Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

M addie put down her phone, and the three women looked at each other, then back at Piper and Declan.

Declan waited, curiosity mounting. What were these women up to? He knew Maddie was a fighter because he'd helped her and her dad out with a situation recently, but the others?

Maddie suddenly broke into a big grin. "Well, it's about damned time you came clean. I've been sitting on this gossip for months!"

"Right?" Tori beamed at them. "I love it when great sex turns into true love."

"I know. Remember when we walked in on them in Piper's bedroom, and they told us they were cleaning mold?" Keira shook her head. "And it was sex all this time. Damn. I want to have hot, sweaty landlord sex. Then maybe I'll have a guy nibbling my arm in public?—"

Piper held up her left hand, and all three women screamed.

"Holy shit!" Tori grabbed her wrist. "This is real? How is this real? What the heck, Declan!"

Keira shrieked and smacked Piper on the shoulder. "Get out. Get out! What is that? "

Maddie simply grinned at Declan. "Well done."

"Thanks." Declan wasn't quite sure what was happening. Did they think it was real, or had they jumped right into the fa?ade seamlessly? He sat back, resting his arm on the back of Piper's chair, watching the women.

He'd spent a lot of time observing people as a cop, and yet, he couldn't quite figure out these four women.

Keira held her arms up in the victory sign. "I called this! I said Declan was too hot to handle and Piper knew it."

"You did," Tori agreed. "Piper said Declan was a grump and there was no chemistry."

"Little liar," Keira said. "You've had the hots for him all this time."

"I never had the hots for him," Piper said. "He's not hot. He was handy."

"Handy?" He grinned. "I'm handy ? And grumpy?"

"You could have picked anyone, and you picked him?" Maddie was openly smiling now. "Lucas has a number of single brothers, who are freaking rich as hell. He would have set you up, but you picked your grumpy landlord?"

Piper's smile faded. "He was handy," she said again.

"He's less handy than Lucas's brothers," Maddie said. "It's not too late. You could upgrade to celebrity status."

Declan knew who they were talking about. Lucas Hart, Maddie's fiancé, was one of the Harts. They were a found family that had met as homeless kids, taken the same last name, and called themselves family. They were now billionaires, thanks to their software genius, and owners of a massive ranch in Oregon.

And Piper's friends were right. The Harts were reclusive celebrities that any woman would want.

He was a washed-up cop with an ex-pop star mom who had some well-loved songs.

All his energy dropped in a hurry. The thought of some other guy kissing Piper to save her career didn't sit well with him, but he'd already decided his job was to protect her, and if that meant handing her off to someone better, then that's what he had to do.

He ground his jaw and leaned forward. "Piper. Maddie's right. The Harts carry a hell of a lot more weight than I do."

All four women stared at him, and Tori hit his arm. "You don't want to help Piper out?"

"You're ditching her?" Keira asked.

"What? No. I just feel like a Hart can do a lot—" He stopped as Piper stared at him, an inscrutable look on her face. "What?"

She turned to face him, lifting her chin. "If you want out, that's fine. You have an exit at any time." Her voice was cool. Reserved.

He felt the weight of all the women staring at him. "I don't want out," he said carefully. "I want you to have what you need."

No one said anything. They just watched him. He could probably feel their disapproval.

Declan knew he was definitely screwing things up right now. "Look, Piper, I'm all in, but I do realize that a Hart could do more. I hadn't thought of Maddie and Lucas, but?—"

Piper held up her hands. "Stop talking."

He swore. "Piper?—"

Maddie interrupted. "Declan, Piper was well aware that the Harts exist, have two private jets, and consider all of us family now. And yet, she picked you. Sit on that for a second."

Piper looked away from him, watching the table with April. "You have about three seconds to take off before April notices us," she said. "I'll keep the ring for now until the Harts can get me one. Which Hart, Maddie?"

No one answered, but Declan felt Piper's three friends all glaring at him.

He thought about what Maddie had said. That Piper had chosen him. Why? He didn't know. But he knew Piper was dealing with a lot of shit that was weighing her down, and she'd picked him.

Was he going to let her down? Fuck no. He wasn't a Hart, but he'd once been damned good at making things happen. He put his arm around the back of her chair and leaned in. "Piper," he said quietly. "I'm going to say this only once, and I mean every word of it. Got it?"

Her gaze flicked briefly to his, and then returned to April. "Whatever."

"Kissing you was like waking up from a coma that's kept me trapped for years."

Her gaze shot to his face immediately.

"Kissing you is no fucking jellyfish, and we both know it." He took a breath, then continued. "You're damned sunshine, and helping you is a gift to my soul. I'm a fucked-up mess, and you don't want to see past the shiny exterior, which is fine, because I won't let you in there, but know that I fucking love being the one walking around with your hand in mine, and the last damn thing I want to do is have some Hart kissing you. If you want or need to get yourself fake-engaged to a Hart, go do it. You owe me nothing. But never make the mistake of thinking I want to be anywhere but right here, seeing this damned thing through to the end."

The table was silent. Everyone just stared at him.

Then Maddie spoke. "That was a lot of profanity packed in that little speech. Very heartfelt."

Keira nodded. "He's an ex-cop, a part-time bartender, and wields a sledgehammer. Profanity fits. Emotions equate with profanity for men like him."

Tori sat back. "I'm not going to lie. I've sworn off men and dating for at least a thousand years, but that little speech hit me right in the feels. He gets my vote."

Piper said nothing. She just stared at him.

Declan shifted restlessly, but he was done. He had nothing else to add. He actually wished he could take that whole speech right back, because he'd said a lot of things he hadn't ever planned to say, but it was out there, so yeah.

Piper finally spoke. "I'm sorry. I totally spaced out there for a minute. Can you repeat that? "

It was his turn to stare at her. "Seriously?"

She grinned. "No. Not seriously." She leaned in. "You're very intense sometimes, Mr. Jones. I can feel your earnestness, and I like it."

His tension faded. "You do, eh?"

"I do." She put her hand on his shoulder and faced the table. "I'm keeping him. I think he's going to be perfect."

He felt himself relax at her announcement, which almost made him laugh. He was being claimed by his fake fiancée, and he liked it. Liked it a hell of a lot, actually.

He was going to have to think about that later.

"Amen to that, sister," Tori said. "Declan's got that thing."

"He does," Maddie agreed.

"Absolutely," Keira said.

He looked around at the table. "What thing is that?"

"That undefinable, magical vibe that makes a man completely irresistible, even if he's a world-class jerk," Maddie said.

"Except to me, of course," Piper interjected. "Declan, just to be clear, you are completely resistible to me because I'm an iron wall of heartlessness, but April will fall hard for you."

He studied her thoughtfully. "I don't think there's a single damn bit of heartlessness in you. Toughness? Hell, yeah. But heartless? No."

Something flickered in her eyes. "I am tough," she agreed.

"With the biggest heart on the whole planet," Tori said.

Piper's glaze flicked to Tori, and Declan saw pain in Piper's eyes. Raw pain that said his fake fiancée was anything but heartless.

Maddie sat up. "April just saw you. She's talking with her friends and looking over here."

Declan's gaze slid over to April's table. She was talking animatedly with her friends, and she looked angry. He immediately slid his arm over Piper's shoulders and eased her against him.

"Do you want us to stay or go?" Tori said .

"Go," he said, before Piper could answer. "This show is about me and Piper right now."

Piper nodded. "If I put my phone on the table, it means I need help. Then you guys come over and rave about Declan."

"Rock on." Tori stood up, and the others followed. "We'll be watching." She blew Piper a kiss. "Congrats, my friend. You found a good one!"

"I'm a little jealous," Keira said.

"We'll have a party with the Harts," Maddie said.

Maddie's parting words got Declan thinking. The Harts did carry power, but he'd known the Harts for a long time. Were they his found family? No. But friends? Yeah, they were.

He saw April shoot to her feet, toss her hair back, and start striding toward them, her body language ready for a fight.

Yeah, she was definitely going to fire Piper.

The minute he thought it, protectiveness surged through Declan. Piper was under his protection, and it wasn't okay with him for anyone to go after her. Especially not a woman like April.

He bent over Piper, angling his head and his shoulders for privacy, making a private bubble for the two of them, turning his back on April. "I adore your friends," he said softly making his voice as intimate as he could. "But I'm damn glad they left."

Piper's gaze flicked behind him. "She's almost here?—"

"I know." He then leaned in and kissed her, a kiss that was sensual and hot, a kiss that was the kind of kiss a man would give a woman if he couldn't last one more second without touching her, and he wanted her to know it.

It was no damned jellyfish kiss.

Piper tensed, and then relaxed into the kiss. She rested her hand on his biceps and kissed him back. The moment she did, everything in his body coiled into a tight web of anticipation and need.

Damn. He really loved kissing her.