Page 94 of Try Me

“That was just for show,” he said, lowering his mouth to rub his lips along her jaw.

His face was shaved clean of the scruff she’d grown to love in Kauai, but she had to admit she liked the clean-shaven version of Declan just as much.

Dammit.

She had to get away from him before she lost all control. She reached behind her for the door handle, intent on putting space between them.

“We can have a relationship, Pearl,” he said, his voice urgent. “A real one.”

A frustrated laugh escaped Pearl’s mouth. “Listen to yourself, will you?” She pushed against his chest, wishing she could punch the peas again. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Maybe not,” he admitted. “But I love you, and if you think I will stand by and let you walk out on me, then you’re the one who’s lying to yourself.”

Maybe, but she couldn’t let him know that. He would see it in her eyes if she looked at him, so she looked away.

“I need to think,” she said. “I can’t think when you’re this close to me.”

The soft rumble of his laugh sounded, and Pearl’s knees went weak.

“That’s the idea,” he said, rubbing his lips over the shell of her ear.

Pearl was still spitting mad, and she used that to fuel her resolve. The image of Declan and Claudia wrapped in each other’s arms was burned on her brain. But it wasn’t the kiss that made Pearl so angry; it was her reaction to it. If she couldn’t handle seeing Declan with another woman when she knew it was a setup, how was she going to feel when he was with someone else for real?

She was in love with him, and it was the worst thing that could have happened. She was spiraling out of control.

“If you love me, then you’ll step aside.”

Declan sighed deeply and stepped aside. Pearl left the walk-in before she could change her mind.

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