Page 134 of Tangled with the Tight End

I see everything in the way he looks at me. His plea. His care. The way he wants me.

“Please.” He says the word softly. “Give us a chance. Let me show you how this can work.”

I nod. “Okay. Of course. I mean, how can I turn you down when you make that face?”

He chuckles softly, and then he pulls out his phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

He snaps a selfie. “I need a photo of this face so I can practice it for when I need you to say yes.”

“Not fair,” I tease.

Declan has the power to break my heart. The thought hits me out of the blue.

But just as quickly, another thought follows.

I want him more than I want to guard my heart.

I stare at him. He came here. He could have stayed home. Could have waited ‘til I showed up at one. But he came.

“You don’t need a photo of any look,” I tell him. “I don’t think I could resist you anyway.”

“So, I’m irresistible to you?” He wags his brows playfully.

“Mostly.”

“Well,” he says, scooting even closer. “You are most definitely irresistible to me.”

He leans in and kisses me, cupping my jaw and moving his lips over mine softly and slowly in a kiss that sends chills through me. I lose myself in the feel of him—the way we fit together. And something loose from this morning settles.

When he pulls back, he smooths my hair.

“My hair!” I shout. “I must look crazy.”

“You’re beautiful,” he smiles mischievously. “In a wild, I didn’t brush my hair this morning sort of way.”

I playfully punch his bicep. And then I pull my fist back, rubbing my knuckles.

“I’d better get back to Darlene,” Declan says, searching for his crutches and standing.

“I forgot she was out there waiting,” I say. “Tell her thank you.”

“Are you kidding me? When she saw you leave, she pulled me aside and offered to drive me over here. She just met you, but she can already tell you’re special.”

As much as I loved Declan calling me beautiful, when he says I’m special, my heart practically explodes.

“We’re really doing this?” I ask, unable to absorb the full reality.

“I hope so. That’s up to you, Winona. I’ve wanted you for weeks. But I won’t force you into anything you don’t want.”

“I want you, Declan,” I say.

He smiles, leaning down and pulling me in for a hug. He kisses the top of my head.

“I’m telling the guys. This isn’t a secret. Just from the public. But I’d take out a billboard if it weren’t for the fact that the vultures would come circling.”

“Okay,” I say, not loving the idea of circling vultures, but so happy he wants to tell his friends.