She took her time to gather her evening purse and shawl, slide out of the car, lock the door, to give herself a chance to collect her feelings before she faced him. Right now, a cheerful recounting of the assets of his superb car did not seem possible.
But words did not seem to be required as he strode towards her and opened his arms. ‘You’re home,’ he said. She went into them with a great, choking sigh of relief and shut her eyes in bliss as they closed around her and enveloped her in his strength and warmth.
He held her tight, his chin resting on the top of her head. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest, the thud of his heartbeat, strong, steady, reassuring and she let herself relax against him.
For a long, enchanted moment she stood there like that, unaware of her surroundings, the concrete walls and floor of the garage, the other cars shrouded in grey covers, the intermittent ping-ping-ping sounds the sports car made as its engine cooled down. She was aware only of Declan—and the joy that flooded her heart at being so close to him, the certainty that this was where she was meant to be. That everything that had come before in her life had led to this.
‘Declan,’ she finally murmured, loving the sound of his name in her voice.
He pulled her even closer. She could feel the strength of his thighs, rock hard with muscle. ‘I spent all evening wishing you were with me,’ she murmured, then pulled back in his arms, needing to see his face.
His arms dropped from around her, leaving her bereft. Then he cupped her face in his large hands, hands she noticed were stained with traces of paint—blue, green, white all mixed in together—and smelled vaguely of turpentine. He caressed the little hollows in front of her ears—such a simple gesture yet it sent shivers of pleasure to her deepest core.
‘I spent all evening regretting I wasn’t,’ he said hoarsely.
She met his gaze. ‘I’m glad. I mean, I’m glad I’m not imagining this...this thing between us. These...these feelings.’
Declan groaned and her heart gave a painful lurch. He was going to fight it all the way. ‘I...don’t know what to do about...about you. I wasn’t expecting, didn’t—’
‘Didn’t want...’ she supplied the words for him.
‘That’s right. I didn’t want the life I’d made for myself disturbed. Then you burst into it, flooding light into the shadows in which I existed.’
She swallowed hard against a sudden lump of tension in her throat. She didn’t know how to reply.
He looked deeper into her face. ‘But eyes that have become accustomed to the dark can...can be dazzled by too much light too quickly. They blink and wonder what hit them.’
‘Like a bat,’ she said.
Shelley stilled, mortified. Where had that idiotic comment come from?
Declan stilled too. His eyes widened as he stared at her. And then she realised he was shaking with laughter he was fighting a losing battle to suppress.
‘I... I’m sorry,’ she stuttered. ‘I can’t believe I just said that.’
‘First a vampire, now a bat. You really do see me as a creature of darkness, don’t you?’
He let go his laughter and she couldn’t help but laugh alongside him though it felt forced. But when the laughter spluttered to a halt, stopped, she berated herself. ‘Why do I say things like that? Why don’t I think before I speak? I’ve been told often enough.’
‘Because you’re you, delightful and unique and I wouldn’t have you any other way.’
She sniffed back threatening tears. ‘Really?’ A niggling voice deep down inside her prodded her—was that ill-timed comment her way of deflecting emotional confrontations she wasn’t at all sure she was equipped to handle?
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Really. I’ve laughed more since I’ve known you than I have since...since heaven knows when.’ He sobered. ‘Don’t change—promise me?’
She nodded. ‘I... I promise.’
‘Now how about we go inside out of this chilly garage?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ she said. She went to add: It’s hardly the most romantic place on earth but bit down on the words. There had been no mention of romance between them.
He put his arm around her shoulder and steered her towards the door. ‘You can think of some other dark creatures to compare me to. Maybe something that lives under a rock.’
Of course she took him literally and started to think of actual creatures that lived under rocks before she realised that was not what was required. ‘Not for one second will I compare you to a centipede or a slug.’
‘And I so appreciate that,’ he said. ‘Vampires and bats have a certain black glamour that slugs definitely do not.’
They laughed again as he walked her, with his arm still around her shoulders, into the house. Lights switched on automatically ahead of them but she immediately felt oppressed by the stillness, the vague mustiness of unlived-in rooms. She wanted to extend her time with him this evening but not here, not in this place so marked by tragedy and loss and dreams unfulfilled.
‘Did you...are you going to bed now?’ she asked, immediately wishing she’d said sleep and not bed with all its unspoken connotations.
‘No. You?’ He tightened his grip on her shoulder.
She shook her head. ‘I’m still way too wired up from the party. Can I...can I interest you in a herbal tea or coffee—I don’t drink coffee at night but you might want coffee—and perhaps a muffin? I baked banana muffins the other day and have them in the freezer. I just have to heat—’
Those dark brows drew together. ‘Did you say banana muffins?’
She nodded, wishing now she hadn’t brought up the subject. Not when she never wanted to admit how she had snuck into his house in her pyjamas and spied on him as he’d worked out.
‘Strange, that,’ he said. ‘I thought I could smell banana muffins in my kitchen. That inter-connecting door is meant to be odour, sound and light-proof.’
She froze. ‘Maybe...maybe you’d better get the door checked—the seals might need attention,’ she finally managed to get out.
‘I will,’ he said.
‘Let’s go through,’ she said.
‘I don’t have a key. The apartment is your private place.’ She’d wondered if he’d maintained access to the apartment, was glad that he hadn’t.
‘I... I have the key on the key ring in my purse,’ she said.
The apartment seemed a sanctuary but somehow smaller with Declan’s tall, broad-shouldered presence taking up so much room. She stood near him in the living room, suddenly very conscious that they were alone in complete privacy.
A meaningless fling. The words echoed through her head and her body tingled in all sorts of places at the thought of what that might entail. He hadn’t offered one, why shouldn’t she?
Not meaningless but without commitment—commitment she very much doubted Declan was prepared to make, despite the kind words he’d said about her lighting his darkness. She wanted him so much.
She turned to face him, thrilled to the desire for her she saw smouldering