Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Foster looked between me and Dev. “Oh-kay…?”
I walked over and picked Lellie up. “Why don’t I take her and the food inside so the two of you can talk?”
Dev’s forehead crinkled. “There’s no need—”
“That’d be great,” Foster said with a shallow smile, taking the paper bag from Dev and shoving it at me. “Thanks, man.”
Lellie chattered unintelligibly while I carried her and the food inside the barn. I mentally mapped the apartment to determine which window might give me a view of their private conversation, but when I arrived in the apartment, I forced myself to stay away from all the windows lest I be tempted to turn into someone I could hardly respect.
But it galled me knowing Foster was out there asking Dev about Lellie. About Katie.
About me.
I sat Lellie and the food on the kitchen counter before pulling the flowers from her fists and collecting them in a little pile I promised to preserve. Then, I moved her to the sink to wash her hands.
I was so surprised by the sound of Dev entering the apartment a minute later I nearly sprayed water everywhere.
He seemed to be alone.
I cleared my throat. “Did your friend leave already?”
Dev shook his head and moved around the kitchen island to wash his hands, too. “I invited him to join us for dinner. He’s just running up to the big house first to talk to Way about work stuff.”
“Oh. Well. I guess I could head into town and grab dinner myself to give you two a chance to…”
Dev glanced up with a frown. “There’s plenty of food. Why would you leave? Unless you don’t want to be here?”
“No, I… I just assumed that you and the sheriff would want some privacy.”
The divot between his eyebrows deepened. “Why?” Suddenly, his forehead smoothed. “Ahh, you think there’s something there. Between me and Foster.”
“I don’t think it, I know it,” I said without thinking. “Which is fine. Obviously. I’ll make myself scarce.”
Dev stepped closer until our hips brushed together. “I’d rather you stayed.” His voice was low and made my muscles feel warm and loose. “I told you, Foster and I are just friends.”
“I think you’re being naive.”
He laughed softly under his breath. “I didn’t say we didn’t give it a try. His mother keeps trying to push us together. But—”
“What do you mean by give it a try?” I blurted before snapping my mouth closed and wishing I could cut out my own tongue.
Dev turned and studied me. “We ended up out late together. Drinking. I asked him back to the ranch. He asked if it would be better than the last guy I was with. And the answer to that was an unequivocal no. Nothing could possibly be better than the last guy I was with. So Foster and I decided we were better off as friends.”
My heartbeat could have rivaled a wild stallion’s. Who’d he hook up with last? “Oh,” I said, doing my best not to look interested. The heat of his stare stood all of my body hair on end. “Must have really been something.”
His hand moved to my hip as if nudging me aside so he could reach the kitchen towel, but instead of pushing me away, he pulled me closer. Dev’s face was close enough for me to see the honey-brown striations in the green of his eyes.
“It was definitely something,” he murmured, eyes lowering to my lips. “I wasn’t allowed to come. Never done that with someone before. Can’t imagine what it would be like if I got to do it all over again. I sure as shit wouldn’t hold back like I did the last time.”
Before I could fully process what he was saying, Foster let himself into the apartment, and I jumped away.
Dev’s words echoed in my head and in my gut the entire time Foster was there. Dev hadn’t been able to come when the two of us were together. I’d learned later, of course, that he’d had to save himself for the visit to Katie’s clinic the following day. If he’d never done that before his last hookup, that meant… that meant I’d been his last hookup. How was that possible? We’d had one night together two years ago.
Two years.
He hadn’t been with another man in two years? Why?
Could it have something to do with what he’d admitted to Foster the night they’d almost given it a try? That none of the opportunities he’d had since would compare?
Surely not.
My stomach tightened with need as I watched him. While I’d had plenty of hookups in the past two years, Devon McKay had been the gold standard since that night. It was true nothing I’d done since then had come close to the one night I’d had with him.
Now, as I watched him with Foster, I tried to see their relationship as just an affectionate and trusting friendship, but it was hard to see Foster’s protectiveness and possessiveness as the behavior of someone who only regarded Dev as a friend. Surely, Foster wanted more.