Free First Taste (The Lust List: Devon Stone #1) by Mira Bailee Page A

and…”
    “And let your boss treat you like dirt some more? It’s just one afternoon. You can work later.”
    “No. Devon. I…just. No.” I speak up for Mark. “I have to head back, but thank you.” He nods but returns to ignoring his passengers.
    Devon leans back in his seat. “Olivia. Come on. It’s not a big deal—”
    “It is. I have a job. I’m on the clock.” And I’m your employee. A middle-class worker. Not some rock star, supermodel. “Listen, I don’t know what you want from me.” I was right. He did have a motive. “I could tell you were up to something when—”
    “Up to what? We hung out. Things were fine. You—”
    “What about yesterday, when you barely knew my name? Or the day before when you blew me off? Or the day before that, when—oh that’s right, you didn’t even know I existed. So you’re suddenly nice to me now? You go with me to order flowers for a party you don’t care about. You kiss me? And I’m supposed to believe you have no intentions here?”
    “Right. Because I can’t just be a nice guy getting to know a nice girl?”
    He admitted his own violent streak. He’s been arrested. He’s got an entire history of not being a nice guy. “I don’t know what to think Devon. We don’t know each other. I’m not going to ditch my job—which is important to me—to do whatever it is you expect me to do with you.” No matter how much I want to.
    “You think I wanted to take you somewhere to fuck? Is that it?”
    “Am I that far off after the open invitation you gave me two days ago?”
    He laughs and shakes his head. “Maybe I had it wrong. Maybe you aren’t much different from others.”
    “Don’t say that. You don’t know me—”
    “And you’re not giving me much of a chance to.” He’s starting to raise his voice.
    “Was that part of the job description I missed—set aside time for Devon to get to know the assistant to the assistant? I don’t recall seeing that on Mr. Keenly’s to-do lists yet, so sorry. I haven’t given you a chance to know me when you had zero interest yesterday.”
    I shift in the seat so I can look out my window instead. What did he want from me? Suddenly we’re friends? Suddenly we’re more than that? What did I miss, and how the hell am I the bad guy for being responsible?
    We ride the rest of the way in silence, the heat between us long gone and replaced with suffocating tension. When we get back to the house, Devon doesn’t bother to play the gentleman role anymore, and instead, marches toward the back of the house as I make my way to the front doors. I hesitate on the steps trying to remember why I’m here. It’s a job. Just a job.
    I go inside knowing that the wrath of Keenly is now nothing compared to whatever just happened between me and Devon.

 
    I didn’t warn Maddie about the spectacle she’d be walking into when she got home. I can’t stop thinking about Devon. I don’t know if I’m more angry or enamored. I’m pissed off from our argument and how he just disappeared after. But something happened today. He opened up to me, and he didn’t have to. He went out of his way to defend me in front of Keenly and then accompany me on a mindless errand. And he didn’t have to. I’m not an idiot. There’s something going on.
    And I have to figure out how to put a stop to it. For all I know, he’s done with me, but I need to convince myself I’m not interested in him at all. Unfortunately, I’m an awful liar, especially with myself.
    So here’s the sight Maddie sees when she gets home. Her pitiful roommate is lying on the couch staring at the TV that’s not only off, it’s unplugged too. But I hadn’t stopped there. Before falling into a comatose state on the couch, I disconnected the Internet, hid my laptop and cell phone in Maddie’s room, and I shoved the love seat in front of her door.
    “What’s going on here?” Maddie asks slowly, taking in the scene.
    I knew if I gave in, I’d spend hours