Page 43 of Hearts on Ice
“Are you—are you going to buy something?”
“Maybe.”
She couldn’t imagine what they could possibly use in here. She’d be happy to just have him, back in bed. In private.
Then he stopped, his attention on a rack of products. She followed his gaze, and just when she thought her face couldn’t get any more red, she thought she’d burst into flames.
“I think…strawberry.” He pulled a pack of edible underwear off the rack. “You want to get some?”
“For you?” Now her voice was a squeak.
“Well, for me to wear, I guess.”
“I don’t think so?”
He flashed that playful grin she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. “Don’t think you’re going to get out of reciprocating.”
“Oh, I have no trouble reciprocating,” she replied, a little thrill running through her.
“One more thing.”
“How long have you been thinking about this?” she asked, a little stunned when he stopped below a mannequin wearing a strappy black bondage-looking outfit. “I’m not—”
But instead of selecting a similar outfit for her, he picked up a pair of handcuffs padded with a leopard print fabric.
“These, are the feathery pink ones?”
That little thrill had ignited into a much larger one, accompanied by an urgency she wouldn’t acknowledge here in this shop. “Those.” She pointed to the ones in his hand, and was rewarded with a wicked look. “Make sure there’s a key, though.”
“Absolutely.” He turned toward the raised register, where the clerk was watching them with a touch too much interest. “Anything you wanted to look at?”
She shook her head. She couldn’t think of anything anyway.
He led the way up to the register, used his credit card to pay, which shocked her.
“You want a bag?” the clerk asked, clearly not interested in who they were.
“No, thanks.” Declan palmed the pack of edible underwear, and hooked the handcuffs on his finger.
“You folks have a good night,” the clerk said without an ounce of judgement as they walked out, Declan spinning the handcuffs around his finger.
Colby caught sight of the two vehicles that had followed them, the flash of light as a camera went off, and she reached to take the handcuffs away from him. He laughed and held his hand over his head, out of her reach, still twirling them.
Lord. The reporters’ persistence paid off. She was sure that was the photograph they wanted.
“I don’t want them following me home,” Declan said when they climbed back into the truck. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
She relaxed a little bit against his seat when she noticed the cars didn’t follow them. Maybe Declan’s idea to stop and give them something to write about had been a good idea after all, no matter how humiliating it would be tomorrow.
CHAPTER17
The buzz of desire Declan had lost was building up again as he unlocked the door to his apartment. He was surprised Colby seemed a little on edge. They’d decided not to stop for dinner, to order something instead.
He turned on the living room lights and turned to smile at Colby.
“I just need to go freshen up,” she said, motioning to the bathroom.
Maybe a glass of wine would help. He wondered if he had any. He didn’t spend a lot of time in his apartment, and looking around, he could see that was apparent. He didn’t know what Colby was used to before she’d come home, what kind of apartment she’d had. With her lifestyle back in California, he suspected she hadn’t spent much time at home, either.
