Page 42 of Suddenly Tempted
Darcy licked her lips and tried to focus, drawing her gaze back to his face. His eyes were ablaze.
“Sorry,” he said, his throat bobbing. “I didn’t realise you’d be in here. I just came to get some water. I’ll let you finish.”
Darcy’s throat constricted, her stomach twisting. Then she surprised herself by stepping closer to him. Closing the gap so they weren’t quite touching.
“No, please don’t go,” she said. “Sit, please. Sit down.”
Devlin looked bemused, but he walked silently to the chair and perched on the edge of it, ready to run if needed.
Darcy bustled around the kitchen, noisily filling the kettle, and setting out coffee in a mug for Devlin.
“You need to keep your strength up,” she said. “To make sure your bones can heal, and your body is probably still getting over the shock of the ravine and the hypothermia and all the other crazy stuff it’s been through. I’ll get you some coffee and how about a bowl of fruit? It’s tinned, obviously, otherwise it would probably have grown legs and walked out of the door given how long it’s been empty here. But it’s yummy. I wanted a steak, can you believe that? I don’t even really eat a lot of meat, but my mouth was crying out for a nice bit of rump when I woke up.”
Darcy knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t be silent in case Devlin filled it with cold, hard truths about how she’d acted last night. Or worse, pretended it never happened.
“They only had fruit, though,” she went on. “Or tinned cannelloni, which is nice but not really a breakfast treat. And the coffee isn’t bad if you hold your nose while you drink it.”
The tin Darcy was holding slipped from her fingers as she tried to pull the tab, skittering across the worksurface of the kitchen and hitting the floor. She watched as it rolled slowly across the lino and came to rest at Devlin’s foot. Traitorous tin of fruit.
“Darcy.” Devlin bent to pick it up as Darcy sped across the kitchen to get it.
He held it out to her, his eyes an undecipherable green. And as she took it, he wrapped his fingers gently around her wrist and didn’t let go.
“Darcy,” he said, again. “It’s okay. I’m not going to try anything. I’m sorry. Last night was a mistake. We were both tired and probably a little bit out of it with the thin oxygen up here. I’m sorry, I never meant to make you feel awkward.”
Of course it was a mistake. There’s no way he’d like me. He’s Devlin Storm. This is what happens when I throw myself headlong into adventure. Luckily, I avoided getting hurt. Almost.Darcy’s mind was working nineteen to the dozen.
“Darcy, are you okay?” Devlin was still looking at her. “You look like you’re trying to work out the quickest way out of here. I don’t want you to feel awkward — there’s no need. We’re adults, right? We can deal with this.”
Darcy nodded, feeling herself deflate. Relishing the feeling of his fingers wrapped around her wrist because she was sure once he realised they were still there, he’d drop them like she was a hot potato.
“We are,” she said, her throat tingling as she fought the tears. “Sensible adults who can hang out together until someone comes to rescue us. We can be grown-ups about this.”
Chapter 22
DEVLIN
It seemed that they could be grown-ups about it. Boring, polite, sensible grown-ups who skirted around each other and found the floor interesting to look at, and spent a lot of time talking about the weather when they found themselves in the same space.
The morning passed in a fit of uncomfortable silences and too many comments on the way the storm wasn’t letting up. Devlin moped around in a pair of joggers and a T-shirt he’d found in the bunkroom cupboard, muttering to himself about what an idiot he was and then wondering why he felt so weird about it all. Devlin Storm wasn’t a man who cared about other people’s feelings, was he? So why, all of a sudden, did he seem to have developed a conscience about Darcy?
He’d eaten her tin of fruit and drunk the world’s worst coffee and watched as she’d slunk out of the room in a fluffy robe that was wrapped so tightly around her waist that it clung to her curves like a second skin. Then he’d taken up residence in the little office room and pretended the radio was in need of a companion.
And yet, every single second Devlin was prodding the buttons or swinging around on the office chair, all he could concentrate on was the thought of Darcy Wainwright and the hold she had over him. From the moment she’d told himnoback at the Royal Alpine, Darcy had done nothing but treat him like a normal human being. Yes, one who seemed to annoy the heck out of her, but a human all the same. Devlin was so used to people meeting his every ridiculous request and pandering to him that this had been a nice surprise. He felt like he could drop the pretence around Darcy and in doing so, snap free the iron chain that had been taut around his chest for so long. He felt like the real Devlin, breaking free from the captive of the persona he’d built around him.
And then he’d ruined it by trying to kiss the one person who allowed him that freedom.
Not everyone who’s nice to you wants to kiss you, Devlin!Only, as Devlin thought it, he realised it actually might be true. Most of the women, and some of the men, who dared to approach him did just want one thing from him. The chance to tell their friends they’d kissed the famous Storm. The chance to sell their story to the papers. With Darcy, though, he’d mistaken her kindness for something else. He must have done. It wasn’t often he was so blindsided.
“Urgh.” Devlin sighed into his hands and dropped his head on the desk. Of all the weird, crazy risks he’d taken in the last few days, he hadn’t been expecting a kiss to be the one to finally floor him. Hypothermia, maybe. Frostbite, definitely. Darcy Wainwright, not even on the list.
And he knew that was where he’d gone wrong.
“Is everything okay?” Darcy peeked around the door to the office. “Only, I heard you groaning and you’re sitting by the one means of communication we have with the outside world. Is help going to take longer? Are they leaving us here for an indefinite amount of time and you’re worried about being here with me for any longer than you have to?”
Devlin shook his head. “No. Nothing to worry about. The radio is fine and there’s been no more contact yet. Not surprising given the way the storm isn’t abating. I was just—”
“You’re worried we’re going to run out of things to say about the snow before we get rescued?” Darcy asked, her gorgeous lips spreading into a smile. “Oh, and I was bringing you some lunch by the way, not eavesdropping on you.”
