Page 71 of Devlin

"Pride has been the problem throughout this whole situation—first from my father, now from yours. Good thing we are nothing like either one of them."

His small smile warmed her heart, and she felt a wave of yearning desire sweep through her. Memories of their night together ran through her head. There hadn'tjust been incredible pleasure but also laughter and honesty. With Devlin, she felt like she could be herself, and she hadn't felt that way in a long time.

"Let's get a drink or dinner," Devlin said.

His offer was incredibly tempting, but she was already having a difficult time letting go of Devlin. Spending more time with him wouldn't make it easier. "I can't."

Disappointmentfilled his gaze. "You're angry with me for breaking up the father-daughter duo."

"That's not it. I have to go."

He caught her by the arm, gazing into her eyes. "I don't want you to leave, Hannah."

"I don't see how I can stay," she whispered. "This isn't my home."

"You're happy here."

"I'm happy in Austin, too," she argued, trying not to let herself get caughtup in the emotion of the moment, because she'd missed Devlin so much the past two days.

"Come home with me tonight. Let's talk this out. Let's be together."

"We said it would just be one night, and it was a great night. We both have a beautiful memory. Let's leave it at that," she said, barely getting the words out as emotion choked her throat. She pushed past him, praying he wouldn'tcome after her, because she didn't know if she could get herself to walk away again.

She held her breath all the way up the ramp, but when she finally turned her head, she realized he was gone. He'd let her go.

She should be happy about that.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WANTINGto not only give her dad time to think about his options, but also to give herself a chance to burn off the painful emotions of the last few minutes, Hannah walked through the downtown area, stopping for a coffee before eventually heading home. She knew she'dmade the right decision turning down Devlin's invitation, but being right didn't feel all that great. Still, she'd managed to pull herself together, and she had her game face on.

Her dad needed to say yes to taking his job back and yes to racing with Devlin. Both choices would bring him happiness, and that's what she wanted for him. Even if they didn't race together, they'd had fun today,and since she'd come back to King Harbor they had connected on a much deeper level. Their relationship was as strong as it had ever been, and she was grateful for that.

When she entered the house, her father was sitting at the dining room table, his laptop computer open in front of him, his reading glasses sliding halfway down his nose. At the closing of the door, he looked up and removedhis glasses, his expression unreadable.

"I'm back," she said with a smile. "I hope it's not too soon. But I can go to my room if you want more alone time."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry I made you walk home."

"I love to walk; you know that. No apology needed. It felt good." She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. "Dare I ask if you've thought about Devlin's offer?"

"I've done nothing but think. I don't know, Hannah; I just don’t know."

"What don't you know?" she asked curiously, surprised again by his hesitation.

"Whether I can trust Devlin when he says this will never happen again. Whether I should go back to a company that let me go. Whether I want to let Graham off the hook for what he did. And whether it might be time to make a break,do something new, start over."

She noticed he hadn't mentioned the race at all, but that was understandable. It was the last thing on his mind.

"That's a lot to consider," she murmured. "I think you can trust Devlin. This only took as long as it did because Claire walked out and shook everything up. Devlin didn't want to press his father when he was in a fragile place. But he didultimately do it, and he put his own job on the line for you. He values you a great deal, and Devlin is the company, not Graham."

"That's true."

"As for the starting over part…do you still feel like you have enough challenge at the Boatworks? Do you need more money? I'm sure you could negotiate a raise and pretty much anything else you want now."

"I would definitely negotiatea salary increase. There are plenty of challenges in my job. Devlin gives me a great deal of autonomy."

"Because he respects you, Dad. There's no doubt about that."

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