Page 86 of Scorched

He bent down and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you, Jenny. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, dear.”

With a smile, he turned away.

“What were you two talking about?” Maggie asked as he met her in front of the cake table.

He touched the edge of the silver board the red velvet cake sat on with one finger and shrugged. “This and that.”

She hummed. “Secretive. Okay.”

“No secret. Just stuff. She’s a wise woman.”

“She is.” She gave him a curious look, then grinned. Leaning in, she twisted his tie between her fingers. “So, do you think it would be poor form for the maid-of-honor to leave before the happy couple?”

Declan chuckled, locking his hands behind her waist. “It would, but I think they’re leaving soon.” He nodded toward Tara, who rubbed at her back while Jace looked on, concerned.

“Perfect.” She turned back to him to twine her arms around his neck. She pressed a quick kiss to his mouth.

“Don’t start that. Not yet,” he muttered, pulling back with a smile.

She gave him a naughty grin.

Jace let out a sharp whistle, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I want to thank you all for coming despite the last-minute change of plans. We feel very blessed to have you be part of our day.”

“That being said,” Tara continued, “we’re going to leave you all to party on without us. After such a late night, we’re both ready to crash. Thank you again for coming.”

To applause and cheers, they walked out of the yard into the main house.

“So, does this mean we can leave now?” Maggie whispered in his ear.

Prickles of heat raced along the back of his neck and down his spine. “Hell, yes.” He looked down at her. “Don’t we need to stay to clean up, though?”

“Mom said we’re just going to put the food away and take out the trash to keep the animals out, then do the rest of the take down tomorrow.”

He growled. “It could be a couple hours yet before that happens. Even without the bride and groom, people don’t want to leave. Asa’s getting ready to play another set.” He pointed at the stage, where Asa had his guitar in hand, standing off to the side while Trent’s band finished their song.

She took his hand and walked backward. A wicked smile spread over her face. “Well, I guess we have a couple hours to kill.”

Declan fought to keep his body under control at what she proposed. They were in public, and he didn’t want to make it blatantly obvious why they were walking away from the party. Expression neutral, he kept their pace slow as they walked away from the crowd. Once they disappeared into the growing twilight, he picked up the pace and tugged her toward the nearby outbuildings.

“In here?” He pointed to a shed near the grain storage bins.

“That works.”

He twisted the knob, thanking his lucky stars it wasn’t locked, and let them in. Declan yanked her inside, shut the door, and pushed her up against it, fusing his mouth to hers.

She moaned as his hands roamed her body, sending his arousal to another level.

“Is there a light in here?” he asked, moving his mouth down her neck and nuzzling her cleavage.

She let out a strangled groan as he dipped his tongue beneath the neckline of her dress. Her hand slapped at the wall moments before the lights flickered on.

“Excellent. Now I can see you in nothing but those heels.” He stepped back, eyeing her up and down. “Take off your dress.”

Maggie reached an arm up behind herself for the zipper, thrusting her breasts forward.

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