The Nearness of You

Chapter 3

Check in at the airport went smoothly because Declan had managed to get her IDs from her room at the New Hope house at some point.

"I made a substantial contribution to the New Hope for your things." He said at her look of confusion when he handed them to her so that she could get through security.

"When?"

"After you went to sleep last night."

"Why didn't you let me grab them last night when I had the chance? Then you wouldn't have had to give them any money." Livy was angry that he hadn't listened to her and that he had to pay to get her things for her.

"It won't break me, and we barely made it out of there as it was, if we had hung around we wouldn't have made it out without my paying anyway, and it probably been a hell of a lot more than it was because with you gone they had no bargaining chip"

Who was this man? How had he played it all so smoothly, and why was he taking the time to help her. "Why are you going to all of this trouble Declan? I would have thought that you would have been pleased to see the back of me after my father died."

"I promised your father that I would look out for you, whether you married me or not. I'm keeping my promise."

"And you always keep your promises, don't you?"

"Always," he said with an edge to his voice, as if it was a fact that displeased him.

They took their seats in first class and Livy watched, once again, as the stewardess flirted with Declan, she even went so far as to try to help him with his seatbelt.

"She's flirting with you, and the receptionist was flirting with you as well," Livy said, unable to hide the confusion in her voice at the thought.

His grey eyes turned to her. "Yes, I am aware. It does happen from time to time." He settled in as the cabin announcements started.

She looked at Declan, really looked at him, and she had to admit he was a handsome man. He was large and heavily built. His hair was more silver than brown and it was cut close to his head. The texture was rough leaving Livy to believe that if he grew it out it would be a mass of curls. He had a square jaw and an almost perfect nose underlined by full lips.

"Have you thought anymore about what you want to do about your inheritance?"

Livy looked up from his lips, unaware that she had been staring at them, and he was so close that she could see the darker ring of blue that circled his grey irises.

"What exactly do we have to do again?"

"We have to get married and stay married for at least one year and after one year you will get half of your inheritance, if we stay married for two you will get it all."

"What do you get?" she looked at him guardedly. She found it hard to believe that he was going to marry her out of the goodness of his heart. Although, he had already said that he had promised her father that he would.

"It's not about me, it's about a promise I made your father."

"That seems a bit martyrish even for you Declan."

"There may be some compensations along the way." He leaned back in his seat and let his eyes wander over her figure.

"Meaning?" Livy said through suddenly dry lips.

"If we marry it will be a real marriage in every sense of the word. As we've already discussed, I keep my promises and I have no intentions of being celibate for one year."

"I find it hard to believe that you're interested in me in that kind of way Declan. You didn't express any interest in me back at the hotel, and you saw me completely naked twice." Not realizing how naïve her comment sounded, Livy turned from his direct gaze and looked out the window as they started to taxi down the runway, uncomfortable with the conversation.