Page 3 of Suddenly Tempted
“Can we get a photo?” said one. “Nobody will believe we met you otherwise!”
Devlin didn’t reply. He just stood there and let them take their selfies. He didn’t even smile, just glowered at their cameras the way he always did. He started walking before they’d finished, ignoring their pleas.
He didn’t want to be here anymore. He’d had enough of this place. The APEX Retreat hadn’t been the chance for R&R he’d hoped it would. He’d only come because it was an exclusive event, and in the eyes of the worldexclusivemeant that’s where they’d find Devlin Storm.
Well, there was another reason he was here, of course. One he hardly dared think about.
His cabin was dead ahead, and he ran the last few yards, grit and ice popping beneath his shoes. He knew he had to move fast, or risk being trapped in the resort for days until the snow cleared. Crossing the luxurious, open space of the cabin, Devlin picked up the phone and waited for it to automatically connect him to reception.
“Hello?” said a voice, one so sweet and lyrical that it almost softened his mood.
Almost.
“It’s Devlin Storm,” he replied. “I need you to ready my helicopter. I’m leaving tonight.”
There was a pause at the other end, one that went on long enough for Devlin to guess what the sweet-voiced girl on the line was about to say.
“I’m sorry, sir, but all flights are already grounded. There’s a storm approaching.”
“No,” he growled, standing up to his full six-three and gripping the phone hard. “There’s a Stormleaving. This Storm. Tonight.”
“It’s too dangerous,” the girl argued, with real concern in her voice. Her compassion was genuine., “Please, don’t risk it.”
“Tonight,” he said. “Now. Make it happen.”
He ended the call without waiting for a reply. This was bad. He had a job to do in the mountains, and he needed to do it now. Tossing the phone onto the sofa, he walked up the wooden stairs to his bedroom. It was packed full of the things he’d brought with him — way more than he’d ever need for one weekend — but he left it all and walked to the corner where a small, black suitcase sat. Checking that it contained everything he needed, he picked it up, grabbed his thermal jacket from the hook, and made his way to the front door.
He’d head straight to reception. He could demand access to his helicopter face to face, and of course it wouldn’t hurt to see the owner of the voice he’d heard on the phone. Something about it wouldn’t leave his head.
“Focus, Devlin,” he said to himself.
The only thing that mattered was getting out of the resort right now.
Chapter 2
DARCY
“Hello? Hello?”
Darcy Wainwright pulled the phone from her ear, looking at it as if it had sprouted a mouth. It hadn’t. It was just a phone, and the man on the other end had hung up on her.
“Oh!” she declared, turning to the girl sitting next to her. Penny Anderson glanced over, a knowing smile on her face.
“Let me guess,” she said in her prim accent. “An APEX Club member, making ridiculous demands, in a tone of voice better suited to scolding a naughty child?”
Darcy nodded.
“You get used to it,” said Penny. “Most of the people who stay here are nice, but there are some who really make you want to . . .”
She gripped the cord of her own phone and wrung it between her hands. Darcy laughed, covering it with a hand. The lobby was busy with all the wealthy on display. The suits and shoes and shiny watches. The minutiae of the rich that made them stand out from the everyday crowds, and all of them here, spilling out of the convention centre, heading for the banquet rooms. There were around a hundred of them, and Darcy scanned the crowd for familiar faces. It was like being at the Oscars, she thought, there were so many famous people here. It was one of the reasons she’d agreed to work at the Royal Alpine resort — the other reason being she had literally no idea what else to do with her life. It wasn’t like there were a lot of jobs going for twenty-three-year-old American girls stranded in the middle of Europe.
“Who was it?” Penny asked, leaning in conspiratorially. Darcy smiled, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“Devlin Storm,” she said, and Penny squealed.
“Oh my god, I am so in love with him. I’ve seen him around. I can’t believe you spoke to him. What was he like?”
“Arrogant,” replied Darcy.
