He comes across as a big nerd who just loves inventing things.
“And what about you?” he asks, genuinely interested in me and my likes. “Have you ever been interested in creating?”
“Yes. When I was in high school, I was really good at potions.”
“Potions?” he snorts.
“Yes. There’s so much that you can do with them. Potions can become spells that change the world. You can shift entire industries with the right potion. Beauty, for example. You could create a potion to replace glamours. You can create potions that attack certain diseases. People think of potions as something small, a charm. But they can be so much more.”
Storm blinks. I must have impressed him. “I’ve never thought about it like that. When I created the instant warmer, it was a marriage of mechanics and spells, almost like a potion.”
“The instant warmer,” I murmur. “That’s the one where if you’re naked during the winter solstice, you immediately get hot, right?
“That’s the one.”
I frown. “Didn’t Devlin create one of those, too?”
Storm stiffens. “He did, butafterme. In fact…” He leans into my ear. His breath is soft, and it smells like peppermint. Perfect. “I hate to say this because Devlin is a great inventor, but just between us, I do believe that he stole not only the concept, but some of the mechanics from me.”
My jaw drops. Devlin might be a lot of things, but he’s not a thief. “What makes you say that?”
He straightens and shrugs, glancing at the other players in a bored stare. “It just seemed very coincidental that he would come up with the same idea at the same time as I did, is all.” He smooths a hand over his hair as if he’s also trying to smooth the words over my skin, so that the blow won’t hurt when it lands. “I don’t have proof, of course, but I got the patent first, if that tells you anything. Oh look, we’re up. I’ll go put us in a good position. If we play this right, we’ll win the game.”
He squeezes my hand, and the moment of affection takes me by surprise. I jolt, and my gaze darts from where his hand is on mine up to his eyes. Storm’s smiling at me gently, and I can’t help but give him a smile in return, albeit an uneasy one.
Then he strides off with those long, tree-trunk legs of his, leaving me to think about what he said. Devlin, a cheat? Not the old Devlin that I knew.
But let’s be real, yesterday and today are the most time that I’ve spent with the man in years.Years,and honestly, there’s no telling what someone will do to rise to the top of their field, scheming and cheating included. Being an inventor is a hard way to make it in life. There’s tons of competition.
But it still seems strange that Devlin would steal someone else’s idea and claim it for his own. My gaze tracks to where he stands, off to the side, still chatting up the redhead. She’s looking at him as if he’s a mountain and the sun just crested over his peak.
Yeah, I’m aware that’s a terrible metaphor, but I’m still going to roll with it.
As they share a laugh, I can’t help but feel a punch in the gut. Last night he opened up to me, and I felt something for him that I hadn’t felt in years. My anger and resentment were replaced with compassion. And he seemed to feel it, too. I could have sworn that he did, that he felt just like me, that we’d shared a moment when he confessed things to me that he’d never explained in high school.
I felt sorrow for him, and I just wanted to hug him tight, give him a teddy bear and tell him that everything would be okay.
It seemed like such a real connection, like we were on the verge of kissing, even, or of at least moving forward an inch.
But now here he is, flirting it up with a redhead that he just met. Yeah, I know that I’m not one to talk, as I’ve been paired with Storm and have every intention of nabbing him. I do see the irony here, trust me. But that doesn’t stop me from feeling just a teensy bit jealous, as if what Devlin said last night was only for show.
But isn’t he all about show? He’s flash and pizzazz, putting on a face for the world that’s so different from what he was like last night. He gave me a glimpse of who he really is, and then this morning he snatched it away by walking around naked.
I don’t even want to think about his body, but now I can’t help but recall the taut abdomen and those sculpted shoulders.
And then there was his…nope. Not going there. I’m not going to even let my mind trail down past his belly button.
Oh, I just did.
Well, let me just say that all looked good down there. Very good. Exceptionally good.
Is it hot out here? I could use some lemonade.
My gaze shifts to Devlin again, and he’s pointing something out to the redhead. From the looks of it, he appears to be explaining spell ball.
It’s not at all how he explained it to me. Oh my gods, how his breath danced over my skin, and how he tucked my hair over my shoulder. My entire body felt that jolt.
His touch was fire. He woke up my body, made me feel alive, not only with his words but with his touch.
