Page 20 of In this Moment

Her head spun with the taste of him. Her body’s reaction was strong and immediate as one of his hands slipped down to press against the small of herback.

She was vaguely aware of the cheers and whoops of appreciation. But as far as Evie was concerned, there was no one else around. The only thing that mattered was that moment. Declan. Her. And thatkiss.

When he finally pulled away, her fingers floated up to her lips. She touched them gently, hardly believing what had just happened.

A moment later, she was jerked out of her trance by Jonah, who grabbed her arm. She looked down into his questioning face and smiled.

“What…are you…what?”

Declan laughed. “Sorry to spring this on you, buddy. I was hoping to ask you beforehand, but the moment just felt right and sometimes you need to go with it, yaknow?”

Certainly he didn’t, but Jonah nodded nonetheless.

“What do you think, Jonah?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she had toknow.

He took a moment and finally he smiled and nodded his head. “Cool.”

“Cool?”

“Yup.” Jonah focused on Declan. “Does this mean we’ll get free jet skiing at Dockside?”

Both Evie and Declan laughed. “I’ll see what I cando.”

“Cool,” Jonah said again.

“Now what do you say we go get an ice cream to celebrate?” Declan asked.

He certainly didn’t need to ask Jonah twice and as far as Evie was concerned, it wasn’t a bad idea at all. “Just let me lockup.”

She returned a moment later and Declan slipped his arm around her, and she cuddled in as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The crowd had mostly carried on with their day, but there were still a few people who offered their well wishes as the threesome walked by. But it was one familiar set of eyes that caught Evie’s attention.

Across the street, Tony stood outside of Dream Puff’s, watching them intently. She was too far away to read his expression, but it sent a chill through her nonetheless.

At that moment, Declan squeezed her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Are youokay?”

She nodded and forced a smile. “Never been better.”

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