Make You Remember

by Macy Beckett

  “Okay, how about this,” he said as he upped the ante by flicking a chunk of okra at her. “Let’s talk about the curse.”

  That caught her off guard. She wasn’t sure if she liked this topic any better.

  “Specifically,” he added, “how we’re going to break it.”

  “We?” she asked. No, she definitely didn’t like where this was going.

  “Yeah, I want you to help me.”

  Devyn bought herself a few seconds by finishing her beer, but by the time she’d swallowed the last drop, she was no closer to forming a response than before. Months ago, she had tried helping Marc and Allie break the curse . . . and failed. In the end, the only thing that had worked was Marc’s determination to marry Allie at any cost. Devyn didn’t want to think about marriage—especially not to the man who’d crushed her heart.

  When she didn’t answer, Beau nudged her across the table. “Hey, take a breath.”

  She hadn’t realized she was holding it.

  “I’m not asking for a Vegas wedding,” he said. “Just a little help from a friend.”

  Devyn chanced a glance at him. He’d begun shredding the paper wrapping from his sandwich, a telltale sign that this wasn’t an easy request for him to make.

  “Growing up,” he went on, “I didn’t exactly have the Leave it to Beaver experience. But I want that someday—a wife and a family, all my kids under one roof. I want to eat pancakes on the weekends and coach little league. I want the picket fence.”

  The idea of Beau married to another woman, smoothing his hands possessively over her pregnant belly, made Devyn’s chest ache. But she refused to dwell on why she felt that way. “I don’t know how much good I can do. The Dumonts have the power to undo the hex, not me.”

  “Purest faith shall set you free,” he quoted from Memère’s curse. “But what does that mean? What does it look like? I don’t understand, and that’s where you come in.”

  Devyn pursed her lips and stared at her beer bottle as if Sam Adams might come to life and tell her what to do. Logically, she knew there was no harm in doing a little digging, but that didn’t stop her stomach from pulling into a knot.

  “Did I mention,” Beau said, pointing at their dessert, “that I brought cheesecake?”

  Devyn smiled and shook off whatever shadow had passed over her. Beau was right—he wasn’t asking for much. Besides, after all the things he’d done for her, she owed him a favor. “Oh, well that changes everything.”

  “So you’ll do it?”

  “You did give me an orgasm in my mouth . . .”

  “Among other places.”

  “True,” she agreed. “All right, Dumont. I’ll help you break the hex.”

  “Thanks, Dev.” His grateful smile made her go all gooey inside. “This means a lot.”

  “No problem,” she said, reminding herself that this wasn’t a big deal. “That’s what friends are for.”

  Chapter 11

  Beau sipped his iced tea and studied the flat-screen television, analyzing the footage he’d missed a few days ago when he was otherwise occupied with Devyn. The roulette table was still underperforming, and his instincts told him one of the employees was skimming chips. The problem was that in order to pull off the scheme for any significant amount of money, the perp needed a partner—someone working in the cash-out station who would look the other way and trade those chips for greenbacks. It was bad enough to have one thief on the payroll, but a conspiratorial partnership was a whole other level of betrayal. Thinking about it made Beau’s fists tighten, and he squinted at the recorded feed in determination to nail the bastards.

  But then he spotted Devyn’s image, and his focus blew to hell.

  She had been walking toward the exit, her hair still mussed from his fingers, and she threw a glance over her shoulder toward the one-way glass where moments before, he’d held her there and made them both dizzy with pleasure. He paused the footage to freeze her in place, then zoomed in to read her expression. Her lips were parted, her eyes glassy beneath a furrowed brow. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to identify the emotion etched onto her features.

  She was afraid.

  That didn’t surprise him. He’d sensed her reluctance to let go when she refused to look him in the eyes during lovemaking. Since that night, they’d had sex three more times, but it wasn’t the same as it had been in the security room—just a few stolen moments in supply closets and dark corners, with Devyn continuing to refuse to stay the night with him. She was holding back; that was clear. But still, it stung to see the evidence of her anxiety in high definition.

  Beau supposed he couldn’t blame her. She’d loved him once, and he had made her suffer for it. Trust was earned. Regaining hers would take time.

  Luckily, he had plenty of that.

  His cell phone buzzed to announce a new text, and he smiled. Devyn must be on her lunch break. He checked the screen and saw that he was right.

  Meet me in my room, she told him, and I’ll give you something a lot more filling than a grilled cheese sandwich.

  If Beau had his choice, he’d meet her in his suite and spend all day worshipping her body. But since she wasn’t ready for that, he’d take whatever he could get.

  I’m on my way, he promised. Don’t start without me.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Devyn was on all fours, coming harder than a runaway train while he thrust into her from behind. It didn’t escape Beau’s notice that she was refusing to have face-to-face sex with him, but with her inner muscles clenching around him like a liquid fist, he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit. He slammed into her one last time and growled, erupting in a climax he felt all the way to the soles of his feet.

  Once he caught his breath, Beau skimmed a loving hand over the bare ass cheeks peeking out from beneath Devyn’s skirt. He pulled out slowly and tucked himself back into his pants.

  “Much better than a grilled cheese,” he agreed. “But I’ll be hungry again in a few hours.”

  Laughing, she retrieved her panties from beneath the bed. “More like a few minutes.”

  “You know me well.” And because of that, she probably knew what was coming next. “Stay with me tonight.”

  “I can’t.” She didn’t meet his gaze when she pulled on her underwear and lowered her skirt. “I have a roommate, remember? Ella-Claire will notice if I’m missing.”

  “She’s a big girl. I’m pretty sure she had ‘the talk’ with her mama.”

  “You’re my boss,” Devyn reminded him. “We’re not supposed to be sleeping together.”

  Beau didn’t bother arguing that he’d already outed himself as her boyfriend at the class reunion, or that Marc knew they were involved and had begrudgingly accepted it. Because that wasn’t the real reason she avoided sharing his bed. Instead, he threw her a teasing grin and pleaded, “Come on. All this sneaking around is making me feel cheap.”

  She folded her arms and returned his smile. “Want me to buy you dinner next time? I can probably scrounge up some flowers, too.”

  “You’re breakin’ my heart, darlin’.”

  “Mmm,” she said, crawling toward him. She laced her fingers behind his neck and kissed him until he couldn’t tell which way was up. “And yet,” she whispered against his lips, “you keep coming back for more.”

  Beau couldn’t deny it, but that didn’t mean she had him by the short and curlies. He took back a handful of the power by nibbling his way down the side of her neck while massaging her breast. He grazed the top of her shoulder with his teeth, using one finger to circle her nipple until Devyn whimpered and strained against him. Until she spread her legs and rocked against his thigh. Until he knew he could have her again.

  Then he stood up and told her good-bye.

  • • •

  Later that night, she made him pay.

  “Dev,” he groaned from inside the linen closet, where he stood against a shelf of bath towels while she knelt at his feet, teasingly flicking her tongue
over the tip of his erection. She’d been torturing him with whisper licks for what felt like an hour, and now he was so painfully hard that she may have broken his dick.

  “Damn it,” he swore. “You’ll be the death of me.”

  The thin strip of light leaking inside from the hallway wasn’t enough to illuminate the closet, but he could hear the smile in her voice. “I don’t want to kill you, Dumont.” She wrapped a loose hand around his shaft, barely skimming him as she pumped up and down. “In fact, I’m kind of attached to some of your finer parts.”

  “Then prove it,” he hissed, gripping the shelf behind him.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” With her fingernails, she brushed the sensitive patch of skin behind his balls, making his jock twitch. “I didn’t hear the magic word.”

  “Please,” he said in a rush. This was a matter of life and death. Now was not the time for saving face. “Please, Dev.”

  She pretended to consider his request, then quickly sucked a bead of moisture from his engorged tip before she pulled back, letting the cool air replace her blazing mouth. Beau clenched his teeth, regretting with every fiber of his soul that he’d teased her earlier that day.

  Payback was a bitch.

  And apparently, Devyn knew it. She rose to her feet and faced him, taking his throbbing length in her hand. “You’re so hard,” she mused. “Is there someplace you’d like to put this?”

  Beau snapped.

  Grabbing her around the waist, he sank to the floor and took her with him until she straddled his lap. He shoved up her skirt, hooked a thumb around the crotch of her panties, and positioned himself at the base of her slick entrance. Then, curling an arm behind Devyn’s body, he tugged her down while he thrust upward, filling her with a liquid ease that ripped a moan from both their throats.

  “Yeah,” he murmured. “Right there.”

  She rode him slowly at first, building to a desperate tempo that was sure to leave rug burns on her knees. So he rolled her to the floor and slung her legs over his shoulders. The new position must have hit her hot spot, because she mewled and cried and cursed as he rocked in and out of her. Between her primal noises of pleasure and the slap of their colliding hips, it was a wonder half the boat couldn’t hear them.

  Not that he particularly gave a damn at the moment.

  “Now it’s your turn to beg,” he said, pausing to grind a deep rotation against her. “Let’s hear the magic word, Kitten.”

  Her voice was a low whine. “I hate you.”

  He chuckled to himself. “I don’t think so. I think you’re loving one of my finer parts right now.”

  “Please,” she whispered. Her breaths came in shallow gasps. “Please don’t stop.”

  He didn’t make her ask again, mostly because he couldn’t hold out for much longer. Drawing on his last shreds of energy, Beau drove into her hard and fast. They came together in a rush of sensation so powerful that he may have left his own body. It was hard to tell, because he was still dizzy with the intoxicating feel of her sex when they untangled their limbs a few moments later.

  “Wow,” she breathed, adjusting her clothes. “Just wow.”

  “Seconded.” He felt in the darkness for her hand, then gave it an affectionate squeeze. But when he tried to wrap his arm around her, Devyn planted a hasty kiss at his temple.

  “I’ll text you tomorrow at lunch,” she said, moving to her feet before he’d even zipped his pants. She opened the closet door, blinding him with a flash of light from the hallway before she shut it again.

  And then she was gone.

  What the hell?

  Beau sat there, utterly dumbstruck as he tried to process the hasty escape. He was only joking when he’d said their hookups made him cheap, but damned if he didn’t feel a little used right now. Was it his imagination, or had they taken a step backward? Each time with Devyn seemed brasher than the last, a series of hit-and-runs with her doing all the running. She was pulling away emotionally and using him to get off.

  That’s when it struck him—they weren’t making love anymore. They were fucking. And not affectionate fucking, either. This was down and dirty, biting and clawing, teasing and swearing, animal sex. The no-strings-attached kind. And as hot as it was, Beau had come too far with Devyn to let their relationship mutate into some one-dimensional friends with benefits arrangement.

  He wanted more.

  Which meant no more booty calls.

  “Shit.” His Magic Stick wasn’t going to like that, but it would have to take one for the team. “Be strong, big guy,” he muttered to his crotch. “Keep your eye on the prize.”

  • • •

  “You’ve got to be strong.” Devyn gripped Ella-Claire’s upper arms. “Don’t cave now, not when he’s finally getting a glimpse of what life is like without you.”

  Ella jutted out her bottom lip. “But I miss him.”

  “That’s good,” Devyn said with an encouraging nod. “I’m sure he misses you too. Think about how miserable you are.” When Ella’s mouth pulled into a frown, Devyn added, “Now imagine Alex feeling the same way.”

  “How is this supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Well, it doesn’t,” Devyn admitted. “But it’s important that Alex realizes two things.”

  Ella made a go ahead motion with her hand.

  “First, he has to know you’re serious—that you’re not making empty threats when you tell him to fish or cut bait,” Devyn advised. The same rule applied in the education center. If her students acted the fool and she threatened a consequence, she always had to follow through on it. “If you keep taking him back, he’ll learn that you don’t mean what you say.”

  “And second?”

  “He’s taking you for granted.” Devyn paused to let the words sink in. “Some people have to lose what they love in order to appreciate it. Alex might be one of those people. If so, this distance is just what the doctor ordered.”

  Ella blinked her big blue eyes and puffed a sigh.

  “What did Alex say when you told him you wanted more?” Devyn asked.

  The girl’s shoulders sagged. “He was totally logical about the whole thing. He said he’s attracted to me too, but if we cross the line, it could ruin our friendship and mess up the whole family dynamic.”

  Devyn didn’t say so, but she thought Alex had made a valid argument.

  “He asked me to imagine what would happen if we dated and then broke up,” Ella continued. “How tense and awkward it would be, especially because we all work together. And how things would never be the same between him and Marc.”

  “Alex would be risking a lot,” Devyn pointed out. “More than you, because Marc holds him to a different standard. And you two are barely out of college. The odds that you’ll take your friendship to the next level and stay together forever are pretty slim.”

  Ella folded her arms and made a noise of offense. “A minute ago, you were telling me to stay strong and make him suffer. Now you’re agreeing with him. Whose side are you on?”

  “Yours, believe it or not.” As much as Devyn wanted to see Ella-Claire with the guy of her dreams, she needed to understand all the possible consequences instead of letting her heart call the shots. “By default, a relationship with Alex won’t be easy. Have you considered that?”

  Ella answered with a question of her own. “Do you know how hard it is to stand back and watch him with other girls? To be his friend and pretend I don’t care when someone slips a phone number in his pocket? Or to laugh it off when I hear one of his brothers tease him about his dates?”

  Devyn thought back to her picnic with Beau, when she’d pictured him with a wife and a family that didn’t include her. “I can imagine.”

  “I can’t keep going on like this,” Ella said. “It hurts too much. Either we take it to the next level, or we go our separate ways so I can move on. Our family dynamic is screwed no matter what, because something has to change. That’s what you and Alex don’t understand.”

  “Aw, ho
ney.” Devyn squeezed Ella’s shoulder, her heart aching for the girl. “I get it. And my original advice still stands. If you want to give Alex an ultimatum, then hold your ground. I hope you get what you want.”

  A tear spilled from her lashes and trailed down her cheek. “Why does this have to be so hard?”

  “Because,” Devyn said, “we don’t appreciate what comes for free.”

  • • •

  The next day, Devyn inhaled her turkey on rye and jogged to her room while trying not to choke on a bite of lettuce. Her lunch break was only forty-five minutes long, and she had already wasted a few of those precious minutes on actual lunch.

  Which wasn’t what she hungered for.

  After letting herself inside, she wrapped a hair elastic around the doorknob in a silent message for her roommate, then undressed down to her matching bra and panty set—black lace, sure to put some extra giddy- up in Beau’s pulse. She took a seat on the dresser and sent him a quick text.

  I’m in my room, and all my clothes are on the floor, she typed. The door’s unlocked for you. . . .

  His response was almost instantaneous. I’ll be there in five.

  Devyn checked her watch and smiled when Beau made it there in three minutes, not five. Just as she expected, his eyes bulged at the sight of her, but then he shut the door behind him, and something in his expression shifted. Cooled. He raised his gaze to hers and stood near the wall instead of planting himself between her parted thighs.

  She hadn’t seen that coming.

  The longer he stood there silently staring her down, the more exposed Devyn felt. What was taking him so long? Were they going to do this, or not?

  “We need to talk,” Beau said, tucking both hands in his pockets. “Maybe you should put on your clothes.”

  Devyn’s lungs emptied as her skin flushed with the unchecked embarrassment of rejection. Here she was, on display for him in a few strategically placed scraps of lace, and he suggested she get dressed? Her ears had heard him, but her mind was a little slow on the uptake. Beau had been all over her like a duck on a june bug since he’d come back to town, and now he didn’t want her anymore?