Page 53 of His to Cherish
That creepy-crawling feeling I’d had all day slithered down my spine, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to get it off me. “Why would you think that?”
His eyes instantly narrowed, his jaw tightened, and he pushed off the bar, pointing a finger at me. “Don’t go anywhere.”
I was stunned into silence. My lips twisted in confusion as he hopped the bar counter and barreled into the kitchen like a linebacker.
I was certain I’d managed one blink when David returned, crashing through the double swinging metal doors, and Declan was quickly trailing behind him.
He wiped his hand on a greasy-looking white apron, and when they reached me, Declan’s hands flew to his hips.
He was intimidating. Large, muscular, with dark olive skin and a shaved head that I knew was that way because it made him look badass, not because he suffered from early hair loss.
One of the reasons Suzanne and Paige always wanted to come eat there was because of Declan, so they could ogle the beautiful man. We now knew he was also incredibly patient and protective, since he’d saved Trina from her abusive ex-husband and brought out a sassy side to the southern beauty, all while he made her feel safe for the first time in her life. He wasn’t just large, he also had a massive heart. I thought Declan kicked ass.
Now his jaw and throat were lined with black five o’clock shadow, and I almost stopped breathing when his black eyes narrowed on mine.
He looked pissed. Panting-like-a-bull-in-front-of-a-red-cape pissed.
“Um.” I looked to David. His expression wasn’t that much different, just lessI could kill you with my bare handsscary. “What’s going on?”
Declan leaned forward. “You didn’t spend the day with Aidan?”
“No.” I replayed the morning in my head, the joking about getting up, the way he’d wanted to stay with me and then turned arctic when I’d told him I couldn’t. “He wanted me to but I had to go to work. Why?”
“He said he was going to be with you today and we haven’t been able to get ahold of him.”
“All day?” I tilted my head. Why would he lie?
My head spun. Declan shot David a glare that clearly said something was wrong.
“Why? What is it?”
David cursed before his head fell forward.
Something ugly and hard sank into my gut, stealing my breath.
“It’s Derrick’s birthday today,” Declan explained in that growly, deep voice. Had I taken the time, I might have been jealous of the kind of man Trina had in her bed. As it was, I was too surprised to think about that.
“What?” I gasped, looking at both of them. “I don’t…I didn’t know. He never said anything to me.”
They glared at each other again, another silent conversation taking place in their eyes. I knew it was done and decisions were made without them ever speaking a word when Declan said, “Fucking hell…that asshole. Take her with you.”
He turned on his heel and stalked back to the kitchen right as David reached for my elbow and tugged me off my stool. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I barely had time to reach back and grab my purse as he led me out of the restaurant. “What’s going on?”
My mind was spinning and began pounding with worry…Why hadn’t he told me about Derrick? Why hadn’t he said anything? “Oh God. This is bad.”
The kick of a bass drum slammed against my chest as I trailed behind David, not being given much of a choice in the matter.
Once we finally hit the fresh air, my head cleared slightly, enough to at least think about Suzanne.
“I’m supposed to be meeting Suzanne,” I told David, trying to dig my feet into the cement.
He didn’t look back. “Declan will keep an eye out for her.”
I frowned, looking back at the restaurant. He’d just totally left his position behind the bar and I didn’t see anyone else able to do drinks.
