Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Numb and confused, I watched as he pulled out Gran’s chair and sat her before taking the seat across from me. He seemed perfectly composed.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to make my legs bend at the knee to sit down again. I just stared at him while he unfolded his napkin, laid it across his lap, and laughed politely at something my grandmother said. How on earth could he be so unfazed that the girl he’d charmed and ravaged so thoroughly just the night before last was the very same girl whose property he’d come to plunder?
That’s when it struck me.
He must have known.
FOUR
devlin
The moment I saw her, it was like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my chest. All the wind had been knocked out of me.
But I’d done my best to hide it while reading her expression and her body language, determined to follow her lead. If she didn’t want her grandmother to know we’d met before, I wasn’t going to say anything.
But Lexi appeared dumbstruck—she hadn’t spoken or smiled or even sat down. She continued to stand at the side of the table with a dazed look on her face, her mouth hanging open slightly.
Then her eyes narrowed. Her focus sharpened. “You knew.”
“I’m sorry?” I glanced at Martha McIntyre quickly, but she seemed completely baffled.
“That night.” Lexi’s eyes blazed with fury. “You knew who I was.”
“Have you two met?” Martha looked back and forth between us.
“We have indeed.” Lexi kept her searing gaze on my face while speaking to her grandmother. “Gran, could you excuse us for just a moment?” Without waiting for the old lady to respond, Lexi headed away from the table, jerking her head for me to follow.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, rising to my feet and placing my napkin on the table. “My apologies for leaving you alone at the table.”
“That’s alright.” Martha’s expression was bewildered, but she waved a blue-veined hand in a gesture of conciliation.
I trailed Lexi between tables to the front of the restaurant, where she veered left into the bar, which wasn’t open at this time of day. She looked so different than she had the other night. A tailored business suit in wrath-of-God red instead of a soft white dress. Spiky black heels instead of strappy little sandals. Dark hair tucked into stern-librarian bun instead of flowing over her shoulders. Recalling the way it brushed across my chest while she moved her body over mine sent a surge of arousal straight to my cock. No matter what she wore, she was stunning. I couldn’t tear my eyes off those long legs in that short skirt.
But as she whipped around and faced me with hellfire in her eyes, I knew she hadn’t dragged me away from the table for a quickie.
“How could you?” she seethed.
“How could I what?”
“How could you be so low as to seek me out, pick me up, and do all those things to me when you knew I’d never have given you the time of day had I known who you were?” She shook her head. “Was it just a sick game for you? Fuck the granddaughter before you fuck over the entire family?”
Wait a minute—she thought I’d scammed her?
“Lexi, come on,” I said, my tone calm and reasonable. “I had no idea who you were.”
“Or maybe you thought it would butter me up.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Was that it? You find my missing orgasm and give me the best night of my life, and you think I’ll just hand over the keys to the Snowberry Lodge? Well, that’s not how it’s going to work.”
“The best night of your life, really?” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Thanks.”
She poked my chest three times with an index finger. “You’re not welcome! And I don’t believe for one second you didn’t know exactly what you were doing. You lied to me.”
My composure slipped a bit. I was a lot of things—ambitious, driven, and not above using my charm when it served my purpose, but I wasn’t a liar. Integrity was important to me. “I didn’t lie, Lexi. We just didn’t do a whole lot of talking. You were the one who said you didn’t want to discuss work—I followed your lead.”
“And speaking of work, you told me you worked for an organization that supports kids who’ve lost a parent!” Her eyes teared up unexpectedly, and she turned away from me, like she was embarrassed. “Did you really lose your mom when you were nine or was that part of your scheme to get me to trust you?”
“Hey.” Taking her gently by the shoulders, I turned her to face me and spoke firmly but quietly. “I really lost my mom when I was nine. I’d never make something like that up. And I said I worked with an organization that supports kids who’ve lost a parent. That’s the truth. It’s a passion project, not my day job—the day job supports my work with the organization.”