“Well, just give me a call if you have any questions, or if you’d like to see more.”

She ushers us out of the house and locks the door as we walk to Declan’s car. Peggy waves as we pull away.

“Talk to me, baby,” Declan says and takes my hand, squeezing three times.

“I don’t know what to say,” I reply.

“You’re out of sorts today.”

I nod and look out the passenger window. Geez, I’m moody. Hormones? Probably. Or, I’m just a girl.

That’s usually reason enough to get teary, but I don’t like to cry, so that just makes me even crabbier.

“I liked the last house,” I say after I clear my throat.

“But you didn’t love it,” he guesses correctly. “It’s okay, you’ll find it. You’re not in a huge rush.”

“Right.” Except I am in a rush. I want my space. I want to get elbow-deep in a project and make something ordinary beautiful. I want that.

Soon, Declan pulls into his driveway, but rather than get out of the car, I turn to him.

“Dec, I’m not great company tonight. You can just take me home.”

He frowns, his hazel eyes seeing too much as he cups my cheek and lightly brushes his thumb over my jaw. “I don’t want to be without you tonight.”

I lean into his touch, turn my face to kiss his palm, and nod. “Okay. Let’s be lazy tonight.”

“Do you know the definition of lazy?” he asks with a laugh and unlocks the house, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.

“The bar has been slow enough for me to take a couple of days off a week,” I remind him. “I can be lazy.” Kind of. “Why aren’t you working tonight?”

“Broken sewer line,” he says with a cringe. “Happens in buildings more than a hundred years old.”

“Yuck.” I shudder and glance to the empty room on my right. It’s between the library and music room. I’d open it up with wide windows and make it a sunroom, and spend every morning with my coffee in there.

And my imagination chooses now to wake up. Great.

Once in the kitchen, Declan says, “What would you like for dinner?”

“A big burger and Tavern Tots from Highland Tavern.” I sit in a stool and brace my chin in my hand on the island.

“I don’t know where that is.”

“It’s in Denver. I’ve been craving it like crazy.” I shrug. “Really good burger joint.”

“Huh, well, I can go grab burgers here, but it’s going to take time to get your Highland Tavern, and I’m hungry now.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere, and I don’t want you to go anywhere. Let’s just order pizza.”

He nods and circles the island, then just hugs me. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just thinking about the houses we saw today. I think I’ll pass on all three.”

“We’ll find you something.”

I nod and smile, tired of moping, and being a Debbie-downer. I do my best to shake off my mood and playfully grab Declan’s ass.

“I’m hungry too. Are you gonna feed me, or what?”

“I’ll feed you,” he says after kissing my chin. He pulls his phone out and dials the pizza place we both like, places our order, and reaches out for my hand. “Let’s eat and lounge upstairs. We can watch Netflix and be lazy.”

“Perfect. I’m gonna take my pants off.”

“That is an excellent plan,” he says with a laugh. The main stairway in this house is grand and dramatic. I’d refinish the banister and hang a more modern chandelier over the landing.

There are four empty bedrooms upstairs, and I’d love to knock down a couple of walls, make the spaces bigger.

Stop it! This is not my house!

I have to stop renovating Declan’s house in my head. I don’t live here, and I probably never will.

Declan’s right; I’ll find my place.

The pizza arrives faster than we expected, so he fetches it while I shimmy out of my jeans and climb in bed, under the covers and everything. I grab his pillow and bury my face in it, breathing him in.

I fucking love the way he smells.

“Okay, despite my better judgment, I had them add mushrooms because I know you like them,” Declan announces as he returns to the room. He stops on a dime, in the middle of the space, holding a big box of pizza, sodas and a bag of bread and just stares at me.

“What?”

“I—” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head, then walks the rest of the way to me. “You’re just beautiful. Sometimes you take my breath away.”

I blink at him, completely thrown. Declan is a mellow man, but he’s also an artist, and with his artist's heart comes a romantic side. He has a sweet habit of knocking me back a step with it because I never know when it’s going to show up.

“Thank you.”

***

“The show comes on in fifteen,” Adam announces and changes the channel on the big TV in the back of the bar to the Travel Channel.

“I can’t believe they were here only a month ago, and it’s already going to air.” The Odyssey isn’t packed this evening, and that’s okay with me. It’s a Monday, after all, and deep into autumn. I’m nervous about the show, how I’ll look, how the bar will look. Having a huge crowd here would only make it worse.

I grin down the bar at Declan. Of course he came to watch it with me. He calms me. I’ve never told him that, but I’m pretty sure he knows.

He checks an incoming text on his phone and frowns, replies, and lays the phone face-down on the bar. I cock a brow when he looks at me, but he shakes his head, as if it’s no big deal.

Must be work.

A large group comes through the doors, laughing and chatting, catching all of our attention, and I feel my jaw drop as I realize it’s the entire Boudreaux family, even Declan’s mama.

“Hi everyone!” I smile at them all and then look questioningly at Declan, but he just smiles. “What are you all doing?”

“Well, we came to watch the show, of course,” Dec’s mom says and winks at me. “This place sure is beautiful. No wonder they wanted to put it on television.”

“Thank you.”

“We mostly want to watch Dec make an ass of himself,” Beau says as he claps Declan on the back.

“That’s your job, big brother,” Declan replies.

“Well, have a seat wherever you like, and I’ll have my cocktail waitress come get your drink orders.”

I walk over to Declan and lean in so only he can hear me. “Did you know this was happening?”

“I told Beau and Eli about it when we worked out together yesterday. I didn’t know that they used the family phone tree to fill everyone else in, but I think it’s nice.”

“It’s better than nice,” I reply. “I just didn’t expect it.”

“They like you,” he says simply, kisses my cheek and joins his family just as the opening credits of the show begin.

The room grows quiet as we watch, and I’m thankful The Odyssey is the first bar showcased in the show because waiting until the end would be pure torture.

“Lookin’ good, Callie!” Rhys calls out to me when I first appear on camera, and the other boys whistle and cat-call.

“I’ll break your fingers,” Declan says in that smooth way he has, as if he was saying the weather sure is nice.

“You should have let Charly do your makeup, Dec,” Eli says when it’s Declan’s turn on the screen. “You might have looked prettier.”

“Boys,” their mama says sternly, and all three of them pout as if they’re tiny children again, making me laugh.

“You wore the shoes!” Charly exclaims.

“Of course,” I reply. “I love those shoes.”

When our segment is over, which feels like it was three seconds and three hours all at once, we all applaud and cheer. I’m happy with the results. They made the bar look hip, fun and classy, and that’s exactly the atmosphere I’m looking for.

Having Adam with me, and Declan’s family too, is just icing on the cake.

***

“Everyone’s gone,” Declan says after coming back in from walking his family to their cars. “And they had fun.”

“Me too.” I grin, and catch a look that passes between Declan and Adam.

“Hey, Callie, I think there’s something on the roof that needs your attention,” Adam says.