He laughed into the next kiss. “Really.” He planted his lips down her throat, into the V of her cotton sweater, sliding one hand up to sear her waist and ribs with a callused, hot palm. “’Cause it’s kind of making me lose my mind.”
She moaned her response, arching and offering him an invitation to touch her. He took it, caressing her breast over the thin silk of her bra with one hand and cupping her cheek to angle her face for a deeper kiss with the other.
Denim rubbed denim as they rolled their hips against each other, each breath more strangled than the one before, her ears ringing as blood rushed between her legs and tortured her with sweet pleasure.
No, that wasn’t her ears.
Declan broke away and rose up. “What is that bell?”
“Granddaddy,” she said on a sigh. “He probably wants to be helped to the bathroom for the evening.”
“He’d be really unhappy if he knew he interrupted this.”
“Seriously.” She kissed him one more time, knowing that this particular interlude was about to come to an untimely end.
He sat all the way up and tugged her sweater back over her bare stomach, making her moan with disappointment. “It’s better this way,” he said.
“Says who?”
“Says the voice of reason. Evie. You do need to think about it and consider every aspect. Ask me a million questions. Make me sign something if you…” His voice trailed off.
“I will think about it. In fact…” She kissed him again. “I probably won’t think about anything else.”
“That makes two of us.”
They stood slowly, a little shaky, but held on to each other. “I’m bringing Judah home tomorrow.”
“Not without me you’re not.”
“You think I need you for everything?” she teased.
“For some things. Like Judah. And…a baby.”
“A baby.” She whispered the word, letting the possibility rest on her heart. “I can’t believe we’re even talking about it.”
He put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her one more time. “It might have taken a long time, but I’m a man of my word, Evie.”
She sighed against him, open to anything at all if he could be a part of it.
* * *
When Declan stepped outside a few minutes later, his head was still reeling. He took a few seconds to stand in the shadows of the front porch, looking out at the lights as they flickered to life and twilight fell.
He waited for a kick of second-guessing, but none came.
The suggestion might have been spontaneous and prompted by an old promise, but the rightness of it settled on his chest like a shiny new department badge.
He had no doubts. Questions, yes. Concerns, of course. But nothing he and Evie couldn’t work out as adults who cared intensely about each other’s well-being. Just as he was about to step off the porch toward the walk, something flashed in the street, making him stop.
Not lightning. Not a porch light in the neighborhood. A camera flash. Another flipping tourist.
On instinct, he inched back into the shadows, scanning the sloping driveway to the street beyond, empty but for one car parked in front of a house across the street. Wasn’t it a little late to be sightseeing?
He stepped off the porch then and onto the walk, giving the evil eye to the interloper even though they probably didn’t deserve it. Hell, the house was one of the prettiest things in Bitter Bark. And so was the woman inside it.
He turned back to look up the driveway, forcing himself to see Gloriana House for all its, well, glory. And not what it represented in the past, but…the future. For him and Evie. The two of them—oh, no, the three of them—making Gloriana House a happy home.
He almost choked at the thought. Not only had he made a compelling case for the most life-changing scenario imaginable, was he actually thinking about the possibility of…living here?
Yeah. He’d lost his mind. Or had he? What if there was a baby? What if Evie stayed in Bitter Bark? What if they raised a child here so Evie could carry on all her traditions and hold recitals in the museum room, and they could entertain a pack of cousins and aunts and uncles at that dining room table? Would that be so bad?
It might be tough sometimes, but if it would make her happy?
He reached his truck at the bottom of the driveway, glancing at a sleek silver BMW on the street, where a man sat behind the wheel, reading his phone. His window was open, and when he looked up, he caught Declan’s gaze.
Oh, what the hell? Suddenly feeling magnanimous and even a little bit proud of the property that brought people from far and wide, Declan lifted a hand in greeting. “S’up, man?”
“Just admiring the house,” he said.
“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” Well, there were some words he never thought he’d speak, but they felt kind of good on his lips.
“Sure is,” the man said. “Has she made any decisions about the sale yet?”
The sale? He slowed his step. “Are you the guy who made an offer?” he guessed.
The man stared back at him, not answering right away. “Depends on who’s asking.” He angled his head, showing a thin face under his wire-framed glasses. “Not sure I want the free world to know I made it.”
“I’m not the free world,” he assured the man. “I’m a friend of the owners.”
He nodded, eyeing Declan. “Well, the offer was serious. Does she know that?”
“She mentioned it to me.”
“I was thinking about asking again, but…” He shrugged. “I really don’t want to be pushy or rude. I love the house.” He laughed. “And I love the woman I’m marrying,” he added. “She wants this house so bad, she begged me to take pictures of it in all lighting.”
Suddenly, the thought of another couple
