Devlin UnLeashed(8)

She walked out of her room. The tie I wore got a little tighter, like the first tugs of a noose—warning me that this woman was going to suck the air out of my life. She wore dark blue jeans, an oversized sweater, and sneakers. I was over-dressed.

She stalled as we made eye contact, her smile faltering. It was obvious I made her as nervous as she made me, and I held on to that—stored it away as a weapon I could use against her.

She approached me cautiously, stopped in front of me, and then leaned in to place a chaste kiss, more on my jawline than on my face, which she’d intended. It felt more intimate, and her coy smile said she was aware of it. As she pulled back, her soft, sweet smell lingered, and the hand she’d placed on my chest slowly drifted down. Her caress felt like it was directly on my skin. My cock hardened. I knew if her touch was this powerful, I’d lose my sanity once I was buried inside her.

“Ready?” I took a step back and a few calming breaths because I knew I had to play this her way. If I had my way, I’d have her pinned to the wall, panting by now.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She hooked her arm around mine and led me out of the apartment.

Outside, as I went to pull the car door open, she shook her head and pulled me away. “We can walk.”

“Walk? To where?” I got a little anxious when it came to surprises, and her sly smile didn’t help at all.

“Yeah, we’re not going far.”

Not far, as she put it, turned into a fifteen minute walk in frigid temperatures. She’d bundled up in a dark parka and matching hat and scarf. She kept rubbing my fingers with her gloved hand trying to keep me warm, but the weather didn’t bother me. I’d spent enough time on the cold streets of Chicago to survive a cold front.

She talked about how much she was going to miss Seattle when she graduated. We walked into a park, and when I finally caught onto her intentions, I stopped short so abruptly her arm jerked, and her hand tore away from mine. She glanced back at my frown, and I could tell she knew I wasn’t going to like this.

“What?”

“Ice skating?” She was purposely trying to take me out of my comfort zone.

She laughed at the grimace on my face. “Come on.” She pulled on my hand. “It’ll be fun.”

“I’ll watch you.”

“Nope.” She continued to tug my arm, and I finally continued to walk. “You asked me to show you something I liked to do, and this is it.”

“You love to ice skate?”

“I love dancing. Ballet, specifically. The fluidity of movement you can get from ice skating is euphoric, especially to a dancer.”

“I’ve never done this,” I admitted as she led me to a window and asked me my size. I reluctantly picked up the pair of skates the lady at the window placed on the counter.

“I’ll teach you.”

I didn’t want to learn. I had absolutely no interest in standing on ice, slipping and falling while making an ass out of myself.

“I’m not dressed for this.” It was an excuse, but maybe she’d let me off the hook.

She gave me a once-over, taking in my dark slacks and dress shoes. She chuckled. “There’s no dress code.” She dug into her oversized purse and threw a pair of socks at me.

“Kind of figured that was going to be your next excuse, so I bought those earlier.”

I scowled at her, and she looked all too pleased with my reaction. I sank onto the narrow bench and traded my loafers for a pair of skates that wore the scars of many previous users.

She stuffed her bag and our shoes into a small locker. How she made all that fit in there, I couldn’t figure out, but she made it work.

“Come on,” she prompted, holding my hand as she led the way onto the rink. I felt odd—juvenile, even—as I wobbled, fighting for balance.

Ice skating was nothing like I’d expected. It was much more unstable. It appeared you had to be very skilled to glide your feet across ice on razor thin blades.

I pulled my hand from hers, if only to prove I was capable of doing it without being babied.

“Okay.” She shrugged and skated ahead. It was a rash decision in an attempt to prove my masculinity. Turned out, she’d been helping me a lot more than I’d realized. Without her guidance, I teetered on the ice at a virtual standstill.

“How’s it going, big boy?” Juliana slid to a stop next to me, spraying ice shavings at my feet. Her face was flushed, her smile radiant, and from the look in her eyes, I knew she was ready to gloat. She skated in a circle around me as I tried to maneuver closer to the wall. “Need any help? Or are you manly enough to handle it on your own?”