Page 76 of Devlin

She nodded. "I do."

His gaze darkened. "Want to tell me?"

She couldn't find the words to tell him what she was thinking. Or maybe she could find them, but she was too afraid of saying them aloud.She'd played it safe so much of her life. She'd always tried to be the good girl, hoping that in some way that would put her family back together, or at the very least it would make her mother lose her sad smile and encourage her father to want to see her.

But this wasn't about them; this was about her, what she wanted in her life—whoshe wanted in her life. Loving Devlin could be a hugerisk. He had an ex haunting his life, too. He might suddenly remember how great Amy was and how she paled in comparison.

"Hannah? You can talk to me," Devlin said, his eyes filling with concern.

"I wish that neither of us had a history, that we were a clean slate before now, but we're not."

"I'm not him—the guy who said he wanted you but then changed his mind."

"I know."She could have added that he wasn't even close to being Gary, because at least Gary had wanted to make a commitment to her, even if he quickly realized it wasn't right. Devlin had never said anything beyond "Come home with me tonight. Be with me now".

"But something is bothering you," he said, his gaze troubled, as he pushed a strand of hair off her face.

"No. Everything is good."She wasn't going to mess up the last night they'd have together with worries about a future that she already knew wouldn't happen.

"I don't think I believe you, Hannah. You have very expressive eyes."

"Which should be showing you how happy I am."

"But also concerned. You're not really a fling kind of woman, are you?"

"No, but I'm glad I chose to fling myself at you."Her smile coaxed his grin back onto his lips.

"One good fling deserves another," he said, moving so suddenly she found herself on her back with Devlin's body coming down on hers, and every little doubt and worry fled her mind. She'd think later. Now, she was just going to feel.

She was gone—again.Devlin woke up to the alarm he'd remembered to set sometime in the middle of the night. But Hannah was no longer curled up next to him in bed, and judging by the silence in his apartment, she'd left.

Just once he wanted to say good-bye to her.

Actually, that wasn't true. Good-bye was the last thing he wanted to say to her.

But they could have said other things. He could have made her breakfast since dinner had turned into heated-up pizza bites and a bowl of fruit sometime after midnight when they'd finally made it out of bed and into the kitchen. He'd promised her barbecue another night.But would they get another night?It didn't seem likely. Not unless one of them decided to make a big change.

Hecouldn't move to Austin; his entire life was here.

She probably felt that she couldn't move to King Harbor because her life was in Austin.

Was it really just about geography?

Or was it about being willing to make a commitment, to putting it all on the line?He'd always given everything when it came to work, to racing, but relationships… He'd told himself that was different.But was it?

With too many questions going around in his head, he got out of bed and headed for the shower. He couldn't think about Hannah now. He had a race to win, and very soon she would be one of his competitors, someone he needed to beat.

That wouldn't be easy. Winning would be good for his business and for his relationship with his dad, but winning would also be great for Frank,who had taken a beating the last few weeks, and for Hannah, who wanted to show her dad that he could win with her.

But one of them was not going to win. And there was a part of him that wished the race was over already.But then what?

He had a feeling that even if he won the race, he was going to end up a loser.

Stepping out of the shower, he threw on his clothes and headedinto the kitchen to grab a banana and a protein bar. When he saw the note taped to his refrigerator, he couldn't help but smile.

Good luck Devlin. May the best woman win.

He touched his fingers to the smiley face she'd drawn next to her name. He hoped he'd have another chance to make her smile one more time. But it probably wouldn't be at the end of the race, not if he came in first.

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