Declan

Chapter Seven

Lexi ~

Walking into the hotel bar, dressed to kill, Lexi's eyes instantly searched and scanned the room until they landed on Declan. He was sitting at the bar next to Nate both with drinks in hand with their heads back laughing. As his gaze met hers his nostrils flared and the heave of his chest was obvious as he took a deep intake of air. Lexi braced herself for one of his devastating smiles, but it never came.

The flash of desire in his eyes disappeared as he turned his gaze down to his drink. His reaction was unexpected and had knocked Lexi's thoughts off balance.

Well that wasn't the reaction I'd hoped for.

A wave of insecurity crashed into Lexi and she instinctively looked down at her dress to check her appearance.

"Hot damn!" Nate yelled to Claire from his seat at the bar.

The rest of the men in the group joined in and jokingly cat-called the women as they entered. Claire ate up the attention and did a 360 degree turn in front of Nate showcasing her tight dress and heels.

Hearing each of the guys compliment her would be a boost to any woman's confidence, but Lexi heard every voice except the one she wanted to hear most. Declan remained silent and had barely acknowledged her. In fact it was almost as if he was actively trying to avoid looking at her.

What the hell? This wasn't the Declan she had spent the entire day with.

Trying to hide her disappointment and determined to have a good time, Lexi approached the bar right next to Declan and placed an order for a round of tequila shots for the group.

"You look nice," Declan said in a low voice with very little enthusiasm.

Nice?

"Thanks, so do you," Lexi countered as she turned to face him. Declan's eyes never left the TV screen above the bar as he spoke to her.

Why was he being so distant? Maybe she had read too much into their afternoon together. Claire had mentioned that he wasn't normally a relationship kind of guy, but she could have sworn the attraction between them earlier in the day was mutual.

Feeling suddenly embarrassed Lexi gave herself an internal pep talk. You look amazing and it is his loss.

Fending off feelings of disappointment Lexi turned to the group with the tray of shots from the bartender.

"Anyone up for some tequila?" Her question was met by hoots and hollers as she doled out the shots that were lined with salt. Lexi set her own shot on the bar and saved the last one for Declan.

"Cheers," she said as she handed him the glass. He took one sniff of the tequila and shook his head. He handed the shot right back to her with his thumb taking most of the salt from the rim with it.

"Sorry, I don't do tequila," he said with a quick half smile, before he pulled his attention away from her yet again.

"Your loss," Lexi replied hoping he'd pick up on the double meaning.

She brought the glass to her lips to take the shot herself but noticed the salt has been removed from the rim.

Her lips turned up into a subtle grin as she spotted the salt on Declan's thumb.

Still holding his rejected shot in one hand she used the other to grab Declan's thumb and raised it to her mouth. His eyes grew wide at first then settled into dark sultry pools at his realization and acceptance of what she was about to do.

Holding his intense gaze she took the pad of his thumb between her lips and sucked the salt off. His thick chest visibly inflated with another large intake of air and his jaw locked firmly into place as her tongue barely grazed his skin.