Prologue
March
Tonight was the night. No more self-doubting and pussyfooting. Bree checked her lip gloss once more in the vanity mirror of the sun visor, flicking her tongue over her pearly whites. She righted her shoulders and took a deep breath.
The Texas heat engulfed her rich dark curls as she exited her beat-up purple sedan. After a few short brushes through her bouncy strands with her fingers, Bree gave up the effort to tame her hair.
She’d parked in her usual spot, behind Dec’s black Chevy on his impeccably clean drive way. How did he find the time to pull out all those weeds and tackle the overgrown mess when he was still renovating inside?
She’d been here almost every day and most nights for the past three months. At first, she’d helped Dec clean out all the junk left behind by the former owner. The house had been a steal, but not without reason. It had been a dump. A smelly, dingy two-story house in southeast Austin.
Never one to shy away from hard work, Bree assisted the Mills brothers and cousins wherever she could as they helped Dec in remodeling the two-story house. It had been fun learning some tricks of the trade from Dec’s cousins Keenan and Aiden who worked for their father’s construction company.
Bree used her hand to shield her light blue eyes from the lazy evening sun. She glanced up at the freshly white painted house and smiled. Finally, they were entering the stage of making this place beautiful again. They all had enough of tearing down and throwing away the old, rotten elements of the house.
Bree stopped in her tracks. The red paint of the small porch pained her eyes. That damn stubborn ass. After all the color-coding and Bree’s efforts in persuading him to go for a more gentle looking pale blue, Declan still went ahead with this God-awful vermillion.
Dec needed his head examined. She righted her little black dress and stomped in her high heels over said ugly red porch as Dec opened the door.
“And? What do you think?” he smiled a mile wide and opened his arms, showcasing a job he figured well done.
“You never listen, Dec.”
She shook her head as she walked up to him. Because if he would really listen to her—or take notice, he’d known how her stomach flip-flopped at the mere sight of his dimples. How her heart skipped a beat at his smiling gray eyes.
Damn, she was a mess. She would even put up with this hideous porch if it meant she’d live here with him, waking up every day in those muscular tanned arms.
“Squirt...” he said, and Bree winced at his nickname for her. She wasn’t the six-year-old tomboy following him around anymore. In front of Declan stood a twenty-six-year-old who just had an emergency video chat with her sister Gwenn about her outfit tonight.
She was on a mission. The normal ‘one-of-the-guys-Bree’ wouldn’t cut it. Tonight, she wasn’t the girl next door and Dec’s best friend in her favorite sweater and jeans. No. In front of Declan stood a WO-MAN.
Yes. She emphasized it out loud in her head and his smile faltered. He could always read her mind. So, how he didn’t read the signs of her pining and lusting over his Irish ass was the greatest mystery of all times.
Maybe he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by addressing it. Or he was afraid to have the same conversation she was about to have with him. Telling him how she felt might ruin their friendship.They both avoided this topic. Well, either way, tonight would be the start of a new chapter in their relationship. Hopefully, a chapter filled with lots of clothes ripping…
“I know, I know…” he said as he held up his hands, making his black stained T-shirt creep up from the top of his dusty jeans. She bit her bottom lip at the sight of his dusty trail of hair going down beneath his belt buckle.Bree cleared her throat.
“The color is gross, Dec. It’s—”
“Yeah, I know. You’re right. I should have listened to you. But at least for now, it has a coat of paint.” He shrugged before he opened his arms for her to step into. She couldn’t remember the time he wouldn’t invite her into his arms for a hug.
Even wearing a new dress for this special occasion couldn’t hold her from hugging his dirty torso. Clean, manly sweat and wood dust. She placed her cheek on his chest to get her fill. He squeezed her tighter for a moment and stepped back to travel his eyes over her.
“You seem different. What did I miss? Didn’t we talk this morning? What’s up?” Declan said as he took her biceps in his calloused hands. The observant cop side of Dec scrutinized her expression as he narrowed his eyes.
“Geez. I’m wearing make-up? Maybe that’s it?” Bree said as she tucked a curl behind her ear.
“No. That’s not it. It’s somethinginyour eyes, notonyour eyes. Your eyes always speak volumes to me. And they’re telling me there’s something going on you’d rather not say. What’s the matter?”
Bree sighed and shook her head. Why was this so hard? He was her best friend. She usually told him everything. Well, perhaps not that she’d masturbated this morning after hanging up the phone with him. His raspy voice after he’d just woken up had gotten her all hot and bothered. She’d needed some kind of relief before going into work and had made do with the showerhead.
Oh, how she longed to feel the real deal instead of getting off on just the thought of Declan. They stood so close she could almost taste him. Bree took a deep breath, full of his scent, and closed her eyes for a moment.
Okay, let’s do this. It’s now or never.
“Dec…” she said as she opened her eyes. His name came out in a pained whisper.
“What is it?”