Daring Devlin (Lost Boys #1) - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,26

bar, and a couple of prep guys who looked as pleased as Melinda had about my situation.

Swallowing the last of my trepidation, I reminded myself that just yesterday Devlin had asked me for a favor and I’d done it. He’d kissed me after. I wasn’t going to be his girlfriend when he needed favors and his lackey at work. I’d been single far too long to allow a man to disrespect me. Even one as hot as him.

I stepped into the office, and the second I was over the threshold, the door shut behind me. The tiny room was choked with a desk, computer, and chair. Over that hung clipboards with lists and checkmarks. The free wall was lined with shelves storing bottles of liquor for the bar, the other a large cabinet with double doors. There couldn’t have been more than three square feet of available floor space. I backed up, my heel bumping against a huge safe, and I nearly lost my balance.

He grabbed my upper arm, I thought to save me from falling, and spun me so my back was to the door. The metal blinds covering the window crinkled behind my shoulders. I peered up at his angry line of a mouth and, for a scant second, felt afraid of him.

He placed his hands on either side of my head and leaned close, the flare in his eyes causing my heart to pound. Heat poured off him in waves.

“Say you’re sorry,” he demanded.

My eyebrows slammed down, but the “Hell no” on my tongue wouldn’t come forth. He was too close. He smelled amazing, he looked even better. And even pissed off at him, he’d still muddied the signal from my brain to my mouth.

“Why?” I said instead.

“You humiliated me in front of the staff.”

“So, I’m here to be punished?” I asked, my voice thready. It didn’t sound half bad coming from him, not while I was peering into his stunningly angry and handsome face.

“So, if I didn’t march you back here and demand an apology, the rest of them would rise up. Then no one would respect me.” I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. His voice was low and sinister, but there was a twinkle in his eye. His nose was inches from mine, his blue, blue eyes regarding me from under a fan of dark lashes.

He erased the distance between us. I could smell the food smearing his apron—blood from the steak and the vinegar tang of salad dressing tickled my nose.

“Apologize,” he said. “And walk out of here looking dejected.”

“Pass.” I snorted. “How about you chew me out and I’ll leave pissed off instead?” The devil on my shoulder lifted her palm for a high-five that the angel on the other shoulder happily returned.

“Chew you out,” he repeated, his lips hovering over mine. “Mmm. I’d like that.”

A thrumming heartbeat kicked to life between my legs, making this whole situation disconcerting.

Desirable.

That, too.

It was as if I didn’t know myself at all whenever he was around.

I licked my lips, watching his bright blues track my tongue’s movement. I decided to call his bluff. Drawing my shoulders back, I brushed against his filthy apron with my chest. See? I don’t mind getting dirty. From his clothes or from him. I could handle Devlin. I could handle a whole lot of Devlin.

“So would I,” I purred, tempting the dragon.

Devlin

So. The good girl wanted a good fuck.

Lots of girls looked at me like this. There was no other way to describe the heat in Rena’s eyes or the way she leaned close. She wanted me.

I untied the knot at the back of my prep apron and yanked it over my head. Her eyes followed the apron’s path to the floor before she leveled her gaze on me.

A good girl. I batted those words around in my head. A good girl would be a new experience for me, one I’d never tried. I’d long been a fan of the bad girl. The girl who wanted to shoot tequila, sixty-nine, and not call me in the morning. I liked that kind of girl. But then I pictured Rena underneath me, and then on top of me. And decided I liked that idea more.

I’d been avoiding her all day. Not only had I not slept last night, unless you counted the thirty-minute catnap after Paul and I devised our plan to pull him out of this epic shit pile he’d buried himself in, but I’d also accepted that involving