Chapter 9 #2
The sound of glass shattering had her whirling around and rushing to her bedroom.
By the time she and Rocky reached it, Devlin had pushed up the window and was already halfway inside.
Stunned by the sight of the urbane, sophisticated Devlin Sinclair crawling through her broken bedroom window and swearing a blue streak as he did so, Gabrielle could only gape.
Rocky launched herself at him, but from the furious wagging of her tail Gabrielle suspected the attack would be more on the order of licking him to death.
Brushing glass shards from his shirt and jeans, Devlin quelled the dog’s enthusiasm with a word.
Rocky promptly sat on her haunches, panting and gazing at him adoringly.
“You should put her out before she cuts herself,” he said.
Parking her fists on her hips, Gabrielle found her voice. “I don’t believe this.” She glared at him, wishing she had something to throw. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He shrugged. “I needed to talk to you, and it was obvious you weren’t going to let me in.”
“Gee, I wonder why?” she said sarcastically. “Could it be because I’ve had enough humiliation for one day?”
A flush rose in his cheeks. Gabrielle decided she must be dreaming. Devlin Sinclair, blushing?
“That’s what—I didn’t mean—” He broke off, grinding his teeth and swearing savagely under his breath. “Dammit, this is harder than I thought it would be. I came here to apologize.”
“Are you apologizing for not taking advantage of me, as you put it, or for letting me think you did?”
His jawline hardened. “For letting you think we’d had sex. For telling you like I did. For—” He broke off again, grimacing. “For being such a bastard when I did tell you the truth.”
Gabrielle had the feeling Devlin didn’t often apologize for his words or actions. Privately, she admitted that he had reason to be angry, or at least frustrated, about the night before. Besides that, she knew quite a few men who wouldn’t have cared what condition she’d been in.
Well, so what? That didn’t say a lot about the men she knew, and it didn’t justify Devlin stringing her along like he had. She couldn’t forgive and forget quite so easily. And if that wasn’t enough, he’d witnessed her panic attack as well. Why didn’t he just go away and leave her to her misery?
“Okay, you’ve apologized. You’ve admitted you were a jerk, and I’ll admit I was a fool to drink so much. Can we just forget it now?”
He shook his head, smiling ruefully. “Unfortunately, no, I can’t forget it. I wish to hell I could.”
So did she. Gabrielle felt her throat close and tears sting her eyes. Why wouldn’t he go away? Hadn’t she made a fool of herself enough times already? Abruptly, she said, “Rocky, come. Time to go out.” Turning on her heel, she left the room.
He followed her, of course. She sensed his presence behind her as she stood in the open doorway to the backyard and wished desperately that she didn’t care what Devlin thought of her, or how he felt about her.
Wished desperately that she only knew the face he showed the rest of the world and not the one he hid.
The man who had so generously helped Marcie Field.
The man who’d comforted her in a dingy stairwell.
That man existed, no matter how much Devlin tried to deny it.
His hands fell on her shoulders, warm, strong, gentle. “You make me feel things I don’t want to feel,” he said, his voice low, quiet. “And I don’t like it.”
Her back still toward him, she said, “You wanted to make me angry and you succeeded. Why?” She felt his cheek against her hair, the warmth of his solid body against her back.
He kneaded her shoulders. “I told myself I wanted you to know what kind of man I am. To understand that I can’t offer you more than sex. To establish the rules so you wouldn’t get hurt.”
His warm breath wafted across her ear, her cheek.
It shouldn’t have been seductive, but it was.
“Did you think me so na?ve, I didn’t know that?
” She turned to look him in the face and search his eyes.
“I think you wanted to make me so mad, I’d never go to bed with you. Are you going to tell me why?”
He stared at her for a long time. He didn’t look angry; he looked confused, unsure of himself. It wasn’t a look she’d ever have associated with his face, or emotions she would ever have expected him to have.
He turned his back to her and strode quickly from the room, swearing under his breath again.
Gabrielle closed the back door and followed him, understanding less of what was happening with each passing moment.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” she asked. “You wanted to make sure we’d never have sex.
But you’ve been trying to get me in bed since we met. Why the sudden turnaround?”
Grimacing, he shoved his hands through his hair, the gold strands falling back in disorder. “I don’t believe this,” he muttered, and sat on the sofa.
She crossed the room to stand in front of him. “You’re not making sense.”
“Tell me about it.” He looked up at her. “Yeah, you’re right. I said it to piss you off. Subconsciously, I wanted to drive you as far away from me as possible.”
Confused, Gabrielle frowned and stared down at him. “All you had to do was quit making moves on me. You didn’t have to—” She hesitated as she remembered essentially throwing herself at him. Flushing, she continued, “If you weren’t interested, you didn’t have to drive me home last night.”
He made a sound halfway between a groan and a laugh.
“I’ve wanted to make love to you since you dropped that lingerie at my feet, Gabrielle.
And when I want something, I usually get it.
But then last night and today, I finally figured something out.
” His gaze connected with hers, his eyes dark gray, unhappy.
“You’re different. I’m different. This whole thing between us is different. ”
It wasn’t getting any clearer. Tired, bewildered, her emotions dangerously unstable, she needed for him to stop speaking in riddles. “Devlin, what in the world are you talking about? Spit it out.”
His jaw tightened. “Dammit, Gabrielle, I think I’m in love with you.”