Devon wouldn’t put it past her.
“Sorry.” Brennan swept past Amy and headed to the bar.
Devon sighed heavily. She hated when the moments with Brennan were broken. It was like she was in a dream, but unlike her nightmares, it was the best place she had ever been. It was nothing like her past life.
She walked out onto the floor and took orders at the two tables she had acquired. She rushed them back to the kitchen and refilled drinks for another table. Brennan handed her a full tray, and she quickly deposited the contents around the room.
“Here you go,” she said with a big smile, giving out the last drink to her customer.
Devon turned around toward the entrance to greet an incoming customer, and her tray slipped out of her hand, clattering to the ground.
“Reid?”
REID BENT DOWN and collected the tray from the floor. He looked up, his eyes met Devon’s, and he smiled bright and beautiful. He had an award-winning smile. Her hands were shaking as he handed the tray back to her, and she automatically tucked it under her arm.
How had he found her? She had thought that she was safe, that she had time, that she would be able to figure things out. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be standing in Jenn’s, staring at her expectantly. He had only texted her this morning. There was no way he could have found her in less than a day, right? That wasn’t even supposed to be possible.
And Brennan. Oh fuck—Brennan! She hadn’t told him. There hadn’t been time. Her mind had been elsewhere, running ahead of her as always to his one-bedroom apartment. She had been planning to tell him night when she was supposed to go to his apartment.
Now, what could she do? Brennan didn’t know, and she had told him that she had broken up with her boyfriend. But now, Reid was here, and he was staring at her, making it very obvious that she was his property. He had a way of looking at her that made it very clear they were together. She never got hit on in public, and Hadley had been the one that pointed it out the first time. Devon recognized it now as possessiveness, which was part of his problem.
Would Brennan notice? Fuck! He was the most perceptive person she knew. Of course, he would notice. Plus, with the way they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other the past couple days, it would be strange for her to act any different now.
But if Reid saw her with Brennan, what would he do? She couldn’t think about it. She couldn’t imagine her life right now without Brennan. He made her feel human, and she never wanted to feel like she was anything less again.
As she saw it, she had two choices, neither of which she wanted to face. She could confront Reid right here, something she had never prepared for, and watch him go ballistic, potentially hurting her and Brennan. Hadn’t she thought that if Brennan ever collided with her problems that he might end up dead? She couldn’t let that happen, but she knew what Reid was capable of. The other option was to act like everything was fine—leave with Reid and keep Brennan out of it. Figure out what to do from there. It sounded like a suicide mission to her, but it felt selfish to risk Brennan.
All she had to do was figure out why Reid was here and how he had found her. She couldn’t do much else.
Devon’s whole body was trembling, and she was sure that Reid saw the shock all over her face. Heat rose to the surface of her skin. Her body flushed all over. And all she could do was stand there and stare at him. It had been two-and-a-half months since she had last seen him. It was the longest amount of time she had been away from him in nearly three years.
Devon could see what she had fallen for all those years ago. He wore the requisite prep look like a second skin. It was a trait he had acquired long ago when he had attended an all-boys private school in the Kansas City suburbs. He had perfected it when he had pledged a fraternity at Wash U. His height had gotten him the quarterback position in high school, but he hadn’t been good enough to play Division I in college. Pride had kept him from going to a lower division. He had used the legacy factor from his father as the reason he didn’t play in college. Most of all, Reid just seemed like the perfect guy—smart, confident, ambitious.
But then, she also saw what she hadn’t seen when they had first started dating. His smile was a promise, telling her she was in a lot of fucking trouble without even saying a word. His eyes were icy, threatening her with just a glance. His height didn’t just make him taller than her; it was a power struggle. He had to take up the room and break her down, make her less than nothing. His entire presence was sinister.
And she could do better.
It was a scary thought.
“Hey, Dev,” Reid said, still not making a move toward her.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Wha…what are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you, too,” he said, smiling that terribly beautiful smile in her direction.
Devon deadpanned. She couldn’t say it was good to see him. It was shocking to see him. It was fucking scary to see him. It made her want to collapse into a puddle on the floor. Good wasn’t even in the first hundred adjectives she would have used.
She didn’t miss that he didn’t answer her question. She hadn’t asked what she wanted to know the most. Not what was he doing here, but how had he found her? She didn’t think that one would go over well.
“How have you been?” he asked.
Devon swallowed. This sounded like a trick question. “Fine.”
“I’ve missed you.”
Devon couldn’t bring herself to smile. Her insides twisted, and she did everything she could not to look away.
“You didn’t return my messages,” he said, taking a step closer this time.
“I accidentally left my phone at home,” she told him.
She wanted to run. She wanted to turn around and run away from him…into Brennan’s arms. But that was dangerous…too dangerous.
“Well, I’m glad I found you then. We have a lot to talk about.”
She knew what his talking looked like. “I have to work,” she said softly.
He smiled like he knew she was trapped. “I’ll wait.”
What could she say to that? No, get the fuck out! Yeah right! He was coiled up like a viper ready to strike, and she wasn’t going to poke him.
“It won’t be long. I can meet you somewhere,” she offered, wanting nothing more than for him to leave right now.
He chuckled, and even that sounded threatening. Maybe everything about him was a threat to her now because she knew how dangerous he was.
“I think I’d rather stay. I could use a drink.”
Fuck! No. No. No. He could not have a drink. Bad idea. Really bad idea. Brennan was over by the drinks.
“Take one of my tables, and I’ll go get you one,” she said, her voice struggling to remain calm. “Crown, right?”
“Don’t worry about it, Dev,” he said, walking up to her. “I’ll just go to the bar. We can talk after you get off work.”
“Okay,” she whispered, knowing it was anything but okay.
He reached forward and squeezed her hand. “You look good,” he said, raking his eyes over her body. Then, he released her, turned, and walked directly toward the bar, toward Brennan.
Her heart deflated, and air burst out of her mouth in a whoosh. She reached out, grabbed one of the booths, and held on for dear life. She couldn’t even turn around to look at Brennan and Reid standing at the bar together while Brennan made Reid a drink, offered up polite conversation, and joked around. She couldn’t witness it. She thought she might throw up.