“Suzy!” Beth shouted.
“What? It’s the truth. Declan has been around the block a lot and Ella hasn’t taken her training wheels off yet. I know the man is sexy in a dark sort of way, but, sweetie, he would eat you for breakfast and not in a good way.” Suzy smirked.
Claire laughed under her breath before she could stop herself. “Ella, I think what Suzy is trying to say is that you don’t have much in common with Declan. Jason said that he served a couple of tours in the military. He has probably seen things that most of us never will. He seems haunted, for lack of a better word.”
Ella’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “I know, but he is so sweet to me. I’ve mentioned different things that I like to eat and drink a few times and he always shows up with whatever I mentioned a few days later. That means something, right?”
“Wow.” Claire sighed. “That is surprising. I can’t imagine him doing that. He’s always polite, but holds himself apart from everyone else. It’s amazing that he talks to you regularly, much less brings you things.”
“I think I scared him away,” Ella confessed.
Suzy perked up with interest. “Did you make a pass at him?”
Ella flushed again, saying, “No, of course not. I kind of asked him to dinner at my place.”
“You little tramp!”
“Suzy!” Beth groaned, clearly horrified.
“I’m kidding, sis. Get your panties out of a wad.” Suzy reached over and cuffed Ella on the shoulder with her knuckles. “You go, girl. You’re going to make him dinner before you hit on him.”
Beth looked on helplessly as Suzy openly laughed. Claire tried to keep a straight face, but snickered at poor Ella. If embarrassment could kill, Ella would be dead on the spot. “All right, everyone, give Ella a break. We are supposed to be helping her, not harassing her.” Turning to her friend, she asked gently, “What happened when you asked him for dinner?”
Staring down at her hands, Ella said, “He looked surprised and then he said that he already had plans. I was going to suggest another night, but he said he was late for a meeting and took off. That was days ago, and I haven’t seen him since then. I . . . I think he’s avoiding me now.”
“Ah, come on now, Ella, maybe he’s out of town. He travels a lot, doesn’t he?” Beth asked.
Everyone looked at Claire since she usually knew when any of the main group was out of town. Claire gave a grimace and said, “No, I know Declan is in the office this week because he’s been working on a contract with Jason.”
Shaking her head in disgust, Suzy said, “I’m not going to soft-pedal this to you, Ella; he is avoiding you. He’s been sniffing around your feet, but when you started sniffing back, he packed his toys and went home. To someone like Declan you must seem like the ultimate forbidden fruit. He’s probably used to women he can screw and then slip out before they wake up. Most of his women have probably been ridden hard and put up wet.”
Claire started laughing. “Where do you come up with this stuff?” Then, turning to Ella, she said, “I think what Suzy means is that Declan has a lot more experience than you and maybe he is afraid of hurting you.”
“Oh, come on.” Suzy snorted. “Ella doesn’t need everything I say explained to her. She knows what I’m talking about. Okay, give me a few days to think on this one. I’m sure we can come up with a plan for you to land Declan if you really want to. Look at Beth; she landed her man through wild sex on my kitchen counters and all over my damn house. I’m sure I can come up with something for you. Maybe Claire could loan you her house, though. I don’t think I can stomach any more naked bodies sliding across my granite countertops.”
When everyone got their laughter under control, Suzy added, “We’re going to have a barbecue on Saturday to rid our house of the evil from our last dinner party. I promise that my parents will not be there so you don’t have to make excuses.” Wiggling her eyebrows at Ella, she said, “I promise that Gray will make sure Declan is there so wear something hot. Oh, crap, never mind, I don’t trust you to know what that is, so let’s go pick out something for you right now.”
“Hey,” Beth said, “I thought we were going to look at wedding dresses for you and make some plans?”
“Nah, we can do that next week. Ella is our priority now.”
Beth couldn’t help but chuckle at Ella’s terrified expression. Putting her arm around her friend, Beth whispered in her ear, “Just go with it. If you argue, it will get more painful. It’s better to give in now because you can’t win.”