My eyes shot open. My powers of observation were seriously lacking. How could I not notice that Devlin was still here?
Maybe if you hadn’t closed your eyes like a dumbass…
“Hello?” Devlin’s deep tone rumbled through the room.
Rather than responding, I chose to stare down at the fibers of the carpet my face was smashed into. Up close, they were kind of pretty. Gray and white threads twisted together to form a thicker, plusher strand.
My brows knit at one of the white swirls. There were two blue threads in those strands. Was that on purpose? If that part of the carpet was supposed to be white, why would they put another color in there? Maybe it made the white stand out more?
“I know you’re there.”
I begged to differ. He had absolutely no proof that I was here. Other than the fact that I said something, that was. But people heard crap all the time. Like Charmaine, for example. The infamoustheywere always waiting around every corner.
“You have two choices.” Devlin let out an annoyed sigh. “You can come out. Or I can drag you out.”
He could try.
I rolled my head along the floor and stared at the toes of two boots pointing right at me. This bed was pretty big, and he was all the way on the other side. Judging by the size of his feet, I doubted that he’d have an easy time getting under here. I would have to get out of here eventually, though.
Or would I?
It wasn’t so bad. At least there weren’t any snakes. It might get a little cold at night without a blanket, but I could warm myself with fuzzy thoughts of not dying.
“All right. Have it your way.”
When the bed shifted above me, my heart lurched in my chest. Did he just move the bed? Jesus, how big was this guy?
“Okay, fine,” I yelled when the bed moved again. “I’m coming out.”
Crawling on my belly like an animal was not how I envisioned this meeting going. If I was being honest, I didn’t want to meet him at all. The only person I did want to see was Charmaine. As far as I was concerned, the rest of them could disappear into the darkness.
It took a lot of self-pep talking to pull myself away from that safe place and stand up, and when I did, I immediately wanted to scuttle back under there.
The man glaring down at me was huge. There was only one other person I had to lift my chin up so far to look in the eyes. One of my foster father’s was six foot six, and Devlin had at least a couple inches on him.
It probably didn’t help that he was right there, less than a foot away. I really needed to work on my situational awareness.
I kind of expected him to say something. Like scold me or give me shit for snooping. But he didn’t. He just stood there with his arms folded over his broad chest.
“Um… Hi?”
Still nothing.
All right, so stepbrother three was an asshole. Though I did have to admit, he was nice to look at. There was a slight curl in his neatly cropped dark hair. I could see it at the tips of the longer strands, which framed his face, making the angular lines of his jaw stand out.
Not one single freckle or dot marked Devlin’s tanned skin. Even his mouth was perfect. Thick, full lips that still appeared soft when pressed in a scowl.
He was studying me too. Curiosity glittered in the green flecks of his brown eyes. At least, I think it was curiosity?
The more his gaze raked over my body, the darker it got. Was it wrong that I was staring at him? I mean, he did just find me hiding in his room. I should’ve left, but my feet wouldn’t move. I just stood there, gawking.
Way to look like a creep, Syd.
It wasn’t until Devlin shifted to take a step closer that I could move. Not much, mind you, but I did manage to jump back.
He huffed out a snort. “You don’t look like your mother.”
I was too busy resisting the urge to wrap my arms around my waist to respond. In this situation, I was not the predator. My eyes dropped to the black tribal lines dancing along his forearm as his muscle flexed. I didn’t want to be the prey either.
