shrill scream woke Ella from a sound sleep and she looked sleepily around the room trying to locate the source. What she saw made her want to pretend to go back to sleep.
Holy shit, am I dreaming? Please let me still be asleep!
After blinking a few times, the figures of her mother, her father, and her sister remained firmly in place in front of her. She cringed when she looked down and realized that she was still sprawled out on a now awake, but obviously confused Declan. “What the hell . . . ,” he began before she clamped a hand over his mouth.
Her hysterical mother finally shook herself out of the daze by saying to her father, “Bob, go call the police, now!”
Her father appeared to be looking anywhere except at her and the bed.
And if she wasn’t mistaken, her sister was actually ogling bare-chested Declan. “I wouldn’t bother, Dad,” Crystal said with a smirk, “Premarital sex might be a sin, but the last I heard, it wasn’t illegal.” Giving another long look at the way Ella was tangled around Declan she added, “And I think we can rule out the whole against-her-will thing.”
“Crystal!” Her mother huffed, “What has gotten into you?”
Everyone in the room turned to look at Ella’s sister when she joked, “I think that’s a question for your other daughter, isn’t it, Mom?”
Ella couldn’t believe that her perfect sister had just made an off-color joke and, even if it was at her expense, she had to admit that at any other time it would have been pretty funny. She felt Declan shift under her and knew that some kind of explanation was in order.
“Ellie—”
She took pity on him knowing that he was at the worst disadvantage; naked in a room full of strangers. “Um . . . Declan these are my parents and my sister, Crystal. I . . . didn’t know they were coming today.” Then turning her attention away from him, she pulled the covers up to her chin, covering both her and Declan and turned back to face her family. “What are you doing here and how did you get in?”
Her mother averted her gaze from the bed and said, “I have that key you gave me for emergencies and since you didn’t answer your door, we thought you might need some help.”
“It looks like she’s got this one covered, Mom,” Crystal snickered. Her comment set off another round of scolding from their mother, and their father looked like he wished he was anywhere else. Declan’s head was going back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. She thought he was probably in some type of shock over the whole ordeal.
She almost jumped out of the bed when Declan suddenly bellowed, “Stop! You might be Ella’s family, but I have had enough of this! You barged in here without her consent and now you are standing in her bedroom arguing amongst yourselves with us as your captive audience. Now please leave. Ella will call you later—if she wants to. But for now, we would both like you to stop invading our privacy. Your daughter is an adult and I’m sure she would like the courtesy of a phone call before you decide to drop by the next time.”
Ella, along with everyone else in the room, gaped at Declan. She couldn’t get over how he had just come to her rescue. Her mother straightened up to her full height sputtering, “Now you just wait one minute, young man,” before Ella’s father surprisingly put his arm on her shoulder to stop her.
“He’s right, Dorothy; this isn’t any of our business.” Despite the protests from her mother and her sister, he herded them through the doorway, throwing over his shoulder, “Please call your mother later, Ella, or nothing I do will stop her from coming back.” She could hear her mother continue to argue all the way through the apartment and then finally all was quiet again and she turned warily to look at the man still lying halfway beneath her.
“So . . .” Ella began weakly, “I guess you’ve met my family now.”
Declan released a deep
Holy shit, am I dreaming? Please let me still be asleep!
After blinking a few times, the figures of her mother, her father, and her sister remained firmly in place in front of her. She cringed when she looked down and realized that she was still sprawled out on a now awake, but obviously confused Declan. “What the hell . . . ,” he began before she clamped a hand over his mouth.
Her hysterical mother finally shook herself out of the daze by saying to her father, “Bob, go call the police, now!”
Her father appeared to be looking anywhere except at her and the bed.
And if she wasn’t mistaken, her sister was actually ogling bare-chested Declan. “I wouldn’t bother, Dad,” Crystal said with a smirk, “Premarital sex might be a sin, but the last I heard, it wasn’t illegal.” Giving another long look at the way Ella was tangled around Declan she added, “And I think we can rule out the whole against-her-will thing.”
“Crystal!” Her mother huffed, “What has gotten into you?”
Everyone in the room turned to look at Ella’s sister when she joked, “I think that’s a question for your other daughter, isn’t it, Mom?”
Ella couldn’t believe that her perfect sister had just made an off-color joke and, even if it was at her expense, she had to admit that at any other time it would have been pretty funny. She felt Declan shift under her and knew that some kind of explanation was in order.
“Ellie—”
She took pity on him knowing that he was at the worst disadvantage; naked in a room full of strangers. “Um . . . Declan these are my parents and my sister, Crystal. I . . . didn’t know they were coming today.” Then turning her attention away from him, she pulled the covers up to her chin, covering both her and Declan and turned back to face her family. “What are you doing here and how did you get in?”
Her mother averted her gaze from the bed and said, “I have that key you gave me for emergencies and since you didn’t answer your door, we thought you might need some help.”
“It looks like she’s got this one covered, Mom,” Crystal snickered. Her comment set off another round of scolding from their mother, and their father looked like he wished he was anywhere else. Declan’s head was going back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. She thought he was probably in some type of shock over the whole ordeal.
She almost jumped out of the bed when Declan suddenly bellowed, “Stop! You might be Ella’s family, but I have had enough of this! You barged in here without her consent and now you are standing in her bedroom arguing amongst yourselves with us as your captive audience. Now please leave. Ella will call you later—if she wants to. But for now, we would both like you to stop invading our privacy. Your daughter is an adult and I’m sure she would like the courtesy of a phone call before you decide to drop by the next time.”
Ella, along with everyone else in the room, gaped at Declan. She couldn’t get over how he had just come to her rescue. Her mother straightened up to her full height sputtering, “Now you just wait one minute, young man,” before Ella’s father surprisingly put his arm on her shoulder to stop her.
“He’s right, Dorothy; this isn’t any of our business.” Despite the protests from her mother and her sister, he herded them through the doorway, throwing over his shoulder, “Please call your mother later, Ella, or nothing I do will stop her from coming back.” She could hear her mother continue to argue all the way through the apartment and then finally all was quiet again and she turned warily to look at the man still lying halfway beneath her.
“So . . .” Ella began weakly, “I guess you’ve met my family now.”
Declan released a deep
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