Page 312 of The Maxwell Brothers

"That’s not what's happening here."

Her eyes glinted. She jutted her chin forward and put a hand on her hip. "Isn't it? Because that's exactly what it sounds like to me."

"What will you tell him?" I asked again.

"What does it matter?"

"It matters tome. The thought of anyone looking at you, wanting you… I can't stand it."

Her eyes softened, and she put her hand on my arm. "Declan, I would never do anything to hurt you or go out with anyone who wants more. That's a way of letting him down easy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

I moved my chair closer to the corner of the table. She did the same. Putting my hand on her jaw, I leaned in and traced her lower lip with my tongue before kissing her hard and possessively. I wanted her to feel how much she meant to me.

When I felt her smile against my lips, I pulled back.

"What?" she asked.

I traced the contour of her mouth, enjoying the way her breath quickened.

"Since when does my kissing you make you laugh?"

"I was smiling," she pointed out, looking around. We didn’t have complete privacy, but I couldn’t care less.

"So I amuse you?"

"You've never kissed me this way."

"Which way?"

"I don't know. It's different from other times. I like it."

"And you respond by laughing?"

"Not laughing, smiling," she corrected me. “And anyway, that wasn’t the only reason I was in a good mood. It's a happy day."

"So now my kiss doesn't make you smile," I teased, although I was feeling off. The whole thing with that guy asking her out really got to me. That was not going to happen, ever.

"There's no winning with you, is there?”

“I will not answer that. It might give you too much ammunition."

Chuckling, she straightened up, pointing to the bottle. “Let’s drink some more of this. We don’t want to risk losing all the bubbles.”

“That doesn’t happen that fast.” Taking the bottle, I filled both our glasses. I watched Liz take a sip. She was enjoying the moment, but I was enjoyingher.

Taking another sip, she closed her eyes and dropped her head back, humming. I leaned in, touching the side of her neck with my nose. She shuddered.

"Oh, I love this evening," she said. "Thank you for bringing me here. I was so busy running around that it didn’t even occur to me to celebrate."

“I wanted you to remember this day.”

“Thanks.”

A different waiter interrupted us, bringing bread and some spreads.