Tara laughed and leaned her shoulder against Declan for a moment, enjoying the warmth of the brief contact. "I didn't take it like that. Howdidyou get all those other peacocks to come over, if they're not all shifters and you can't talk to them? And they dropped tail feathers when you asked them to!"
Declan, guiltily, said, "I didn't say theyweren'tshifters…"
Tara's eyes widened and she looked around for the peacocks, which had disappeared from view. "Are you telling me they really all are? How many peacock shifters are there in Ireland?"
"About a dozen," Declan mumbled. "Four or five in Cork, because we can come here or go to Blarney to shift, and most ofthe rest live in Dublin where they can go to the zoo. We don't usually all turn up on the same days, but…"
He was blushing. Tara was almost certain she could see dark red scalding its way up his jaw. "But?"
Declan cleared his throat. "But I might have mentioned on the group chat that I'd met a fantastic woman and I might need a wingman to help me charm her a bit, and everybody came over this morning."
Two or three things fought to leave Tara's mouth at once, and she managed a spluttered, "Group cha—you don't—really?You? Needed help charming someone?" that made Declan turn a wonderful deep rosy shade all the way to his excellent cheekbones.
"Yes, we have a group chat, although of course we're very careful about what we say on it. And I thought—" He was really blushing now. Tara thought she might explode with glee.Sheblushed. She wasn't used to men blushing much at all, but especially not over trying to impress her in some way. Declan cleared his throat again. "I thought maybe some sort of Disney-esque coordinated…peacock dance…ah, Jaysus, the idea gets worse with every word I utter, what was I thinking?"
"That I'm the kind of person who likes those geometric-style kaleidoscope dance numbers in movies?" Tara grinned so hard her cheeks hurt. "You'd be right. I do like that. It'd be wonderful with peacocks. Especially real ones. Now I'm going to need that to be the entertainment for our wedding, you know."
Declan's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, are we getting married, then? I'll do as your random Irishman to marry so you get four weeks of holiday every year instead of two?"
Tara clapped her hands to her face, partially to massage her aching cheeks and partially to hide surprised dismay. "I forgot about that. I didn't mean anything by it!" Although she could certainly do worse than tall, dark, handsome Declan, whoseaccent and eyes set her toes to tingling. "You're just very nice," she said apologetically. "I kind of forgot we haven't known each other forever and aren't…casually flirty?" She didn't even think of herself as a casually flirty person, but it was difficult not to be with Declan.
Particularly when he moved in a little closer, as he was doing now, so that the warmth of his body was almost pressed against hers and his eyes were the same deep green as forest shadows as he murmured, "Does that mean we're intensely flirty?"
Tara's entire body went alight, as if she'd been set on fire, and whatever part of her that usually made wise choices fled her fiery soul as if its survival depended on it. That was the only explanation she could think of for how she put her hand on Declan's chest, rose to her toes, and kissed him.
For a moment, a heartbeat, she could feel his surprise. Her wisdom came crashing back through her like a bucket of cold water, and she had almost long enough to thinkwhat the hell am I doing?!before Declan's hands closed gently around her face and he answered that kiss with a sweet hunger that built astonishing desire through Tara's whole body. She felt his smile in the earliest moments, but it faded into a careful, tasting exploration of her lips, sending shivers and tingles up and down her spine, and all at once she was melting in Declan's arms, no longer in control of that kiss, or her thoughts, or anything except living in the moment and trembling with thrilled anticipation.
They were both gasping, almost laughing, when the kiss ended, though Tara couldn't say they'd broken apart. Not with the way Declan curved his arms around her like she was fragile. Not with the way he smiled down at her from just a breath away. Not with the way his voice, deep and seeming to rumble, wrapped her in its warmth. "So that would be a yes to the intensely flirty, then?"
She couldn't clap her hands to her cheeks again, because she was too entangled in Declan's arms, so even though she blushed, Tara also nodded, then managed to whisper, "I think so, yeah."
"That's the best news I've heard in my entire life," Declan murmured. "Now, I wouldn't want to rush things, so I'll wait untilafterwe've banjaxed that Colette woman's peacock designs to propose?—"
Tara's heart stuttered and nearly stopped, because she was almost, insanely, certain that he meant it, and even more insanely, almost equally certain she would say yes if Declan McCarthy asked her to marry him.
"—but in the meantime," he went on, still curving that wonderful, gently protective smile at her, "why don't we go to dinner?"
Chapter 6
Dinner?Declan's peacock asked in disbelief.Our mate is soft and warm and delicious andright hereand you want to go todinner?
Declan did not, in fact, particularly want to go to dinner, because Tara was indeed soft and warm and delicious andright there. Unfortunately for him,right therewas in a small copse of half-grown trees in a public park, and there was absolutely nothing he could do withsoft, warm, deliciousandright therein a place like the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park.
That, and he did feel it was important to explain that he knew, in his body and heart and soul, through magic and a good dose of obvious attraction, that he was meant to be with her forever. Shifters were one thing, to his mind. She'd taken that quite well. But fated mates was a whole 'nother level, and he genuinely believed a mate should have the whole thing explained to them before a relationship got too far.
And judging from that kiss, a single day with Tara was enough relationship to start thinking about that conversation. Declan made himself straighten away from Tara so he didn't kissher again as her eyes lit with laughter. "Dinner," she echoed. "Dinner, huh? What's on the menu?"
His mind went all kinds of places it shouldn't have, at least not before that conversation, and Tara's mouth quirked into a sly, sly smile at whatever his expression did. "Oh, sothat'swhat's for dinner?"
"If we weren't in a park," Declan said a bit vacantly, and to his surprise, Tara wrinkled her nose.
"God, no. Leaves and dirt get everywhere. Not quite as bad as sand at the beach, butnot great, trust me."
"I'll take your word for it. I haven't actually, em. Ever had sex outside. Now that I'm thinking about it."
Tara's eyebrows rose and she repeated, "Trust me," firmly before taking her phone out to glance at the time, and then to nod. "Dinner sounds good, actually. Wait, though." She took a step or two backward, lifting her phone, then said, "Turn your head to the left just a little," before taking a picture and then showing Declan a portrait of himself that made his jaw drop.
"God almighty, you've made me look like a superhero!"
