Page 142 of Tangled with the Tight End

I’ve got to take Declan to the practice facility later, but I’ve got time now, so I ask Zara, “Are you free now? I could stop by before my afternoon appointment.”

Afternoon appointment. Declan’s so much more.

I spend a few hours with Zara and the dogs. Then I drive to Declan’s.

He calls me while I’m on the way.

“Hey,” his deep voice fills my car.

“Hey, yourself.”

“How’s your day going?”

“Good. I saw Mr. Calhoun and then I met some dachshunds. Zara Hill got three new dogs. She wants me to walk them and dog-sit.”

“Your life is never dull.”

“Rarely. How about you?”

“I spent the morning watching SportsCenter and trying not to watch the clock.”

“The clock?”

“Am I really admitting this?”

“Admitting what?”

“I’ve been dying to see you.”

“Me too.” My cheeks tug up and there’s that smile again. It’s a different kind of smile. New and warm and all-encompassing. “I’m almost to gate number one.”

He chuckles. “I want to blast down those gates.”

“Then all the gemstones and spice rack girls would have full access,” I tease.

“Yeah. None of that. Only one woman gets past my gates.”

I soak that in. I don’t know how I became that one woman. But it goes both ways. I don’t have gates leading to my home, but if I did, he’d be the only one I’d let in.

“Still there?” he asks.

“Yeah. Just … trying to wrap my brain around us.”

“As soon as you’re here, I’ll help you with that.”

A blush rises up my neck, prickling in a sweet way.

“Seriously, though, what’s so hard to wrap your brain around?” Declan asks.

My answer is quick. I have nothing to hide from him. “I didn’t see this coming.”

“What? Us?”

“Us. And the way you’re so … expressive. I thought I was sitting on one-sided feelings. And then we kissed and you showed up at my house … It all took me off guard. In a good way. I just didn’t expect it to go from zero to sixty.”

“Like my favorite cars,” he muses with a soft laugh. Then he says, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about me, but I can be intense.”

“No. Really?” I laugh.