She kisses me lightly and then pulls back, sucking air. “Oh my gods, could you believe Storm?”
“Whew. From the way you gasped, I thought you were going to say something terrible instead of talking about Storm. But”—I brush hair from her eyes—“nope. Not surprised at all. He got what was coming to him.”
“Yeah, he did. And then Cathy!” Blair admires her ring again and then clutches it to her chest like she’s afraid it’ll fall off. “I thought for sure the crowd was going to turn on you. Devlin, I was so scared. The whole time that you were influencing Storm, I thought it was going to turn around and bite you in the ass.”
I chuckle. “I knew the crowd was with me. After he insulted you, there was no redeeming himself.”
“Yeah.” Her face falls.
I stop. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” I tip her chin until she’s looking at me. “You don’t believe any of what he said about you, do you?”
“No. I mean, of course not.”
I study her. She nibbles her bottom lip. I pin her shoulders between my hands. “Darlin’, nothing that he said is true. You don’t lack ambition. The bookshop is amazing. People come from all over the world to see it. He was just being jealous and petty. Put it out of your mind.”
She nods lamely.
“Blair,” I warn.
“Fine. Yes.” She snaps her fingers. “It’s gone. Just like that.”
“That’s better.” We start walking again, and I slip my left hand into her right one and kiss it.
She strokes the hill of my hand gently with her thumb. “I’m sorry for what he did to you.”
“Don’t be. Storm’s a bad guy. I’ve known that about him a long time.”
She rears back. “And you let me gooutwith him?”
“Are you serious? Youwantedto date him. If I recall, you were happy to have me help you go out with him.”
“That was because I hated you.”
“Because youlovedme.”
“That, too,” she admits with a smile.
We lock gazes and laugh. She throws her arms around my waist. “I love you, Devlin Ross. I’m never letting you go.”
“I don’t want you to.”
She stops walking again. “What is it?” I ask.
She straightens and pulls the jacket tight as a breeze blows past. “Shouldn’t our powers have switched back by now? I mean, you got your invention. I’ve learned my lesson about the influence. I don’t resent it anymore.” She points from her to me. “We’ve gotten engaged.” She folds her arms and pouts. “Speaking of which, when are we getting married?”
I pat the air to suggest she settle down. “Now, hold on. Let’s take this one at a time. To answer your first question, I have no idea when they’ll switch back, and to answer your second—whenever you want to.”
She looks right and left as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Seriously?”
“As seriously as a heart attack. We will walk down the aisle next week if you want.”
“That’s too soon.” She nibbles her finger. “How about next month?”
I laugh. “Next month it is.”
“And maybe everyone will have forgotten about Nana by then.”
“Doubtful, but it will probably all be smoothed over.” She shoots me a look and I shrug. “It’s true.”
