Fighting For You (Danvers #4)(16)
Ella groaned when he took the towel from her hand and placed it safely away from her. “You must think I’m a total disaster. I thought I could seduce you tonight, instead I have done my best to kill you.”
Declan felt his c**k stir even further at mention of her planned seduction. He ignored his wet crotch area and pulled her into his arms. Kissing the top of her head he said, “Honey, I thought we agreed to take things slow. You’ve probably made yourself nervous tonight. We don’t have to be in any kind of hurry.”
“I guess someone this clumsy doesn’t turn you on anymore,” she mumbled against his chest.
He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Ellie, there is nothing you could do that would make me not want you. There has barely been a day since I met you that I haven’t imagined myself buried inside of you. Dumping some water and popcorn on me hasn’t changed that and seeing the beautiful curve of your ass when you fell off the couch certainly didn’t change my mind.”
Ella looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I’m glad you thought that was funny. Would you like to borrow my pink robe while I dry your pants?”
“Nah, I’m afraid you might try to strangle me with it or something,” he joked.
Slapping his arms, she rolled her eyes and said, “Ha-ha, very funny.” Then, looking down at his pants, she continued, “That can’t be very comfortable.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea.” Shifting her to the side, he got to his feet and pulled her up with him. “I’m going to head out. I think this is a very clear sign for me to behave myself tonight.” At her pout, he tapped her chin and added, “I said tonight, Ellie, not forever. Walk me to the door.”
Declan pulled her into his arms and took her mouth in a kiss that left little doubt that his feelings for her hadn’t changed. Just when she felt like she might melt from the heat of his tongue tangling with hers, he pulled gently away from her. Running a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath and said, “You’re dangerous. The next time you kiss me like that, you’re probably going to have to up your game and stab me to keep from taking you to bed.”
Ella laughed; still pleasantly surprised to find that the always serious Declan had a sense of humor to rival hers. She slumped against the wall once he was gone and fanned herself in dramatic fashion. Even with all of the humiliating things that had happened to her tonight, it was still the best date that she had ever been on or could imagine. Well, not that she had much experience to go on, but what could possibly top that kiss?
Chapter Seven
When Declan walked through the doors of Danvers International the next morning, he wanted to do what he had always done when he saw Jason, Gray, and Nick standing around chatting: go the other way. Why was being normal so damn hard? His first inclination was always to be a loner. He did his job and whatever business communication was necessary. His talk with Nick about Ella a few days ago had been a first step. They might all hang out and see each other socially, but he tried to avoid that. He had been forced to on a few occasions and had always felt like the odd man out. These were Ella’s friends though, and if he was going to be involved with her, then he needed to try to fit into her world. He had friends in the military, but it was hard to maintain those friendships when you were once again a civilian and they were back in whatever hellhole Uncle Sam saw fit to send them.
Squaring his shoulders, he walked up to the group. He saw the surprise on each of the men’s faces, before it was quickly hidden.
Jason shifted and clapped him on the shoulder. “Morning, Declan. How’s it going?”
Declan fought the urge to abort this mission and head for the elevators, but stuck it out for Ellie. If he couldn’t manage to make small talk for five minutes, he was really in trouble. “Yeah, good morning.” When everyone continued to look at him, he wondered in a panic if he should start talking about the game last night or something. Hell, was there even a game on? Luckily, Nick could always be counted on to break the ice and this morning was no exception.
“So, Dec, you and Ella, right?”
Looking around the group he wasn’t surprised to see that they all seemed to know it. Were there any secrets around here? “Yeah, I guess you could say so. We, um . . . had our first date last night.”
Gray spoke up, “Hey, that’s great man. I like Ella a lot.” Then with a rueful smile, he added, “I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance for anything that Suzy may put her up to on your dates. I think she has adopted her as another sister, which probably means trouble.”
Declan couldn’t contain the laugh that burst out. “Well, if she was responsible for last night, she has a long way to go on her seduction techniques.” He inwardly groaned as he saw the sudden attention on their faces. He hadn’t meant to mention anything about the previous night. He knew he would never get out of this now, and he sure as hell would never get a guy card without spilling some of it. Fuck! You should have kept right on walking this morning.
Smirking, Nick jabbed him in the side saying, “You’ve got to explain that statement. I’ve never known my sister-in-law to fail at anything before.”
Declan shifted on his feet, wishing he had kept his damn mouth shut. “It’s nothing really. Ella just had a run of bad luck last night. She dumped popcorn on me, fell on the floor when she got up to go to the restroom, and poured a glass of soda in my lap at the end of the evening. I think she was pretty embarrassed about it, but it didn’t bother me.”