Declan wanted to date her.

Sydney had been around the man for a full year, enjoying his thoroughness in bed. She’d also appreciated the dreams he’d shared regarding High Water and his worries at times for his brothers. He didn’t up and spill all the beans like a tipped-over paint can, but he said enough that she very clearly knew what to expect.

Declan wasn’t about to give up on the idea, not yet. So if she wanted to have some relief from the temptation hanging in front of her, she’d have to take matters into her own hands and do something about his single status.

Phoning him was a smarter idea than texting. No time to consider his answers.

He picked up on the second ring, which was slightly shocking. “Hey, Syd. Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great. Just wanted to know if you had any plans for tonight.”

He hesitated. “Not really.”

“Because I was thinking about you and how you said you were ready to get back into the dating scene. They’ve organized speed dating at Rough Cut tonight. I thought it’d be a great opportunity for you to test the water.”

Dead silence on the other end of the line.

“Declan?”

“Sorry. Got distracted there for a minute. One of our new guests has obviously never been anywhere outside of a city before. He’s carrying a saddle on his head.”

Now Sydney was the one distracted, trying to picture it. “Wouldn’t that hurt?”

“Probably. I’d better go rescue him, but sure. I’ll join you tonight at the speed dating. Do you want me to pick you up so we can go and register at the same time? That’s probably the best for me. I know you’re done at the clinic by five, so what time does the dating start?”

“But I wasn’t going to—”

“It’s probably something that I’d like you to go along for. Haven’t done anything like this for a long time, and it would be good to see a friendly face in the room.”

Goddamnit. The man was either the most brilliant liar or he simply didn’t know what kind of knots he was tying her up in. “Sure, that makes sense. It starts at seven, so you can swing by and pick me up at six thirty.”

“See you then.”

As the phone clicked off, Sydney ended up staring into space, wondering what the hell had just happened.