I follow Devlin through the house. The cotton scent changes into citrus and vanilla, very homey, very welcoming. And it’s neat. Everything is tidy and in its place. I’d forgotten how organized Devlin is. I wonder if the women he beds appreciate a man who likes order? I doubt they’re ever around long enough to think about it. I also doubt they have the brain cells to consider it.
I once overheard a date that he brought to a dance commenting on how the ballroom smelled like flowers, but she couldn’t figure out why.
Thewhywas that the room was filled with bouquets—they were literally sprinkled on every table. The woman was standing right next to one, and she still couldn’t figure it out.
Okay, maybe I’m being too harsh. Perhaps she was blind in one eye. Or both.
But anyway, I follow Devlin up the glossy wooden stairs to a second-floor bedroom. It’s painted a light blue and looks lived in—what with books on the nightstand and a clothes hamper in a corner.
My gaze locks on Devlin’s, and it hits me where he’s brought me.
This is his room. No way. No how. No no no. See? This is all a ploy to get me into bed.
“I’m not staying in your room,” I snap. “There’s no telling what kind of stains a forensics black light would find on your sheets.”
I spin on my heel and walk right on out.
I head down the hall, all the way to the end, and push open the door. What do you know, but it’s another bedroom. This giant mansion is probably full of them. I bet if I started walking, I’d begin tripping over bedrooms without any problem at all.
I throw my bag on the mattress as Devlin enters, eyes narrowed, scowling. “You’re not sleeping in here.”
“I’m not sleeping in your love chamber. I don’t even want to think what’s on those sheets.”
His jaw ticks. “They were just changed this morning.”
“By whom?”
“Me.”
I cock my head and stare at him. “You do things like change your own sheets.”
He sighs. “Yes, and before you ask why I changed them, what foreign substance was on them, there wasn’t anything. I haven’t had anyone over in months.”
“Oh, deciding your reputation has gotten the best of you? Wanting to fool us all into thinking that you might pivot in your ways and instead of bedding two women at a time, you’re going to bed three now?”
He slowly curls his hands into fists. “Not that it’s any of your business, but there are things that are more important to me than getting laid.”
I bark a laugh. “No way. Impossible.”
Devlin exhales a long, low breath. “Have you ever considered that maybe I don’t sleep with those women? The ones I take out?”
“Nope. Not for a moment. They look at you with too much lovey-dovey stuff in their eyes.” I wave my hand around for emphasis on thelovey-dovey. “Even if you’re not sleeping with them, they’re expecting it.”
He leans against the doorframe of my room.My room.That’s right. I’m not budging. And to prove my point, I start fluffing the bed pillows, showing that I’ve already claimed my territory. I feel like a lioness.
Or a puppy begging for scraps. Yeah, more like the puppy. Will not let Devlin know.
“I don’t sleep with them.”
I bark a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“Do you really think I sleep with two women at a time?”
Is that a trick question? “Isn’t that every man’s fantasy?”
He crosses one ankle over the other, looking way too comfortable in my room. “Maybe. But not mine. I don’t want those women. There’s only ever been one woman I really wanted.”
His gaze is laser focused on me. The air in the room thickens, crackles with energy, and the edges of my vision blacken as everything else slips away except for Devlin.
