All I can focus on is the burning brand his lips left on my cheek. Declan smiles at me again and gives a little nod, then slings his bag over one shoulder and heads for the door. But he pauses when he’s halfway outside to look back at me.

“See you again next week?”

“Yeah.” My voice comes out as a breathless whisper.

“Can’t wait.”

With that, he steps outside. As soon as the door closes behind him, air rushes back into my lungs like I’ve been in some sort of vacuum. I can’t remember the last time someone made me feel so heart-racingly off-kilter as he does, and I can’t help wondering if I’d still be feeling this way even if he hadn’t walked in on me touching myself to the thought of him—although that definitely didn’t help.

I watch him move across the parking lot to his bike where he lifts the seat to drop his bag into a storage compartment, then swings one leg over it. The powerful machine roars to life, and I know I shouldn’t be gawking at him like this where he’s bound to see it, but I can’t take my eyes off him until he disappears from the parking lot and roars out of view down the street.

Even after he’s gone, I stand rooted to the spot as every word he said to me echoes in my mind. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone see me the way Declan does—mostly because I won’t let them, even when sometimes I want to—and I don’t know exactly what it is about him, but there’s something so disarming about him. Something I can’t even explain or make sense of myself that makes me feel like he’s safe, like I can trust him with parts of myself I’d keep away from others.

I believe what he said about wanting more than just sex with me, but I can’t make up my mind how I feel about that.

On the one hand, it was a relief to hear, but on the other, it was terrifying in the best possible way. Things might be changing between Declan and me, but that doesn’t mean anything has changed about our circumstances. And that’s dangerous, because it’s getting harder and harder for me to resist him or to keep him at a safe distance—and I don’t think he’s going to stop trying.

Which means it’s only a matter of time before one or both of us gets caught.