Heart Lies & Alibis (7 page)

Declan was proving to be quite the mind reader. He looked at me, cocking his head to the side he asked "How about we stay in after all? I'm a pretty good cook. I could make dinner, we could talk, and do whatever else seems like a good idea tonight." He nuzzled my neck while his fingers brushed my breast and my nipple sprang to attention. I knew in that moment what I thought was a good idea for tonight and it involved him, naked in my bed, as fast as I could make it happen.

I let my eyes close briefly as I enjoyed the mere touch of his skin on mine before answering. "I think I could be convinced to stay in. I'm not sure what's in the house for food, though, but we can probably find something."

Declan made it clear his plans for that moment had nothing to do with food. He had moved to kissing my neck, his hands sliding over my ass as he pressed his body into mine. I took his hand and started down the hall towards the master bedroom. He guided me down the hall to the guest room instead. I looked at him in question when we reached the door. He leaned in and whispered "Less ghosts in here I think." And I had to agree.

Deep night had fallen when we made our way back downstairs, starving, but satisfied. Declan had only pulled on his jeans and I wore his shirt and not much else. We stepped around the broken glass of the shattered vase and went to the kitchen.

"Please. Let me cook for you. Sit." He said pointing to a bar stool that flanked my kitchen island. "Wine?" He asked gesturing for its location.

I took a seat as directed. "Refrigerator under the island for white. Red is in the rack above."

He chose a nice pinot noir and expertly opened and poured two glasses before setting a glass in front of me. He turned and began surveying the meager supplies my kitchen offered. Somehow he found the fixings for a beautiful pasta and shrimp dish and had dinner on the table in record time. We ate and made small talk and I found I really enjoyed just listening to his voice as we got to know one another.

I was looking at him, shirtless and gorgeous in my kitchen, when his tattoos caught my attention. I reached out, tracing a finger along the tattoo over his left arm, the one I had been fascinated by the night before in the bar. "This is really beautiful Declan. What does it mean?"

He glanced at the tattoo, watching my finger continue its lazy trail across it. His face looked far away suddenly, as if he were lost in a long ago memory. "It was something my mom used to say all the time. Kinda her life mantra. This one is for her too." He indicated, pointing to the Celtic cross above his heart that had the name Fiona scrolled across it. His eyes darkened with emotion. The pain of losing his mom still seemed so fresh and I knew that feeling all too well. I nodded in understanding and smiled at him but didn't ask any more questions.

After we finished dinner, Declan insisted on cleaning up the broken vase for me while I went upstairs to shower. I was pleasantly surprised when a bit later he joined me. I liked the way we were already comfortable with each other. He washed my hair and I washed his body and then we dried off and I slipped into a robe. He slung a towel around his hips, and the site of him wet and glistening nearly made me jump him in the bathroom. Instead, we found our way to the balcony off the master bedroom and sat in comfortable silence, drinking more wine, beneath the moon.

Eventually I broke the silence with a question. I was dying to know everything I could about him but he had been less than forthcoming with information so far. "Why don't tell me some things about yourself Mr. ...... Oh my god." The realization slapped me in the face like a cold towel. I smacked my hand against my forehead, looking at him between my fingers, as my cheeks blazed with embarrassment. "I just realized I don't even know your last name. I've slept with you twice and didn't bother to get that small bit of information. What kind of slut am I?"

He laughed and laughed before he responded. "The kind I like." His face filled with a naughty grin. "But for the record, you aren't a slut at all but rather a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it."

I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

He laughed again. "It's O'Shea. My last name is O'Shea. Feel better now?" He teased.

"No. But it's too late to go back an un-sleep with you so why don't you tell me some other things about yourself, Mr. O'Shea and I can drown my humiliation in another glass of wine." I reached for the bottle and poured us each another glass.

"What exactly do you want to know, Mrs. McCallister?" I raised an eyebrow at his use of my married name but one look at his face told me he was just trying to give me a hard time.

"Let's start simple," I teased dropping into lawyer mode, "Where are you from? Are your parents alive? Do you have siblings? Did you go to college? Do you always pick up women who are old enough to be your mother?" He cut her an annoyed look at the last part.

"Wow Councilor. Let's see if I can answer everything. Ummm... I am originally from Ireland but we moved to Philadelphia when I was ten, which is how I kept the accent. My dad was originally from the States but my mom was Irish which means I have dual citizenship." He paused to take a drink of wine and for a moment I thought he was trying to think of how to answer the other questions.

"My parents are both dead. Mom had breast cancer and died when I was a teenager. And Dad died a few years ago. No siblings and no other real family. I have been on my own pretty much since I turned 18 and joined the Ar..Air Force. Instead of going to college." The lawyer in me was trained to know when someone was making up a story and for some reason, my warning bells were going off listening to his answers. I noticed Declan hesitated when he said he lived in Philadelphia as if he had to remind himself what city to name and just now he had started to say Army and then changed it to Air Force. Was he lying or just nervous? What the hell did was he hiding?

The only thing I knew for sure was the truth was that his mom was dead – his eyes looked pained when mentioned it this time just like they had before. His father's death, on the other hand, was a different story. A story he didn't want to share by the limited details he offered. I filed away the information I had learned for later. I wanted to see what else he was hiding before I started digging deeper.

Maybe a less personal approach would help him open up. "And picking up older women? Is that part of your regular pattern of behavior too because you seem to have a talent for it."

His wicked smile made me think he must have done his fair share of being a ladies man over the years but the flash of pain that crossed his eyes said something had changed in his life to make him different. "Let's just say I like to keep my options open but experience has taught me women of a certain age have always had a better sense of who they are and what they like. And I have learned some very useful things from them, wouldn't you agree?" He stood up and led me inside to the bed so he could show me exactly what he had learned and I appreciated every lesson.

My divorce attorney and I were meeting at 11:00am a few days later to discuss the end of my marriage. The idea both repulsed and excited me and the conflicting emotions pretty much summed up the past few days of my life. I felt torn in half, with one part of me wondering how my marriage had fallen apart and the other wanting to believe a future with Declan was possible. I knew I was glad to be almost done with Thad – with the lies, the affairs (I suspected there were many) and with the despicable person he had become but the end of our life together was a bitter pill to swallow.

And I wanted the freedom to explore whatever was developing between Declan and I. Just thinking about him made me smile and blush, as X-rated images of our time together over the past few days tumbled through my mind. After the meeting, I was set to meet Declan for lunch. In the past four days we had been together as much as possible and being in my house this morning suddenly felt strange without him around. I was more than a bit surprised and also a little concerned at the speed of which our relationship had grown but I found the ride exciting. He was everything I thought I never wanted in my life again and it scared the crap out of me. I pushed everything aside for now because I needed all of my attention focused on the task at hand – bringing an end to my marriage.

My lawyer happened to be a good friend of mine, as well as one of the best divorce attorneys in Houston, and I was glad she was on my side. Astrid Frost was known for making husbands feel the full consequences of their indiscretions and had been part of most of the big divorce cases our town had seen over the last decade. I didn't want anything from Thad except what was rightfully mine. The rest he could shove up his ass for all I cared.

I hurried inside the modern office building and gave the security guard my name. He indicated the elevator on the left and I took it to the 20
th
floor where Astrid's small but beautifully appointed office waited. I paused at the door, taking a deep breath before welcomed I stepped inside to close a significant chapter of my life.

As betrayed as I felt by Thad and as anxious as I was to get the divorce started and finalized, this was still a bittersweet moment. I didn't have any family to speak of and besides Grace and her family, Thad had been my world for over a decade. But then I thought of Declan again and smiled. He had changed everything in the past few days, making the present seem more bearable and a happy future suddenly possible. I squared my shoulders and marched into the office ready to be rid of Thaddeus McCallister forever.

Astrid stood as her assistant showed me in to her inner office. She looked every bit the successful lawyer with a well cut bob hairstyle, simple but well-tailored black pencil skirt and gray silk blouse, simple makeup and accessories and 3-inch heels in patent leather. Astrid and I had known each other professionally for many years and socialized on occasion. I appreciated her dry sense of humor and take no prisoners attitude and we shared a love of the law we had discussed on a few occasions. I found her liberal use of profanity and colorful yet crude expressions particularly refreshing and in great contrast to her outward buttoned up appearance. It made meetings with Astrid far more entertaining than with the average attorney.

She stood up as I walked in, removing the stylish glasses she wore when reading and setting them on her desk. Her assistant closed the door behind me. Astrid dispensed with any pleasantries when she spoke "So I heard the ass-hat found some young tits and ass to replace you with. Bastard." Her face twisted in disgust.

I nodded with a deep sigh. "Hello Astrid. And yes. That about sums things up. But thanks for being so subtle about it."

Sitting down she waved me into a chair across from her as she returned the glasses to her face. "You know me, Reagan. No time for the niceties, especially not when it comes to talking about men who can't keep their old balls to themselves." Astrid face twisted in disgust again. "Best way to deal with it is to figure out how we can nail his ass to the wall. Infidelity is still pretty frowned upon in the Lone Star State so we have a good shot of getting everything, including the firm." She steepled her fingers together and looked across at me, a impish smile almost filling her face. Her reputation as a ball buster was well earned and I was glad I to be her client and not on the receiving end of her wrath.

I laughed out loud and shook my head. "I don't want anything but what I earned myself in the marriage. The only thing that may get sticky is the law practice. It might be best if I just sold my share to Thad and the other partners. Not really sure I want or would even be welcomed back after everything that has happened. The partners were Thad's friends first so I'm sure their loyalty will remain to him." And maybe it was time for some change in my life.

Astrid furrowed her brow for a moment. "Of course, that's your call. And I guess seeing old balls and his little vixen every day at the office wouldn't be my idea of fun. However, if it was me, I would take him for everything and he would find himself peddling his services at a local strip mall when I was done with him." There was that wicked smirk again." But, you are the client. I will draw up some papers to dissolve the marriage and separate you from the practice. What about assets – the house, cars, etc. How do you want to handle separating those things?"

It was hard to hear ten years of my marriage reduced to cold facts and figures like this and I had to swallow down some emotion before I answered. "He can buy out my share of the house or we can sell it. I know I won't be living there when everything is done so I don't really care what happens to it. All the other stuff has always been separate so we should be fine there."

My one stipulation when I married Thad had been for us to keep separate finances because I had seen my mother become dependent on too many men over the years with disastrous consequences. I had always taken care of myself and always would look out for my best interest first and foremost. It wasn't a selfish thing – it was a survival thing and I clung to it like a lifeline. Thad had been offended at first, a man of his generation fully embracing the need to be the "provider" in the marriage even though we were both successful in our careers. That attitude coupled with his own upbringing in which his mother had been a society wife, never working outside the home a day in her life made my request an issue in our relationship.

He eventually came around to the idea of being partners, in life as well as in the firm, but there were still times he would make snide comments about the situation. Things became more strained when I also made it clear, children would likely not be in our future. He had asked exactly what I thought a wife's job was, if I didn't want to have children in our home. He really could be an asshole at times. I had my reasons for the decision and I told him what they were as best as I could without revealing too much of my past but he had never really understood. Anyway, as I talked to Astrid I knew I was well prepared to be on my own for the future, financially at least.