Hot Summer Night

26 - Seraphine

Declan and I made it official to pick up where we left off a week and a half ago. Since then, I've spent the night in his bed every night. But because Everly's also been with us since then, and how Declan doesn't want her to know about us or our past just yet, I've had to sneak into his room late at night, and when the sun starts to rise, I sneak out and head back to my given room.

It felt terrific waking up to Declan every morning in the warmth of his arms or our bodies entangled instead of waking to an empty bed or a cold, dark room. But it's also saddening that we're sneaking around Everly and that I have to return to my room every morning before she awakes.

I understand why he wants to hide our relationship. Everly's not used to seeing him with another woman. She's talking with him and spending time with him now. And she has a crazy mother who's been itching to find a way for Declan to lose his parental rights. Not that having a woman in his life is her business or a good reason to lose his rights. He worries that she'll believe I'm putting Everly in danger if she's around me because of my situation.

Which is warranted. I still have nightmares about Chadwick finding me, kidnapping Everly, and hurting her. So if anything ever happened to Everly and Chadwick was the reason behind it, and he harmed her, I'd never be the same.

It must be time to head back to my room because my skin crawled with goosebumps from Declan's lips, peppering kisses along my collarbone and neck. And since I dread having to leave Declan's warm bed and slip into a cold one, I force my eyes to remain closed—just a little longer.

"Seraphine," Declan whispered, his lips grazing my ear and making me shiver. It's time to get up."

I whimpered. "Already?" I quietly whined.

"Unfortunately," he whispered, kissing my jawline.

"Can't we just tell her?" I asked, even though I agreed with him that she wasn't ready to know. I was only wanting to whine about the situation.

"Eventually, we'll tell her. Trust me. I want her to know more than anything. I want her to know everything."

I sighed, and he planted his mouth on mine, taking my sigh with him and swallowing it down. His kiss was warm, slow, and passionate, so much so that my toes cramped when they curled. His lips moving with mine and his hands exploring my body made it harder to want to leave his bed.

Before this went out of hand, I pulled away from his mouth. "I better go," I whispered, rolling over and sliding out of bed. As I picked my nightgown off the floor, I reminded him, "Don't forget Everly wants us to take her to the fair tonight." Slipping my nightgown over my head, I scolded, "She's brought it up all week, and you've ignored giving her an answer."

He sighed, scrubbing his face. "I know. I'm having difficulty deciding what to do since I don't think it's a good idea for us to be there."

This was the first I'd heard him think this way, and when my nightgown finished sliding down my body, I stared at him. "What? Why? She's been looking forward to us going for weeks!" I whispered loudly, angrily. "It's why she talked her mom into allowing her to be here, Declan. Her mother isn't taking her since she decided to take a vacation at the last minute, and you promised we'd take her when she first brought it up. Now, you're saying it isn't a good idea we go? ... Why?" I demanded.

He inhaled deeply, then lowered his hands from his face, muttering, "It'll be a hundred and ten degrees today."

"So, we bring a cooler filled with bottles of water."

He shook his head. "It's not only that, Seraphine."

"Declan," I sighed. "Don't break your daughter's heart. She looked forward to this night. It was supposed to be her birthday gift, as we had talked about. Remember? The only thing she wanted from you was for you to bring her to the fair."