Page 38 of Try Me

Hardly Appropriate

Pearl

His mouth washard and punishing, and Pearl felt everything that Declan kept tucked away behind those cold gray-blue eyes pour out of his kiss. The heat of his kiss sparked a flame inside her, scorching her. His lips were firm, demanding her response.

Pearl clutched Declan’s back as he pulled her closer. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he slanted his mouth across hers to deepen the kiss.

This was too much, not what Pearl had asked for, or what she intended to give. She’d been carried away on the momentum of their success. A kiss had seemed appropriate to celebrate their victory and give the audience something to remember them by.

This kiss was hardly appropriate.

Declan’s hands scorched over Pearl’s back, molding her wet body to his. Pearl felt the solid crush of his chest flattening her breasts. The slide of his hard, wet muscles slick against the flimsy fabric of her swimsuit. His thighs braced hers, steadying her as his mouth continued to assault hers.

The fear that had been smoldering in Pearl’s belly since she’d met Declan ignited. The warning bells that had been quietly tolling in the back of her mind, cautioning her to steer clear of danger, clanged and crashed until she thought her head would burst from the noise.

His tongue swept into her mouth, past her lips and teeth to lick and plunder and take.

The noise in Pearl’s head and the fire in her belly suddenly became too much for her to bear. The explosion of sound and heat demolished her defenses. His hot hands tightened around her back, fingers searing her skin.

The strong vise of Declan’s arms cinched around her, taking her weight as she tipped over his leg.

Declan wouldn’t let her fall. She’d known that from the night they’d met when he’d taken Sam by the neck and tossed him onto the sidewalk. She’d seen it again when he’d been there for her on the flight. And she would have never agreed to tandem surf with him if she hadn’t known in her heart that Declan would die before dropping her.

She arched her back, suddenly desperate to get closer.

Declan made a sound that was part moan, part growl, and eased his mouth from hers. Pearl protested. She tried to pull his mouth back, and she felt the vibration of his chuckle against her chest as he inched away, forcing space between them.

“I said, ‘Cut!’”

Declan eased back another inch, but he didn’t release Pearl completely. She remembered they were on live television, and that kids were probably watching, and her face flushed. She’d been eager for more from Declan, and he’d seemed more than ready to give. It was the first time since Sharp Park that she’d felt really connected to him, and she wasn’t ready to let it go.

“Cut!”

“We heard you!” Declan said, directing his voice across the beach toward the camera. His arms relaxed, but still held her tightly, and his eyes never strayed from her face. “That was incredible,” he said in a low voice that only Pearl could hear. His eyes danced with excitement, crinkling in the corners as he smiled a smile only for her. It wasn’t the practiced smile Declan gave the cameras; it was the real thing.

As soon as he let Pearl go, Frank grabbed her and kissed both her cheeks, then did the same to Declan. “I knew you could do it! And that kiss!” He whistled through his teeth. “That was some kiss. Whose brilliant idea was that?”

“Hers,” Declan said, tilting his chin down to Pearl. His eyebrow arched again, higher, and Pearl didn’t have to be fluent in his language to know he was teasing. “Everything was her idea.”

“Very good,” Frank said. “That was my best work yet. Let me take you out tonight to celebrate. Dinner’s on me.”

“No thanks,” Declan said. “I have plans. If that’s a wrap, I’m going back to the hotel.”

“Stay and sign a few autographs,” Frank said, gesturing at the crowd that had formed around them.

As Pearl’s gaze swept over their audience, her heart swelled. The crowd was mostly female. Some of them were drooling over Declan, but others were too young to be affected by his manly attributes. They were looking at her.

Declan noticed it too. “You ever sign an autograph?” he asked.

“No,” she said, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

“Just scribble something, but try to make it look the same every time.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the crowd. “And don’t sign your real signature,” he added. “You don’t want anybody forging your name on checks.”

Pearl nodded, grateful for Declan’s advice and the hand that had slipped down her back to guide her. His fingers were warm on her bare skin, and her mouth still tingled from his kiss, but she didn’t have time to think about the way butterflies took flight in her belly every time he touched her. As she accepted the notepad and pen from her first fan, her heart beat with a different kind of anticipation.

“This is Pearl Sunn,” Declan told the crowd. “The best surfer in the world.”

Pearl’s mouth dropped open and Declan grinned.

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