Lust Thy Neighbor (18 page)

"Hey?" He reached back and gave his brother a gentle shake. "Jake, wake up. We're here."

"Huh?" Jake came to, groggily rubbing his eyes. "Damn, that stuff really knocks me out."

He grinned. "Better that then you puking all over my truck. Besides, how can you complain about extra sleep?”

"True. Very, very true. This is it?" Jacob sat up, cringing at the small, yellow house as he yawned. “Wow, that’s loud.”

"Hey, be good, okay?" Declan warned. He knew he was practically begging but he wanted this day to go over smoothly.

"What do you mean?” Jacob adjusted his tee shirt and reached for the doorknob. “I'm always good."

"Yeah, whatever," he scoffed. "But you know what I mean. Please. Don't screw this up with Violet's mom, okay?"

His brother got a funny look in his eyes, and he scratched the back of his neck. "You really like her, don't you?"

He wanted to brush it off, deny it,
anything
, but what came out was a rough, "Yes." He liked Violet Kelly a lot. Much more than he probably should.

Jacob nodded.

"Grab the potatoes and cranberry sauce, will you?" Declan opened the truck door when he saw Violet leading her mom—who, with her slim figure and giant eyes, could have passed for her sister— in his direction. He walked around to meet them, already feeling the older woman’s intense scrutiny.

"Declan, this is my mom, Alice. Mom, this is Declan." Violet paused and then smiled nervously, tacking on, "My ... dinner date."

Declan couldn't help but grin back at her and for a moment, all he saw was Violet. There was no mother to meet, no brother who would potentially embarrass him by dropping the F-bomb at dinner or making a comment about the bright yellow paint Alice had picked for the exterior of her home. Violet was the only thing that existed.

"Alice.” At the sound of his own gruff voice, he cleared his throat and ripped his dark gaze from her daughter. “Thanks so much for inviting us.”

She was petite like her daughter, so she had to squint up at him as she sized him up. "Very cute,” she said out loud. “Very,
very
cute.”

Well, damn. This was awkward. Declan shuffled his feet, looking down at the gravel driveway. "Thanks?”

She squared her slim shoulders as if preparing a speech, and Declan's inside clenched. Hadn’t Violet just said her mother was her grandmother’s opposite? "Do you come from a large family?" Alice asked.

"Both my parents were only children. We have some distant relatives and a great aunt in Texas, but no one we have reunions with."

Her smooth skin slowly crinkled into a deep frown. "It must have been hard to deal with all that by yourself."

He threaded a hand through his thick hair, inhaled then exhaled. What could he say? Yeah, life just blew sometimes but he got through. He’d been the lucky one. "We’ve managed to get through it."

She paused and took a step closer to him, her blue eyes—eyes that looked just like Violet’s— narrowed slightly. Then the questions really came. "Tell me, Declan, have you ever been married?"

"No."

"Ever gotten close to getting married?"

Did this woman realize she was standing in the middle of her driveway grilling the shit out of him? "No."

"Have you ever contracted an STD? No crabs? No clap? Nothing like that, right?”

Declan could hardly hold back the surprised choking noise that burst from the back of his throat, and he could hear Violet making a strangled sound from a few feet away. Holy hell, Alice Kelly didn't pull any punches. Did she do this to all her daughter’s boyfriends?

"No,” he finally laughed. “No STDs. None ever,” he added before she had a chance to ask him the question.

"Mom, what in the fresh hell do you think you’re doing?” Violet grabbed her mother’s hand but Alice continued as if she hadn't heard her daughter. "Will you be getting married?"

He shook his head a little too quickly. "Not at this moment, no."

She put her hand on her hip, lifting a brow as she leaned into him. "But are you
planning
to?"

He gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to look over at Violet who was surely freaking out by now. "In the future, if I meet the right woman, sure."
Shit, that was probably the wrong answer.

"And do you prefer boxers or briefs?"

Okay, that was it. "Why don't you ask Violet?” He finally flicked his gaze over to her, noting the way her blue eyes were the size of Ping-Pong balls. Was she hyperventilating? “She's
well
acquainted with my choice of undergarments.”

As if it were even possible, he saw Violet's face go even redder and from the way she balled her hands into fists, he had a suspicion that she now wanted to pop him in the mouth for that last comment.

"Ugh, gross." Declan heard Jacob come up behind him. "And the answer is boxer-briefs. Declan says regular boxers don’t support his junk and tighty whities are for sixty year olds."

Alice’s youthful face lit up in a grin, and before she could ask another question, Declan said, "Jacob, this is Violet's mom.” He shot Jacob a warning look. “Alice, my little brother, Jacob."

“Hey, Jacob." Instead of extending her hand, she jerked him in a tight hug. “I’m so glad I finally get to meet you. Violet’s had nothing but wonderful things to say about you.”

He shuffled his feet when Alice released him and stared down at the ground. Declan knew exactly how he felt. Even though she wasn’t imposing like Alexandra, Alice Kelly was still a force. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, come on in, everyone. Let’s get Thanksgiving started!"

They followed, one by one, like baby ducks trailing after the mother. Their very strange, very nosy mother. Declan brought up the rear and tugged on Violet's arm when they stepped onto the porch. "She already hates me, doesn't she?"

She rubbed her lips together and smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear. "No. In fact, good job answering her questions. Mom loves a person who can toss a conversation back and forth.” She lifted her gaze to his, giving him a dark look. “But I could have done without that underwear remark."

He smiled cockily and as she started to walk away, he brushed his hand over her ass possessively. "Why?” he asked, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Your mom doesn't know you have sex?"

"Behave,” she warned. “And of course she knows. I just don't want to face playing 20 Questions about my sex life.”

He caught her before she could retreat and brought her hand up to his lips, laying a heated kiss to the center of the palm. "Funny, I just said that to Jacob." And then his brother had turned around and told Violet’s mother about his underwear preferences.

Both her brows shot straight up. “He asked about your sex life?” When Declan snorted, her lips parted as understanding dawned on her. “Then set a good example and be good,” she said with a wink before dashing into the house.

*

"N
o, I can't. I'm stuffed." Declan refused the offer of another burrito when Alice picked one up and held it out to him.

Violet hid her smile behind her glass of wine and silently added another check in the plus column for him. He had taken the Thanksgiving dinner with her mom in stride, not even blinking at the eclectic spread. In typical Alice Clarkson-Kelly fashion, her mom had laid out not only the traditional Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings, she had also included burritos and tacos and pineapple and bacon pizza for good measure.

"Mom? Do you mind if I take Declan and Jacob and showed them around?" Violet felt like they had endured enough Alice in one sitting and deserved a break since nobody had up and declared her mother crazy at any point during the meal.

"Sure.” Her mother grabbed her keys and bag from the counter. “Besides, I promised Holly I'd pop by her place today, so I'll see you guys in a little while."

Violet took Declan's hand without thinking twice and gestured Jacob toward the door. "Let's escape while we can," she whispered.

Once they got outside, Violet noticed that Jacob was two steps ahead of them, his head wandering back and forth as he took in the scenery. "Do you think he's bored?"

Declan ducked his head to steal a kiss and it sent butterflies dancing through her chest. "I'm sure he is. He gets bored quickly."

"I swear I could see his eyes glazing over at dinner. I feel horrible for dragging you guys here."

"It's alright. You can make it up to me later."

“I meant Jacob, not you."

"Well, at least you can make it up to one of the Pierces. Settle for what you can get and don't throw a fit, sweetheart."

They walked along and came to a park, Violet steered Declan towards the swings she was always particularly fond of and sat on one. "I came here a lot when I was younger."

He sat on the swing next to her, finding it difficult for his much larger body to fit. "It's nice here.”

Violet swung her head around, suddenly worried when she didn't see Jacob. "Where did he go?"

"Probably off wandering around. It's all right. He’s a big boy, Vi, he can handle himself." She watched the profile of his face as he took in the peaceful surroundings. "This is a really quiet place. Kind of hard to believe we’re so close to Philly."

"I used to come here with a book to ... get away.”

His gaze landed on her, bold and hungry, and she fought the urge to blush. At last, she looked down at the rubber mulch beneath her feet as he said, "Alice sure is something.”

She laughed and gripped the chains on either side of her tighter. That was a very polite way of putting it. "My mom has always been a bit of a firecracker. You get used to her but it takes a little while. There
definitely
weren't any dull moments growing up.”

"Did it ever bother you?"

She was going to answer with a throwaway answer—something witty—but she stopped and really considered the question. "Yes, kind of." She almost felt ashamed to say those words out loud.

"Really?" He sounded surprised.

She nodded. "When I was growing up, I guess I wanted a more traditional mom at times. As you can see, she wasn't exactly the PTA president or the type you'd find making cupcakes from scratch for class parties. Like I’ve said before, Mom is kind of a free spirit. A lot of times it felt like I was the parent and she was the kid.”

He seemed to think about that for a moment then he remembered the night she’d told him how she sometimes saw herself as Alice’s one regret. "Just in case you didn’t know it, she’s crazy about you. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have asked me so many questions.” He even had a feeling Alice was out somewhere right now, running his license plate number and trying to get a hold of his social security number to pull a detailed credit report and to make sure he wasn’t lying when she asked about his medical history.

As if she guessed what he was thinking, Violet’s full lips moved into a secretive little smile. “I know.” She leaned back and before she tilted forward to start her swing, she said, “I'm crazy about her too.”

*

"O
kay, so he’s hot,” Alice said an hour later when she walked into the house to find her daughter curled up on the couch, watching the first Christmas movie of the year.

Violet looked up at her mother as she placed her bag and keys on the counter and beamed. "He is, isn't he?"

“He makes Henry look like a wimp.” She glanced around. “So ... where is he?"

"They went into Philly for some day-before-Black-Friday shopping. Apparently, Jacob outgrew all of his pants already."

"Declan’s idea or yours?"

“His.” After they returned from their walk to the park and around Violet’s old neighborhood, Declan had pulled her aside. He had said that he wanted to give her some alone time with her mom. "They'll be back in a couple hours or so."

Alice sat on the couch, folding her shapely legs beneath her as she faced her daughter. “So, tell me about him."

"Uh oh, you have your serious face on." She knew her mother might act like she was still an eighteen year old college student sometimes, but when she wanted to settle in for a real talk, she got a certain look in her eyes.

"Violet," she began softly, "dear god, I can see you really being with him."

Violet’s heart slammed into the back of her throat. "And?"

"And there's something different about this one, that’s what."

She stilled, uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her mother. She feared hearing something she didn't want to hear from Alice. Her mom always had the uncanny knack of pinning down her boyfriends and predicting the inevitable, and with Declan, she definitely wasn’t ready for the worst.

She vividly remembered how it had been with Henry. Her mom hadn't approved. Oh, Alice was nice enough when she brought her to meet Henry at a fancy restaurant, but fifteen minutes of observing them as a couple and her mother pulled her aside, saying that it wouldn't work. When Henry had proposed and she said yes, she didn't tell her mom for two weeks, afraid of what Alice might say. Fortunately, when Henry had broken things off and left her for Natalie, Alice hadn't uttered a single word. The only thing she did was hold her daughter tightly when Violet suddenly showed up on the doorstep, in tears and in pain.

"What do
you
think about Declan?" Violet asked, terrified of the answer.

Alice shrugged one shoulder, the wine in her glass sloshing to one side. "He's a little intense at times but he seems like he can take a joke. Great sense of humor.” She smiled and took a drink. "You know how I love a good sense of humor.”

She released a breath. "I know. He's quick on the draw."

"A bit of bad boy, I think." Alice squinted at the setting sun peeking through the shutters. "Ever see him in leather? God, I bet he'd look good in leather. Your dad had a motorcycle when we met, you know? Made me all hot and bothered.”

She shook her head, not answering one way or another. She had seen a leather jacket hanging in Declan's closet but he hadn't worn it around her yet. “And mom, never, ever use the words ‘your dad’ and ‘made me all hot and bothered’ in a sentence again.”

Alice grinned and took a long sip of her wine. "He likes you, honey. Declan, that is."