one of the many Jimmies, tilted his head to the side. “Walter?” he mocked. “Why would you be asking for him, then?”
Devlin’s grin was like a one-two punch to the dick. Only, without the agony afterward. Although my erection was definitely fucking painful.
“Yeah, Walter,” he overenunciated. “I mean, every Brit knows a Walter. It’s Raleigh’s fault. Such a popular name. As popular as the potato.”
Jimmy snorted. “I’ve heard that before but thought it was a joke.”
“Trust me, it isn’t. I thought it was a joke until I almost died of dehydration at Burning Man twenty years ago.”
“You?” Jimmy sputtered. “Went to Burning Man?”
“I wasn’t born in a suit,” he retorted with a laugh. “Nor do I live in one permanently.”
“You just use ‘nor’ to start sentences?” Jimmy narrowed his eyes. “Are you an alien? I mean, they say the Queen is really a reptile. You’ve met her, haven’t you? Is she?”
“Well, she’s many things, but I highly doubt she’s a reptile—”
The quick humor, the ability to take an insult or to bat away a potential ‘roast’ was a part of his charm. Something I’d seen time and time again on several videos like this one, where he was promoting something to do with the company. My only question was—where had that disappeared when he talked to me?
The awkward meal had given way to us watching my show of choice—Brooklyn Nine Nine—but instead of us relaxing like I’d thought, he’d sat there as stiff as cardboard. It had been surreal and uncomfortable, though I’d admit I’d enjoyed his big screen and the comfort of his luxurious pad.
A part of me had wondered if it was the Brit in him, but seeing him here, I didn’t think so.
I almost wanted to pout, but the interview gave me hope because damn, I wanted to see him again. When we were fucking, everything went to the wind. It was like he forgot who he was, and that was the Devlin I wanted.
He was so clearly discomfited by his sexuality that, there’d been points during last night’s dinner, where I’d wondered if I could deal with the way he was. It was why I’d asked if he just wanted to fuck. Better that than suffer through stretches of silence, or weird questions about how I took my soup before we’d dined on carbonara.
I mean, how many ways were there to take soup?
Hot? Tepid? Cold?
Christ.
Then he’d asked me about fruit. Fucking fruit!
It was like one of those weird getting to know you sessions where you asked twenty random questions.
The sound of brisk, tapping footsteps had me shutting down Chrome, before I cast a quick look over Cassandra’s way. She’d been in and out of the restroom more times than a Jack-in-the-box bounced. I was getting whiplash from how often she headed in there, but this time, it wasn’t Cassandra. She was just looking green around the edges over at her desk as Rachel, my friend, headed to my desk with a carton in her hands.
I stared at it, then her, arching my brow as she moved right over toward me. Cassandra shot me a disapproving glare, but I ignored her. This was supposed to be my lunch break but, not only wasn’t there time to take off thirty minutes, I’d taken a quick five minutes to down a coffee and research the oddity that was my first.
Hell, my first everything.
Kiss. Fuck. Dark room lay. Blowjob—giving. Handjob—receiving.
Just the thought made me bite the inside of my cheek. Better that than blush in front of Rachel who was worse than a barracuda scenting blood.
“I have a gift for you,” she said in a singsong voice as she wiggled the carton in her hand. “Smells good, too.”
Frowning at the box, I murmured, “I didn’t order anything.”
“I’m well aware of that,” was her wry retort. “You think I bring takeout to every single employee on staff?” Her brow arched. “A PA of a PA of a PA of a PA asked me to take the order when it was delivered and bring it to you.” She leaned over. “Who’s got a crush on you?”
“Didn’t you work it out from the chain of PAs?” I whispered back, smiling when she clucked her tongue irritably.
“No. They didn’t give a name.” She pouted. “I just know it’s someone from a higher floor than this one. Maybe an executive?” Her eyes twinkled. “I always knew that pretty face of yours would catch someone’s eye up there.”
“Because that’s exactly how I want to earn a