Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“You made the table look great.” Coming into the dining room, Declan hugged me from behind before setting his cane against one of the empty chairs.
“Well, you made the dessert.” My cheeks heated. Maybe the candles were too much. Too romantic for what this was. I couldn’t decipher Declan’s guarded expression. “Everything okay on the phone?”
“Yeah.” His loud huff said the opposite. “It’s just my team wanting answers I don’t have. The higher-ups didn’t like the answers from the doctors, so they asked my mechanic to call me on the pretext of checking in. Good guy, but he grilled me about how I’m doing. And fuck, I wish I knew.”
“I’m sorry.” I stepped closer so I could hug him.
“Not your fault my stupid brain won’t cooperate.” He dodged my arms, instead stalking toward the living room without his cane. I grabbed the cane and followed behind him, stopping when he stooped to pick up a small brown box. “And I don’t want to ruin our weekend with racing talk. I got you something. It’s not wrapped.”
“I don’t care about wrapping.” I grinned as I traded him the cane for the box. “You got me a present. That’s special.”
Declan sucked his lower lip in as he moved his hands restlessly. “Fair warning, it’s kind of dorky.”
I opened the book to reveal the first three books in the vicar series, each hardbound with limited edition covers and illustrations.
“Our series?” I struggled to keep my tone light as my eyes burned and my hands shook at his thoughtfulness.
“Eh. Figured you might want something other than the e-books eventually. And more snow is on the way. Figured we could read all weekend. Heck, we can hang out naked all tomorrow if we want.”
“I have to cover a nurse practitioner shift.” I groaned because I should have told him the second I’d walked in, but I hadn’t wanted to ruin our happy little bubble with the ongoing hospital staffing problems, especially now that Judy had celebrated her last day. “But I should be back by dinner—”
“Whatever.” Declan waved a hand and forced a ghost of a smile. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” I hated how matter-of-fact he was, and I hated myself that much more for not saying no when I’d been asked earlier in the day.
“I’m used to it.” He shrugged. “I’m the latchkey kid of a firefighter and professor. I’m well used to work coming first.”
“Doesn’t make it right.”
“It is what it is.” He limped back to the dining room, leaning heavily on his cane. “Let’s eat. I don’t want to ruin your efforts with the table.”
“Or yours with the brownies.” I came up behind him at the doorway to the kitchen, and this time, he allowed the hug. “I’m sorry, Declan. Really. And I appreciate you and your efforts more than you can know.”
“Ditto.” He spun in my arms to offer a sad, sleepy kiss before we rescued the food. We both seemed to make an attempt to keep the dinner conversation light. Funny enough, we spent most of the time sharing stories about others—the teens, Declan’s family, my friends, etc. And we very carefully avoided heavier topics like Declan’s phone call or my work, but even so, Declan rubbed his temples as we cleared the dinner plates.
“Headache tonight?”
“Yeah.” Sighing, he let his head fall onto my shoulder. “No idea what triggered it either.”
I had an idea, but I also didn’t want to point out the obvious.
“Come on,” I said instead, taking his hand and leading him back to the living room. “To the couch with you.”
“Are we making a blanket fort?” He managed a small smile. “The kids will be jealous.”
“Let them.” I kissed his head as I urged him to sit on the couch. “And simply cuddling in here on the couch is enough of a novelty.”
“True.”
“But we can add some couch blankets.” I tossed a few fleecy throws in his direction. “And we can keep the lights low. I’ll turn on the fireplace.”
“This is cozy,” Declan said a short time later after I had the gas fireplace going. We’d stripped down to our boxers and were cuddled together under the stack of blankets. The couch had a matching ottoman and chaise on one end, and we shared that space along with the ottoman. Our legs tangled as we reclined together. “The fireplace is almost pretty enough to make me forget about my head.”
“Need your meds?” I shifted slightly, but Declan yanked me back down beside him.
“Nope. None of the different meds I’ve tried help much. I’m so sick of this.”
“I know.” I petted his silky hair and arranged us so he was mainly resting on me. Simply being cuddled like this in front of the fire was a top-ten experience for me, and we hadn’t even cracked the new books yet. “I wish things were better for you and that you had the sort of improvement you want.”