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"Go pour some wine, Mom," Declan called out. "We'll be down in a minute."
"Champagne. We need some champagne. Or tequila. I'll find some." Kitty's heels clicked down the hall.
Declan fell back against the pillow, his arms over his head.Holy shit."Wow," he said. "That was actually incredibly awkward." He decided to blithely ignore how intense the kiss had gotten.
"It was hilarious." Piper propped herself up on her elbows. Her face was glowing, and she looked so amused. "I've never seenyour mom speechless before. That was at least two, maybe three seconds of silence there. I feel so powerful."
Piper's hair was tousled, and her lips were pure temptation. Being propped up on her elbows had made the sheet slip down, revealing the swell of her breasts. Declan could see the outline of her nipples peeking out, and need surged through him. He immediately dropped his forearm over his eyes to block his view of her. "My mom's not going to leave until we go down there and answer all her questions about our romantic life."
"Right. I know. We need to go quick though, okay?"
"Sure." He was curious why she was in a hurry, but making a Kitty Interrogation short worked for him.
The bed moved as Piper got out. "Wasn't that great? We totally did it."
"We did," he agreed. "It was brilliant."
He could hear her getting her clothes on. "We're a great team," she said. "This just might work. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I could handle kissing you, but it was fine."
Fine?Fine.He grinned. It had been so much more than that. "No jellyfish?"
"Just a little, but I can steel myself to endure it. I'm ready. You can open your eyes."
He moved his arm, and he saw she'd put on a short black skirt, pale blue tank top with lace, and sandals that made her legs look sexy as hell.
He liked it. A lot.
Wow. Just…wow. Why had he never noticed how damned adorable she was? And why was he noticing now? Being attracted to her was not part of their deal, and he needed to stop that shit immediately.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed his jeans. He swore as he thought about going downstairs and facing the inquisition. "She'll be relentless."
"I know." Piper paced the room. "We don't have a story yet, sowe'll answer questions one at a time and just make it up as we go along. We'll try to remember all the details. Cool?"
He pulled his shirt on. "Piper. We need to talk about something." Shit. Shit.Shit.
She paused to look at him, apparently hearing the edge to his voice that he'd tried to neutralize. "What's wrong?"
He sat on the edge of the bed, braced his forearms on his thighs, and took a breath. "My mom's going to assume you know about my past."
Piper turned to face him. "She did mention something earlier when she was trying to bribe me to date you."
He swore. "Yeah, if I don't tell you, she'll make sure you know. I want you to hear it from me." Fuck. He didn't want to do this. But he had to do it. He needed to control the narrative. To control his emotions. To prepare Piper.
Piper walked over and sat on the carpet in front of him. She folded her knees and wrapped her arms around them. "Okay."
She was so calm. So non-demanding. So practical. It took some of his tension away. He let out his breath. "I was married."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Really?"
"Yeah. She died a while ago." Piper's mouth dropped open, so he kept talking, not wanting to give her a chance to ask questions, to interrupt, to put emotions into his story. "That's why my mom wants me to date. She's worried about me. I'm fine. I just don't want to date anyone." He wasn't fine, but it was his problem to deal with, not his mom's.
Piper nodded slowly. "Okay."
He could tell she wanted to ask questions, but he didn't leave space for her. "As you know, I was a cop, but I was kicked off the force due to injury. My family is worried about me. That's why mom is trying to set me up. I'm fine, but they don't believe it." He paused. "That's it."
Piper stared at him. "That's a lot."
"It's not. It's just information for the role you're playing.Okay?" His palms were sweating, but he forced himself to stay calm as he stood up. "Ready?"
