“So . . .” Ella began weakly, “I guess you’ve met my family now.”

Declan released a deep breath and looked at her with a slightly dazed expression. “Yeah, no shit, Ellie. They sure know how to kill the morning wood.”

At her confused expression, he looked pointedly down at his crotch and she blushed, “Ohhh, sorry about that. You’re taking this awful well. I figured you would be up and dressed by now.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m too damned scared to walk out that door right now. I’m afraid your mother may be out there waiting to drive her car over the fornicator.”

Ella started laughing at his serious expression. “She’s never actually injured anyone that I know of. Maybe we should get up though just in case she comes back.”

“Honey, you don’t have to convince me of that. There is no way I want to meet any of your family again with my pants off.” After a brief kiss, he did indeed jump up out of bed and start pulling on his clothes. Looking at her over his shoulder he asked, “What’s up with all of the remarks from your sister? I thought she was supposed to be the uptight one?”

Ella shook her head sighing, “I have no idea. Usually she’s a carbon copy of my mom, but today she was different. I even caught her checking you out.” Declan gave her a cocky grin, but wisely refrained from commenting.

“What do you say we get out of here for the day and let the smoke clear?” he asked.

She had been afraid that he was going to take off after this and avoid her, like he had before, so she was more than eager to extend their time together. “I’d love that. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, this is Myrtle Beach so why don’t we get our suits and hit the beach for the day?”

“That sounds great, except I don’t even own a swimsuit. My parents never spent much time on the beach and I just never got around to buying one when I moved here.”

“I could use a new one, so we’ll stop on the way and get what we need.” He smiled as she bounced on the bed excitedly. He kept the smile on his face even when she accidently head-butted him while trying to give him a kiss on her way to the bathroom. “Something tells me that being involved with you is going to be hazardous to my health,” he joked.

She gave him her best pout as she walked away. She was grateful that he had been sensitive enough to throw her his shirt before she had left the bed. She was comfortable with him, but it was still a strange feeling to be naked with a man, even Declan.

Declan still wasn’t sure where the invitation to spend the day together had come from. He had further complicated things by convincing Ella to purchase her first bikini. Looking at her wading in the ocean a few yards in front of him, he cursed his own stupidity. Not only were his eyes glued to her slender, curvy body, so were every other man’s. This idea of a day on the beach had sounded innocent enough a few hours before. Truthfully, he had been so desperate to get out of Ella’s apartment before her family returned and shot him that he had grabbed onto the first idea he had. Probably not his best, but it had to be better than staring down the barrel of a Smith and Wesson.

He couldn’t believe that he had woken to find a room of strangers staring at him this morning. It was pretty comical once you got past the initial horror of it. The only similar situation he had encountered in his past was a husband barging in. He wasn’t proud of that one and he had ended things almost as soon as it had begun. Today’s intrusion had been unusual for him on a few levels. Firstly, he made it a rule to never stay the night with a woman. He usually wanted to leave and even if he didn’t, he couldn’t risk freaking a woman out when one of his nightmares took over. He needed to talk to Ella about that before he scared the hell out of her.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he almost jumped out of his skin. The fact that someone had gotten that close without him knowing was a testament to his level of distraction. And then he wanted to groan in misery when his brother, plopped down on the sand beside him. Yeah, apparently things could always get worse.

“Hey brother, I thought that was your car parked in front of my house. I was a little skeptical though since you aren’t really a sand and surf kind of guy.”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Declan asked.

“Shouldn’t you?” Brant countered. Declan didn’t bother to reply since normally he would have been at the office. When Brant started squinting at the shoreline, he knew things were about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable. “Hey, isn’t that . . . ?”

“Ella,” Declan supplied, “her name is Ella.”

Brant looked from her smiling face in the distance to his straight-faced expression, obviously making the connection. “So, I’m guessing you aren’t here alone working on your tan? Are you like . . . dating her now?”

Declan snorted saying, “I don’t date. We’re just hanging out.” Hanging out? Where in the fuck had that come from? Beside him, Brant seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Relax, I’m just surprised. This is the first normal woman I can remember you bringing around in a while.”

“Normal? What the hell are you talking about?” Declan demanded.

Brant laughed as he pointed to Ella. “That girl there is prom dates, roses, and diamonds. You’re usually more of a motel, tequila, don’t bother leaving your number, man.” Brant held his hands up in surrender as Declan glared at him. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, she just isn’t your usual type. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Not even close,” Declan admitted, “and I’m probably fucked nine ways till Sunday, but I can’t seem to stop.”

“Well, I’m the last one in the family who should be giving advice on love. Come to think of it, we all suck in that area so I’ll just wish you good luck. For what it’s worth, everyone seems to like her around the office and she is beautiful,” Brant whistled appreciatively.

Scowling at him, Declan snapped, “Stop looking at her. Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?”

“Nope,” Brant replied, “I’m free until this evening.”

Declan suddenly turned the tables on his brother. “I heard you had a bit of an . . . upset at work yesterday morning?”

Brant looked at him blankly until understanding dawned and with it a frown. “How did you hear about that? I swear there is no privacy at Danvers.”

“Still having problems with the new assistant, huh? Maybe you should just trade this one in like you usually do before she kills you.”

Declan enjoyed seeing his normally unflappable brother turn red and start to stammer. “I don’t know how she could have forgotten that I can’t tolerate milk. After giving me a cup of coffee loaded with the stuff, she has the gall to act like it’s my fault. Why didn’t I taste the milk? Why did I drink the whole cup before I figured it out? Why don’t I take medication for it? I’m the one who was miserable for the rest of the day and instead of apologizing, she snaps and rolls her eyes at me like I did something to her.”

“It’s not that I’m defending her, but they do make medication for that and you usually know if you’re drinking black coffee.”

Curling his lip, Brant spat, “I might have noticed had I not been stuck on a very persistent telemarketing call that she put through to my office. While she was killing me with cream, I was trying to convince some idiot that I was happy with my long distance carrier!”

Declan flopped back on the beach towel laughing at his irate brother. He could only imagine how someone as anal as Brant was dealing with this unusual office chaos. He had always been the planner and organizer in the family, even when they were children. Ava was the free spirit—or had been until that bastard ruined her life, while Brant was born wearing a business suit and Declan was the wild child. His grandfather had always called him a hell-raiser. If you were looking for variety, they had a little of everything in their family.