First, he needed to make sure that Evan was actually his and he would begin that step tonight. No need to look ahead until everything was confirmed. Possibly it would be better to wait until that happened before he told Ella, but he needed her tonight. She was always the calm to his storm and never had he craved that more than right now.

Chapter Thirteen

Ella ran a critical eye over her reflection in the mirror. Declan had said to dress casual this evening and she hoped that the Capri slacks and sleeveless top that she was wearing fit the bill. She had only seen him briefly since this morning, just long enough to confirm their date for this evening. He had seemed scattered and distracted. Butterflies danced in her stomach when she heard his firm rap at the door. Even his knock sounded sexy. Gosh, she could be such a pathetic girl sometimes. Opening the door she thought to herself as she saw him, oh yeah, it gets even better.

“Hey, Ellie.” Before she could answer, he was through the door and she was in his arms. She lost track of their surroundings as he devoured every inch of her mouth. She heard his answering moan when she lowered her hand and slid it along his firm butt. It might be a bit superficial of her, but she loved this part of his anatomy. It was tight and firmly muscled, just begging to be stroked. Down girl. You don’t have to make up for years of missed sex all in one month. Do try to have a little control. She couldn’t control the giggle that slipped out as she tried to give herself a pep-talk.

As Declan pulled back to look at her inquiringly, she muttered, “Whoops, sorry.”

He rubbed his thumb over her cheek as he said, “I hope your hand on my ass and the laugh that followed isn’t related.”

Ella patted him one more time on the area in question and shook her head. “Nope, I was just trying to talk myself into having some self-control where you are concerned.” She promptly wanted to kick herself for admitting that to him. She needed to work on the bad habit she had of blurting out whatever was on her mind without thinking about it first.

Chuckling, Declan pulled her further into her apartment and toward the couch. “Don’t go doing that on my account, Ellie, I like you just fine the way you are. How was your day?”

Ella groaned and fell down on the couch dramatically. “My mom finally got me on the phone. I was afraid she would come in person if I kept avoiding her calls.”

Giving her a sympathetic look, he asked, “How did that go?”

“Ugh, about how I expected. She ranted for a while and then told me how embarrassed she would be if anyone else found out. The worst part was the speech on safe sex. I think I’m scarred for life.”

Declan pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, baby, I bet that was rough. She isn’t planning to make another surprise visit anytime soon is she?”

“I don’t think so, but you can never be sure where she’s concerned.”

“Let’s just cover our bases and stay at my place then.”

“Deal.” Pulling back slightly, she looked up at him and asked, “So how was your day? You seemed a little stressed.”

She had been expecting him to laugh it off as something work related so she was surprised and a bit wary when he took a deep breath and took her hand. Surely, he wouldn’t have mentioned staying at his place if he were going to end things between them. But there was definitely something that he appeared to be trying to work his courage up for. “Declan?”

“Ellie . . . I don’t quite know where to start. Hell, I’m still in shock myself so how can I expect you to react better.”

When he paused as if looking for a starting point, she squeezed his hand in encouragement. “You’re starting to scare me. Just start at the beginning. You obviously need to get whatever it is out.”

“I know . . . you’re right. This morning Claire had a friend with her at the office.” Ella nodded her head to let him know she had seen her. “Well, I ran into them in the hallway and she seemed to know me. She even called me by name.” At her sudden stiffening, he rubbed her arm saying, “I know what you’re thinking and you are partly right, but that doesn’t have anything to do with what has happened. Just hear me out.”

“Okay, sorry. Please go on.”

“She asked if we could go somewhere to talk and we settled on meeting around the corner for lunch. Before you think the wrong thing Ellie, there wasn’t anything sexual about it. She obviously knew me and I was curious enough to see why seeing me had her so rattled, so I went.” Ella urged him on when he stopped to gauge her reaction. “I’m not proud of the fact that one-night stands were the norm for me when I was in the military and she was one of them. I thought at first that she was just there to question me about why I never called her or something like that even though it seemed a bit strange to go to that much trouble years later.”

“That wasn’t it, was it?” Ella asked softly.

“No . . . it wasn’t. She informed me that she has a son and I’m the father.”

She had guessed that as he had filled in some of the blanks, but she was still shocked enough to gasp when he finally confirmed it. “Wow, I . . . wow. Are you sure? Do you remember her at all?”

“She looked vaguely familiar to me and I remember the party she mentioned. She did show me a picture of a boy that looked similar in coloring to me. I’ll confirm it though with a paternity test just to be certain.” Worry was evident in his gaze when he turned to focus on her. “I know you didn’t sign on for this and I’ll understand if it’s just too much for you to handle.”

Ella gave him a smile of encouragement and chose her words carefully. “You’re right. I never expected this type of situation when we started dating. It means a lot to me that you are telling me now, before things go further. I don’t think I’d be who you think I am if I walked away now. I’m here for you in any way that you need me. If this child is your son, then I would be honored to meet him and spend time with you both.”

Declan pulled her against his chest in a tight hug. “I’m so glad to hear you say that because I would love for you to come to McDonald’s with me tonight to meet him.”

“Oh my God! You’re meeting him tonight?”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing formal. Julie is going to take him to the playground there and asked us to drop by and be introduced as friends of hers. She doesn’t want to mention anything around him about me being his father. I don’t think she trusts me to stick around since, rightly so, her opinion of me isn’t very high.”

“Well, why didn’t she tell you when she found out she was pregnant and at least give you a chance?”

“She claims she tried to find my contact information from the military, but they weren’t very forthcoming which is probably true. I’m usually pretty good at picking up on bullshit and she seemed nothing but sincere.”

“I’d be happy to go along tonight, Declan, if you don’t think it will make things more awkward?”

He sagged against her in relief. “Thank you. I already told her that I wanted to bring someone along. I . . . I don’t want to go alone.” Taking a quick look at his watch, he stood up and pulled her to her feet. “We need to head out.”

Ella let Declan settle her in his car and was relieved when he turned on the radio. It seemed they both needed time to ponder the meeting ahead without having to make conversation. It was amazing how far off-track this evening had veered from what she had been expecting. Declan had a son or supposedly did. He seemed to be handling it remarkably well.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She loved kids and would, of course, love a child of Declan’s even more. Probably the biggest thing she had felt initially other than surprise had been fear. She was attached to Declan. Even though they had only been dating a short time, they had formed a bond over the last few months before they had actually taken the relationship to the next level. She knew it was selfish, but she was afraid of what this would mean for them as a couple. Would this be so overwhelming for him that he would need to step back from her to concentrate on his son?