Before he can get the chance to kiss me, the ring of the doorbell sounds.
“Bawbags,” he fumes in irritation at the interruption, and I can’t help but laugh at his Scottish curse.
It really is an ugly language, but the accent is beyond sexy.
I follow him downstairs to the living room, and when Lachlan walks in with two employees with our luggage, I beam with excitement. “Have you seen this place?”
He doesn’t respond to me, but instead approaches Declan, asking, “May I?” as I watch in curiosity.
“She’s all yours,” Declan tells him. “She’s about as excited as a lass at her first tea party.”
Lachlan laughs, walking straight towards me, and I can’t help my own laughter at his demeanor. He grabs me, picking me up as if I were a little girl and gives me a joyous embrace.
“This smile you wear makes dealing with McKinnon’s shit-stain moods worth my while.”
We laugh as he sets me down, and I’m so thankful for his loyalty to Declan and the friendship he’s given me. He’s twenty years my elder, and I find comfort in that. As if I can look to him for guidance in a way I can’t with Declan. In a way a child might look to a parent. He gives me that feeling, and it’s settling.
“Thank you.”
“For what, love?”
“Opening my car door the night I first met you.”
“Oh yes, our first date,” he animates in a shameless attempt to taunt Declan, and Declan doesn’t miss a beat when he responds, “Fuck off, Lachlan, and you can get your hands off her now. You got your hug, you’re done.”
His words are harsh, but they’re in jest. These boys go way back to their days at Saint Andrew’s, so it’s no surprise they fight like brothers, despite their age gap.
“Well, then, if all is in place here, I guess I’ll head to my hotel.”
“Lachlan, wait.”
He takes a step closer to me, and I ask, “Have you heard anything about my dad? Good or bad? Has anyone called you?”
“You’ve been with me all day,” he says, but no matter how content I feel, there’s still unsettling anxiety when it comes to my dad.
“I know, I just . . .”
“I promise you I’m doing everything I can, love. We’ll find him for you.”
I nod as I feel the weight of the unknown swell in my chest, and Declan immediately senses it. He quickly dismisses Lachlan when I wander over to the windows and stare out.
“This is a good day,” he tells me when he moves to stand next to me along the window.
“What if he’s down there, right under my nose, among all those people?”
“Then he won’t be too hard to find.”
My eyes skitter over the men and women walking along the sidewalks, enjoying their night, when Declan pulls me away.
“I’m doing everything I can. We have several people at this point that are trying to find him. The manifest is only one angle of the many we are working on. But you heard Lachlan,” he stresses. “He’ll call us with any updates.”
“I know, I’m just—”
“On edge,” he interrupts, finishing my thought, and he’s right.
I want answers, and these past few days of waiting are eating me alive.
“Not tonight. I want to see that smile again.”
“You act like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen me smile.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you truly smile from your soul. You—Elizabeth. You wear it differently than the woman I knew in Chicago, and I want to see it again,” he says and then picks me up, hoisting me over his shoulder.
“Declan!” I squeal out in playfulness. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to get you naked, tie you up, and then order myself dinner,” he teases.
“You’re such a romantic asshole.”
MY FIRST MORNING here at One Hyde Place was a busy one. No time for lounging in bed until the afternoon. Declan was up early yelling on the phone at a hacker he hired to find out more information on my dad. After that call ended, I sat in his office with him as he proceeded to make more calls about my father, growing more and more impatient as his stress amplified. He’s been putting himself under so much pressure to find him, but I didn’t want him to get any more worked up than he already was, so I convinced him to step away for a while and take a shower with me to calm him down.