Page 122 of A Deal with the Bossy Devil

I had no idea what they were on about. And, to be honest, I didn’t have the mental capacity to care.

He’d beenengaged?

28

“You were engaged?”

The question hurled out of me before the passenger door of the black SUV had slammed shut. I hadn’t meant to pull it that hard.

Adrien sighed as he clipped his seatbelt into place. “For a very short period of time, yes.”

“And that’s not something you thought I should know going into this?”

He pursed his lips. “It’s not a big deal.”

“In what world?”

The car turned out of the property, the ornate iron gates closing behind us. “It lasted less than a week. It’s not a big deal.”

He was lying. I could hear it in the forcefulness of his tone, see it in the tension he held in his shoulders and jaw. But why?

“Wear your seatbelt, please,” he said, eyes glued to the empty street ahead.

“Is that the real reason I’m here?” I had one hand on the dashboard, my torso twisted in the seat to face him. “She’s going to be at the party, so... you didn’t want to go alone?”

His jaw worked. “Seatbelt.”

“She’s getting married?”

“Sanchez...”

“Your mom mentioned something about Mandy shopping for wedding dresses, and Alice saidthey’dbe at the party. So... her and her new partner?” No wonder he didn’t want to go solo.

He didn’t respond.

My fingers were fiddling with the dashboard as I studied him. Something slimy and hot was tangling unpleasantly in my gut.

“How long ago was it?” I asked. My heart was thumping restlessly, and I couldn’t figure out why. Who cared if he’d been engaged? Or if he was still in love with her, and had brought me here to make her jealous? It wasn’t like that changed anything. It wasn’t like I had actualfeelingsfor him. He was hot and the sex was mind-blowing. That was it.

The silence stretched long enough that I assumed he wasn’t going to answer. But then he said, “A little over a year ago. Fourteen months to be exact.”

Oh.

A part of me had been hoping that it might have been a long time ago. That they were young, and stupid, and realized a week into the engagement that they were making a huge mistake.

“Sanchez. Seatbelt.”

Fourteen months was kind of fresh for a relationship you thought would last a lifetime... right? And how was she already engaged to someone else? Didn’t that seem too soon? Dating, sure. Getting married? Too soon. Maybe.

I wondered which one of them had broken it off.

I wondered if that was where he’d gotten the ring from. Had it been hers at one point? Was he trying to rub salt in her wound by making his new “fiancée” wear it? Because that would be a terrible idea, and not just because it made me want to vomit.

And I was so deep inside my own head that I didn’t realize the car had pulled over until Adrien looked at me, brows ticking expectantly. And when I didn’t move, he sighed and leaned forward, reaching for something behind my back. Except I didn’t see his arm move, which was what led to my miscalculation of why he’d leaned in. It was the only reason I cupped his face and pressed my lips to his. I swear.

He inhaled sharply, freezing momentarily as if taken aback. And then he thawed right into me, his palm coming up to cradle the back of my head while his other hand slipped underneath my thigh, pulling me closer.

And that hot, slick tangle in my stomach? It eased the moment my tongue caressed his, teasing a low, guttural sound out of his chest.

---