Thank You For Loving Me

by Lori Ryan

  “Here you go, Shawn.” Kayleigh plopped down a blanket and pillow on top of the mattress, then handed another pillow to Devlin. “You sure you don’t mind sleeping out here?”

  “Nah, I’m good,” she said, fluffing the pillow and arranging it on the love seat.

  Devlin watched with mild amusement as Kayleigh and Shawn went to work, spreading the blanket over the sofa bed. What should have been a simple task was made into a bad comedy sketch from “I Love Lucy” as a still drunk Kayleigh repeatedly tried to pull her side of the blanket down to one corner, then got pulled off balance when Shawn tried to pull his side straight.

  It was obvious Shawn would have been better off without Kayleigh’s help, but the big man grinned as he tugged Kayleigh off her feet again and again.

  In the end, both of them ended up laughing and falling on the bed together as Devlin took in the show. Suddenly, Shawn sat straight up, pushing away from Kayleigh, all amusement gone when Lily walked past. It was sad how crestfallen the guy could look over Lily. He had it bad.

  Another text pinged.

  STUD MUFFIN: Call me or I’m coming up there to get you.

  “I need to make a phone call,” Devlin said, moving toward the door, sure her cheeks must be flushed with annoyance, and embarrassment. She didn’t blush. Ever.

  It was time for her to tell Max there wasn’t going to be a repeat of their night together.

  Kayleigh followed her. “Got a hot date tonight?” She teased as they walked toward the entry.

  Devlin turned her phone screen away. Not that Kayleigh would be able to tell who Stud Muffin was, but still. She didn’t want to advertise that she and Max had hooked up, and she really had no excuse for having his number in her phone.

  Either Kayleigh had superpowers or she knew Max well enough to guess it might be him. She leaned in and whispered. “Have fun with Max.”

  “What?” Devlin cried. “I’m not going for a booty call with Max.”

  “Well, whoever it is, enjoy a shag for me, will ya? It’s been ages since I’ve had the real thing.” She sighed in an overly dramatic way, but there was a look of true regret in her eyes. “Being a veterinarian in a small town doesn’t bring in near the action you might think, if you know what I mean?”

  Devlin laughed.

  “Oh, and just a word to the wise,” Kayleigh said, glancing around like she was about to impart a big secret.

  It hit Devlin then that Kayleigh and Max might have hooked up at one time. The man was a notorious flirt, and bad-boy player. Devlin certainly had no claim on him, and she wouldn’t want to. But she couldn’t explain why the thought of Max being intimate with Kayleigh, or any other woman, upset her.

  Kayleigh leaned in closer.

  Devlin swallowed down the sour taste at the thought that Kayleigh might impart some knowledge that only people who’d been intimate with one another would know.

  “Watch out for Valerie,” she said.

  That was unexpected. “Valerie Sumner? Max’s mother?” Devlin asked. She glanced over at the couch, to see if Shawn was listening to them.

  His tall body was sprawled out on the sofa bed, feet dangling over the edge, hands laced behind his head with his eyes closed. Lily was nowhere to be seen so she must have been sleeping in one of the other rooms.

  “Yeah, that’s the one.” Kayleigh smirked and raised a brow. “That lady is cunning.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Kayleigh pointed at the master bedroom where Ben and Maggie were. “Exhibit one.” Then she pointed toward the door. “Exhibit two.”

  “Who?” Devlin asked.

  “Emmett and Elle. Two boys down, four to go.”

  “You think Valerie had something to do with Ben and Emmett finding women?”

  Kayleigh shrugged. “Those boys were single for over thirty years and were committed to staying that way. Now within months they’re both engaged. You tell me.”

  “Well, maybe it’s just coincidence.”

  “Valerie tried to hook me up with her son, Aaron, the doctor, a few months ago.”

  “Really?” Devlin shook her head. Although, if she thought about it, she realized most women would be happy to have a doctor pushed on them.

  “Yeah, but he was kind of a dick to me and I wasn’t interested. Not saying that’s what’s going to happen with you and Max, but if you don’t want your relationship going further than sex, I’d make sure Valerie Sumner doesn’t catch wind of it.”

  Devlin remembered the look on Valerie’s face the night she and Max had slipped out early at karaoke night over a month ago. They might be too late in the secrets department.

  “Hey,” Kayleigh shrugged, “maybe not. Maybe love is just in the air.” She closed her eyes and waved her hands above her head as if spreading the scent of a fragrant flower.

  Love?

  “Uh, no. Not for me,” Devlin said. And hopefully not Max either. What she and Max shared wasn’t love, but it was definitely life-altering. As she turned away from Kayleigh, she knew she’d eventually give in to Max’s texts. It wasn’t every day you found someone willing to show you a no-strings-attached good time. And when that guy was good-looking, funny, and gave you more orgasms in one night than most woman got on their own in a month, you didn’t pass that up.

  “Yeah, me neither.” Kayleigh said. “Straight up booty calls for this girl.” She jabbed her chest with her thumb. “See you downstairs for brunch in the morning?”

  Devlin twisted the knob and pulled open the door. No sense acting like she was sneaking out now. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Devlin almost had the door closed when Kayleigh caught it from her.

  “Remember, one good shag for me.” She wiggled her brows.

  “Just one?” Devlin laughed.

  “Okay, maybe two. With multiples.” Kayleigh winked then quietly closed the door.

  Devlin glanced down at her phone and debated, picturing herself tearing the leaves off a daisy.

  Call the man.

  Go back inside and go to bed.

  Call the man.

  Go back inside and go to bed.

  The problem was, when the daisy was in your head, you could just keep adding petals and never get to an answer to your dilemma. Did she call Max and take advantage of a sure thing? Or go back inside and scrunch her body up on a loveseat for what was sure to be a hellish night of little sleep. Only one sounded appealing.

  Chapter Four

  Max sat on the edge of the tub in his hotel suite, watching as it filled with steaming water. He glanced down one last time at his phone before stepping in. No new message, no new call.

  “What the fuck?” he groaned, wondering when he’d turned into such a wuss. It wasn’t like him to pine over a woman, beg her through texts and phone calls to come see him. Women flocked to him, for God’s sake. He was a pro football player, NFL player of the year, Super Bowl Champion.

  The obnoxious voice in his head added the words washed up to the front of each of those titles.

  He laid the phone down on the edge of the tub and leaned back in the water, contemplating the question that had clawed at his mind for the past two months now. Who the hell was he without football?

  The day Max had decided to retire—or rather, the day he had to admit he could no longer play through the pain—was the first time in his life he’d truly been scared.

  As a wide receiver he’d been chased and tackled by 300-pound defenders, slammed so hard he’d been knocked unconscious more than once, even carried off the field on a stretcher a few times. But none of that scared him half as much as the thought of never playing football again. The day he walked off the field in Tampa for the last time was the day he felt a part of himself die. And he wasn’t sure if he’d ever feel truly alive again.

  The buzz of an incoming call jerked him from his melancholy thoughts. He picked up his phone.

  Devlin. The little minx.

  Max cleared his throat, trying to sound sleepy, his voice raspy and rough. “Um,
hello?”

  “Oh, my gosh, I’m sorry Max, were you already asleep?” Devlin whispered. Her soft, throaty voice had his dick standing at attention.

  Max smiled. “Yeah,” he groaned.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’ll just—”

  “Who is this?”

  Silence.

  Good. She deserved it for making him wait.

  “Amanda?” Max asked with a wicked smile.

  More silence.

  He pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced down at the screen.

  Disconnected.

  He wanted to laugh, but her voice had left his dick hard as stone. He needed Devlin Darby more than he wanted to admit.

  He redialed her number. It rang once and went to voicemail. She was ignoring him. Shit. He’d pushed her a little too far.

  Max had known Devlin had a hot temper the night they’d first slept together. Their intimate time together had been over a month ago but strangely it seemed like just yesterday. With that first taste of her against his tongue, the feeling of her soft, wet skin wrapped around him, he’d known he’d never get enough of her. Shit, now he was harder than the ceramic tub he was laying in. He liked to consider himself a smart man but when it came to Devlin Darby, he had no problems admitting he was a complete dumbass.

  In a calculated move to see her again, he’d planted the seed of doubt in Ben’s ear, making him think of all the fun his fiancée would be having in Denver without him. His plan had worked, and he and the other men had set out for Denver earlier that evening. Max only had one thought on his mind. Seduce Devlin. Taste Devlin. Lose himself inside Devlin one more time. Okay, so maybe he had more than one thought in mind. But every sordid, disreputable thought included the sexy photographer, naked and in his bed one more night.

  Ah, who the hell was he kidding? It wasn’t just one night he wanted. He wanted her a hundred more times, in a hundred different ways. But he knew he only had tonight. She’d be off, jet-setting around the world by three o’clock tomorrow afternoon when the girls dropped her off at Denver International Airport. And now he’d ruined his shot by poking the lion.

  Time to regroup.

  MAX: I know you want me.

  HOT MINX: Who is this?

  Max laughed. That was exactly why he’d nicknamed her “hot minx.”

  MAX: Who do you want it to be?

  HOT MINX: Geoff Eaton?

  Okay, who the hell was Geoff? Devlin knew damned well it was Max texting her. He’d programmed his number into her phone weeks ago.

  MAX: Who the hell is Geoff Eaton? And who spells Jeff, GEOFF? He sounds like a wimp.

  Okay, so this obviously wasn’t Max’s finest hour. He prided himself on never losing his shit—on or off the field—but there was just something about Devlin that screwed with his head and made him crazy.

  HOT MINX: He’s not, trust me, but I might show him mine tonight.

  She was screwing with him. He knew it, but he still couldn’t stop himself from taking the bait.

  HOT MINX: I met him in the lobby after you left. He invited me to his room since the suite is full.

  Max growled.

  HOT MINX: Hopefully I’ll get lucky. I’ll let you know tomorrow if he’s a wimp or not. But I’d say probably not. He had some muscles on him.

  Max gripped the phone tighter, his teeth clenched as his core temperature rose, and not from the scalding bath water. His phone buzzed again and he glanced down. Three dumbass winking emojis flashed across his screen.

  HOT MINX: J/K Stud Muffin.

  Yes, she was most definitely a hot minx.

  MAX: You deserve a spanking for that.

  HOT MINX: Is that a threat?

  MAX: Come find out. I’m naked. And hard as steel.

  Again there was a pause and Max held his breath. Why was he so desperate for this girl? For a second he debated adding an emoji or two but there was no fucking way he was going to puss out that much.

  He stared at his phone. Still nothing. Fuck. He needed to try a different tactic. Be more romantic.

  MAX: I’m all alone and waiting for you. I opened a bottle of the hotel’s finest Champagne.

  That was a lie, he rarely if ever drank, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  Still nothing. Dammit.

  MAX: I’m quite the connoisseur, you know.

  HOT MINX: Did you know how to spell connoisseur or did you have to use your phone’s auto speller?

  MAX: I’m offended! You’re talking to the Canyon Creek Elementary Spelling Bee Champion two years in a row. Fourth AND fifth grade! Nuff said.

  HOT MINX: Bullshit.

  MAX: No way, I’m totally serious. Ask Ben or Emmett.

  A lot of people considered Max a dumb jock, and most of the time he didn’t mind. It meant he didn’t have to live up to their high expectations. What few people realized was that his IQ was close to the genius level. The sports broadcasters would sometimes mention his biomedical engineering degree from Duke, but most people assumed he’d been handed the degree for playing football without having to actually earn it. They’d be wrong. He’d earned every credit, and it hadn’t been easy.

  Max waited, watching the dots that indicated Devlin was responding.

  HOT MINX: Still thinking about spanking me?

  MAX: Yes. You’ve been a very bad girl.

  He sat still, praying she’d say agree to come see him.

  HOT MINX: Got a blindfold?

  MAX: Pretty sure you’re gonna want to see what I’m packing.

  HOT MINX: Oh, trust me, I know what you’re packing.

  Max laughed. Yeah she did. Their night together had been spectacular.

  The little dots kept going. She was writing something else.

  HOT MINX: What’s your room number?

  Max smiled nearly as big as the day he won the Super Bowl. Devlin Darby was a trophy all right. And he couldn’t wait to wrap his arms around her.

  Chapter Five

  Devlin should walk away right now.

  Max Sumner was the kind of guy your mother warned you about. He was an admitted player who didn’t take life seriously and wouldn’t stick around long enough to let a woman sink her claws into him. He had an ego the size of the Grand Canyon and wasn’t afraid to let people know it. A smart woman would walk the other way.

  All those qualities were ones she actually looked for in a man. The harder the player, the less likely they were to want more from her. The cockier a man was, the easier it was to walk away after a night or two. By all rights, Max Sumner fit her needs perfectly.

  Walking away from him a month ago should have been the easiest decision she’d ever made. But it hadn’t been. And she didn’t want to admit why.

  Devlin didn’t invest time or energy into relationships. Sex was sex, nothing more, nothing less. It was a way for two people to find release without the burden of more. But the night she and Max had spent together, something inside her changed, like the key twisting inside an old lock, clicking it open. And she did not want to open that lock. It secured something very precious. Her heart.

  Devlin had learned about love the hard way—from her parents. Her mother had foolishly given her heart away to her father at a young age. He wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love as far as Devlin was concerned, least of all her mother’s. She’d been forced to watch helplessly as her father broke her mother’s spirit with every indiscretion, stole small pieces of her soul with every harsh word.

  Nothing her mother had ever done was good enough for him. Devlin would watch her mom try to stretch their budget by switching out meals for whatever was on sale that week. She’d clip coupons and try to make things work, only to have him fly off the handle because the food she made wasn’t good enough.

  The next week, he’d call her mom an idiot because she couldn’t balance their checkbook, all while he traipsed around town with other women whenever he damned well pleased. Day by day, little by little, he’d chipped away at Devlin’s mother until
all that was left was the shell of a woman. A woman Devlin didn’t recognize or respect anymore.

  She’d vowed never to give any man the power to destroy her the way her father had her mother. Never. Until a month ago, that decision hadn’t been a problem. Then Max Sumner strolled in.

  She couldn’t figure out for the life of her why she was so drawn to this man. She’d had every intention of steering clear of him and yet, just like a magnet, she was drawn back to him.

  She stopped outside his hotel room, debating whether to knock. She was attracted to him, of course, anyone in her right mind would be. He had a body that could go all night, and had. Just thinking of spending the night with Max again had her legs tingling with excitement. But her heart burned with a warning.

  It was just one night, she told herself. She was leaving for New York early in the morning. She nodded, mind made up. That settled it. She’d get one last taste of Max, one last feel of his—

  Her phone pinged in her pocket. She pulled it out.

  STUD MUFFIN: You coming? The water is getting cold.

  Water?

  She pressed her lips together, and her thighs. Oh God, was he in a bathtub? Just picturing Max Sumner, naked and stretched in a tub was…She shook her head. Yeah, she needed one more fix.

  Devlin reached out to knock on the door but found the door propped open. For her? Max was obviously very trusting. Too trusting.

  Devlin pushed the door open and walked inside the suite, quietly closing and locking it behind her. She walked up three steps in the entryway and found a small living area that was furnished in the same style as their penthouse suite, only on a smaller scale.

  Max’s room was a loft-style suite with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings. She glanced over the railing and saw a massive king-sized bed in a sunken room just below her. The bedroom. To the right was a barn-style door on rails that slid open and closed. Through the crack he’d left open, she saw the rim of a tub with one large male foot dangling over the edge.

  She smiled. She couldn’t help it. Even Max’s feet were sexy.

  Her phone buzzed again.

  STUD MUFFIN: I’m hungry. How much longer are you going to make me wait?