Page 19 of Black Lace

She sets the salad bowl back on the bench, still looking up at me, then wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body against mine. I inhale sharply before she presses her lips to mine. I close my eyes and revel in the sensation of having her inmy arms as I pull her closely to me. I don't allow myself to think about how wrong this is, I just feel how amazing it is to be kissing the woman of my dreams.

I have no idea how long it lasts before Tiff pulls herself out of my embrace and repeats, "Sorry."

I'm still lost in the sensation and arousal of kissing her and I don't have a clue how I'm meant to respond to her apology as she picks up the salad bowl once again and steps around me to go back to the fridge.

"It's okay, I guess?" I say, still not certain what exactly is going on here right now.

She puts the bowl in the fridge and then turns back to me. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Tiff, what are we doing here?"

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them and she frowns at me. I can't help but frown back at her and I'm so annoyed that we had the best sex of my life and she seems to think that it was a bad thing. Now she's kissing me, which is giving me hope that she wants something more from me and I really wish she wouldn't give me that.

"Having dinner?" she asks as she picks up her plate and deftly sidesteps the obvious question that I'm asking.

"That's not what I want to know and you know it, Tiff."

She leads the way to the dining table and sighs asshe takes a seat. "I honestly don't know the answer to that question, Dec."

I don't respond and she takes a bite of her chicken, swallowing it before she speaks again.

"I started this day engaged to one of your best friends and that's really hard for me to reconcile. Especially when we had amazing sex earlier."

I can't stop the shot of arousal that goes directly to my cock when she says this. "You thought the sex was amazing?"

"Pffft." She makes a sound of indignation. "As if you don't know I thought that."

I consider the comment and can't stop myself from smiling at her. "Well, I mean. I wasn't entirely sure ifyouthought it was amazing."

"Of course I did." Her face has turned bright pink and she won't catch my gaze.

"Why was it so good, Tiff?" My voice has dropped and I can't keep any of the lust I feel for her out of it when I ask her this.

She finally looks at me, and I have to swallow as I try my best to stop myself from getting an erection.

"This is a dangerous topic, Declan."

It is. She's not wrong at all about that. I still want to know, but if she wants to change the topic, I won't push it. I find myself in desperate need of liquid and, if I'm honest with myself, I need something to get me away from her for at least a few moments.

"Do you want a drink of wine or something?" I stand from the table as I ask the question.

She blinks at me a couple of times, then nods, and I stride over to the bar where my family keeps a healthy stock of alcohol. I grab a bottle of white wine at random from the wine fridge and grab two glasses that I bring back with me to the table. I pour a glass for Tiff, then hand it to her before pouring my own.

"I don't think I've ever come as hard as that before, to be honest," Tiff says, and I almost spill wine all over the table as I finish pouring my glass.

Holy shit.

She apparently hasn't taken the very safe path out of this dangerous territory that I offered her with the wine and I set the bottle down, fighting the urge to finish our dinner early.

"Good to know," I manage to say, not wanting to commit any more to the conversation than that because I don't want to say the wrong thing.

"Dec?"

Her voice sounds strange, and I look over at her to find her with an equally strange look on her face. Years and years of watching this woman far too closely and I'm usually able to decipher anything she's truly thinking, but not on this occasion.

"Yes, Tiff."

"It wasn't a mistake. I want you to know that I don't think it was a mistake."

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