The Devil She Knows (8 page)

“You think this is about me.”

She took a deep breath. The motion of her breasts, pushing tight against the soft shirt that clung to her skin, made his mouth go dry with the need to taste her again.

“You’re the only one in the pictures. They appear the day after you arrive back in town. It isn’t a great leap to the idea that whatever this is, it’s about you.”

She was worried about him. The realization slammed into him so hard that he let her go and rocked back into his chair. Her palm, still flat on the table, flexed as if she’d just escaped from a tight, uncomfortable binding.

It had been a long time since anyone had been concerned for him.

A warm buzz started somewhere in the center of his chest and spread slowly through the rest of him.

“I appreciate your concern, but it’s unnecessary.”

“Who said I was concerned?”

He snagged her gaze, holding her in place and refusing to let her go. His lips tugged up into a lopsided grin that dared her to lie to him again.

She didn’t bother. “Just be careful. You weren’t exactly considered citizen of the year before. I don’t want what happened between us to derail your job with the resort.”

“Well, that’s sweet, angel, but my contract with the consortium is airtight. The only way the citizens of Sweetheart are getting rid of me this time is if I don’t perform. And we both know I have no problems in that department.”

Dev enjoyed the way her cheeks flamed with color. Her eyes flashed a warning. His body hummed, this verbal sparring with her doing nothing to quench the flame of need licking across his skin. In fact, it only made him want her more.

Ten years ago she’d been quiet and unsure. Delicate. She still had that edge of fragility that made a man want to circle around her and growl at anything that came within inches of touching her. But she no longer held back, unafraid to call him on his bullshit and slap him across the face with her harsh words.

Willow Portis had grown up, and God, that only made him want her more. She’d been a tempting teenager. She was a formidable woman.

She’d pulled her long, sleek hair into a smooth knot at the back of her head—now the deep, dark brown that he remembered. He wanted to tug on it and make the silky strands tumble down across his hands and chest and thighs. He wanted to run his teeth along the elegant curve of her long neck. He wanted to leave a mark on her so that every time she looked at it her body would remember.

Instead, he clenched his hands tight in his lap beneath the table and dragged a heavy breath into his burning lungs.

He needed to put some distance between them. Now. Before he did something stupid and compounded the problems they already had.

“Look, I appreciate the thought, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been taking care of myself for most of my life.” By force of will, Dev tore his eyes from hers. The moment his attention drifted over the crowd of people around them, guilty stares started jerking away.

Nothing ever changed.

His lips twisted into a scowl and he said, “You better leave now. A few more minutes sitting here with me and your reputation will be ruined forever.”

Dismissing her, he dipped several fries into the pile of ketchup on his plate and shoved them into his mouth.

But she didn’t leave. Instead, she shifted on her chair, as if she were finding a softer spot to settle. Willow Portis was a disconcerting puzzle. Just when he thought he’d pegged her, she went and did something that broke the neat box he’d shoved her into.

Watching him through lowered lids, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at him.

“You really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

Her words hurt, although he didn’t want them to. And he certainly wasn’t going to let her know it. Swirling another fry through the pool of red, he said lazily, “Yep, that’s me.”

“What did Rose ever see in you?”

He sent her a mischievous grin, the sexual energy he was trying to keep a tight lid on leaking out.

“Rose got exactly what she wanted from me.”

Willow huffed deep in the back of her throat.

“I seriously doubt that. She had to leave town. You both did. Nothing is worth losing your home, especially not sex.”

“Speak for yourself, little girl. Finally getting a taste of you was worth a whole hell of a lot.”

She gasped, enraged. God, he’d always enjoyed watching her shoulders tighten with indignation and her eyes narrow with determination. Ten years ago it was the only kind of passion he’d let himself have from her. Except that one night...

What bothered him most about the conversation was the obvious role Willow had cast Rose in—the victim. The little vixen had been far from innocent.

“Rose left town because she wanted to, Willow.”

Willow shook her head. “Rose left because she didn’t have a choice.”

Dev swore, long and low. Luckily, he was smart enough to keep the worst of his response inside his own head. “She had plenty of choices. She did exactly what she wanted. She always did.”

Even he could hear the bitter edge to his words, but apparently Willow was too caught up in her indignation to notice.

“Is that what you tell your guilty conscience? Rose is a showgirl in Vegas, Dev. She dances topless. Because she couldn’t do anything else to earn money when her husband divorced her.”

How had Willow’s vision of her sister become so skewed?

“And she loves every minute of it. She’s the center of attention. Men fawn over her. They desire her. No doubt she has a string of them that she’s taking for everything they’re worth. Don’t kid yourself. We both know your sister can take care of herself just fine. She’s manipulative and ruthlessly beautiful...and she knows it.”

Willow’s eyes flashed a warning, but he had no intention of heeding it. Rose had cost him plenty and he wasn’t going to pull any punches, not even for her sister.

The legs of her chair scraped loudly against the floor. Willow stood. She glared down at him, her body tight with contemptuous disdain. It should bother him. On anyone else it probably would have. But with Willow...the haughty expression just made him want to ruffle her pristine feathers again. To drag her down into the muck with him and show her just how much fun it could be to get dirty.

To make her remember—and admit—how satisfying last night had been. And that she wanted desperately to do it again. Just as badly as he did.

“I refuse to listen to you malign my sister.” When she left the diner, her palms slapped the front door with a resounding smack. A whirling gust of wind blasted in, fluttering the papers tacked to the bulletin board by the door.

Throwing a twenty down onto the table, Dev followed her.

This conversation wasn’t over.

6

W
ILLOW SEETHED.
H
OW
dare he talk about Rose that way? He was the reason she’d gotten into trouble in the first place. If he’d kept his tempting smile and those challengingly sensual eyes to himself then her sister never would have made the mistakes that she had.

And Willow wouldn’t have been left feeling betrayed by them both. Although she really didn’t want to think about that. Ten years was a long time and she’d moved on. Let it go. Everyone had their heart broken as a teenager...it was a rite of passage. Dev had been hers.

There was no reason to compound the stupidity by letting him get to her again. She was older and smarter now. And she saw beneath the crap he was pedaling.

But maybe that was the problem. He’d said exactly what she’d expected him to—poked and prodded at her just as he’d always done—but unlike before, something told her there was more to his barbed comments.

Was he just giving her what she expected?

Rose had been wild long before Dev had come into her life. Her sister had delighted in ignoring the rules. If her parents set a curfew, Rose broke it. If they told her not to wear something, she hid the clothes and changed the moment she was out of their sight. If they told her not to date someone, she spent hours outside in the driveway necking with him.

About the only thing she’d done that her parents had approved of was marrying Marcus. He was older, and comfortable enough to take care of her. Rose wasn’t a good student and college had definitely not been in her future.

And Rose had enjoyed being treated like a princess. Her husband had showered her with jewelry and trips and a brand-new car. For a twenty-year-old the easy lifestyle had been seductive, and only two months after meeting him Rose had eloped.

Willow’s mind spun back to the past, one she tried hard to forget. Things had seemed fine for a few months. Rose settled down a bit. She spent her time getting her nails done and going shopping. She was happy.

And then it all exploded. Rose began staying out all night again. She got into trouble, even calling late one night so that their parents could bail her out of jail. Several times her husband showed up at their house in the middle of the night looking for her. Willow remembered the loud, angry voices.

She’d tried to talk to Rose, but her sister had been tight-lipped, telling her everything would be fine.

And then the rumors about her and Wick had started...just days after he’d walked away from her. She’d confronted Rose. With dreamy eyes, her sister had said Wick was her ticket out of Sweetheart. And Willow had been devastated.

But she shouldn’t have been. She knew his reputation, a scandalous loner who never stayed with anyone for very long. They’d never even dated. Aside from that one night on her porch, he’d never touched her.

She’d felt like an idiot, but couldn’t stop it from hurting.

He hadn’t even stood by Rose. Within days of the scandal breaking, Wick was gone.

And that pissed her off more than anything. He’d been playing with Willow. She accepted that. But he’d destroyed Rose’s life and then walked away as if it was no big deal.

Willow’s heels slapped against the pavement as she walked down Main toward her store. It was dark already, and she wished she’d grabbed her coat before slipping down the street. When she’d locked up the studio and noticed Dev’s truck sitting in the diner’s lot she knew she needed to talk to him.

She was only half a block from the diner when Levi Waite materialized on the sidewalk beside her. Before she knew what was happening, her back was pressed against the crumbling brick and his hands were lodged on either side of her body. He leaned into her personal space, although he didn’t actually touch her, at least not after he’d caught her by surprise and spun her around.

“Now, Willow, if you’d wanted company last night why didn’t you just call me? I’m a much better choice than Warwick. I wouldn’t have been sneaking out of your house before dawn. If you’d taken me home we’d still be locked up tight inside your bedroom.”

That first kick of surprise sent a burst of adrenaline through Willow’s blood, but her brain quickly realized there wasn’t a threat and cut off the reaction. Levi Waite was harmless, if rather annoying.

She reached up to elbow him away, but before her sharp elbow could connect with his soft belly the man was flying backward. It was as if an invisible string had been tied to his waist. His body folded in half, arms and legs flailing as he lost his balance and found himself ass-down in a heap on the pavement.

“Keep your hands off the lady,” Dev growled, staring down at Levi with enough barely checked heat to keep Sweetheart warm through winter.

Levi wasn’t smart enough to realize he was outclassed by Dev, who was bigger and carried more muscle. Or maybe he did and his pride wouldn’t let him stay down. Either way, he reacted on instinct, scrambling up from the ground and lunging for the man who’d knocked him silly without warning.

With a sigh, Willow stepped between the two men. With a hand to Levi’s chest, she said, “Stop.”

Dev grasped her by the waist and tried to pull her out from the middle of the testosterone sandwich. But that wasn’t going to work for her. She dug her heels in and grounded her weight. Tossing a glare at Dev over her shoulder, she warned, “Back off.”

Something in his eyes warned her he wasn’t going to listen.

Instead, she turned her attention to someone with the potential for a level head.

Looking Levi in the eye, she said, “Get out of here. And if you ever grab me like that again I’m going to knee your nuts up into your throat first and ask questions later. Understand?”

Levi met Willow’s glare and sized up Dev straining behind her. Apparently deciding that leaving held merit, he nodded and slipped away.

Willow waited until he was safely inside the diner before she turned on Dev.

“What were you thinking?”

“That you were in trouble and someone needed to help you.”

A sound of frustration buzzed through Willow’s chest. God save her from men.

“I didn’t need any help. I was handling it.”

The urge to wipe the skeptical expression off his face was strong, but somehow she found the strength to deny it. Just.

“Please, little girl, you’re barely strong enough to swat a fly, let alone knock some sense into that Neanderthal.”

Little girl. God, she hated when he called her that. It had always made her feel awkward and out of her element...although everything about Wick had made her feel out of her element. She might have deserved the nickname he’d delighted in throwing in her face then, but now...

Her teeth ground together beneath the weight of her anger. Her elbow flashed out. “I’m no little girl. Not anymore.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t find a target. The damn man was fast. Before she realized what was happening the world was spinning. Shadows surrounded them, blocking out the streetlights and weak moonlight. Her back collided with something solid and her wrists were pinned above her.

Willow blinked, trying to get her bearings. They were in the alley. Her mouth opened, air whistling past dry lips as she pulled oxygen into her lungs.

A block away were people and lights. Laughter and conversation. But here, in the dark with Dev, it felt as if they were utterly alone. Separate from everyone and everything. She thought maybe she should feel afraid, but she didn’t. Instead, an unwanted thrill raced across her skin.