He leaned down. “Those people over there with their cameras out, not even trying to pretend they’re not taking photos and videos of us, are waiting for us to kiss,” he whispered in her ear. She shivered. She couldn’t help herself. His deep voice did something to her. Something really, really nice.
Jada nodded. “I am aware.”
“Now, we could give them what they want.”
She nodded again. “We could.”
“But I want you to know that I would be kissing you because not kissing you for the past two hours and fifteen minutes has been killing me. I don’t give a fuck about who’s watching or what ends up on Instagram.” His eyes had darkened with interest as his hungry gaze lingered on her mouth. She licked her lips, smiled to herself when he moaned.
The ball was in her court. He wasn’t going to pressure her. He’d laid out his position. How she responded was up to her. Though there were cameras trained on them, this kiss was for them. Only for them. Last night didn’t have to be a fluke.
Jada lifted her hand and curved it around the back of his neck while she rose on her toes. The first touch of his lips sent a sigh cascading through her body. Or maybe that was the sound she made. His lips tasted better than she remembered, and she had a crystal-clear memory.
Her eyes drifted open as the kiss came to an end.
“How was that?” he murmured against her lips.
She pretended to give the question serious thought. “A strong nine out of ten.”
He slapped a hand across his chest. “Wow. Okay. A dagger to the heart, but I can take it.”
“I was thinking we need a little more practice.”
Donovan made a face. “Really? I think I’m gonna go home and chill for the rest of the evening. Work on my kissing skills. Alone.”
Jada tilted her head to the side. “Oh, really? Yeah, me too. Actually, I don’t need to. My skills are on point.”
“Eh.” He waved his hand back and forth, a smile playing at his lips. “They’re all right. But you know, my house is kinda quiet, and I’ve kinda gotten used to having a talkative woman around. One who’s never afraid to express her opinion and doesn’t give a shit about sparing my feelings.”
Jada rolled her lips inward to keep a smile from taking over her face. It was going to take some time to get used to these warm and fuzzy feelings he inspired in her. “Really? She sounds cool. I’d like to meet her.”
“You remind me of her, actually.” He snapped his fingers as though some profound idea had just occurred to him. “Hey, would you like to come over? Just to keep that momentum going of having an opinionated woman around. I’d be cool with that.”
“What woman can resist an invitation like that?”
“I’m hoping one who realizes how much I enjoy spending time with her and don’t want this day to end.”
Her heart melted. Damn, he could be charming when he wanted to be. She’d think he’d been taking lessons from Nicholas, but bullshitting wasn’t Donovan’s way. If he said it, he meant it. And the absolute certainty of that made her heart skip a couple of beats. She grinned. “I’d love to.”
* * *
Jada’s phone trilled out a peppy greeting. Donovan smiled. The ringtone was so Jada.
They’d arrived at his house a few minutes ago and settled on his sofa.
She pulled the phone out of her purse, checked the screen, and blew out a breath. “Sorry. I have to take this.” She didn’t look or sound thrilled by the prospect.
“Hello,” she said, injecting some clearly fake cheer into her voice. She stood and moved a few feet away, but he could still hear her side of the conversation. Not that she was doing much talking. Mostly “yes” and “no” and “mmm.” Whoever was on the end was clearly directing the chat.
She sighed and dropped her head into her free hand. He didn’t like her body language. Stooped shoulders. Defeated. That was not the Jada he knew. The Jada he was coming to … care for.
“I don’t—” she started, then quieted. Her shoulders squared. “Right. Yes, of course. See you soon.”
“You all right?” he asked after she ended the call with a pointed stab of her finger at the poor, defenseless phone screen.
Her lips stretched into a smile that more closely resembled a tortured grimace. “Guess who’s coming to dinner.”
* * *
The look of bewilderment on Donovan’s face would have been funny if her life wasn’t a classic comedy of errors.