Page 47 of Temporarily in Love

Mom’s eyes sparkled with mirth. She had been holding out for me and Declan to get back together forever, and she had called me a coward more than once about avoiding him. My parents loved Declan and hated everyone I dated after him.

I shrugged. “We didn’t make plans. Mom, we’re not getting back together.”

“But you said you still have feelings for him!”

I sighed. “Mom, I’m not moving home.”

She raised a dark eyebrow at me. “Yet you slept at his place the last couple of nights.”

“Mom, I’m an adult!”

“Okay…”

I rolled my eyes. “Goodbye, MOTHER! I’m getting a shower and going to bed.”

When I got out of the shower, I saw a text message from Declan. A sexy text message. He sent me a shirtless photo of him lying in his bed wearing his glasses. A second text came through from him.

DECLAN: My bed’s so lonely without you tonight.

I smirked at the fact he was sending me thirst traps. He looked so hot in those glasses. I might have a thing for nerdy guys. I was glad he remembered to ask for my phone number before I left this morning.

ME: I’m soooo tired. Did a shift at the bar today.

DECLAN: [Pleading face emoji]

ME: STOP! I’m sooo tired, babe. You kept me up so late.

DECLAN: I sleep better with you in my arms.

My heart was doing cartwheels in my chest at his words. I was giddy like a teenager wanting to sneak out to meet her boyfriend. Not a thirty-four-year-old woman about to have another booty call with her ex-boyfriend.

I got dressed, packed a small bag with a change of clothes, and walked down the stairs. Mom looked up at the sound of my footsteps and gave me a knowing grin. “Tell Declan we said hello.”

“Bye!” I called after her, ignoring her comment.

This might be a bad idea, spending all my waking moments with him, but when I was in his arms, when he kissed me, it was like time stood still. Like all these years hadn’t passed. Like we were meant for each other. And I didn’t want that feeling to stop.

Chapter Fourteen

DECLAN

I pushed my glasses up on my head and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Nolan made a comment about how I had been better at my work-life balance this past week, but he didn’t know I wasn’t working twelve-hour days at the brewery because, in my spare time, I was working on the website redesign for the Sullivans. And when I wasn’t doing that, I spent as much time as possible with Lila.

I rubbed a hand across Lila’s thigh as she sat up in my bed beside me, working on her own spreadsheets. This past week she’d been picking up shifts at her parents' bar since one of their wait staff had quit on the spot. She had also hired a marketing firm to help them get out of the red. She worked a double tonight, so when she came over, we hopped into the shower together and had acrobatic sex in there.

“How’s the beer coming along?” she asked me without looking up at whatever she was reading on her computer.

I shrugged. “That’s Nolan’s gig, but he seems happy so far.”

“Dad’s excited about it.”

I squeezed her thigh and worked on coding while she scrolled on her computer.

“Did the photos turn out okay?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. They’re great.”

She closed the lid of her laptop but didn’t ask me to stop working. I felt her staring at me, and when I turned to her, she had that bright smile painted across her face. I loved that her smile radiated across her whole body. Like it was only for me.