After his meteoric rise to superstardom, Jim O'Brien is no longer a small-town boy who plays in bars and dreams of success. His handsome face is plastered on the covers of celebrity gossip magazines, and his voice alone is enough to make girls swoon...
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It took Ava two minutes to answer my text, and a sliver of relief settled in my bones when she gave me her address.
My eyes skittered over the room, landing on the bottle of wine we'd finished. Sighing, I unlocked my phone again and pressed the call icon next to a name on the recent calls list.
"Dec, it's me. Are you busy? I know it's late. If you're with your wife, just say it, and I'll take a cab. No worries, 'kay?"
Declan's warm chuckle sounded on the other end of the line. "I was watching the replay of yesterday's game. Mel's asleep, and so are the kids. Do you wanna head out now?"
"Give me ten. I need to grab some stuff. See you at the entrance."
"Gotcha."
I hung up and padded to the fridge to grab the ice cream. Then, I took the sweets Ava brought and shoved everything into a bag before yanking my leather jacket off the hanger in the hallway and putting it on.
When I exited the apartment building, Declan's SUV was already idling by the curb. I got into the car and smiled at the guy wearing his signature baseball cap despite being in the vehicle.
"A date?" Dec asked.
"I hope so, but I'm not sure."
Dec nodded and turned the key in the ignition. I'd forwarded Ava's address to him earlier, and since my chauffeur didn't use the navigator, he knew that area well enough.
My eyes focused on Dec's profile, and the image flashed me back to when I hired him. It was as crazy as me overhearing his conversation with his pregnant wife in the line at the supermarket. The company Declan used to work for went bankrupt, and he needed a job to provide for his family.
What I needed was a discreet, reliable person I could count on to drive me anywhere when I couldn't do it myself. Something about Dec made me want to help him out, and I never regretted my decision. He was my confidante apart from being my chauffeur. I could vent to him about anything, and it'd stay between us.
"I need advice from a married guy," I said when the Toyota stopped at the red light.
"Go ahead, boy."
"So, there's a girl. We had a date at my condo, and I didn't want it to end."
"Tell me more."
I shook my head, chuckling. "Right. Long story short, I think I fucked up, but I need you to tell me if I really did or it's all in my head."
"I'm all ears."
"Okay," I said when Dec's car joined the night traffic, "it goes like this — she was gonna leave, and I didn't want her to. What I wanted to say was, 'stay with me, wear my shirt to bed so I can see those beautiful long legs of yours, cuddle with me under the blanket, let's watch some TV and eat the ice cream I bought or talk the night away cause we have so damn many things in common, and I'm desperate to get to know you.'"
