Page 68 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

“Agree to disagree.”

A crackling sound came over the speakers.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Miles Ford, and this is AJ James.” Miles Ford began the introduction.

“I have to go. The movie is going to start.”

I turned to leave, but Declan reached out and grabbed my wrist. The moment he touched me, arousal spread through me like a dam bursting, flooding my system. My knees went weak, and a shock of bliss curled low in my belly.

My eyes lifted to meet his, and everything around me melted away. The cars, the people, the sounds—all disappeared.

“Please say yes.”

I could see the desperation in his eyes. I knew that it wasn’t about me. He needed to save his company.

“There areso manywomen who would happily marry you.”

“But only one I want to marry,” he stated, then dropped his hand from mine as if he’d just touched a hot stove, and his expression was one I couldn’t quite read.

He looked surprised and unsettled…then there was nothing. His face went completely blank. A mask went up, and he turned and walked away. I stood, watching his back as he retreated, wondering why he’d reacted the way he had. He’d appeared shocked that he’d said what he had. Why would he be shocked? Why would he be anxious? He was the one who said it.

I scanned the parking lot to find Nadia. She was cozied up with one of the male models who had served in the armed forces the studio had hired to hand out popcorn. Skylar was at home with Hank. Zoe was with Miles. Daphne was with Harlan. Nadia was coupled up with her flavor of the night. And I found myself alone after sending away the hottest, sexiest man I’d ever met, with whom I’d had the best sex in my life, and who asked me to marry him.

Yeah, I should probably reevaluate my life choices.

24

DECLAN

This is a bad idea.

I ran my hands through my hair as I sat on the top steps of Ashley’s house and waited for her to get home. I’d come to the conclusion that I was making poor decisions. That conclusion was not solely based on the fact that I was sitting on a dirty wooden slab, it was also because my behavior could be considered bordering on stalker territory.

Why had I admitted that she was the only one I wanted to marry? I’d shown all my cards. If I was bluffing, and it was a tactical move, that would be fine. But it wasn’t. The problem was that it was true, and admitting that was basically exposing my Achilles’ heel. She was my kryptonite. Not that she had any fucking clue. She clearly didn’t know the effect she had on me.

I had zero control when it came to Ashley Thompson. I said things, did things, thought things, and felt things that were reckless and totally out of character for me. As someone who suffered from OCPD, that scared the shit out of me.

Being married to the woman, even if it was only for ten weeks, could be my undoing. But now that the thought had come into my mind, I couldn’t imagine myself marrying anyone else,even if it was for a limited time and solely for the purpose of gaining control of my business. I was obsessing over it, which, again, I had OCPD to thank for.

Headlights shone on the dirt drive that led to the farmhouse. There was a house situated near the road on the property that belonged to Hank Comfort, the husband of Ashley’s sister Skylar. I was glad that she wasn’t out here alone. I didn’t like the idea of her being in such an isolated area.

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest as I stood and watched her car drive up the path. No one had ever made me nervous, but she did—from the first time I’d laid eyes on her in the bar. All I’d seen was her profile, and yet I’d known that there was something different about her.

I still couldn’t believe that Ashley was Carrie and Carrie was Ashley.

What were the odds that we’d both given each other false names?

There was something serendipitous about that. Or maybe I was just reading into it. I tried telling myself it was fate, but in reality, it was just two people trying to escape who they were for a night.

As her car pulled to a stop, my pulse raced, and I wondered just how mad she was going to be that I was here waiting for her at her home. She hadn’t been happy about me showing up at the movie premiere. To think that she was going to give me a ticker tape parade welcome was wishful thinking.

After leaving the drive-in, I’d made it all the way back to the estate but made a U-turn and ended up here. I needed her answer before flying back to Atlanta. I knew that there was no way I could sleep tonight, tomorrow night, or the night after if I didn’t have it. At the very least, I couldn’t leave things the way we had. I wanted to plead my case once more without an audience of cars around us.

She stepped out of the driver’s side, and her long red hair shimmered beneath the moonlight. Her fair skin had an angelic glow. Her ruby-red lips and huge blue eyes called to me like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm, which is what she was to me right now. My life felt like a storm, and she was the direction I was going for safety.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I just want to talk.”

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