Page 52 of In this Moment

He’d had two more conversations with Wes throughout the day, and it was looking more and more like he couldn’t put off his trip down south. He didn’t want to think about leaving Evie, especially when she was clearly so stressed, but he might not have a choice. He had a plan, though. While he was gone, he was going to groom Wes to take over the official business and move out of his currentrole.

If he set everything up just right, he’d be able to phase himself into more of a director role that handled things from afar and Wes could be the face of DAR. He’d been doing more and more of the work anyway, and maybe that would give Declan a chance to focus on some local project and start a branch of DAR that worked on smaller projects that were closer tohome.

After all, there was a lot of good to be done all over the world. Maybe it was time to diversify.

“You don’t have to make popcorn.” Evie appeared in the door of the kitchen, distracting him from his thoughts. “I’m not really all that hungry.”

“It’s not about being hungry.” He laughed. “It’s about tasting the gourmet flavors of my specialty popcorn.”

“Gourmet?”

That got a little smile out ofher.

“Absolutely,” he said. “You’re probably used to regular ol’ boring popcorn with butter andsalt.”

She nodded.

“Well, prepare yourself for this.” With his spoon in hand, he drizzled the final touch on top of the bowl, gave it a toss and held it out to her. “Your taste buds are going to explode.”

She raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes at him. Declan didn’t care whether she thought he was a little over the top, or even if he was way over the top. He just wanted her to smile and laugh and not think about anything else for a few hours. Evie reached forward and took a piece of popcorn from the bowl. She popped it in her mouth and he waited.

She made a big production of chewing slowly, savoring the piece, but finally after what seemed like forever, she swallowed and smiled. “It’s delicious.”

Declan did an exaggerated fist pump. “I knewit.”

“What’s on it?” She helped herself to a handful. “It’s sweet, but salty and a little spicy at the sametime.”

“Kind of like you.” Declan put the bowl on the counter and closed the distance between them. He ran a hand down her cheek and cupped it gently before he kissedher.

“Does that mean you’re not going to tell me your secret recipe?”

He kissed her again, this time harder and more thoroughly as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body to his. “That’s exactly what it means. But I have other secrets foryou.”

“Oh really?”

“Absolutely.” He kissed her neck, trailing his lips down toward the dip of her shirt. “Like this.” He kissed her deeply between her breasts. The sound that slipped out only encouraged him to keep going. “I have another secret, too.”

“Oh yeah?” Her voice was husky, her breath barely contained. “What’sthat?”

“I’ll need to take you into the bedroom to show you.” He kissed her again, while his hands traveled down her front. He was only barely containing himself. What he really wanted to do was rip her clothes off and take her right there in the kitchen.

No.

What he really wanted to do was lay her out on the kitchen table, kiss his way down her body until he got to that sweet apex between her legs where he could bury his face and taste every inch ofher.

A growl escaped his throat and it was all he could do not to throw her over his shoulder.

“What are you going to show me in the bedroom that you can’t show me here?” She was teasing him, but she had no idea how on the edge hewas.

“Oh baby. You’re right, I don’t need to take you anywhere.” He bit her neck, just enough to make her squeal. “I’m fully prepared to show you my secrets right here, rightnow.”

She groaned, and that was all the encouragement he needed.

In an instant, Evie was in his arms. He glanced at the table, but there was too much stuff, and as much as he wanted her, he wasn’t prepared for that kind ofmess.

Besides, he had plans for her and it involved getting her into that big bed of hers, where he’d been spending far too many nights being far too well-behaved.

“So what are you waiting for?” Evie leaned forward and kissed the soft spot at the base of his neck. Declan had no idea that was an erogenous zone for him, but the second her lips touched his skin, his dick twitched in his pants.

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