Ashlooked back to Declan, and his stomach dropped as he realized that everyone presentwas expecting a kiss.
He’dmanaged to convince Simone to give up her lunch break to witness the ceremony,since he hadn’t had anyone else who was willing to do it. He was buying herlunch in exchangeandcovering her shift.
Sheprobably would have done it for a coffee. Ash had over-offered to begin with,desperate to findsomeoneto help him out.
It’dreally highlighted how few friends he had.
Movingaway from Denver wasn’t going to hurt him at all. He really didn’t haveanything here to stay for, except Declan. Since Declan was coming with him…
Hewas a lot more excited than nervous about the chance for a fresh start.
Declancleared his throat, snapping Ash out of the train of thought he’d been rollingaway on.
Right.
Theyneeded to kiss, and the pause was already unnecessarily long.
“Oh,”Ash said, leaning in.
Declanwas obviously not about to initiate this, which was fine. It was just aformality.
Ash’sstomach still swooped the moment their lips connected. It was a brief, drykiss, the barest brush of his lips against Declan’s, but Ash could still smellDeclan’s aftershave, feel the stubble on his face scratching against Ash’s ownwhere their skin made contact. All the best parts of a kiss were still there.
He’dwanted to kiss Declan a thousand times since he’d met him. Now it’d finallyhappened, and they were both faking.
Ashwasn’t surprised, honestly. That was kind of how his life always went.
“Sorryabout that,” Declan murmured as they walked over to sign the necessary papers.
“Iexpected you to be a better kisser,” Ash joked, trying to pretend to bothhimself and Declan that he didn’t care, that it hadn’t meant anything to him.
Anythingmore than a chance to change both of their lives, anyway.
“I’ma good kisser,” Declan said. “Or, well… I’ve never had any complaints.”
Ashchuckled at that. He was sure Declan was perfectly adequate in the kissingdepartment.
Hereallydidn’t need to think about that right now, though. He was already blushing fromthe slightest peck on the lips. He could easily have given himself away.
Thatwould have ruined everything. Declan was only comfortable doing this because hedidn’t think Ash had anything other than strictly platonic feelings toward him.
AndAsh had no intention of letting him know otherwise.
Hestill got a tiny thrill out of signing the papers. Even knowing it wastemporary, he could still dream.
Notthat he necessarily wanted to marry Declan. He would have liked to fall into bedwith him just once, though.
Orat least, he would have liked to do that in a world where it wouldn’tirreparably damage their friendship.
“Thatwasn’t so bad,” Declan said as he finished up the paperwork. “How do you feelabout being the new Mr. Cooper?”
Ashwrinkled his nose. “I feel like I’m keeping my own name,” he said. “Nooffense.”
“It’snot much of a name,” Declan admitted. “Though I’m betting it carries a littlemore weight in Hope Springs.”
“Maybe,”Ash allowed. Small towns often loved their bookstores, that much he knew. Hewas looking forward to the chance to find out what it was like to live there,though he wasn’t letting himself get his hopes up.
Declanwould find someone else soon enough once he was happier with his life, and thatwould mean that it was time for Ash to gracefully exit the picture.
