I wished I could get to a point where I wasn’t okay with that transaction.
I dodged the dishwasher, who swept by me with a net on his hair and a stack of clean plates. No sign of Devlin in the prep area, and the office door was closed, the window dark. I kept walking, past the maintenance closet—empty—and past the employee bathrooms—doors open and dark as well.
Where is he?
My steps slowed as I came to the storeroom and a familiar feminine giggle punctuated the air. Devlin’s low and almost…soothing voice came next. My ire shot to the moon. Fists balled at my sides, I stalked to the doorway to find Melinda, so tall she nearly stood eye-to-eye with Devlin, backed against a shelf and eyeing him like she might take a bite out of him at any moment.
He wasn’t touching her, but he had a hand on the shelf next to her, leaning over her ear in what could only be described as an intimate position. Too intimate for my taste.
I stepped into the storeroom, crossing my arms over my chest. Melinda’s gaze cut across the room at me, and she grinned in triumph, tapping two fingers against Devlin’s black T-shirt. I trailed my gaze down to his chef’s pants—black with white skulls—and back up. By the time I reached his face, I could see he was regarding me without an ounce of guilt. He didn’t even have the decency to move away from her.
“Ten seconds,” he told me, then he turned back to Melinda.
Ten seconds, my ass. I left him to canoodle with the blond bitch I was now sure I hated, and stomped my way through the kitchen, pausing for not one but two prep guys leaving the walk-in fridge. When they dispersed, I reached the back door and pushed against the bar, only to encounter another employee crushing a cigarette underfoot. The same guy who yelled at me the day I had trouble with the touch screen. He went inside, brushing by me without a word. Jackass.
Before I made my getaway, a hand wrapped around my upper arm. I knew who it was without looking.
I jerked away from Devlin, who lifted a dark eyebrow. His expression didn’t hold enough remorse to suit me.
Outside, it was freezing, and I realized—belatedly—I would have to walk around to the front of the building to get to my car. Too late to backtrack now. I’d made such a grand exit. Plus the frigid air was beginning to cool my temper, which admittedly, needed cooling. As much as I’d like to jump in my car and peel out, giving Devlin the finger while I was at it, the smarter move was to leave somewhat gracefully and not run my bumper into a telephone pole on the way home. Resigned to my journey, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and steeled myself for a long, cold walk.
“I’m not chasing you, Rena,” came a calm voice from behind me.
“Good!” I pulled my face out of my collar to shout. I didn’t want him to follow me. I fisted my hands in my pockets. Thinking I’d be inside more than out, I had left my gloves in the car.
A moment later, Devlin jogged into sight, stood in front of me, and held up his palms. I intended to bypass him—until his hands clutched my arms. He tugged me to him, a small smile on his cocky mouth.
“Thought you weren’t chasing me.”
“Chasing you would mean I was behind you.” He leaned closer. “And we both know how much you like me behind you.”
I tried to hate him, tried to not be turned on, but parts of me were not cooperating. I gave a silent, stern lecture to my hormones. Come on, we all need to be on the same page here.
In front of me, Devlin’s arms shook, his bare arms puckering.
“You’re cold,” I pointed out.
His smarmy smile didn’t move an inch. “Aw, you do care.”
“Screw you.” Palms tightened on my arms and his face pulled into a series of pleats.
“Screw me,” he repeated, not really a question, but his eyes grew severe. He was pissed. Good. So was I.
My voice shook the slightest bit when I spoke. “Let me go.”
His eyes were hot enough to weld iron, but he released me. I continued walking, even though every cell in my body behaved as if it were magnetized to him. Dammit. That whole trying-to-hate-him thing really wasn’t working.
I heard an engine turn over and looked ahead of me to the edge of the back parking lot. A black SUV was running, taillights lit. I paused, waiting for the vehicle to reverse. It didn’t move. Dev walked past me, key fob in hand, his exhaled breaths billowing like smoke over his head. Right then I noticed though the darkened windows the SUV had no driver. Remote starter, I guessed. Arms rigid at his sides, Devlin climbed in and shut the door.
I stood staring at the idling vehicle, deciding what to do next. I couldn’t get in the car with him after I’d caught him with his tongue practically down Melinda’s throat. Wind kicked the snow off the roof and into my hair and I shivered. I looked to my left—where the parking lot led around to the front of the building—and then to the SUV on my right. The interior light flicked on, then off.
Seriously. I wasn’t really going to get in there with him, was I?
Then again, why waste the fury broiling my hairline on a trek through the parking lot? Maybe Devlin would like to know about my date with Baron. Or maybe he wouldn’t care.
But maybe…he would.
An evil little smile curved my cold lips. Time to find out.
I walked around to the passenger door and pulled, but the door handle sprang back, locked. After I heard the lock disengage with a click, I climbed inside, arranged myself in the seat, and shuddered from the cold that had chased me in.
Dev’s hand appeared in my vision, adjusting the vent to blow the already-warmed air onto my lap. I refused to acknowledge that what he’d done was considerate. What he’d done was commonly decent, I reminded myself tartly. He didn’t deserve to be knighted.
I heard him sigh and out of the corner of my eye saw him sag against his seat. I stared straight ahead. He didn’t speak. Neither did I. I wondered how long we’d sit here before one of us said something. I watched the green digital numbers change on the dashboard’s clock, resolved to stay silent.
Six minutes passed.
“Really?” I lifted and dropped my toasty hands into my lap.
He turned his head to look at me, lifting his eyebrows. “She speaks.”
“You’re the one with the burden of explanation.” I felt my forehead scrunch. Tired of waiting for that explanation, I added, “I guess this is what you do with all the girls at work?”
He didn’t flinch.
“Do you tie Melinda’s apron in the storeroom? Do you kiss Melinda in the freezer? Do you take off Melinda’s pants in the office?” At that last word, my voice cracked, because he hurt me. And I let him.
I’d seen this coming from a mile away and ignored it.
“I was on a date tonight,” I blurted, my voice wobbling.
One of Devlin’s eyelids narrowed.
“He’s the nephew I told you about. He’s twenty-six, a police officer.” Devlin’s other eye narrowed and I felt inordinately pleased. “He’s responsible. And nice. He ate my mom’s terrible pie and she loved him.”
“Responsible.” That wasn’t the word I’d expected him to pull from my speech. A muscle in his jaw ticked. Finally. I’d affected him.
“Yes.” I continued, pushing my luck. “I bet he pays his taxes. All of his taxes. And probably rarely, if ever, does anything illegal.”
“Clearly you don’t know the cops in this town,” he replied, both eyes still narrowed.
“He flirted with me. He would treat me well. Like, he would probably open my car door instead of locking me out. He was polite. He listened without any agenda of his own.”
“Everyone has an agenda.” Devlin sneered. “If he’s so great, what are you doing here?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Some asshole I know seduced me into being his mule again. And I showed up, proving to be the bigger asshole, because I found him hypnotizing another girl with his beautiful blue eyes.” I shut my trap. Bit my tongue. I hadn’t meant to compliment him.
He ignored both the
insult and compliment, reaching an arm over my seat to brace his hand on my headrest. “What’s this cop’s name?” he asked, calm.
Pissed he was so even-keeled, I rose my voice in challenge. “Why? Are you going to have him whacked?”
Dev kept his intense gaze trained on me, silence his best friend.
“His name is Baron,” I answered.
“Does Baron make you feel the way I’m making you feel right now?”
“Filled with rage? No, he doesn’t.”
His expression stayed steady. “What’s under the rage, Rena?”
I almost said “more rage,” but that wasn’t true. Tenderly, Devlin slid his fingers into my hair. I’d worn it down because he liked it that way. His fingertips massaged my scalp, his blue, blue eyes locked on mine.
Want. Want was under the rage.
He leaned over the console, cupping the back of my head in his palm. “Tell me what you feel.”
I forced my thoughts on the memory of him with Melinda. If I blurted out the truth, I’d have to say “stupid,” because I felt like a grade-A jerk believing someone like Devlin could ever be mine and mine alone. It was like owning a star. I could see him, admire him, but never truly hold him in my hands. I wasn’t about to tell him that now. If ever.
“I feel…at a disadvantage,” I covered.
He flinched—barely—just a slight lift of his cheeks that crinkled the skin around his eyes, but I saw it. He was too close to hide from me, so close he didn’t have to raise his voice for me to hear him.
“Melinda picked up the envelope,” he said.
Was I so easy to replace? Oh hell no. “Why? Because I was five whole minutes late?”
“Now you’re mad you didn’t pick up the envelope? I thought you didn’t want to be my—how did you put it?—‘Mule.’ ”
I set my jaw, staying quiet. He had a point. I was getting increasingly angry at how much sense he was making.
Keeping one hand in my hair, he traced my bottom lip with the index finger of his other hand. “Were you five minutes late because of your date with Baron?”
I studied his expression and saw jealousy. Reveled in it. I said nothing.
He sucked in a breath and blew it out of his nose, fanning the hair at my temple. “The guy dropping off the money thought she was you. She said he addressed her as Rena then handed her an envelope and told her to give it to me.”
I guess our names kind of sort of resembled each other.
“By the time she tracked me down with seven thousand dollars…”
“Seven thousand dollars?” I nearly choked.
“You see my concern.”
Not exactly. “So, you…what? Seduced Melinda into being quiet?”
His finger left my lips and he tipped my chin. “Convinced. Not seduced.”
“Convinced.” I practically spat the word.
His hands slipped down my arms and tugged me toward him. My upper body went, but my butt stayed stubbornly in the seat. He raised his eyebrows and tugged again, wanting me to climb over to his side of the car. I gave up and went, uncrossing my arms and crawling over his legs. Once there, he lifted my knee and clasped my hip, moving me until I was settled on his lap. Straddling him, I had to hunker to keep from knocking my head on the ceiling. My hair fell over his face as I rested my hands on his shoulders.
I attempted to insult him. “You smell like salad.”
“You smell like Baron.” His eyes narrowed again.
Impossible. Well, maybe it was possible. Baron had smelled of cologne, and he’d been drying my tears and patting my back while I choked on my mom’s potato-cheese hash. I wanted to bend my head and smell my clothes to verify, but I refrained.
What did Devlin care? Was he jealous? And why did my stomach flutter with excitement at the thought? Rather than explain myself, I said, “Well, you smell like desperate blonde.”
Looking slightly bemused, he reached for a lever on the side of the seat and leaned it back several inches. He pushed some of my hair away from my face and dropped his head onto the headrest. He was underneath me, holding my face in both palms. I braced myself on the seat instead of lying on top of him like I wanted to.
“Feel more in control now?” he asked.
I did. But I didn’t want to admit it. “Is that what this is about?”
“That’s what it’s always about.”
His fingers put pressure on the back of my head in an attempt to lower my lips to his. I resisted.
“Rena.”
I wanted to resist again. In my brain. But when his lips formed my name, I had no choice but to go to him, touch his mouth with mine, just a soft brush. I let my eyes close and enjoyed being near him. Then he pulled my head back, separating us, and the kiss was over. Too soon.
Which made me angry again.
So, I fisted his T-shirt and gave him a punishing kiss. Darting my tongue into his mouth, smashing his nose with mine, grinding my pelvis against his. He grunted, one hand tangling in my hair, the other tightening at my hip. He kissed me back, his rough, shaven face chafing my softer skin, but even then I didn’t back off.
I could have had safe, I reminded myself as I tasted him. I could’ve had nice. I could’ve had a guy on the right side of the law. I’d chosen my devastating and dangerous Devlin over Roy’s safe-and-sound nephew. I’d chosen to be with a man who thought it was okay to have sex with me one night and flirt with a different girl the next.
I robbed Devlin of my kiss and watched as his chest rose and fell in heaving breaths. I’d put the heat in his eyes. Me. Not Melinda. I clutched his hair and pulled his head back against the seat rest. His jaw ticked, but he didn’t wince. In fact, he looked pleased.
“She touched you,” I said, my voice a low warning.
His eyebrows pinched. “She did?”
I placed two fingers on his T-shirt where Melinda had tapped him when I caught them in the storeroom. “Here.”
He looked down at my poking fingers. “I didn’t notice.”
Reaching for the hem of his shirt, I bared his chest, knowing he’d be cold, despite the heated car, and not caring. “I noticed,” I said.
He let me haul his shirt up to his neck and I bent to put my open mouth on the spot over his left pectoral. It was a soft, wet kiss that only made me want to taste more of him.
His hand cupped the back of my head to hold me against him. I straightened away from his beautiful body, all that defined muscle, and ignored my own craving to explore the rest of him with my mouth.
Desire flooded his eyes, the blue darker, his lashes drawn low and shadowing his cheeks. His hands closed over my hips.
“That’s my punishment?” Half his mouth slid into a smirk.
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s all I’m going to do to you. That’s your punishment.” I crawled off his lap—he cupped his balls to protect himself from my knees—and settled once again into the passenger seat. Then I regarded him with an expression I hoped looked bored. Or at least unaffected. In reality, my heart pounded like a kettledrum.
With half his shirt off, slumped against the driver’s seat, Devlin looked a little unhappy and a whole lot dangerous. I wondered if I’d pushed him too far. I wondered if I cared. I told myself I didn’t, but I did care. How far could I push him before he walked away from me for good? I’d hate to find out, but I wouldn’t let him have the upper hand.
He drew his shirt down over his chest, and in one quick movement turned off the ignition and got out of his SUV. The door shut behind him, wobbling the entire vehicle. I sat there for the length of one breath before I gave up and got out too, deciding I’d go to my car after all and leave him to sulk. The moment my feet hit the snow-covered pavement, I heard Melinda’s voice, and my body went rigid. I was out of sight, having stopped short of rounding the back of his vehicle, but ventured a peek around the side. Dev stood at the rear of his car and Melinda by the garbage bin, lit cigarette in hand, her coat open.
“Hey, handsome,” she called,
obviously unaware of my presence. “You look cold.”
“I’m not,” Devlin called back. He dragged me out of my hiding place and pushed me up against the back of his car. Hands on either side of my face, he leaned over me and whispered, “Grab my ass.”
I blinked. “You want me to…”
He smiled down at me. That’s all it took. I reached behind him and palmed his firm butt, thrilling at what Melinda must be seeing. His hands in my hair, his body pressed against me. My hands claiming him. Mine.
He closed his lips over mine, hauling one of my legs up and over his hip as he did. The cold air between our warm lips chilled me, but I continued kissing him, feeling every part of my body vibrate in response to the way he touched me. His hand slid up my thigh and cupped my bottom, running his fingers along the inseam of my pants.
I forgot we had an audience at all.
He ended our lip lock panting, his breath visible, nose and cheeks red. I rubbed my hands over his muscular arms. He was freezing.
“You look like you did the night you showed up on my doorstep.” I stroked his eyebrow with the tip of one finger. It had mostly healed, but he’d have a scar there. I doubted the hair would ever grow back completely. “Only more in control.”
He kissed me again, briefly, then against my lips, said, “Trust me, baby. I’m less in control now.” His entire body shook. From the cold? Or because of his admission?
I wanted to believe the latter.
Chapter 12
Devlin
What’d I’d done was impulsive, some sort of gut instinct I wasn’t sure I could trust. Face it, I wasn’t the type of guy to protect anyone. But Rena awakened something in me. The way I’d pulled her onto my lap in my SUV. The way I’d let her dominate me. She’d kissed my chest but left me wanting more.
Fighting for Devlin (Lost Boys #1) Page 11