Fighting For You

“That’s pretty much what Emma says about him,” Beth nodded. “Anyway, I thought we could ask her to lunch one day. We talked a few times, and she doesn’t know anyone else at the office. The poor girl probably needs some comic relief to get through the day.”

“Come on, guys,” Claire said, “He’s not that bad. I admit, he seems to be all business, but Jason and Gray both like him.”

Continuing with her theory that sex solved everything, Suzy deadpa

Ella giggled. Leave it to Suzy to think you could solve any problem by hiring a hooker. As uncomfortable as the conversations could get sometimes, especially when she was in the hot seat, she still loved her time with the girls. She had no doubt that the women at that table could take over the world if they set their minds to it.

Declan was nervous, and it was a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time. Even with hell breaking loose all around him in Afghanistan, he had never been nervous. He always lived his life by the motto, if you have a job to do, you do it. Somehow doing something as normal as a date seemed like a daunting task. The last date he had gone on was before joining the military. Since then, rather than dating, it was more like scratching an itch when his body demanded it. He wasn’t particularly proud of the fact that he didn’t remember many names of the women he had scratched that itch with.

Ella though, deserved better. A better man would have never started this with her, but now that he had, he intended to see where it went. If that meant feeling like a damn teenager on his first date, then so be it. He had been in meetings out of the office all day and hadn’t seen her since the night before. He had called briefly to confirm their plans for the evening, half afraid that she had changed her mind, but the happiness in her voice had reassured him that she wasn’t having second thoughts.

He still didn’t know how the hell he had ended up at her door. After talking to Nick at the office, the idea had taken root. Why should he give Ella the green light to date another man when he wanted her and she wanted him? If she was that determined to get some experience, then shouldn’t it be from someone who actually cared about her? The thought of another man putting his hands on her had been more than he could stomach. She was wildly eager and responsive for someone so i

Declan tensed as a knock sounded at the door of his apartment. Glancing at his watch in impatience, he noted that he only had about fifteen minutes before he had to leave to pick up Ella. When he saw Brant standing on the other side, he cursed silently. His older brother was constantly trying to bring what was left of their family together. He wished he would save all of his attention for their sister and leave him for the lost cause that he was.

Swinging the door open, Declan motioned him inside before shutting it behind him.

It was ironic that even though Declan had turned down a position working in the family business, he still ended up working with his brother and sister at Danvers. Stone Electronics manufactured a component that Danvers International used and Jason Danvers had been very interested in acquiring the small, but solid, company as a part of his company’s expansion. Gray and Nick Merimon had come on board at Danvers when Jason also acquired their company, Mericom. Declan thought that Brant and Ava were relieved not to be ru

He was surprised to see his brother looking visibly ruffled. “What’s up, Brant?”

“Do you have the folder for the Reynolds contract?”

Giving his brother a puzzled look, Declan asked, “Why would I? That’s your baby.”

“Yeah, no shit, but my new assistant has all of my paperwork fucked up. Did she pull the Myers file for you?” Declan nodded his head. “Where is it? I looked on your desk, but didn’t see it.”

“It’s in my briefcase. I grabbed it on my way out this morning, to thumb through later.”

“Can you look and see what you have? I think she mixed up the files and I’m flying out tonight to meet with Reynolds tomorrow.”

Declan rolled his eyes and walked over to his briefcase. Sure enough, when he sorted through the stack, he found the missing file. He almost felt sorry for the woman who had made the mistake. His brother was a perfectionist and would lose sleep over something like this for days. “So, what is this, like the third assistant to bite the dust since you’ve been at Danvers?”

Brant looked at him in surprise. “I’m not firing Emma over this. I’m not happy about it, and she will know it, but I don’t think it warrants termination.”

Now Declan was the one looking at Brant with a surprised expression. “Emma, huh? I’ve never heard you call one of your assistants by her first name. Maybe I need to come up for a visit and meet the famous Emma.”

“Screw off and stick to your own damn office.” Seeing Declan look at his watch again, he asked, “Were you going out?”

Declan shifted uncomfortably, “Yeah, I have plans soon. I’ll walk down with you.”

Seeming much too interested, Brant asked, “What kind of plans? Is there someone left in Myrtle Beach that you haven’t bedded yet?”

Declan slammed the door shut behind them and flipped off his brother. “Very fu

Chapter Six

Ella fought the urge to pinch herself as she sat across from Declan in the crowded restaurant. How many times had she dreamed about just this moment? Conversation flowed easily just as it always did with them. He looked so handsome that she would have been content to stare at him across the table for the entire evening. And if she didn’t know better, she would swear that he started off just as nervous as she had. Luckily, due to the work friendship that they had forged, it was easy to slip back into the comfortable camaraderie that they had always shared.

Declan smiled at her across the table midway through the meal and asked, “How’s the lasagna, Ellie?”

She quickly swallowed the bite she had been savoring and rolled her eyes in bliss. “It’s wonderful. I’m glad that Claire recommended this place. She said it was where she and Jason had their sort of first date, whatever that means.”

“They seem happy. I met Claire’s mother last week when she came by the office with their daughter. She was pretty fu