Chapter 8 #2
By the time Lucky came back down the stairs, she’d eaten the glazed doughnut and half of the cake one.
She was saving the cream-filled one to torture Lucky a bit.
She wanted to drive him as crazy as she felt every time she was around him.
And if using the cream to make him think of sex might actually work—and make him kiss her again—she was all for it.
Devyn supposed she should feel a wee bit ashamed about being so blatant, but she wasn’t.
She’d waited months to see what Lucky was packing in his shorts, and she was going to go after what she wanted.
She’d loved sleeping in his bed, being held by him all night, but tonight she was going to get more than a cuddle.
It had been a hell of a long time since she’d had an orgasm she hadn’t given herself.
Tonight was going to be her night. Their night.
She’d get through their talk, work a shift, then after dinner, she’d take Lucky’s hand and lead him up his stairs and—
“I’m surprised you haven’t eaten them all yet.”
Devyn jerked in surprise and turned around to see Lucky coming toward her.
He made a detour to pet Angel and Whiskers, then came over to where she was sitting at the table and leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
Finally, he went to the cabinet and got a mug down to pour himself a cup of coffee.
He joined her at the table and reached for the cinnamon twist.
He smelled divine. Whatever soap or body wash he used made her want to crawl into his lap and latch on and never let go. It wasn’t fruity, nor was it overpowering or fake-scented. It was fresh and light. She’d loved it when she’d first smelled it, and now she loved it even more.
She self-consciously looked down at herself.
She’d brushed her hair this morning, but she was still in her pajamas, while he had on a pair of cargo pants with his army-green T-shirt tucked in.
His biceps bulged with each movement…and suddenly she felt like the biggest frump that ever lived.
She should’ve showered and put on some makeup before he got home.
But she’d been overwhelmed with the sweetness of the note he’d left for her, and then Angel and Whiskers had been super cute and she’d wanted to get them to trust her more.
“What’s wrong?” Lucky asked. It seemed that he was always in tune to her feelings.
“I’m a little underdressed,” she said with a wrinkle of her nose.
“If you ask me, you’re overdressed, but that’s neither here nor there. You look fine, Dev.”
Well. All right then. At least they were on the same page when it came to what was hopefully going to happen tonight.
Without thinking, Devyn reached for the cream-filled doughnut and took a healthy bite. Predictably, cream oozed out the side of the confection, and she used her tongue to keep the filling from falling onto the table or floor.
She looked up—and would’ve laughed at the look on Lucky’s face if her mouth hadn’t been full. Distracted by his looks, she’d forgotten all about trying to seduce him by eating the doughnut as sexily as she could, but it seemed she’d done just that without even trying.
Taking her time, she licked the cream and frosting that had gotten onto her fingers, knowing she was torturing Lucky in the process.
“Have pity on me, woman,” Lucky said in a low, gruff tone.
This time she did laugh. “You have to admit, you opened that door for me to walk right through by buying a cream-filled doughnut.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to torture me with it,” Lucky complained as he reached for her hand.
He plucked the doughnut out of her fingers and dropped it on the plate in front of her.
Then he shocked the hell out of Devyn by bringing her hand to his mouth.
His lips wrapped around her finger, sucking off some white cream she’d missed.
Then he ran his tongue down the digit to the webbing between her fingers and licked.
The action was so damn sensual, Devyn pressed her thighs together, trying to control her arousal. “Lucky…” she complained.
“Turnabout’s fair play,” he said as he continued to practically make love to her hand. He stopped long before she was ready and sat back. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“That almost got out of hand,” he finally said.
“You think?” she deadpanned.
They both chuckled.
“Right. Go wash your hands, Dev. I’ll clean this up. Then we’ll talk. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. She didn’t really want to have this talk, but at the same time, she needed it done.
Needed it behind her. She knew she’d feel better if she didn’t have to bear the burden of Spencer’s secret all on her shoulders, but she didn’t know how Lucky would react.
He could wonder what in the world she was so upset about, or he could be pissed, or he might even want to have a talk with Spencer himself.
But the bottom line was that she knew, without any doubt, that Lucky would do whatever he could to make her feel better about the situation. No matter what that took.
It was that thought that had her getting up and heading to the kitchen sink.
It was time. She was glad he’d pushed the issue. She was sick of having all this angst bottled up inside. She needed to be an adult and discuss her worries. And she couldn’t think of anyone better to talk to than Lucky.
They worked in tandem to straighten up the kitchen.
He put their coffee mugs in the sink and got out two bottles of water.
She tossed the bag the doughnuts had come in and wrapped up the leftovers.
She wasn’t going to let good doughnuts go to waste.
She thought they made a pretty good team, and she loved intentionally brushing up against Lucky as they moved around his huge kitchen.
He then took her hand and led her back to the sofa. She sat in the middle, not surprised when Lucky settled next to her. He turned so his knee brushed against her thigh. He opened his mouth to start, but Devyn beat him to it.
“I think Spencer’s a gambling addict.” She just blurted it out, deciding it was better to say it quickly than to stew over the best way to bring it up.
Lucky blinked, but didn’t otherwise react. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” he suggested.
She appreciated his non-reaction, though she could tell he wasn’t exactly happy.
“I didn’t think anything of him asking me for money at first. He’d come over, have dinner with me, then he’d ask if he could borrow twenty bucks, fifty, a hundred bucks, until his next pay day.
Of course I said yes. But after the third time, I questioned him about it.
He admitted that he was having some money issues.
I felt horrible for him, so I gave him a bit extra because he said he was having a hard time paying his rent. ”
“Let me guess—that wasn’t the end of him asking for money,” Lucky said dryly.
“No. It eventually got to the point where he’d borrowed too much, and I was trying to avoid him, which made me feel really guilty.
My mom called one day and said Spence told her I was acting weird toward him, and he was upset about it.
The guilt trip from my mom didn’t exactly make me feel better, so the next time Spencer asked if he could come over, I said yes.
He acted normal, and I was relieved. But after he left…
I realized that several things were missing from my apartment. ”
“He stole from you?” Lucky asked incredulously.
“Yeah. Nothing huge, some costume jewelry that he probably thought was worth more than it was and about forty bucks in bills I’d stuffed into a jar of coins,” Devyn said.
“What an asshole,” Lucky muttered under his breath.
Devyn looked down at her lap and tried not to cry.
She shouldn’t be this upset about everything that had happened what seemed like forever ago.
But she was. “I immediately confronted him about it, but he denied everything. Said I had probably spent the money and forgot, and that I’d just misplaced the jewelry.
He tried to turn everything around on me, saying I was trying to get him in trouble with Mom and Dad and that I was a spoiled brat.
It actually surprised me how quickly he turned on me. ”
“He’s the reason why you left Missouri, isn’t he?” Lucky asked. He picked up her hand and gently rubbed the back of it with his thumb.
Devyn nodded.
Several moments went by as she tried to think of how best to tell Lucky this next part. She knew he wasn’t going to take it well. And as much as Spencer had done to hurt her feelings, she still felt like she was betraying him.
But Lucky didn’t rush her. Didn’t interrupt her thoughts. He let her think things through and determine when and how to continue her story. Deciding it was best to be as straightforward as she’d been about everything else, Devyn took a deep breath and continued.
“After that, I didn’t see Spencer for a couple months.
But then one day, I came home from work and he was in my apartment.
I’d forgotten I had given him a key in case of an emergency.
He had a big box and was filling it with anything from my apartment he thought he could sell.
I was so mad…but also worried about him.
I flat-out asked him if he was a drug addict.
He’d never really told me what he needed all the money for, and that was the only thing I could think of.
“He genuinely looked shocked and denied it. He showed me his arms, and there weren’t any bruises or anything on them.
Now, I know people can shoot up in other places—between their toes, things like that—but I believed him.
He didn’t act like he was high or otherwise on any kind of drug.
Eventually I got him to admit that he was gambling the money away.
But he quickly reassured me that he wasn’t an addict.
That he could stop at any point. I laughed at that, and it really irritated him.