She was painfully aware of him. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to reach out and release the rest of those buttons. She wanted to—
“Rosie?” The change in his voice told her that he was feeling it too.
They probably needed to talk more about Becky. About her insecurities. About her feelings and his, but the level of attraction between them made it a struggle to focus.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. She felt her heart thud harder.
He was going to kiss her. At last he was going to kiss her and everything would be okay.
She felt his hands close over her shoulders, saw the passion blaze in his eyes as she slid her arms around his shoulders.
And then there was a loud knock at the door.
They froze, their mouths so close they were almost touching.
Neither of them moved.
Rosie wanted to ignore the knock. There was no way she was answering the door. No way.
The knock came again and Declan let his hands drop to his sides and turned away, his breathing unsteady.
“You’d better answer that.” He walked to the window, keeping his back to the door.
Engulfed by frustration, Rosie glanced briefly at him and then hurried across the room. Whichever member of her annoying family was disturbing her at this delicate point in her life, they were about to regret it. She was going to kill them slowly. No, on second thought, she was going to kill them quickly so that she could get back to what she was doing.
She dragged open the door.
Jamie stood there, looking handsome in a midnight-blue shirt and chinos.
“Sorry to disturb you. Hayley has a dress emergency.”
She felt like telling her brother that thanks to him she had a sexual frustration emergency and that took priority. But this was about Hayley. Hayley, who was already feeling nervous and out of place. Hayley, who was now family. She couldn’t say no to Hayley.
She cleared her throat and tried to focus. “A dress emergency?”
He pulled a face. “Hayley bought a dress for tonight and the hem isn’t straight, or something. I don’t know. This is your area of expertise, not mine. Any chance you could save the day? You’re flushed. Are you feeling okay?”
No, she wasn’t feeling okay. “I’m fine.”
He glanced down at her. “Why aren’t you dressed?”
“Because—” Because she was having marriage crisis talks and for a short time she’d actually forgotten about the party. “It takes me a while to get ready, you know that.”
“Well, if you could hurry up and find time to help Hayley, that would be appreciated. She’s worried the dress is all wrong, and before you accuse me of not having paid her enough compliments, I definitely have. I’ve already told her I think she looks great. Apparently that’s not enough.”
Because Hayley was on edge. Hayley was overthinking everything.
As someone who had turned overthinking into an art form, Rosie had nothing but sympathy.
“Of course.” She forced a smile. “This is her evening after all. I’ll be there right away. I’ll sort her out and then get dressed myself. Just let me grab my emergency repair kit.”
She walked across her bedroom, conscious of Declan watching her. The tension between them was so thick she was surprised her brother didn’t sense it but he appeared clueless to the atmosphere in the room.
Instead he gave Declan a sheepish smile. “Sorry to steal her away.”
Declan managed a brief nod. “No problem.”
If Rosie hadn’t known better she might have thought he was in pain.
