys.
They already think I’ve gone all pussified since I saw your hot ass
at the bar. I really don’t need to hear what they would have to say
about me being ‘adorable.’” He squeezes my hand and I feel like I’m
in complete bliss. I love this man. “Aubrey’s going to bring Harper
over as soon as she wakes up and my parents are going to come over
for dinner. Are you good with that?”

No! No, I’m not good with that. I’m freaking
out just a little at the thought of having dinner with just his
parents. I love his mom, but my daughter and I weren’t moving in
with him when I met her and I still haven’t met his dad.

“
I’m good with that if
it’s what you want,” I say bravely. “What are we going to do for
dinner, though? I doubt you have what we’ll need to make a proper
dinner and we don’t have time to hit the grocery store. You were
out of wine last week too, and I don’t think you have anything to
serve for dessert. Oh, God, what am I going to wear? I don’t think
I have anything appropriate to wear with me, Declan. I need to go
home.” Okay, I’m stressing the hell out. His parents? For dinner?
Tonight? No, no, no, no, no, no.

“
Baby, calm down. Stop
stressing out. I’ve already ordered Italian for delivery and my mom
is bringing the wine. You can wear sweats if you want and
you
are
going
home, Ava, to
our
home.” He started off with a nice, soothing voice and ended
it in a no argument stern tone. I breathe deeply and try to tell
myself that everything really is ok and it’s not as ginormous of a
deal as it seems to be.

* * * * * * *

I’ve been lying on the bed staring up at the
ceiling fan for about ten minutes now. I’m showered and dressed and
ready to go. Harper will be here any minute and Dec’s parents
should be here within half an hour. I can’t be any more prepared
for this.

I hear the bedroom door open but I don’t
lift my head to acknowledge him. I’m currently using all of my
strength to stay calm and not freak out on him again. Three seconds
pass, and as if my thoughts summoned him, Declan crawls up on the
bed, his legs straddling my hips, his model gorgeous face staring
down at me. His hair is combed neatly, his black slacks have
replaced his jeans and his belt with the chunky silver buckle is in
place. He’s already removed his piercings, but he’s missing his
button down dress shirt; in its place is solid muscle showcased by
his smooth tan skin and beautiful tattoos.

“
I love you,” he whispers
fiercely. “My mom loves you. My dad is going to adore you. You, as
usual, look beautiful. Thank you for doing this, Sunshine.” Declan
leans down and kisses me softly.

I’d like to say that, like in the romance
movies, all of my worries went away along with my nerves, when in
reality they just lessened a bit. They’re still there, but I’m
willing to ignore them for him.

“
I have a surprise for
you,” he whispers so close to my face that I can’t see his
expression. He sounds excited.

“
I like surprises,” I
murmur.

Declan laughs and backs off of me and the
bed, pulling me up and wrapping me in a hug before ushering me to
the hallway. We walk across the landing that connects the dual
staircases. There are two rooms on this end—an office on the right
and a spare room on the left, plus a guest bath at the end. Declan
stops at the guest room and stares silently at me while he bites
his bottom lip when he would usually be spinning his lip ring. He
looks as though he’s trying to figure something out, so I just give
him the time he needs. When I smile up at him, he draws in a steady
breath before saying, “Whatever you hate, just say the word and we
can change it. Or if this isn’t the room you wanted, just tell me
and we can change that too, okay?”

“
Baby, what are you
talking about? What did you do?”

Declan winks at me and then opens the door.
I don’t even have to step in to see what he’s done. He places his
hand at my lower back and guides me into the room without saying
anything, although I’m not saying anything either; I’m speechless.
My breath has been taken from me as though it’s not necessary to
breathe at the moment. It’s seriously the most beautiful room I
have ever laid eyes on. This room doesn’t even belong in a home
design magazine; it’s that beautiful. I take a few more steps and
spin in a slow circle, trying to take it all in.

He’s made a room just for Harper. I mean, I
knew she would get her own room here, but I never imagined that he
would do something like this. The walls are a shimmery white and
there are pale pink drapes that bubble at the floor, tied back with
large, white, glittery bows. Her bed is a silver Cinderella
carriage with pink and white bedding and more throw pillows than I
care to count at the moment. There are plush rugs throughout the
room and the back main wall has a massive mural of a princess
castle covering the expanse of it. On the opposite wall are a white
chest of drawers with crystal knobs and a matching vanity with a
stool. I’m pretty sure every little girl dreams of having a room
like this; I know I did, but my dream never came true. Far from it,
actually. Harper is going to lose her mind; this room is
incredible.

Declan is quiet and still
standing near the door, so I walk over to him and wrap my body
around his, pressing my tingly lips to his full ones firmly.
I’m not going to cry.
Dec supports me up against his body and I have many different
thoughts trailing through my head. They’re on a continuous loop;
like a carousel, they go through my brain over and over again. I
drop my legs back down and pull back enough to remove my shirt as I
watch Declan watch me. My arms go back up and around his neck; his
mouth takes mine feverishly and soon I’m lying on the plush carpet
with Declan on top of me.

“
So, you like it then?” he
asks quietly, but no longer timidly, as he pulls my bra straps down
and kisses my breasts.

“
I love it. I love you.
You’re amazing, babe; thank you so much.” I express my gratitude
and reach for his belt buckle.

“
We’re in our little
girl’s bedroom; I feel wrong doing this in here,” he murmurs,
searching for something in my eyes. Maybe he picked up on my
astonishment of his new description of Harper.

“
You said ‘our little
girl,’” I observe reverently. I don’t even know what to do with
that, to be honest.

“
Yeah, I did. I’ve thought
of her as mine as soon as she first said, ‘pwease, Decky.’ I was a
goner right then and there. Now that she’ll be living here with me,
it feels pretty official.”

My eyes are filling with emotion again and
pouring out relentlessly. Declan kisses me deeply again and I’m
lost. That is until we hear, “Dec? Can we come in, darling?”

His mom just came into the house and we’re
half naked on the floor. Declan laughs as I scramble to get my
shirt back on.

“
Yeah, Ma! Since when do
you ask to come in?” Declan yells from Harper’s bedroom
door.

I quickly throw on my bra and shirt before
straightening my hair and silently asking for his approval. He
smiles and reaches for my hand. We walk out onto the balcony that
connects the two staircases above the foyer where both his parents
are standing, looking up at us with full hands.

“
Since you have your
family living here now too. I don’t mind walking into your home,
but I won’t do that to Ava. I knew you were here and you weren’t
answering the door. I didn’t want to ring the door bell in case
Harper was asleep.”

She really is so sweet. I don’t know what I
was so worked up about. I pull Dec to our hall and tell him to go
put a shirt on while I help his parents.

“
It’s nice to see you
again, Mrs. James,” I say as I unload a couple things from her
hands before addressing Dec’s dad, whom I have yet to
meet.

“
It’s Nancy, dear,” she
says sweetly.

There is no mistaking who this man is.
Declan takes after his mom with his dark looks and light eyes, but
he’s built just like his father with thick broad shoulders, a lean
waist and long legs. “Mr. James, I’m Ava. It’s a pleasure to
finally get to meet you.”

“
You too, Ava, I’ve heard
a lot about you,” he says as he walks to the kitchen to set down a
dish he’s carrying.

“
Declan was just showing
me the room he had done for Harper.” No sooner were the words out
of my mouth that his mom was gushing with excitement.

“
Do you love it,
sweetheart? Isn’t it just so precious?” Nancy exclaims as she
clutches her petite hands in front of her chest and smiles
endearingly.

I smile and join her in her excitement. I
missed out on this. I missed out on getting excited and being girly
and having a relationship with my own mother. This woman has met me
one time and has never even met Harper, yet she is just as excited
for Harper as I am.

“
I could have never
imagined something so beautiful. It’s perfect. I assume Macie did
it, but Dec didn’t say. Did you do that for her?” I ask Nancy,
ready to shower her with my gratitude.