The Intern (The Dalton Family #4)(68)

His fingers pressed down harder on my face, and his lips moved closer, hovering above mine. “I am,” he whispered. “That is, if you’ll still have me …”





NINETEEN





DECLAN





“That is, if you’ll still have me …”

I heard the words I’d spoken to Hannah repeat again and again in my head as I stared at her beautiful face.

Before I stood at her door, pouring my fucking heart out, I’d gone for a walk around Jackson Hole’s tiny downtown, aimlessly wandering up and down the streets, trying to sort through my thoughts. I passed cowboys and couples, music filtering out to the sidewalk every time a bar door opened. When I didn’t feel like walking anymore, I found myself in a small park, the entrance an arch of antlers.

While I sat on that bench, I thought about Hannah. She was such a good girl, goddamn it. Considerate, caring. Almost every day, she brought some kind of dessert into the office, most of them apple-flavored after she found out that was my favorite. I remembered the morning, several weeks back, when I’d looked out my office window and saw her outside with my lunch in her hands, stopping to place money in a homeless man’s cup. My team always spoke about how appreciative they were that Hannah would stay long past normal office hours to help them with every assignment.

Time was something Hannah had very little of, but it seemed that was what she gave out the most—to Ford, whenever he needed her to watch his daughter; to my team, when even the slightest hiccup arose; and even to me, never saying no regardless of what I asked.

The truth was, I didn’t deserve her.

But at least I’d poured my heart out to her.

At least I’d finally told her how I felt.

And now, what gazed back at me were eyes so shocked and emotional that I could have told her she’d won the lottery.

When she’d returned to the hotel after the bar, washed the makeup off her face, and climbed into bed, she obviously hadn’t expected me to come to her door.

I hadn’t either.

Not during this trip, not while she was still my intern.

But here I was.

“Declan …” she started after taking several moments to gather herself. She filled her lungs with some deep breaths before she continued, “I know there’s a chance you’re going to hurt me. You’re human. I’m probably going to hurt you as well at some point.” She released the sides of her robe to put her hands on my shoulders. “And I don’t want you to be perfect. Perfect is boring.” She scrunched her nose in the most adorable way. “To be honest, I don’t really know how to navigate this either. I don’t have a ton of experience with relationships, so we can figure this out our way.” She slid her hands up to the back of my head. “I don’t want your opinion to always align with mine. How boring would it be if we couldn’t have hate sex after an epic debate?” She lowered her voice as she added, “I can promise, there are going to be times when you’ll want to kill me, too, like when I accidentally use your toothbrush or leave a wet towel on the bed.”

I rubbed my nose against hers, breathing her in. “You can use my toothbrush anytime you want.”

“I’m choosing us, Declan.” Her hands left my head, and they pressed against the back of my palms, holding us together. “The answer is yes. I’ll still have you.”

I couldn’t wait a second longer.

I closed the tiny space between us and slammed my mouth to hers, my entire body lighting on fire the second I tasted her.

Fuck.

This girl could kiss, and it didn’t matter how much I was savoring her mouth or taking my time with her tongue; it still wouldn’t be enough. I needed more. As I backed her up into the room, she moaned with each exhale, running her fingers through my hair.

I didn’t want to hurry.

I didn’t want tonight to be over.

I wanted to feel.

I wanted to devour.

I wanted her to know she’d made the right decision.

When we were halfway inside, the door shutting behind us, I lifted her into my arms. Her legs circled my waist, her arms hugging me, and I brought her to the edge of the bed, the mattress hitting my knees.

“You don’t have to be quiet,” I whispered against her mouth. “Jenner is on a different floor. You can scream as loud as you want.”

“Mmm.” She gnawed her lower lip, grinning. “Hotel sex might just become my favorite for that reason.”

“You think it’ll be better than the conference room table?” I kissed down her neck, tasting the vanilla on her skin. “Better than the top of my desk?”

She let out several quick breaths. “You do realize this will be the first time we’ve had sex in a bed. Table, office wall, window, chair, a desk. But never a bed.”

I chuckled. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

I rested her against the mattress and climbed on top of her, opening the robe with my teeth. Once the fabric was moved to each side, I found a sexy tank and a pair of lace boy shorts underneath.

“No,” she sighed. “What?”

“I’m going to have to make sure you never forget it.” I lifted the bottom of the tank and kissed her navel, licking around her belly button, making my way to her pussy.