Even Ailish went right to her, and if seeing Callie holding a baby wasn’t a kick to the balls, I don’t know what is. How can I barely know this woman, and already be thinking of something… permanent?

I don’t do permanent.

While she plays, I pull the cobbler out of the bag, open it and the ice cream, and help myself. Good music and good food. I could live on this alone for about a week.

Suddenly, she stops and turns around.

“Hey! Don’t eat it all!”

“Don’t stop now, sweetheart. I’m getting food and a show. I’m never on this end of it.” I grin and take another bite, but she gets up and joins me, kneeling between my legs. “Oh, you want me to share?”

Her lips purse as she tries not to smile. “Yes.”

“Okay.” I scoop up a tiny piece of cobbler and hold it up for her. “This is all you get.”

She sticks that suckable lower lip out in a pout. “But I played you a pretty song.”

“Okay.” I add just a tiny bit more. “There you go.”

She eats it off the spoon, then takes the utensil from me, loads it up with a huge bite of cobbler and ice cream and holds it up for me to eat.

“Delicious.”

“See? I was generous.”

I nod and return the favor, then lean in and lick a drop of ice cream off the outside of her lips, making her purr in that sexy as hell way she does that makes my cock come to full attention.

Next thing I know, she’s taken the whole damn thing and is running out of the room and toward the stairs.

“Mine!” she shouts and squeals when she hears my footsteps behind her. I could easily catch her, but I let her run, enjoying the way her ass moves up the stairs. She runs into the bedroom, to the bathroom, and shuts and locks the door.

“Does this mean you’re not sharing?” I ask calmly, enjoying the fuck out of her.

“Not sharing,” she confirms, panting. “Mmm, it’s so good.”

“Callie?”

“I’m sorry, Callie’s not here.”

I chuckle, pull my pocket knife out and get to work on the lock. It’s easy to pick. Her eyes widen when I open the door. Her mouth is stuffed full of cobbler.

“I think you should share.”

“I mox daf,” she says around the food.

“I know you locked it,” I reply, advancing on her. “I unlocked it.”

“Rude.”

“Yes, you are.” She smirks and is about to put the last bite in her mouth, but I catch her wrist in my fist and quickly take the bite instead. “You’re also a dessert hog.”

“It’s your fault for only getting one.”

She wipes her mouth on a towel, stands, and smooths her hands down her shirt and jeans. “I’ll be going home now.”

I simply grin at her prim declaration. “No. You won’t.”

“No?”

I shake my head.

“What am I going to do then?”

I take her hand, the grin still firmly on my face, toss her over my shoulder, and slap her ass with a loud whack.

“Hey!”

“Did that hurt?” I ask, carrying her down the stairs.

“No. Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“You’re not taking me to bed?” I love that her voice sounds disappointed. I want her to crave me. To need me. Because I sure as fuck need to be inside her any chance I can get.

“Not yet.”

“Declan!” The frustration in her voice makes me laugh, and then she’s laughing with me. “You’re such an ass.”

“Yep.” I stop out on the back porch and set her down, then turn her to face the yard. “I wanted to show you this too.”

“Wow.” The yard isn’t huge, but the privacy fence keeps it quiet and free of prying eyes. “When did you do this?”

“I had it done last week while I was working on the music room. I’m not a landscaper, so I hired it out.”

She nods, steps off the porch and walks into the yard. She’s barefoot, and doesn’t even think twice about stepping into the grass. “I love the pond back here.”

“I’m going to stock it with koi,” I reply, walking a few steps behind her, my hands in my pockets. Why am I so nervous about this? Why do I so desperately want her approval? It’s not like I’m doing this for her. It’s for me, and, at some point, it might turn a nice profit.

Regardless of the reasons, I do want her to like it.

“It’s really beautiful, Declan. The crew you hired did a great job.” To my utter surprise, she sits down, right on the bare grass. “Sit with me.”

“Whatever the lady wants,” I reply and sit next to her, leaning back on my hands. We’re both looking up at the sky. “Even with the light noise of the city, you can see the Big Dipper.”

“I bet the stars are amazing out at the inn,” she murmurs. I glance over at her and take in the angle of her jaw, the curve of her neck as she continues to look up. Her shoulders are hunched up from leaning back on her arms. “I’ve never experienced a family like yours, Declan.”

Her voice is suddenly soft, and not a little sad. I want to wrap her up in my arms, but I also don’t want her to stop talking. “Most families aren’t like mine,” I murmur, eyes trained on the skies above.

“I didn’t think they really existed,” she says and I feel her turn her blue eyes to me. “I don’t know what it’s like to have that many people love me. And I don’t say that to sound pathetic, it’s just an anomaly to me.”