For You (The Shore Book 2) (7 page)

Chapter 5

“Hey Mad, how’s it going?” Ryan asked as she answered the phone.

“Oh, ya know, livin’ the dream,” Madison responded dryly.

“So what’s up?”

“What do you mean?”

“You never call me unless something’s going on. You text instead. So … what’s up?”

Madison laughed. “I’m that predictable, huh?” She paused for a brief moment. “You’ll never guess who I ran into last night.”

“Let me see …” Ryan started, adding her own pause for effect. “Could it have been … a hot surfer dude? Naw, sounds like I know the guy. Let’s see, umm … Declan?”

“Okay, how in the fuck could you have known that?”

“It could be because I’m just that good.”

“That’s unlikely …”

“Hey!” Ryan laughed. “Or, it could be because I answered Cody’s phone for him last night, and it was Declan. And then he spent ten minutes fielding questions about you.”

“Shit. Seriously?”

Ryan laughed again. “Seriously. I was going to give you a call today anyway. What happened last night?”

“I ran into him at his gym and then we went out for a drink. How did I not know he owned a gym in town?”

“I dunno. I guess it never came up,” she responded simply. “You know he has two, right?”

“Yeh, he told me.”

“So, drinks, huh? How’d it go?”

“Pretty well. He asked me to dinner tonight.”

“Excellent!”

Madison could hear the wheels turning in Ryan’s head from three hundred miles away. She was certain Ryan would love nothing more than for the two of them to become an item.
 

“Don’t start sending out wedding invitations yet, okay?”

“What? I just said ‘excellent.’”

“Yeh, I heard you.”

“Hey, would it be so bad if we raised our kids together? Had family picnics in the park? Got together for the holidays? Our girls could be best friends … Oh! My son could marry your daughter …” Ryan daydreamed out loud.

“Ry, seriously!” Madison nearly yelled, stopping Ryan from continuing. “It was just a drink.”

It was quiet again and when Ryan sighed, Madison knew something was coming.
 

The more Ryan thought about the prospect of Madison and Declan together, the more she saw it as a bomb that could go off at any time and relationships could get sticky.

“Listen, Mad,” Ryan broke the silence. “Can I say something here?”

“Of course.”

“You know I love you and think of you like a sister …”

“Just spit it out, Ry,” Madison interrupted.

“Declan is one of the good guys.”

“Okay…”

“Like, a
really
good guy.”

“I have talked to the man, ya know. What are you trying to get at?”

“It’s just … We’ve spent a lot of time with him since the wedding and I’ve gotten to know him. He’s not…” she paused. “He’s not a one-night stand kinda guy, Mad. He’s the kinda guy that when he falls, he falls hard. He falls with everything he has.”

Madison knew where Ryan was going with this. She’d had similar thoughts the night before, but it had been easy to shut off her own mind. Now Ryan was thinking it, too. Did she just validate the concern? She and Declan viewed relationships very differently, contrary to what she had experienced first-hand under the pier.
 

“I’m just saying, if you’re not looking for something long term, don’t …”

“I get it, Ry.” Madison had been excited about the date. Now she was just getting pissed.

Ryan sighed heavily into the phone. “You’re one of the best people I know, Mad. My best friend. I just don’t want to see either of you -”

“Ryan,” Madison interrupted again. “It’s just dinner. And give me some credit, would ya? You’ve got me ripping his heart out and stomping on it all while you’re planning our wedding and naming our kids.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right.”

“Don’t worry. Things will be fine.”

Ryan didn’t say anything more. As much as she loved her friend, she knew Madison opening her heart was something that just didn’t happen. She was certain there were things in her past that stopped her from doing it, Madison had just never shared what they were. That was one of the reasons she had never tried to set up Madison and Declan before. Ryan knew Declan would fall hard and Madison would break his heart. Not only did she not want to be in the middle of that, or have Cody in the middle of it, she didn’t want to see either of them get hurt.

“Listen,” Ryan finally said. “I need to go. Cody and I have a meeting we need to leave for in a few minutes.”

“Yeh, I’ll talk to you later.”

Madison hung up the phone feeling hurt and pissed off. She knew Ryan was only looking out for both of them, but felt like she was being made the villain before things even got started. She and Declan had gone out for drinks once for crying out loud. It wasn’t like they were months into a relationship or something.

She hemmed and hawed about whether to text Declan her address for exactly eight seconds before she started kicking herself in the ass again. Madison had never let anyone dictate how she should live her life and she certainly wasn’t going to start now, even if it
was
coming from Ryan and she had the best of intentions.
 

Madison wanted to see him and that’s all there was to it. They could deal with the aftermath later - if there ever was one.

She pulled out her phone, unlocked it and sent Declan her address.

Madison:
Hey Declan. My address is 2218 W. Saratoga. Looking forward to dinner.

Declan:
Me, too. See you at 7:30.

There was something about Declan that intrigued her. Maybe it was that he was, actually, a nice guy. Or maybe it was because he looked just as sexy in his tight t-shirt and gym shorts as he did in a tux. Or maybe it was how easy he was to talk to. Or the gentle kiss he gave her good night. Or the kisses they shared under the pier.
 

Does it really matter why?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Declan entered Madison’s address into his car’s GPS system and backed out of the driveway. Thinking about how his conversation went with Cody the night before, he wondered how the date with Madison would go.

Cody had warned him. Yes, Madison was funny and beautiful and adventurous, but she was a little more than Declan was used to.
 

Declan had received many offers over the years from women at his gyms, friends, et cetera, but his focus had been first on school and boxing, and then the gyms. He’d only been in one really serious relationship and that had been a few years ago.

Thoughts of his one and only one-night stand suddenly came to mind. The sex had been okay, but he hated the feeling he got as she not-so-delicately told him he could leave when they had finished. He couldn’t remember her name, but her face would be forever etched in his memory.
 

Declan thought once the gym in Columbia was established he’d settle down. He hadn’t expected to have another location, but when Billy died and left him everything in Charlotte, he couldn’t say no. There were too many memories. Memories of Billy, Aidan and him learning how to box, and his family cheering them on during matches. During middle and high school, that place had been his home away from home. There was no way he could have just sold it. Besides, knowing Billy, he’d have hunted Declan down and clocked him one for doing it.

Now both gyms were operating smoothly, making him enough money to be more than comfortable and he had managers he trusted. It was time to open his life to someone that could share it with him – someone outside the gym. He’d always wanted a wife and family, he just wanted to be financially secure when it happened. He’d achieved that and more.

Thinking about Madison, he wondered if she could be that person. They obviously had a connection, and just thinking about the kisses they shared the previous night and months ago under the pier made his body start to respond.

She was different than the women he typically envisioned himself with. Yes, she was warm, funny, and had a good heart, but in addition to those qualities, there was also a bit of an edge to her. She spoke her mind, which he found refreshing, and she didn’t beat around the bush to do it. And she was beautiful. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how concerned she was about how she looked having just finished a class. He thought she nearly looked better that night than when she had been all dolled up for the wedding. There was just something about a woman being all hot and sweaty after a good workout he found extremely attractive.

Changing the channel in his mind so he didn’t walk up to her door with a hard-on, Declan focused on the neighborhood he was driving through. According to his GPS, he was less than a half mile from Madison’s house. It was a nice area. Quiet, even, with only a few kids playing outside. Overall it had houses that looked cared for, manicured lawns and nice cars in the driveways.
 

He turned into the driveway of a blue two-story home with bushes in front of the porch and a white swing slowly swaying in the breeze.
 

It took Madison a few seconds to answer the door after she heard the doorbell ring. She had been upstairs still getting ready. Not sure where they were going, she had decided on a dark royal blue halter dress that fell just below mid-thigh and showed off her legs. As long as they didn’t do a lot of walking, the four-inch heels she was wearing wouldn’t be a problem.

Smiling at herself in the mirror one last time, she went downstairs to answer the door. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed a black Challenger with dark charcoal racing stripes in the driveway.

She was secretly happy he hadn’t shown up on a motorcycle. Not that she was against bikes. In fact, she would be more than happy if he rode. She just didn’t want to have to change her outfit again.

“Hi there.” She greeted him with a smile as she opened the door.

Declan stood still for a moment while he took her in.
 

That dress … and those legs … and …
 

“Wow,” he said softly when his mouth would finally cooperate.

“You look pretty nice yourself,” Madison chuckled lightly. He was in a dark gray button down shirt tucked into a pair of black denim jeans. The best part was the lightly faded black boots he had on. “Come on in. I just need to grab my purse.”

Declan walked into the house and took in the living room. It was modernly decorated in bright colors, but not over the top. A dark red sofa provided the main seating area that faced a fireplace and TV mounted over the mantel. It just looked comfortable.

“You ready to go?” he asked as she walked back into the living room.

“I am,” she smiled. “Lead the way.”

Declan opened the door for her to exit the house and waited patiently while she secured the lock. Then, like the gentleman he was, walked her to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for her there, too.

“Why, thank you,” Madison smiled as she got into the car.

“You’re welcome.”

Declan walked around the car and had to hide the huge smile on his face as he slid behind the wheel.
 

This is gonna be fun.

After a short ride, Declan pulled the car into a mom-n-pop Italian restaurant and turned off the engine.

“You like Italian?” he asked.

“Hmm. Love it.”

“Good thing. Guess I should have asked that last night, huh?” he grinned.

“It’s one of my favorites. You did well,” she teased.

Declan bowwed as well as he could while sitting in the driver’s seat. “Well, thank you. Let’s go eat.”

After they were seated and had ordered a glass of wine, they looked at each other, both wondering whether or not they should bring up the conversation they’d had with the Ryan/Cody duo. Madison was the first to break.
 

“I spoke with Ryan today,” Madison said, startling Declan a bit.

It was like she had been reading his mind.
 

“You did? How’s she doing?”

“Good. I understand you had a nice chat with Cody last night.”

“Busted!” Declan laughed. “You know, you can’t tell one of them something without the other knowing. Damn married couples.”

“I know!” Madison agreed. “I guess in fairness though, I should tell you the reason I called her was to check in about you.”

“You did, huh?”

Madison grinned and nodded. “I did. I had to see what Ryan thought of you. I figured she would approve since you’re a friend of Cody’s, but I wanted to get her take.”

“And…?”

“Well, we’re here, aren’t we?”

Declan laughed, finding it interesting they had both done the same thing.

“And what about you? Were you calling to see if I was worth your time? See if you had made a mistake asking me out?” she teased.

“I already knew the answer to that,” he answered sincerely. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to spend more time with you.”

“Well, good to know,” she smiled. “Maybe you were just trying to get dirt on me then.”

“A little dirt never hurt anyone,” he replied with a grin. “Did she have any thoughts on us going to dinner?”

“Oh, she was all for it. In fact, I think she was getting ready to send out our wedding invitations. She even mentioned something about our kids getting married.”

“Aw shit. I never figured her for one of
those
types.”

Madison laughed. “She would love nothing more than for us to hook up, get married, and have little kids running around that could play with her kids.”

“I see. No pressure then, right?”

Laughing again, Madison answered, “Right.” She took a drink of her wine and turned the tables back on Declan, refusing to fill him in on the rest of the conversation she’d had with Ryan. “And what did Cody have to say about this outing of ours?”

“He thought it was a good thing.” Declan took a drink of his wine, but there was an expression that flashed across his face that Madison caught, and it looked like worry.

“Something tells me you’re not telling me everything,” she retorted, looking him in the eye.

“Cody said you were funny and beautiful …”