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Her gaze shot to his face immediately.
"Kissing you is no fucking jellyfish, and we both know it." He took a breath, then continued. "You're damned sunshine, and helping you is a gift to my soul. I'm a fucked-up mess, and you don't want to see past the shiny exterior, which is fine, because I won't let you in there, but know that I fucking love being the one walking around with your hand in mine, and the last damn thing I want to do is have some Hart kissing you. If you want or need to get yourself fake-engaged to a Hart, go do it. You owe me nothing. But never make the mistake of thinking I want to be anywhere but right here, seeing this damned thing through to the end."
The table was silent. Everyone just stared at him.
Then Maddie spoke. "That was a lot of profanity packed in that little speech. Very heartfelt."
Keira nodded. "He's an ex-cop, a part-time bartender, and wields a sledgehammer. Profanity fits. Emotions equate with profanity for men like him."
Tori sat back. "I'm not going to lie. I've sworn off men and dating for at least a thousand years, but that little speech hit me right in the feels. He gets my vote."
Piper said nothing. She just stared at him.
Declan shifted restlessly, but he was done. He had nothing else to add. He actually wished he could take that whole speech right back, because he'd said a lot of things he hadn't ever planned to say, but it was out there, so yeah.
Piper finally spoke. "I'm sorry. I totally spaced out there for a minute. Can you repeat that?"
It was his turn to stare at her. "Seriously?"
She grinned. "No. Not seriously." She leaned in. "You're very intense sometimes, Mr. Jones. I can feel your earnestness, and I like it."
His tension faded. "You do, eh?"
"I do." She put her hand on his shoulder and faced the table. "I'm keeping him. I think he's going to be perfect."
He felt himself relax at her announcement, which almost made him laugh. He was being claimed by his fake fiancée, and he liked it. Liked it a hell of a lot, actually.
He was going to have to think about that later.
"Amen to that, sister," Tori said. "Declan's got that thing."
"He does," Maddie agreed.
"Absolutely," Keira said.
He looked around at the table. "What thing is that?"
"That undefinable, magical vibe that makes a man completely irresistible, even if he's a world-class jerk," Maddie said.
"Except to me, of course," Piper interjected. "Declan, just to be clear, you are completely resistible to me because I'm an iron wall of heartlessness, but April will fall hard for you."
He studied her thoughtfully. "I don't think there's a single damn bit of heartlessness in you. Toughness? Hell, yeah. But heartless? No."
Something flickered in her eyes. "I am tough," she agreed.
"With the biggest heart on the whole planet," Tori said.
Piper's glaze flicked to Tori, and Declan saw pain in Piper's eyes. Raw pain that said his fake fiancée was anything but heartless.
Maddie sat up. "April just saw you. She's talking with her friends and looking over here."
Declan's gaze slid over to April's table. She was talking animatedly with her friends, and she looked angry. He immediately slid his arm over Piper's shoulders and eased her against him.
"Do you want us to stay or go?" Tori said.
"Go," he said, before Piper could answer. "This show is about me and Piper right now."
Piper nodded. "If I put my phone on the table, it means I need help. Then you guys come over and rave about Declan."
