Page 22 of Suddenly Tempted
“Right!” Darcy squeaked, dragging her eyes away from his. “We should probably make a move!”
“Definitely,” he replied, his voice gravelly. “Absolutely.”
He tried to walk past her, just as she tried to walk past him, and they bumped together. And for a sweet moment Devlin’s fantasies were coming to life. His strong fingers closed around her waist, and they ended up closer than he intended. At least, that’s what he was telling himself as her front rubbed against his. He felt everything. The softness of her body through her layers, the heat of her skin through her hands, the tingling in his lower belly.
Let her go you idiot.
“Sorry,” he said, dropping his hands like lead weights and standing to the side, offering her the right of way. “After you.”
“Thank you,” she said, bolting through the door.
Devlin couldn’t help but smile as he watched her waddle away in her giant coat. Then he walked to the fire, emptied snow over the rumbling ashes, and picked up his own clothes. They were bone dry, and he carefully slid on the suit jacket first, then the thermal coat, clumsily buttoning everything up as tightly as it would go. Darcy had found some hats and gloves in the storeroom and even though they were a little small he managed to wrestle them on, along with a pair of battered boots that were ugly but, thankfully, toasty warm. It wasn’t exactly the right sort of kit for conditions like this, but all in all it wasn’t too bad.
He walked from the room, pausing by the door to look back. The two mattresses still sat between the sofa and the newly doused fire, blankets bundled on top. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt sad at the thought of leaving here. This little cabin had stood here for who knows how long, and for years now it had been empty. Yet it had provided shelter and warmth and food for him and Darcy. It had kept them alive, without a doubt.
And it had brought him and Darcy closer. No matter how he’d felt about her back at the Royal Alpine, spending last night in her company had shifted something in him. Yes, she was frustratingly talkative and often a little daft, but she had been fearsome and capable in the storm. And she seemed to genuinely care about him. Not about his wealth or his position. Him. Devlin.
As difficult as the day was going to be, he felt glad that he wasn’t on his own — and gladder still that it was Darcy who was with him. At least, with her, he wouldn’t get bored, and she was smarter and hardier than he’d given her credit for.
He wasalmostenjoying spending time with her.
Stop being a fool! he told himself. And that’s exactly what he was being, a fool.
Darcy was there for one reason and one reason only, or maybe one hundred thousand reasons. Devlin had almost let himself forget about the money he’d bribed her with. But he knew, deep down, that was the only reason Darcy was seeming to be genuinely lovely. It had to be. Why else would someone as kind as Darcy be interested in someone like him?
One of the reasons he’d been so successful, especially in the years he and Claudia had been together, was that he’d put matters of the heart so far behind him that they couldn’t get in his way. He was ruthless, and determined, and heartless, and that’s the way it had to stay if he was to keep his position as one of the richest and most famous men in the world.
Yet standing here, in this modest little building, he wasn’t even sure if that’s what he wanted anymore. He felt more at home here than he had done in any of his houses and apartments, any of his hotel suites. He felt like hebelonged.
“You ready?” called a voice from the other end of the cabin.
“I am,” he said.
He left the room and made his way down the corridor, walking into the front room with a steely determination to not get carried away. Darcy was by the front door, his suitcase open in front of her. She was putting something inside it, and a red-hot fear exploded inside him, uncontrollable.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he shouted. She jumped up, shocked, and he stormed towards her so fast that she jumped away from him.
“I was just putting these in the case,” she said, holding up another protein bar and what might have been an extra pair of gloves. “I thought we could carry everything we needed in—”
“You don’t think,” he said, his voice a low and frightening growl. “That’s my suitcase. You have no business opening it.”
Darcy’s face screwed up as she glared back at him.
“I was trying to help,” she said.
“Then don’t,” he spat back. “Don’t do anything unless I tell you to. Don’t speak, don’t think. If you want to get out of here as much as I do, then you’ll do exactly what I say. And stay away from my stuff.”
He grabbed the case as best as he was able with his bad arm, then opened the door. Behind him, he heard Darcy stutter an apology. But he ignored her, and marched out into the snow.
Chapter 12
DARCY
The last thing Darcy wanted to do was cry, but she literally couldn’t stop herself. The tears came like meltwater, spilling out of her, and the sobs racked her whole body.
Devlin’s rage had come out of nowhere. The way he had spoken to her was as bad as a physical blow. Why had he got so angry at her for putting something in his suitcase? It wasn’t like he had much in there, just an old tin and his passport. There had been plenty of room. He’d had no right to attack her so fiercely, especially after being so nice to her this morning. His moods were as unpredictable as the mountain weather, a storm that could come and go in a flash.
It wasn’t just that, though. It was everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. The shock was still catching up with her, and even though she’d been trying to put a brave face on everything, she was an emotional wreck. Devlin’s outburst had tipped her over the edge — she was the helicopter falling into the ravine — and it was all she could do not to curl up in a ball in the corner of the room and stay there.
