Michelle gasped and tilted her head so she could look up at Devlin. She hadn’t been thinking that before, but she was definitely thinking it now. “Yes,” she whispered. “And I want his mouth on me as well.”
“I bet you never realized how hot our little cheerleader was while you were masturbating to your memories of her pompoms,” Jake said to Devlin.
“I never—”
Jake snorted and cut him off again. “You’re a fucking liar.”
Jake eased Michelle’s body from Devlin’s and wrapped an arm around her lower back. Her knees were shaking so bad, she could scarcely support her own body weight. “Let’s go sit down for a while,” Jake said. “You seem to have forgotten where we are.”
Guilty as charged. Though had they been alone, she knew she’d already have one hand in Jake’s pants and the other tugging impatiently at her panties.
“Come with us,” she urged Devlin as Jake led her back to her no longer empty corner table.
“He will if I have any say in the matter,” Jake said in her ear.
What the hell did he mean by that?
There was a gorgeous strawberry blonde stranger sitting at the table now. She looked more than a little out of sorts as her eyes followed the movement of something across the room.
“Hey, Jess,” Jake said to the woman. “Why are you sitting by yourself, gorgeous?”
“Sed went to get me some punch. Ten minutes ago.”
Michelle glanced over to where Sed was standing, surrounded by almost every attendee of the reunion. He wasn’t anywhere near the punchbowl.
“They’re just excited to see him,” Michelle said.
“Even though he had little to do with any of them in high school, he goes out and gets famous and suddenly he’s the cool kid,” Jake said and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “I’ll go get your beverage, Jess,” he offered. “I love giving Sed a hard time when he’s not meeting your needs.”
Jess smiled. “That would be wonderful, Jake. Thank you. And I definitely want you to give him a hard time about it, since he refused to let me get up and get my punch for myself,” she said, before turning her attention to Michelle. “Let me guess. You’re an old flame of Jake’s.”
“Not that old,” Michelle said with a wry grin.
“Oh, I didn’t mean—”
“I’m just teasing. I know what you meant. I’m Michelle and this is, uh, Devlin,” she said, not sure how to introduce him. As her new flame, maybe?
A spark of recognition touched Jess’s green eyes. “Nice to meet you. Devlin McAllister, isn’t it? The CEO of Stormwall Enterprises? I read an article about you in Time Magazine last year. And I must say, you’re even better looking in person.” Jess chuckled. Devlin went pink about the ears.
“Nice to meet you too, uh…” His eyes dropped to the name badge on her chest. “Jessica Lionheart.”
“You were in Time Magazine?” Michelle sputtered.
“Yeah,” he said, pulling out a chair.
She didn’t sit. She stared. Had his eyes always been such a remarkable shade of gray? Had they always been surrounded by thick dark lashes that made the unusual color absolutely riveting? Probably. They’d just been hiding behind a pair of thick-lensed glasses before. Her fingers itched to dive into the thick, silky black waves of his hair and tug that delectable looking mouth to hers.
“Why didn’t you mention that?” Michelle asked. “I mean, Time is a pretty big deal, you know.” What she wouldn’t give to have one of her photographs featured in Time. Her work had been in National Geographic a couple of times, but most of her livelihood came from selling stock images and reproduced prints.
Devlin cleared his throat, a grin curving his sensual mouth at one corner. “We haven’t done much talking yet.”
True. She’d been too busy bumping and grinding against him on the dance floor. What must he think of her? She supposed she could blame Jake for her improper behavior. He always brought out the brazen hussy in her. But she’d been hot for Devlin even before Jake had arrived and she was still hot for him now even though Jake was halfway across the room. So she supposed she couldn’t really blame her vagina’s enthusiasm for Devlin on Jake.
“Not that I minded,” Devlin added, his voice low and seductive as his eyes met hers and held her gaze.
Her heart rate kicked up as he inched closer. She licked her lips in anticipation.
Damn, the man was sexy. When had that transpired exactly? Her body shifted closer to his as if she had no control over her muscles.
Apparently, Jake wasn’t the only one she responded to on a purely instinctual level. She hadn’t had much time for romance in the past ten years. Perhaps her cooter had decided its dry spell was over and it wasn’t taking no for an answer. Or maybe because the last few men she’d slept with had been total bores in the sack, she was looking for something a bit more exciting and her body knew a good time when it brushed up against one.
“Have a seat,” he said, indicating the chair he’d pulled out for her.
She collapsed into it as if her bones had gone soft. Devlin took the seat beside her, shifting his chair close. So close their knees were touching. Michelle spotted her drink on the table and grabbed it, taking a huge gulp. The bourbon burned going down and she winced.
“Easy,” Devlin said, his breath stirring loose strands of her hair, tickling her neck, making her throb in places she’d almost forgotten could throb. Dear lord. He took the plastic cup from her hand and set it on the table. “I want you in full command of your senses when I take you to bed.”
Michelle choked. Not on her doctored beverage. On her own saliva.
Not if he took her to bed, but when. She liked his newfound self-confidence even if it did make her cough.
Devlin rubbed her back not so soothingly.
“You, okay?”
She nodded, eyes watering as she tried to hack up a lung. Keep it together, Michelle. It wasn’t as if she’d never had a gorgeous, considerate man who’d been featured in Time-freaking-Magazine hit on her. Okay, so she hadn’t, but this wasn’t just any gorgeous guy, this was Devlin McAllister. She had no reason to be so unsettled around him. Except that he was very good at unsettling her.
Michelle glanced up when Jake stopped at the table between herself and Jessica—who might as well have turned invisible for all the attention Michelle had minded her. Where in the hell where her manners?
Jake set a cup of punch and a small plate of finger foods in front of Jessica before he patted her back. “There you go, beautiful,” he said.
Jessica smiled up at Jake in gratitude which apparently set off territorial alarms in Sedric’s head, because the linebacker-turned-vocalist immediately plowed through the crowd surrounding him—sending bodies scattering in all directions—as he made his way directly to his wife’s side.
“I’m sorry, baby, I got sidetracked,” Sed said to Jessica.
“It’s fine,” she said, and took a nonchalant sip of her punch. “That’s what roadies are for, right? Retrieving beverages?”
She winked at Jake, who grabbed a chair, turned it around, and set it between Michelle and Jessica. He then sat facing the seat and helped himself to several of Jessica’s carrot sticks and pretzels. “I thought our job was to entertain the band’s wives while they’re busy entertaining the fans,” he said as he crunched into a carrot stick.
“Yeah, that too.” Jessica patted his knee.
Sed wrapped a large hand around Jake’s throat and squeezed. “Don’t make me kill you,” he said, before planting a kiss on the smooth skin just to the side of Jake’s mohawk.
Jake grinned, so apparently Michelle didn’t quite understand the dynamic between the two men. She wouldn’t have been grinning if the large, muscular, highly tattooed metal vocalist had threatened her life.
“So how did you end up a roadie, anyway?” she asked Jake. “I remember you being a very accomplished guitarist.” And it had definitely done something to her panties’ elastic. The waist
band had never been able to keep the garment up when he’d played those six strings.
Sed released Jake’s throat and pounded him in the center of his chest. “Yeah, Jake. How did you end up a roadie?” he said with a laugh and took the unoccupied chair on the opposite side of Jessica.
“Long story,” Jake said. “I’m more interested in knowing how Devlin became filthy rich.” He craned his neck so he could see around Michelle and look at the quietest member of their little group.
“I’m not filthy rich,” Devlin said and winked at Jake. “I shower daily.”
“I’m more interested in knowing how he got this hot body,” Dee Peterson said as she made her uninvited appearance at the table known. Dee ran both hands along Devlin’s shoulders, down his biceps and over his chest. The cut of the man’s muscles was apparent even under his well-tailored clothes, and Michelle suddenly wanted to kick Dee’s feet from under her for getting to examine his hard body before Michelle did.
Devlin caught Dee’s hands before they reached his flat stomach. “I discovered my most innovative ideas come to me when I’m hot and sweaty. So I work out. A lot.”
“There’s more than one way to get hot and sweaty,” Jake said, elbowing Michelle in the ribs. “Isn’t that right, Michelle?”
Michelle stiffened and glanced at Devlin out of the corner of her eye, hoping to gage his reaction. His brows drew together in an unpleasant scowl. “I… uh… wouldn’t know,” she said, suddenly wanting to take a page out of Sedric’s book and strangle Jake.
Dee’s twenty-member entourage surrounded the table like a bunch of hyenas—cackling at everything and looking for prey. Their prey happened to be the two world-renowned men at the table. Sedric handled the expanding crowd like a pro, but Devlin shifted uncomfortably in his seat and avoided rapid fire questions by producing noncommittal grunts and the occasional shake of his head. Michelle was glad that some of the boy she remembered remained in the man and that he was still shy. He had plenty of self-confidence when interacting one-on-one, but by the way he clutched at the fabric of his black pants, he wasn’t comfortable in a crowd. Or maybe it was just this crowd that unsettled him. It just annoyed her.
Michelle leaned close to Devlin’s ear. “It’s a little warm in here, don’t you think?”
He caught her eye and his arm circled her back. “I only came to see you,” he said. “Do you want to get out of here?”
She was too busy reeling over his admission of interest to answer his question.
Chapter Five
Devlin didn’t wait for Michelle’s response. He stood from his chair, took her hand and helped her rise gracefully to her feet. When she continued to hold his hand, his pulse rate skyrocketed. He couldn’t remember the last time holding hands had addled his thoughts.
“Excuse us,” he said to the nearest barricading body. He had a pathological need to get out of this place. These people brought back so many memories of being bullied in high school. He’d thought he was over it, but those old feelings of terror had resurfaced as soon as their table had been surrounded. He must have been surrounded one too many times in the boy’s locker room. His gaze kept wandering to the door of that locker room, which didn’t help his oscillation between anger and fear. He didn’t come here to relive high school. He’d come to see Michelle. And he had not anticipated this visceral reaction to his past at all. He hadn’t even thought much about his experiences in high school until he’d opened the lurid purple envelope containing the silver foiled invitation to this reunion.
“That’s my girl you’ve got there, Devzits,” a deep voice said.
Devlin looked up into the sneering face of Wayne Bridges. He cringed, but not out of fear. Wayne had gotten a bit doughy around the middle and Devlin would very much like to punch the smirk off of his blotchy face.
“Hello, Wayne,” Michelle said. She gave him the once over and shook her head. “Good-bye, Wayne.” She pushed through the crowd, tugging Devlin after her.
When they were free of the press of bodies, he released her hand so he could rest his palm against her lower back and direct her toward the exit. It hadn’t escaped Devlin that she had just rebuked Wayne Bridges and was leaving with him, not with her high school boyfriend, but Devlin refused to gloat. Outwardly.
“Leaving so soon?” Claudia Bennett said from the reception table as they passed. “I didn’t get to catch up with you yet, Devlin McAllister.”
“I just need some air,” Michelle explained.
Devlin held the door for her. They walked down a short hallway to a second set of double doors and then they were free of his emotional prison. He sucked a deep breath of warm evening air and closed his eyes to clear his thoughts.
“You, okay?” Michelle asked.
He opened his eyes to look down into her concerned face. This was not how he’d wanted this evening to go. He’d wanted her to see the confident man he’d become, not the embarrassing remnants of the terrified boy he’d once been.
“Of course. It’s just a bit stuffy in there.”
She studied his face for a moment and then lifted a hand to touch his jaw. “Your life must have been hell in high school.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “I survived.”
“We were all so mean to you.”
“You weren’t mean to me, Michelle. Unlike your friends, you were actually nice to me when they weren’t looking. Which is probably why it hurt so bad when you laughed me out of the cafeteria when I asked you to prom.” In retrospect, he should have never asked her in front of Dee and the rest of the cheer squad. “I was sitting there at the reject table picking over my lunch and watching you—as I always did. Did you know I watched you?”
She shook her head and crossed her arms over her belly. “I was too full of myself to notice anything, Devlin.”
“I still remember it all. It had been raining all morning, but the sun found a break in the clouds and filtered through the window blinds. The golden rays danced upon the auburn highlights in your hair.” He touched the silky strands that had so enchanted him. She looked up at him—her gaze meeting his and sending his blood coursing through his veins. “I was completely under your spell. I just got up, walked up to you and blurted, Will you go to prom with me? I still remember the stunned look on your face. For one blissful second, I thought you were going to say, yes, and then Dee said, The nerve of certain ugly people. And then all I remember is you laughing and saying, Why would I go to the prom with you? I swear I heard my heart shatter even over the laughter of every person in that cafeteria.”
Michelle wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. He held her—gently at first and then his infatuation got the better of him and he pressed her firmly into his chest. Her warm breath against his throat, the sweet smell of her hair, and the feel of her curves against his body all drove him to distraction. Michelle was in his arms at last.
“I’m really sorry for hurting you,” she whispered.
“You can make it up to me,” he said, unable to resist touching his lips to her silky hair.
Her body stiffened slightly in his arms. “How?”
“Say yes, this time.”
She pulled away and tilted her head to hold his gaze.
“Michelle?” he said. “Will you go to prom with me?”
She smiled devilishly. “No,” she said and his breath caught as his aching heart threatened to strangle him. “Prom is for losers. But I will go out with you. As long as it’s not here.”
“Ashamed that your friends will see us together?”
She shook her head and slid her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. “Ashamed that I ever called them friends.”
She rose up on tiptoes and tugged him closer.
“Now are you going to kiss me or do I have to take advantage of you?” she asked, lashes concealing her remarkable blue eyes as she stared at his lips.
He curved them into a half smile. “You have to wait.”<
br />
“Don’t you know you should never keep a lady waiting?” a deep voice said from behind them.
Michelle’s body went taut. “Jake,” she said in a breathless whisper.
“Do you have a thing for that guy or something?” Devlin asked, though he was pretty sure they’d once been lovers.
“Had,” she said. “God, I had it so bad for him. You have no idea.”
“Had?” Jake touched her bare shoulder.
“Probably still do,” she admitted with a hard shudder.
“You know I would never keep you waiting,” Jake said and slipped the strap of her red dress from her shoulder. Jake held Devlin’s gaze as he dropped a kiss on her newly exposed skin. It wasn’t so much of a challenge as it was an invitation. Devlin wasn’t sure what to make of this guy. Or why every time Jake touched Michelle, it made Devlin’s dick stir with added interest.
“Well, hello there,” Michelle said, shifting her hip against the throbbing flesh in Devlin’s pants.
“Sorry,” he said, flustered by his lack of tact and the direction of his thoughts. As soon as Jake had arrived, his fantasies had drifted from slowly romancing Michelle to ripping off her dress and fucking her brains out.
When Devlin tried to move away so he could get his erection under control, she grabbed his ass to keep him pressed against her.
“Jake makes me think dirty thoughts,” she said. “Makes me crave sex.”
“It’s a gift,” Jake whispered, pressing another kiss to her shoulder.
Devlin wasn’t sure if he should tell this guy to take a hike or sing his praises. “If you want me to leave you two alone—”
Michelle pressed a finger to Devlin’s lips and shook her head. “I want you, Devlin. Maybe just for a night. Maybe for something more. I don’t know if this attraction between us will go anywhere. All I know is I can’t deny I want you.”
“What about me?” Jake said.
“I was hoping you’d join us,” she said and lifted her hand to stroke his tattooed neck.
“You know I’m up for that.” Jake shifted behind her, probably rubbing his junk against her ass, and her eyelids fluttered.