Page 62 of Devoted

“Maybe I meant you putting the paint directly onto me.”

“Why would we do that?”

He shrugged, but nothing about the heat in his eyes was casual. “Sounds like it could be fun.”

“In theory,” I said lightly, taking a step backwards. “But in reality, I couldn’t do it. Too sticky. It’d stress me out.”

I hadn’t expected a reminder of why we wouldn’t work in the real world to appear so fast, but there it was.

“That’s okay,” Zeke said, smiling softly. “There are lots of fun things we can do that don’t involve getting sticky.”

I didn’t return his smile. He meant that now, but he hadn’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet. Spending time with me was anything but fun.

I was going to respond, but that was when I spotted my laptop. It was on the floor, cracks spiderwebbing across the screen. If that wasn’t bad enough, it was in two pieces, the keyboard lying a few feet away.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed, leaning down to pick up the keyboard. I didn’t know why I was bothering; it was obviously dead. “Fuck, fuck,fuck.”

“It’s okay,” Zeke said. “I’m sure it can be fixed.”

I lifted the keyboard and a key fell to the floor. “Yep. Bit of Sellotape and Pritt Stick oughta do it.”

“Might not even need that,” Zeke said, his lips twitching. “Seriously though, I’ll get Nate to take a look. Even if he can’t fix it, he’ll be able to pull your data from it.”

I chewed at my lip. “Are you sure he won’t mind?”

“If I was asking for me, probably.” Zeke’s gaze swept over me. “For you though? He’ll definitely be happy tohelp.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Why do you say it like that?”

“Because you’re hot,” Zeke said bluntly. “I think you were pulling my leg when you said I was out of your league.”

Rolling my eyes, I dropped the now defunct keyboard on the desk. “Be serious, Zeke.”

“I am.” When had he come up behind me? He was so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. Just this proximity had my cock stiffening. “You’re unbelievably attractive, Sam. It’s kind of ridiculous that you don’t know that. With anyone else, I’d think you were playing coy. But you’re not, are you? You really think I’m out of your league.”

“Because you are.” My ears were burning with how much I was blushing. “It’s okay, Zeke. You don’t need to build up my self-esteem or anything.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” There was a brush of something over the back of my neck that had me catching my breath.His lips? “Don’t worry though, it’ll all make sense soon.”

I turned to find Zeke leaning against the wall. My brows drew together. Hadn’t he just been behind me? “Good, because I’ve never been great at riddles.”

He flashed his teeth at me. With his hands in his jeans pockets, Zeke was every inch my dream man. I couldn’t decide whether his compliments were flattering or insulting. How could hepossiblythink I was attractive enough for someone like him?

‘He’s just trying to get laid. He’d never be caught dead on the street with a guy like you. If you don’t tell him to leave now, you’ll end up heartbroken.’

I’d been wondering when that little voice would pipe up. The joke was on my OCD though. I knew all too well where this path with Zeke would lead.

Somehow, I didn’t think it’d stop me walking along it though.

“You don’t have to believe me,” Zeke drawled. “You’ll see for yourself when you meet Nate. For full disclosure, there was always going to be a ten percent chance he’d hit on you regardless of what you look like.”

“Why’s that?”

“To annoy me. To try and make me lose my temper.”

“You said that happens often.”

He inclined his head. “More often than I’d like. You don’t need to worry though, I won’t ever lose it with you.”

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