Daring Devlin (Lost Boys #1) - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,41

him to follow me. I fisted my hands in my pockets and wished I hadn’t left my gloves in the car.

Two seconds later, Devlin jogged up next to me, then stood in front of me and held up his palms. I stopped and gave him my most evil glare.

“I thought you weren’t chasing me.”

“Chasing you would mean I was behind you.” He leaned close and murmured, “And we both know how much you like me behind you.”

He smiled and I wanted to slap his cocky mouth. I tried to hate him, 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.

Devlin folded his bare arms over his chest and blew out a visible breath. No coat. What a genius.

“You’re cold,” I pointed out.

“Aw, you do care.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck me.” His face pleated. His smile vanished.

“You’re pissed. Good. Welcome to the club.”

His eyes were hot enough to weld iron when I brushed past him. 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 wasn’t working.

A black SUV parked in the direction I was walking roared to life, the taillights on. I paused, waiting for it to reverse, but it didn’t move. Then Devlin walked past me, key fob in hand, his breath billowing overhead like smoke. Remote starter.

“You coming or what?” he called over his shoulder right before he rounded the SUV and climbed inside.

I gritted my teeth and stared at the idling vehicle with the dark windows. I couldn’t get in the car with him after I’d caught him seducing Melinda. The rattling thump of bass came from the SUV as wind blew snow off Oak & Sage’s roof and into my hair. I shivered. The SUV’s interior light flicked on, then off.

Crap. I wasn’t actually going to go to him, was I?

Then again, why waste the fury broiling my hairline on a trek through the parking lot? I’m sure Devlin would love to hear about my date with Baron. A little smile curved my cold lips.

With a skip in my step, I tugged open the passenger door of the SUV, climbed inside, and arranged myself in the seat. Involuntarily, I shuddered. I told myself it was because the cold outside had chased me in. I refused to accept any other reason.

He adjusted the vent to blow warm air on my lap. That was considerate.

No, not considerate. Decent, maybe. Something any human would do for another. He didn’t deserve to be knighted, for Pete’s sake.

He let out a heavy sigh and sagged against his seat. I stared out the windshield. 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.

Six minutes passed.

“Really?” I finally shouted.

Elbow leaning on the window frame, head propped on his hand, he slid his eyes to mine. “She speaks.”

“You’re the one who needs to explain.” Not that I was going to wait one more second. “Do you do this with every girl at work?”

Not a single muscle on his face twitched.

“Did you help Melinda with her apron? Did you kiss her in the freezer? Did you take her in the office and…” I trailed off, my throat tightening with emotion. No matter how tough I pretended to be, I couldn’t hide the hurt. He’d hurt me. And I had allowed myself to be hurt, which was worse.

“I went on a date tonight,” I blurted.

One of his eyelids narrowed.

“The nephew I told you about. He’s twenty-six and 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.” A muscle in his jaw ticked. Finally. I’d affected him.

“Yes,” I continued, happy to push 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 mumbled.

“He flirted with me. He treated me well. He was polite. He listened when I talked without any agenda of his own.”

“Everyone has an agenda.” Devlin sneered. “If he’s so great, what are you doing here?”

“Some dumbass seduced me into being his mule again. I showed up, making me the bigger dumbass, because I found him hypnotizing another girl with his big, beautiful blue eyes.” I batted my eyelashes