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He leaned in to kiss her, a no-holds-barred kiss that ripped through the last shields around his heart.
The moment Piper kissed him back, he knew it was over for him.
He was lost to her. In every possible way.
She could destroy him.
She could save him.
Either way, he was in it until the end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Piper opened her eyes to the faint glow of dawn.
Declan was in her window seat, shirtless and in bare feet. One knee was up, and he was scanning the outdoors. His whiskers were thick, and his hair was tousled.
She tucked her pillow against her chest, watching him. There was something so intimate and casual about the way he was sitting quietly, as if he was simply breathing in the morning while letting her sleep.
He was so male that he literally made her toes curl, but there was so much depth to him. So much complexity.
"Morning, sweetheart," he said, not even looking over at her.
"Hi." She hugged the pillow closer. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"How did the interview go?"
"I told you. Fine. I'll hear from them probably next week."
She sighed. "I know you said that, but that's not what I want to know. How did you feel about it? How was it to be back?"
He shrugged again. "Fine."
Frustration ground through her. "I know it wasn't just fine, Declan. Why won't you tell me how it really went?" They'd just spent half the night making incredible love, and she was feelingraw and vulnerable. She needed to connect with him on a deeper level.
He finally looked over at her. "You said you didn't want things personal between us. I can't answer that question the way you want it without going to places I agreed not to go." There was no judgment in his tone. No attack. Simply truth.
She sighed and flopped back on the bed. "That's why you've been avoiding talking about it?"
"Yep."
More proof that she was an idiot? Did she really think she could do this without getting personal with him? "I want to know."
He was silent for a moment.
"Declan?"
"Well, now I'm not answering because I don't want to talk about it. You called my bluff."
She giggled and rolled back onto her side so she could see him. "Tell me one thing."
He was looking out the window again. "They changed the color of the paint on the walls. It used to be off white. Now it's more like ecru."
"Because you're a paint color expert from doing your house?"
"Yep."
