Enjoy a sneak peek into Sydney and Declan's story…

Declan was one step from the porch when Sydney’s truck rolled down the lane.

And just like that, his thoughts scattered like startled birds.

He’d been turning their situation over in his mind for weeks. The sex had started as spontaneous and secret. Now it was…more.

Or at least he wanted it to be.

He’d been about to suggest they should take their relationship out into the open when he’d gotten clobbered on the head. It hadn’t seemed the time to change things up. Not with all the other big adjustments in the High Water household plus adding a five-year-old.

But the twisting in his gut at the simple sight of her made it clear something needed to happen.

You set the rules. You can change them.

It sounded like Sadie’s voice, no matter how many years had passed since his wife had died. Clear as ever. Calling him out on his own bullshit.

It still hurt, thinking about her being gone. But his subconscious, or his id, or whatever the hell they called the part of the brain that wouldn’t let a person blow smoke up their own ass, was calling the shots right now.

It was time.

He’d been grieving for Sadie, and nothing had interrupted that pain but the plans for High Water. Then he’d still been grieving but ready for sex, and Sydney had jumped in with both feet.

He didn’t think he’d ever fully be done grieving for Sadie, but superficial sex, even spectacular superficial sex, wasn’t enough anymore.

Which meant he had some figuring out to do. Sydney was everything Declan had ever wanted in a woman. He liked them smart, he liked them sexy, and he liked them stubborn.

But the affair with Sydney had a strict fun-and-fucking-only mandate. Now that he was ready for more, he’d have to convince her she wanted him too.

The petite redhead dropped from her massive truck, bouncing up like usual. She slammed the door shut and marched forward, all fiery flash and determined motion. “Hey, you. Petra invited me to crash your dinner party yet again, and I couldn’t resist.”

“Tansy isn’t cooking; Aiden is,” he warned her.

Sydney laughed. “I know, but even your brother’s cooking skills are better than mine. I’ll take my chances. I do need to eat.”

He had to be feverish, or simply too mentally tangled up to be thinking straight. Because what he should have done was open the front door and follow her in. Take his time and develop a game plan of some sort.

But if he didn’t say something now, when? Life didn’t come with guarantees—and the look in Sydney’s eyes this morning said she’d noticed the shift too.

So he met her on the bottom step and caught her fingers in his to keep her from blowing past. “We could go out. Just us. Not secret. Not by accident. A real date.”

~~**~~

Come on back to Heart Falls. Your friends are waiting for you.