Rogue Devil

by Kylie Gilmore

  He closes his eyes. “No.” He sounds terribly despondent.

  “What?”

  He opens his eyes. “You’re not a real redhead?”

  “No, I’m blond like Sara. Why is that a big deal?”

  He waves that away. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Hey, I brought my laptop. You want to watch the latest Fast and the Furious movie?”

  “Is that the long series of movies about car chases?”

  “Yeah, it’s awesome. A new one just came out.”

  I tap my chin. “Hmm, I’m afraid I’ll be totally lost since I didn’t see all the car chases that came before it.”

  He gives a lock of my hair a tug. “Smart. We’ll get started on the first one.”

  I get lost for a moment in his sparkling blue eyes. I bet his life is nonstop good times. What an easy life he must’ve had growing up, surrounded by people who love him, all that good humor and cheer. He probably never had a lonely moment in his entire life. Ever. The contrast with my own life is almost laughable. Sara and I had each other and that’s it. I had long lonely spells while she was at work. Maybe that’s why I poured myself into my schoolwork. I have to admit, no matter how good you are at science, it doesn’t give you the warm feeling that just standing near Brendan and his family does.

  No use wishing for what I never had. Education is my springboard to a better life, both for financial security and to make a difference in the world. Growing up, my sister and I barely scraped by. I’m seriously torn between the fun he promises and my need to get back to work. “I dunno, Brendan. This sounds like it could take a while.”

  “Nah. Couple of hours, and then you can catch up on the other movies on your own time.”

  I consider another angle. Watching a movie on his laptop means we’ll be in close proximity. I can’t deny I’m drawn to him. Then again, he said kissing me would be like kissing his cousin. Okay, the smart thing to do is to keep him at a safe distance. That way there’s no risk of me acting impulsively on completely natural biological urges.

  “You’ll like it, I promise,” he says in a coaxing voice. “It’s universally appealing, even to future doctors. What’s your last name?”

  “Travers.”

  “Even for you, Dr. Travers.”

  I bite back a smile. I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone to call me Dr. Travers. I love the sound of it. Dr. Chloe Travers.

  Chloe Travers, MD.

  Dr. Travers, we need your opinion on this atypical cell formation.

  I shrug. “Okay.”

  He grins and leads the way to his room. We settle on an overstuffed gray sofa in the sitting room to watch the movie on his laptop set up on the coffee table. He slouches down on the sofa, his gaze glued to the movie. Guess I don’t have to worry about the close proximity thing. It’s clear he’s more interested in a movie he’s already seen than in me. No problem. I get comfortable and force myself to keep my eyes on the screen, pretending I’m alone, ignoring the heat of his body and his sexy woodsy scent. Focus on the car chases and swaggering men.

  Next thing I know, I startle awake, wiping the drool from my mouth. Oh my God. I fell asleep, and my head is resting on his shoulder.

  I slowly straighten and look up at him.

  He smiles, his blue eyes warm on mine. “What’s your professional opinion of the movie, Dr. Travers?”

  I smile widely, my chest warming at his turn of phrase. “I liked it.”

  “Which part?”

  I think back to the early part of the movie before I fell asleep. “The hot swaggering guy part.”

  “Uh-huh. Any particular one?”

  I stare at the laptop screen, trying to remember the name of the actor. It’s on a screensaver of shooting stars. How long was I sleeping? Did he just sit here letting me sleep on his shoulder for hours? That was so nice of him.

  “Vin Diesel?” he prompts. “You dig the baldies?”

  I laugh and meet his eyes sparkling down at me. My gaze drops to his sensual lips that always seem to want to smile. Suddenly I feel this pull, like I want to get closer. Chemistry is a powerful thing.

  “Chloe.” His voice sounds rough.

  I lick my lips. “All the guys were hot.” But I mean him.

  I should leave, but I can’t seem to move.

  He stands and offers me a hand. I get off the sofa on my own, not trusting myself to touch him. I feel close to him for some reason. Silly. Just because I fell asleep on him and he let me for…I don’t even know how long.

  I study him for a moment, and he studies me right back as we stand facing each other in front of the sofa. It’s like we’re trying to figure out next steps. Are we really friends? If so, we could hang out tomorrow too. I don’t know if I should mention it.

  He hitches a thumb toward the door. “You want me to walk you back to your room?”

  “I’m just down the hall. I think I can make it.”

  He laughs.

  He’s so good natured. Some people are put off by my dry humor. “Goodnight, Brendan. Thanks for the movie.”

  “No problem.” One corner of his mouth tilts up and a dimple appears in his scruffy cheek. It’s immensely appealing. I tell myself it’s just a dent and it’s not like he can help it. “Thanks for showing me your secret passageway.” He closes his eyes for a moment. “And I didn’t mean that as dirty as it sounded. Think you’ll watch more of the Fast and the Furious movies?”

  “No.”

  His brows lift over eyes sparkling with good humor. “I’ll have to report you to the Vin Diesel fan club.”

  I giggle and then immediately smother it. So not like me to giggle. I leave with a wiggle of my fingers over my shoulder at him.

  By the time I reach my room again, I’m smiling, which just goes to show I do know how to have fun.

  4

  Brendan

  Today’s my last day on Villroy, and I’m making the most of it, playing poker at the casino with my brothers and cousins in a private room. Does it get any better than this? Free drinks, good company, and I’m up by a couple of hundred euros. There’s two games going on right now, mixing it up between Villroy and Brooklyn folk. Adrian is the one to watch at my table, a true card shark. He doesn’t need the money. He owns this place and it’s immensely successful, but he plays each hand like his life depends on winning it.

  I have the feeling Adrian’s going to surprise us with a full house. He’s surprised us twice already. I just got lucky with my last hand, and I know it. My mind keeps drifting back to Chloe. I guess some part of me was hoping for more fun with her. I’m leaving tomorrow morning. She avoided family meals and didn’t join us at the casino either. Adrian told me earlier that she’s staying on Villroy for three weeks before returning to college. It’s not like she’d want to see me back home once school is back in session, so now is the time for fun. I don’t know why I keep thinking of her. It’s just—

  Her smile.

  It felt like such a victory to see her smile, especially once I realized what a serious person she is, so focused on her studies. I did that.

  Beast elbows me in the ribs. “Your redhead is here.”

  My head jerks up. She just walked in with her sister. She looks like a young college student, wearing a green cardigan over a matching tank top with jeans and short black suede boots. Duh, she is a young college student. She’s not for me. She’s too serious, too driven, too…doctor-y.

  Family connection. Fallout. Awkwardness.

  Psycho assassin ex. Death.

  And then she bites her lower lip and gives me a tentative wave. It hits me like a gut punch.

  I stand and throw my cards on the table facedown. “I fold.”

  A chorus of protests erupts.

  “What?” I ask, my eyes glued to Chloe. She’s checking out the room while talking to her sister.

  “Seriously?” Beast asks.

  “Lame, man!” one of my brothers barks. I can’t bother to see who it is.

  I’m already crossi
ng the room, forcing myself to keep to a slow, even stride, so I don’t look as eager as I feel. I catch her eye and smile. She smiles back and warmth spreads through me.

  “Hey, Chloe,” I say when I finally reach her. “Taking a break?”

  “No, I’m studying anatomy as we speak,” she deadpans.

  “Anyone’s in particular?” I look around and find a bald man circulating with drinks. I speak out of the side of my mouth. “The baldie, right?”

  She giggles and slaps a hand over her mouth.

  I grin. “Vin Diesel would be so jealous.”

  “I’m joining a game,” Sara says to Chloe.

  I realize I was rude. Her sister has been standing here the whole time. “Hi, Sara, good to see ya again.”

  “Sure, sure,” she says with a smile in her voice before joining Adrian. She’ll probably take my place in the game.

  Chloe shakes her head. “She says you’re my new boy toy.”

  “Ridiculous. I’m all man.”

  “Man toy doesn’t rhyme.”

  “Hmm, how about Bam Man?”

  She quirks a brow. “Really? As in slam, bam, thank you, ma’am? Not a compliment to you that you’re an early finisher.”

  I straighten at the insult. “I’m not, trust me. Anyway, what’s up?”

  “Sara forced me out of my room.”

  “Did she drag you over by the hair?”

  “She’s very persistent.”

  “Okay, well, you’re here. So are ya into poker?”

  “Not really. I can play. Sara’s awesome at it and we’ve played together lots of times. I just don’t find it fun.”

  “Slots? There’s roulette downstairs, craps, and—”

  “I know, Brendan. I’ve been here many times.”

  I cock my head. “Right. So what do you like to do?”

  “Mostly I hang here long enough to get Sara off my back and then go back to my room to study.”

  “Is that really what you want to do?” I lift my palms. “I mean, you’ve got a charming friend ready and willing to play with you.”

  She giggles and slaps a hand over her mouth again.

  I pull her hand down. “Why do you hide a laugh, party girl?”

  “I surprised myself with it. You’re funny.”

  My chest puffs out. “Yeah, I know. So…what’ll it be?”

  She puts her hands on her hips, drops them, and then crosses her arms. “I don’t know.”

  She looks so uncomfortable in the noisy space it occurs to me that someone who spends most of their time studying is used to library quiet. She’d never have survived growing up in the Rourke household—six rambunctious boys in a three-bedroom rowhouse. Luckily, my parents finished the basement into a rec room/extra bedroom to give us more room to spread out.

  “You wanna go somewhere quieter?” I ask.

  Her green eyes light up. “Yes.”

  “Let’s go downstairs to the bar. It’s not crowded. Adrian says more people visit the casino over New Year’s Eve than Christmas. You could get something nonalcoholic.”

  “Sure, okay.”

  I lead the way. “Was it pretty quiet growing up with just one sister? I ask because I have five brothers and it was never, ever quiet.”

  “Actually, yes, but also because my parents died when I was six. I don’t remember much of the time when it was the four of us.”

  No wonder she’s so serious. Six is really young to lose your parents. “That must’ve been tough.”

  She walks a little faster. “Yeah. After that we lived with my uncle in Brooklyn, but then when I was nine, he left to make it big in Nashville as a country singer, so it’s just been me and Sara ever since. She’s seven years older and worked a lot to support us. Anyway, that’s why I’m used to a lot of quiet time alone.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a painful subject.”

  She shrugs. “It’s my life. No sense trying to rewrite history and wish for something different. I just had to make the best with what I was given.”

  True. I just feel so bad for her. No wonder Sara fusses over her. She practically raised her like a single mom. I feel bad for Sara too. The two of them got a bum deal.

  “Let’s talk about something else,” she says as the bar comes into view. “Your family is very noisy. The Brooklyn Rourkes and the Villroy Rourkes. Is that genetic, or do you think it’s a matter of survival, trying to be heard over the crowd so you get your fair share of resources?”

  I bark out a laugh just as we enter the bar area. It’s past nine p.m. and the place is practically empty, like I predicted, just the bartender and two young guys at the end of the bar. The guys check Chloe out, take in my glare, and go back to the boxing match on TV.

  “Genetic,” I say in answer to her noisy Rourke question. “But you snooze, you lose on food resources. The moment a tub of ice cream entered the house, it was gone within five minutes.” I take a seat at the bar and she takes the one next to me. “I never felt like I had to fight to get anything else. I got my parents’ fair share of attention easily just by being myself. They called me a mischievous little devil.” I wink at her.

  She gives me side-eye. “I could see that about you.”

  I grin and pound my chest with a fist. “Yup.”

  “What can I get you?” the bartender, an older man with thinning brown hair, asks.

  I glance over at the selections on tap and order a Belgian ale.

  “Do you have anything fruity?” Chloe asks.

  “Sure do.” The bartender hands her a drink menu.

  I lean over to read it with her. There’s a lot of funny-sounding cocktails playing off royalty and Villroy—royaltini, Villroy breeze, even a lobster snap.

  “I can make anything without alcohol too,” the bartender says. “We also have soda.” He points it out on the back of the menu.

  “Can you give me a few minutes to decide?” Chloe asks.

  He inclines his head and moves farther down the bar, pouring my beer.

  Chloe leans close to confide, “My sister says I used to be a devilish whirlwind when I was little, though I don’t remember any of it.”

  “You, really?”

  She nods. “She says I used to rip off my clothes and run all over the beach naked, destroy sandcastles that she and Princess Silvia helped me build, throw our lunch to the seabirds, and pull the legs off crabs.” Princess Silvia is Adrian’s twin, which means Chloe’s been close with the Villroy Rourkes for a while.

  “My kind of girl. So what made you come to Villroy when you were little?” Before the casino and spa, it wasn’t exactly a destination.

  “My dad was originally from France and had fond memories of summers on Villroy. I spent every summer here since I was a baby. Sara was close with Silvia and Adrian since they’re all the same age. I was the crazy little sister they had to put up with.”

  So, basically, the royal family has known Chloe since she was born. And now my cousin is her brother-in-law. Yup, definitely have to be careful not to cross the line with this one. Talk about family fallout.

  “What other devilish things did you do?” I ask.

  She smiles and ducks her head. “Apparently, I swallowed a fish too, but that was accidental. I thought I could keep it alive in the spit in my mouth and bring it home to be my pet.”

  “Now that I’ve never done. I put my dad’s credit card in the mailbox once. I wanted to see it slide down the slot. Boy, was he mad.”

  She shakes her head. “Kids, right?” She studies the menu again. “I’ve never had a drink in my life, but all this talk about my carefree days makes me want to try one.” She meets my eyes with a small smile on her beautiful angelic face. “Be a little wild.”

  I stiffen, on full alert. Chloe can’t get wild. She’ll be way too tempting. Wild women are my bread and butter. I can’t eat here! This is family territory.

  “Bad idea,” I say.

  “Why?”

  I shake my head, desperately hoping to rattle
a good reason out of my panicking brain. “Because.”

  “Just one. And I can call for a ride back to the palace. Sensible and fun.” She goes back to the menu, drawing her lower lip into her mouth as she studies it. My gut tightens. Something about those lips with the bow at the top and the fuller lower lip. So sexy. I tear my gaze away from temptation.

  My beer arrives, and I take a long swallow. Feeling calmer, I channel my oldest brother’s responsible-sounding voice. “Best to avoid alcohol since you don’t have a tolerance. Drink responsibly.” Wait. I think that’s from a commercial encouraging people to drink, but in a responsible way.

  She turns to me. “The Villroy breeze sounds refreshing with the strawberries. Is rum sweet?”

  I open my mouth to say rum tastes like cough syrup and should be avoided at all costs, but it’s too late.

  She lifts a hand to the bartender. “I’ll take the Villroy breeze, please. With alcohol.”

  I hang my head. This is terrible. Now she’s going to get all loose and relaxed, exactly how I like my women. If she gets wild, I’m a goner.

  She grabs my beer, takes a sip, and sticks her tongue out. “Blech.”

  “Right? Skip that. I bet your drink is bad too.” I turn away and take another long swallow of beer. As soon as I’m done with this beer, I’m going back to the poker game. I’ll drop her off with her sister and keep my distance for the rest of the night.

  She elbows me in the ribs. “Don’t let me do anything crazy or embarrassing.”

  I gulp. “Like what?”

  “I don’t know.” She flutters a hand in the air. “Something.”

  She can’t even imagine something wild. Excellent. Maybe the alcohol won’t have any effect on her. She’ll just giggle or something.

  I relax and fill in the blanks of what wild could mean. It’s funny because she’d never do any of it. “Like dance naked on a table?”

  She smiles. “No. I don’t dance.”

  Perfect. Now I can have fun with her.

  I lower my voice so the bartender who’s preparing her drink at the other end of the bar can’t hear. “Do a striptease for the old guy behind the bar here?”