Page 39 of Only You
Her smile faded. “Oh, okay.”
Then he realized she took it the wrong way. “No.”
“No?”
God, this woman. He always sounded like an idiot around her. Declan figured it had more to do with the fact that he was trying to operate his brain with half the amount of blood. The rest of it drained to his groin.
“You’re different. It’s not just about seduction with you. I mean…don’t get me wrong. Seduction is definitely on the table.”
“Good to know.”
That pulled a chuckle out of him even as his eager dick twitched. “But I don’t just want to seduce you.”
Now, she looked…he couldn’t come up with one word to describe it. It was a mixture of worry and hope.
“And I’m sorry if I’m being blunt. I don’t have finesse when it comes to you, Eileen. I did all this up here for you, and I only do that for family.”
“Wait, are you telling me you never bring women up here?”
He shook his head. “I tend to avoid having women over at my apartment, let alone up here. It’s my business, which could go wrong if you know what I mean.”
“So this,” she said, waving her hand around before she picked up her wine glass, “is just for me.”
“And family.”
There was a long silence as she sipped her wine and set her glass down. A smile curved her lips. It wasn’t a grin, but one of those secret smiles women gave that told you that you had finally done something right.
“Good to know.”
His chest warmed at those three words.
He followedthe woman down the street. She was so freaking high she didn’t notice him, but even if she had been sober, she probably wouldn’t have seen him. He was good at lurking in the shadows. The week had passed, and no other woman had presented herself, or at least not until tonight. Until he found out thathisEileen was with Declan Fitzpatrick. Again.
He felt the cold press of the knife against the palm of his hand. It matched the last one…part of a set. He knew it was risky to copy a murder from the 80s. Still, everyone knew about Eileen’s infatuation with the old murder. This was how she would see they were meant to be together.
As his prey slipped into the alley, he sighed with relief. It wasn’t busy on Fleet Street, thanks to the chilly rain, but he had not wanted to have this woman screaming and attracting attention.
From her dress, she was either working the streets or had no taste in fashion. She was also skinner than he liked his women, but sometimes, the need to kill was greater than having the perfect prey.
She stumbled and cussed. Fucking junkie. At least she would turn out to be easy to take down, not like Irene.
He pulled his knife out of his coat pocket. Excitement filled him, almost leaving him dizzy. Eileen would understand the connection.
Eight
They cleaned the dishes together. Like they were some old married couple who had celebrated together or just had dinner together. Usually, domesticity freaked Eileen out. Guys who pushed for more always seemed to leave her nervous. But here she was on her first date with Declan, and she was happy to hang out in the kitchen laughing over sibling stories.
“Are you telling me that you let Aeden think Kaitlin was the one who tattled on him sneaking out?”
He chuckled as he handed her one last dish to dry. “Yep. And to this day, he still thinks it.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Twenty years.”
“Damn, you definitely know how to keep things in the vault. I guess we have that in common.”
He turned off the water as she dried the dish. “Yeah. It was hard being the only girl and the one non-twin. They had their own secret language beyond just being boys.”
