Page 84 of Say My Name

I smile, not really wanting to tell him. But I go with the truth. “No. I’m just wearing boring panties, nothing special. Plain cotton.”

“I love boring panties. Let me see.”

I blink. “See what?”

“Take your panties off for me.”

“You’ve already got one pair of my panties.”

“And now I want another.” He smirks.

And I can’t believe what I’m about to do, but I lower my panties down my legs and hand them over. There must be a small part of me that likes Devereaux having my panties. It makes me feel like if I were really wearing lingerie.

He takes them from me and brings them to his nose. He inhales, and then his smirk turns into a full on smile. Wide. Breathtaking. “They look naughty to me.” And then he slips the panties into his pocket.

As he maneuvers down the long, twisting road, I think about our expiration date. Soon, we’ll catch the killer and I’ll no longer work at his club. I’ll no longer need to be in his life.

This fleeting attraction between us isn’t real. There’s a pre-destined end to us, so there can never be a start to us. The thought depresses me, and I tear my gaze from him so I don’t get lost in the fantasy.

He turns down a secluded road and we pass through a fortress-style iron gate. As he drives up to his majestic home, it’s hard to keep my jaw from dropping. It’s gorgeous in all its Gothic glory. Devereaux lives in a restored 1872 Gothic Revival Victorian house. Architecture magazines across the country have featured it, making the house one of the most famous things here in Saint Pierce.

Before Devereaux bought the place, the previous owners offered tours once the renovation was complete, but I never took one.

Kind of wish I had now.

“Beautiful, huh?” he asks, pulling into a circular drive.

“Very. I love houses with character and history.” The dark-blue paint of the wood-framed house comes alive under the light of the moon. One cylindrical spire shoots up into the night sky, and a small lamp near the front step illuminates his porch.

“Looks almost haunted,” I tell him.

“I assure you, it’s not.”

He shuts off the car engine, and I step out of the car with my silly Victoria’s Secret bag. We walk the cobblestone path that leads to a covered front porch.

“I have a guest room upstairs that you can sleep in,” he says, opening the front door and leading me into a wide entryway.

The lights brighten as we enter, and he taps at his phone, turning on more lights as we make our way to the sunken living room. “I can give you the tour.”

I spin around. “I’d love a tour.”

He holds his hands out wide. “Here’s the living area. They kept the original fireplace and brickwork, just updated a few features so you can have a roaring fire with the touch of your finger.” He swipes at something on his phone and a fire starts in the fireplace.

“Wow, romantic.”

He blinks and shuts off the fire just as quickly as he turned it on. “Right, and through this doorway is the kitchen.” He leads me into a galley-style kitchen that opens up into an eating area next to a large three-winged bay window.

“I love the old stonework,” I tell him, admiring the backsplash of gray and white stones.

“Yeah, this place is definitely special.” He puffs his chest a bit, looking like a proud parent. It’s cute.

“What made you want to buy it?”

“I drove by, took the tour and fell in love with it.” My heart does this weird skip when he mentions falling in love. “Let me show you something.” He leads me through a set of French doors off the dining room, to an enormous back patio with a large infinity pool that looks like it’s spilling over the hill they built the house on.

“This is breathtaking.”

The pool’s blue lights illuminate the stark beauty of the tranquil scene, highlighting the surrounding lush forest of the Saint Pierce foothills.

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