Page 89 of Try Me

Late For Dinner

Pearl

Pearl spentthe two-minute elevator ride figuring out what she would say to Declan. They had to break up. Their relationship was detrimental to both of their careers. It made no sense to stay together. So why did she feel like crying?

She took deep breaths, willing herself to stay strong. Stay focused. Don’t be like your mother. Don’t lose yourself to a man.

By the time the elevator stopped, she felt calm. She knew what she had to do.

The doors slid open, and a woman stepped into the elevator just as she stepped out. Pearl’s heart stopped as she looked up and locked eyes with Linda, the woman who’d broken Declan’s heart.

Linda was just as tall and blonde as Pearl remembered. She was just as beautiful, even though she’d obviously been crying. Her nose was pink, and her eyes were puffy, but she was gorgeous.

Linda was as slim as the models from across the pond who were all the rage. She had straight blond hair that hung from a middle part down to her waist, big blue eyes and a perky nose.

She smelled like men’s aftershave.

“Hello,” Pearl said, turning to look at her on her way out of the elevator.

Linda pressed the button in the elevator, glancing up at Pearl as if she had just noticed her. “Oh, hello.” A polite smile crossed her face as the doors closed.

Pearl backed away from the elevator feeling like she’d just been struck over the head by a rogue wave. What was Linda doing here on Declan’s floor? Was Nate right? Did she really not know Declan at all?

There must be a misunderstanding. Certainly Linda hadn’t just come from Declan’s room. But there had been a hint of aftershave clinging to her clothes. She’d smelled like him. Where else had she come from?

Pearl marched down the hall, stopped in front of Declan’s door, but she didn’t knock.

She felt like someone had torn her heart out of her chest and stomped on it while laughing maniacally. She wanted to wilt and blow away like ashes in the wind, and then the next moment she wanted to explode with anger.

She raised her fist and knocked. She wanted to kill somebody, and Declan would do nicely. She held her breath until the door swung open.

Declan filled the crack in the doorway. The tension on his face cleared when he saw her, and he opened the door wide enough to snake an arm around her waist and pull her into the room. Pearl’s heart skipped a beat as the heavy wooden door swung shut behind them and Declan scooped her against his chest.

Pearl had a moment to register the extreme luxury of the hotel room. It was bigger than the entire cabin in Kauai.

Before she could even say hello, Declan bent his head and caught her mouth in a kiss that made her clutch his neck and drag him closer.

God, what this man did to her! His hot, demanding mouth melted her brain. She couldn’t even remember why she was mad at him; all she could think about were the promises he’d made about what he would do to her in that enormous bed she’d glimpsed as he’d pulled her into the room.

She kissed him back with wild abandon, then moved her mouth to his jaw to kiss the freshly shaved skin above his throat. She smelled his aftershave and her anger came flooding back. Linda. The name evoked a hollow feeling in her heart.

Pearl pushed against Declan’s chest, and he looked down at her, eyes narrowed.

“You passed Linda in the hallway,” he said in a tone that said he already knew the answer.

“Mmm-hmm,” Pearl said, raising her eyebrow at him in challenge.

“You didn’t like it, did you?” he asked, dipping his head to nip at her bottom lip.

Desire quickened in Pearl’s belly as Declan’s teeth closed over her lip and tugged. He ran his tongue along the inside of her mouth, and she shivered with longing.

“You’re jealous,” he said, squeezing her waist and then running his hands up her ribcage.

Pearl’s heart pounded hard against her chest, hard enough for Declan to feel it. Declan kissed one corner of her mouth and then the other, rubbing his lips over hers to tease her mouth open.

“You don’t have to worry about Linda,” he said, “or any other woman, okay?”

Pearl pulled back and looked at him. She could see that he wasn’t lying.

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