Page 31 of Dark Secrets

“No need to sneak it.” He chuckled. “You can have it if you can make it fit. What?” he asked when she stared.

“I’d laugh, but you actually mean that.”

“I do.”

He bit into a slice of bacon, his eyes dropping to her mouth. When she captured her bottom lip between her teeth, he had to swallow a groan and look away. Having her across the hall all night had hardly helped quell the dreams he’d been having about her.

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome, so I should probably get going today.”

He swallowed the bite of bacon that had suddenly gone to sawdust in his mouth. “Leave to go find a different place to stay or leave Philadelphia?”

“I… I’m not sure. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Last night, the job. But I should go before I cause any more problems.”

With a huff, James shoved away from the table and carried his plate into the kitchen. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to hurl the damn thing into the sink at the idea of her leaving town altogether. She was right. It was probably what she should do. It wasn’t what he wanted her to do.

He wanted her in his house, safe from whoever or whatever might hurt her. Better yet, he wanted her in his bed, but that was still a line he couldn’t cross. It already felt dangerous to have her here, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to leave.

“You can stay as long as you want. Don’t rush out on my account.” He hoped he’d pumped the right amount of sincerity and calm into his voice.

He felt her presence at his side more than heard it. That sweet scent he’d come to associate with her clinging to her skin and wrapping around him. It made him want to pull her close, so he shifted away, leaning back against the sink opposite her and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m not rushing out because of you. I don’t want you to think that. But about last night. When we… When I almost…” She fumbled with the sleeve of her sweater. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

James barked out a laugh. “Is that what you thought you made me? Uncomfortable?”

Before he could stop himself, he stepped closer, watching her for any signs that she needed him to move back. Standing this close, he could feel the heat of her body and see the amber flecks in her eyes. He should step away. He didn’t want to.

“Delaney.” He expected her to tense, but she relaxed against the counter, her eyes never leaving his. “I felt a lot of things last night. Uncomfortable wasn’t one of them.”

He didn’t really know who closed the gap between them, but suddenly, finally, his mouth was on hers, and he knew exactly how she tasted. He didn’t touch her; he wasn’t entirely sure he could control himself if he gave in to his desire to skim his hands down her sides and around to the small of her back, so he pressed his palms flat to the counter on either side of her hips while he explored her mouth with his tongue.

She didn’t touch him either. He thought she was kissing him back, her tongue teasing against his, but an alarm bell went off in the back of his head. One that said shy, scared, quiet Delaney might not resist even if she didn’t want it.

He broke the kiss, and she gasped. The sound knifed into him and twisted guilt into a knot in his stomach. Her eyes were wide and her breathing ragged when he chanced a look at her face.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—“

She didn’t let him finish, her arms circling his neck and tugging him forward until their lips met again. He touched her then. He couldn’t have stopped himself if he wanted to, groaning against her lips when he slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him.

She felt so delicate in his arms. Breakable. Precious. He wanted to hold on to her and never let go. That thought alone should have had him ending the kiss, backing away from her, offering to take her anywhere but the spare bedroom in his apartment. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.

For the first time in over two years, a woman had ignited something in him he wasn’t sure still existed. She was a spark that set him aflame, and even if just for this singular moment, he wanted to take from her whatever she was willing to give while they were both barefoot in his kitchen.

He swept his tongue against hers, and she sighed. She tasted like syrup, and her arms tightened around his neck. The only thing that stopped him from lifting her onto the edge of the counter and seeing just how far they were both willing to go was the reverberating ring of his goddamn cell phone.

She buried her face against his neck, her breath hot and panting against his skin. It sent shock waves straight to his cock while he dug his phone out of his pants pocket.

“Doesn’t that thing have a mute button?” she wondered, and he couldn’t help the laugh that rumbled through his chest.

“I hope someone is dying,” he said into the phone.

“And a good morning to you, cousin,” Declan said a little too cheerfully. “I need you to come to Glenmore House Friday night.”

“Is there a meeting I forgot about?”

James toyed with the hem of Delaney’s sweater, his fingertips occasionally brushing against the smooth skin of her hip.

“No. Your father will be back by then,” Declan said. “We’ll debrief over dinner. It’s been a while since we had the whole family together. Seven,” Declan added and hung up.

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