the Mongolian beef, then the sweet and sour pork. And to finish up, their famous lettuce wraps.”
“Because that’s what everyone has after eating three entrées—another appetizer. What happened to dessert?”
She laughed. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were sitting in a pile of prickly brambles, surrounded by monsters that wanted to kill her and cut up Declan for his DNA, she’d say this was the best date she’d been on in…well…forever.
“Is the no-calorie offer still in effect?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll have the Great Wall of Chocolate.” She almost shivered at the thought of all that deliciousness.
“Damn,” he said. “You must be hungrier than I thought.”
“It’s cake, silly.” She frowned. “Wait a minute. Haven’t you ever been to Chang’s before?”
He shook his head. “I tend to eat mostly at the DCO cafeteria at the training complex.”
Was he serious? “Well, that just isn’t right. The moment we get home, we’re going to Chang’s and I’m going to order you the Great Wall. It’s a huge slice of chocolate cake smothered in raspberry sauce. I promise you’ll love it.”
He grinned. “I do like chocolate cake. You’ve got yourself a date.”
Declan probably didn’t mean it in the literal sense of the word, but the thought of going on a date with him made her pulse kick into a whole other gear.
He suddenly sat up and leaned in close; for one wild moment, Kendra was sure that he was going to kiss her—and she was more than willing to let him. But he only reached out and gently brushed his thumb over the corner of her mouth.
“You, um, had a crumb sticking to you.” The back of his knuckles lingered ever so briefly on her cheek before he took his hand away. “I figured you wouldn’t want something nibbling on you while you’re sleeping.”
She didn’t want to even think about that. Unless Declan was the one doing the nibbling, of course. That prompted all sorts of erotic images, and she bit her lip.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
He cleared his throat. “Speaking of sleep, we should get some rest if we’re going to get an early start in the morning.”
Like she could sleep with the feel of his fingers lingering on her skin. It didn’t help that Declan lay down behind her, placing one of his big arms over her in what he probably thought was a very nonsexual manner. Okay, so having his big forearm and bicep lying across her hip and stomach wasn’t necessarily sexual, but it sure was nice as hell. She could definitely get used to snuggling with him like this every night. She was already getting warm all over and her body hadn’t really come in contact with his…yet. She was tempted to wiggle her bottom back against him, but resisted the urge. This was not the time or place for that, no matter how much her body wished it were. No, she’d just lay here like she was. Thinking that was one thing, but doing it was another.
Declan must have mistaken her restlessness to mean she couldn’t sleep because he leaned closer to her ear. “Get some rest. I’ll stay awake and keep an ear out for any hybrids.”
Having his warm breath that close to her ear certainly wasn’t going to help her stop fidgeting. “Are you going wake me when it’s my turn to stand guard tonight?”
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I’ll wake you up in a couple hours.”
Kendra didn’t believe that for a second, but she didn’t call him on it. The night had gone too well to end it with an argument. She stifled a groan. Was this sad or what? It took a screwed-up mission with both their lives at risk for her to finally realize how good she and Declan were together. She’d never be able to kick herself hard enough for how stupid she’d been. The guy she’d been looking for all these years had been right in front of her the entire time. Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything about it.
Declan had been cordial tonight, even warm. And he would probably keep his promise and take her out to dinner if they got out of this alive. But she couldn’t miss the huge gulf existing between them. Declan still had his walls up higher than ever. Even now, while his arm was close enough to provide a sense of comfort and warmth, he was being careful not to touch her.
She’d been banging her head against the wall trying to figure