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Her response was to roll her ass back against him, while taking his hand on her stomach and sliding it farther down her body. “Not at all.”
His hand dropped beneath her night dress and lifted it up, his fingers trailing around her bare skin until he reached the curve of her hip, noticing she’d neglected to put her underwear back on. Gripping the inside of her thigh, he rolled her back against him, spreading her leg and hooking it over his thigh.
When his fingers glided along her seam, he listened to her intake of breath. Felt the first shiver when he found her clit, rubbing it between his fingers. Every exploration of what brought Holly joy filled him with a sense of pride and satisfaction.
“Declan,” she whispered, her hand coming around to cradle the back of his head as she turned her face, reaching for his lips with hers. Declan met her kiss as Holly’s body jerked and trembled. He continued his onslaught until she’d fallen back against him limply, a soft sigh escaping her lips as their kiss broke.
“Wanna go for round two?” Holly murmured, releasing a small yawn.
Declan kissed her nose with a laugh, rolling her towards him until her head rested on his chest. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I’m good.”
“Just don’t wake me up for smexy time, or I may kill you in an exhausted rage.”
Declan smiled, pulling her tighter against him. “I’m not much of a morning person either.”
“Look at that. Something in common.”
“Good night, Elf.”
He held Holly as her breathing deepened, feeling a sense of a sense of contentment—no, it was stronger than that than that. It was as warm as a shot of whiskey rolling down his throat and spreading through his body, and made him dread when the alarm would go off in a few hours and she’d leave for work. For the first time in many years, he understood the happiness being with another person could bring.
If he’d known falling asleep with Holly Winters would be the best part of his day, he would have stopped fighting with her two years ago.
CHAPTER 30
Tuesday morning, declan snuck out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, leaving Holly sleeping soundly on her stomach with the blanket pulled up over her naked form. Leo was curled up on the pillow next to her head, the top of the cat’s face lost in her wild red hair. When she’d arrived home from work last night, Declan had dinner ready, but after they finished the meal she’d gone to the fridge and held up a bottle of chocolate sauce and a can of whipped cream.
“I’m ready for dessert.”
He’d protested, telling her the movies made that kind of thing look sexier than it was.
“Have you tried it?” she asked.
“No.”
“Neither have I, so how about you get your butt back to the bedroom and we’ll experiment. If one of us hates it, at least we’ll know.”
The movies were partially right. Being turned into a human sundae was messy but fun. Especially getting cleaned up in the shower together, another first for Declan. He’d never been the adventurous type but something about Holly made him want to try anything and everything she asked him to.
Declan grabbed the gallon ziplock bag from the cupboard that contained the pancake mix he’d made from scratch the day before, plus the vanilla, chocolate chips, and eggs from the fridge. He’d planned to make Holly his grandmother’s pancakes for her birthday with the chocolate chips as a twist. He’d bought bananas as well to slice and what was left of the whipped cream as a topping. Declan quietly bustled around the kitchen, starting a cup of coffee before he poured the dry ingredients into a bowl. The last time he’d made these pancakes was with his mom the morning of his high school graduation, and he didn’t take the time to write down what went into them but he’d asked Diana over lunch yesterday if she could send him the recipe and she’d happily done so, with a healthy dose of guilt added for not talking to his father yet. He’d firmly told her to stay out of it, but he didn’t think she’d listened.
He pulled a pan out of the cupboard and set it on the stove, twisting the temperature knob to medium. While that warmed up he finished mixing his batter together, and a niggling of doubt poked at the back of his mind, wondering if this was too much for two people who were keeping things light.
Declan heard a door opening and closing, but the additional jingle to it sounded like the bells on Holly’s wreath.
Which meant someone was coming in the front, and he was standing in the middle of Holly’s kitchen in his underwear.
Delilah rounded the corner from the hallway into the dining room and the moment she saw him, she yelped. “Oh!” She turned her back to Declan, calling over her shoulder, “Why are you in my best friend’s kitchen?”
“Making Holly a birthday breakfast.”
“Naked?” Delilah squeaked.
“No, I’m wearing boxer briefs!”
Delilah turned, peeking around the corner as if to suss out if he was telling the truth. “Thank goodness for that. I brought her a birthday mocha and wanted to surprise her!”
“Do you always just let yourself into her place?” Declan asked.
