Page 400 of Manhattan Bossholes

“I, um, guess he noticed that you went to the festival?” I tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. “And heard it was because I asked you to?”

“Jesus Christ.” Declan’s face shuttered. He shoved himself away from me, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, his back to me.

I felt panic swirl in my chest. I didn’t want him pulling away from me. I didn’t want him to regret our night at the festival, or anything it led to.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry, I won’t talk to him again.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Declan said. “I’m mad at him. Him and his whole fucking family.”

What if part of his family is your family, too? I thought. But he wasn’t ready to hear that. Not yet.

I opened my lotion to him and held it out to me, so that the soothing lavender scent wafted between us. “Help me with my back?”

He looked over his shoulder, skeptical. “You actually lotion your back?”

“No,” I admitted. “I just like you touching me.”

Something in his expression shifted. “I like that too,” Declan said, his voice gruff. He accepted the lotion.

I pulled off my shirt and lay stomach down on my bed, letting Declan distract himself with my body. As the pleasure from his touch swamped me, I told myself it would be better for everyone if Declan could find a way to make peace with Seamus. Catie deserved to have her uncle and father on speaking terms.

I just had to figure out a way to make Declan see that.

23

DECLAN

Olivia was still tense. Over the past few nights, I’d become an expert in Olivia’s body. And right now she was hard and braced, where I wanted her soft and relaxed. Olivia and I hadn’t exactly fought just now. But she’d put up a barrier between us when I’d snapped about Seamus.

I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one damn bit.

Everything about that family was poison. The urge to whisk her away from the O’Rourkes and their toxicity felt powerful, primal.

“Come to Prague with me,” I said.

She rolled over on her back so she could look up at me. Christ, she was beautiful like that, with her breasts bare for me, and her red curls spread across the pillow around her like some kind of wild angel.

“You mean on your business trip?” she asked.

“Catie asked if she could go with me earlier today. I think it’s a brilliant idea.” I ran a fingertip under the swell of her breast. “But I wanted to see what you thought first.”

A smile lit her whole face. “That sounds wonderful. I’ve never been to Prague.”

“You’ll like it,” I assured her. “You both will.”

I’d make sure of it.

Olivia smiled up at me, her eyes bright with happiness. I had a powerful urge to kiss her, but I knew if I did, I wouldn’t stop. She’d made it clear she’d prefer a good night’s sleep over a late-night tryst this evening, and I needed to respect that. Especially because of the inherent power imbalance in our relationship.

It didn’t feel like a power imbalance, though. The longer things went on between us, the more I realized that while I had the money, she had everything that actually mattered. Hell, I’d gone to a fucking O’Rourke party, just to make her smile.

My palm rested on her stomach, as low as I’d let myself go tonight. She looked up at me from under her eyelashes, and my cock swelled.

“Right,” I said roughly. “That’s settled. Good night.” I dropped a kiss on her forehead and stood to go.

Olivia’s mouth fell open in surprise. “I thought…you really only wanted to go swimming?” She looked pointedly where my tracksuit bottoms did nothing to disguise my hard-on.

“You said you needed sleep,” I said, trying to sound patient and unbothered when really what I felt was grumpy. Christ, she was making this hard.