Then when he felt her tongue slide against the seam of his lips, he threw all caution to the wind. Gone was the gentleness and in its place was a fire that he hadn’t let out of control in oh so long. He took possession of her mouth and tasted every sweet inch. He lowered one hand to grasp the sweet curve of her ass and used it to pull her even closer.

Ella was writhing against him as if desperate for a release from the tension gripping her body. “Oh, Declan, please . . .”

Running his mouth up the curve of her cheek, Declan whispered, “You have no idea how much I would like to please you, baby.” As she started to fold her body closer in to his, he fought to pull back from her. “Shhh, hold on, baby. We can’t do this. You deserve better than being groped in a parking lot.”

Ella grabbed his hand when he pulled away. “Let’s go to my place. I want this. I want you.”

Declan put his hands on both of her shoulders and pushed her gently away. “Baby, I know you think you do, but it’s just a big case of lust. If any man kissed you the way I just did, you would want him too. It’s basic hormones and you don’t have much experience controlling them yet.” Oh, shit.

Could you have handled that any worse? “Wait, Ella . . . I didn’t—”

Ella pulled back stiffly and looked at him with eyes filled with hurt. “I think I get your point, Declan. Well, thanks for clearing that up. I should have given my date more of a chance tonight if any man can turn me on. That is what you said, right?”

“Baby . . . I didn’t mean it like that. You just don’t have much experience.”

Ella held her hand up and yelled, “Stop! Just stop talking about my lack of experience. First, you were freaking out because I was dating to get experience and then you’re pushing me away because I don’t have experience. Well, which is it, Declan? Should I just take up knitting and stay home alone forever? I don’t need your permission to date and you know what? I don’t even think I want you anymore, so there!”

“Baby,” Declan began, holding out a calming hand.

“Stop calling me baby. I’m not a baby, I’m a woman and if you don’t believe me, then watch and see!” With those final words, Ella walked to her door and slammed it so hard that even he was impressed with how much the frame rattled.

Well, that went well. Why didn’t you just take her to a street corner and push her into the first car that pulls up because you just gave her all of the encouragement she needs to date a different man every night. Fuck! He knew it was useless to try to talk to her again tonight so he took off at a fast run hoping to burn off some of the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Running with a hard-on? Not so nice.

“Oh my God!”

Ella had to pull the phone away from her ear as Beth continued to shriek loudly.

“Okay, sorry about that. I’m just an old knocked up, engaged lady now, so I have to live through my young, single friend. It was good though, right, Els?”

Ella sighed and admitted, “Better than I could have imagined. I thought I would explode just from a kiss.”

“Oh, baby,” Beth giggled, “there is nothing better than a kiss from a man who knows what he’s doing. And if Declan kisses anything like he looks, oh yeah!”

Suddenly, Ella heard a male voice in the background and she had to laugh as she overheard Nick say, “I’m going to try not to take it personally that you seem to have spent a lot of time checking out Declan. It could be worse. At least you aren’t discussing Gray.”

Beth laughed and Ella heard a smacking kiss that she assumed had been delivered to Nick. “Oh, honey, I’m just supporting my friend. You know I haven’t really looked at Declan. It’s just some girl talk.”

“Um, should I let you two go now?” Ella asked.

“Oh no,” Beth assured her. “He just left for the grocery store. I’m dying for some strawberries and Cool Whip. There is no way he would be going without complaining if he wasn’t hopeful that I would eat at least half of the Cool Whip off of . . .”

“No, no, please don’t finish that sentence!” Ella pleaded “I have to see him every day. It’s bad enough the things that Suzy has put in my mind about Gray. At least Claire doesn’t share quite as much about Jason.”

“Alright, I’ll spare you tonight. So let’s get back to Declan. What are you going to do? I can’t believe he told you that any man would make you feel the same way that he did. Is he crazy?”

“I don’t know about that, but he clearly doesn’t see me as a woman. I don’t know why I even bother; he can be such a butthead.”

“Ella Webber, you bad girl,” Beth teased. “You must be hanging around my sister too much. Before long, those four-letter words will be rolling off your lips as easily as they do hers. All kidding aside though, I know you care about him and it’s pretty obvious that he’s attracted to you. I sure don’t buy the fact that he just happened to be jogging in your neighborhood. Keep your eyes open because I would be willing to bet he makes a point to go by your house. This is just the first time you almost ran over him. I bet that was a bit of a surprise.”

Ella finally relaxed and a chuckle escaped her. “It was pretty funny, now that I think about it. He’s always so calm and controlled but he looked anything but that when my bumper stopped two inches from him. Do you think he was jogging past to try and check up on me?”

“Oh yeah. I know Myrtle Beach isn’t a huge place, but that’s too much of a coincidence. Let’s get the girls together tomorrow and see if we can plan our next move. Did you get any more replies to your personal ad?”

“I’ll check my e-mail when we get off the phone. I have a few that I haven’t replied to yet. One of them was older than my father, ugh. Why would a man want to go out with a woman who is that much younger than him?”

“Oh Ella, my naive friend, they didn’t get the saying, ‘men are pigs’ from nowhere.”

Ella promised to have lunch with Beth, Suzy, and Claire the next day and hung up the phone. Nick had made it back with the strawberries and Cool Whip and Ella had been anxious to end the call before she heard more than she could ever forget.

What must it be like to have a relationship like the one Beth had with Nick? She knew it hadn’t always been easy for them, but they were in such a good place now. Nick seemed to adore Beth and she knew the feeling was mutual. He wanted to marry her immediately and she wanted to wait until after the baby was born. She said she couldn’t bear to be huge in her wedding pictures. Everyone else thought she was crazy, but Ella could imagine that for someone who had battled a weight problem for most of her life, it was very important to her to look her best on her wedding day.

Thoughts of Declan pushed back into her mind as she imagined a wedding day with him. Men like him probably didn’t do marriage. Was that something she was willing to give up for him? The memory of how he’d kissed her as if he wanted to consume her meant she’d consider it. She had felt a fire roaring through her blood that had never been there before. From the feel of his hardness pressing into her stomach, he had also felt the same. If by some miracle she was able to start a relationship with Declan, would it be enough? Would she be satisfied by the type of flame that had burned through them for those brief moments or would she eventually want more from him and their future?

All of a sudden Ella felt like she was in over her head. Having such a limited experience with men had never bothered her until now. If not for Beth, Suzy, and Claire she would be lost. She certainly couldn’t discuss sex with her mother. Her overprotective parents were still trying to talk her into moving back home. Her room was exactly as she had left it, a shrine to the nerd that she had been. Back then, books and school had been her only life. Dating was something that would never have been discussed in her parents’ house. Until she got the job at Danvers International, she was set to be a spinster and live with her parents forever. Some days she still couldn’t believe the girl who looked back at her in the mirror. Beth had helped her to look like the person that she had always dreamed of.