Waiting for Devon Read online

  In her room she slipped out of her clothes and stepped into a warm, relaxing bath. Closing her eyes, she realized, was a mistake, for visions of Reed besieged her. Even now she could feel the power and strength in his arms as they danced. The blue light in his eyes mesmerized her while the dimples in his cheeks when he smiled delighted her. Goosebumps appeared on her wet flesh as she recalled the exciting touch of his firm lips against hers.

  I’ve got to stop this. The last thing I need is a complication like Reed Barrington.

  During the next two weeks, invitations to attend dinner parties and barbecues inundated Devon and Shane. He chose which engagements to accept, and Devon found herself subjected to insults and barbs about her family background and her former marriage. The latter filled Blair with wry amusement as she noted it didn’t take long for the well-to-do to discover Devon’s past.

  Blair knew Devon detested afternoon tea socials. Planning charity events she didn’t mind, but she refused to learn how to quilt. This alone wouldn’t have been so hard to endure, but Devon had to contend with the most unpleasant group of harpies she’d ever met led by Lara Hampton.

  During these gatherings Blair confronted Lara several times and tried to reason with her, but to no avail. Out of sheer desperation, she resorted to a new tactic. Bribery.

  Blair cornered Lara in the billiard room at the two-point-five-million-dollar home of Dallas’ grande dame Agatha St. Lawrence during a meeting of the garden club and announced without preamble, “I have the power to give you what you want more than anything else in this world, Lara. Are you willing to listen?”

  Lara tossed her head with contempt. “What are you talking about, Blair?”

  “I’m talking about a date with Reed. That’s what you want, right? Think about it for a moment. A whole evening in the company of my brother. A chance to work your wiles on him once and for all. Let’s face it, Lara. You won’t have another opportunity like this and you know it. All I want from you in return is your endorsement of Devon.”

  Blair could see the idea of a date with Reed appealed to Lara as her green eyes began to gleam with interest.

  “All right. But it has to happen soon. No putting me off or making excuses.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Now go undo some of the damage you’ve done to Devon.”

  As the afternoon dragged on, Blair watched Lara work the room of stuffy socialites. She praised Devon and showered her with unwanted attention.

  Later, when Lincoln drove the women home, Devon began, “All right, Blair. Spill. What did you say to Lara?”

  “I had to promise her something,” Blair hedged.

  “What? Your firstborn child?”

  “I promised Lara a date.”

  “A blind date?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Oh? Who’s the unlucky fellow?”

  “Reed.” Blair expelled her breath.

  Horror swept through Devon. “Blair, surely you know how much Reed loathes Lara Hampton! How can you force him to keep a promise you made?”

  “I’m aware of my brother’s feelings for Lara, but he’ll do it, for he’s too much of a gentleman to refuse.”

  “How do you think he’ll react when you tell him?”

  “He won’t be happy,” Blair answered, and shuddered.

  Nothing could have prepared Blair for her brother’s explosive outburst of anger at dinner that evening when she informed Reed of his date with Lara Hampton the next night. Indeed, she’d never seen him look and sound so furious and hateful.

  “Have you lost your damn mind, Blair?” he demanded as his hand came down hard on the smooth table. “What devil possessed you to arrange a date for me with that woman? Or were you just too drunk to know what you were doing?”

  Reed’s spiteful remark evoked immediate protests from Jasper and Shane while Devon glared at him from across the table.

  A painful shadow crossed Blair’s face, and her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I haven’t been drunk for two weeks, Reed,” she told him in a low, quivering voice. “As far as Lara is concerned, I promised her a date with you for Devon’s sake. Lara was making life miserable for her, and this was the only way to stop her.”

  Contrite for hurting her, Reed replied with remorse, “Forgive me, Blair. I’m truly sorry for what I said. Of course, I’ll go on a date with Lara.”

  “You’re forgiven.” Blair rose from the table and excused herself.

  Across the pasture and well into the entrance of a group of trees stood a log cabin where Reed liked to spend most of his evenings. As he stepped onto the porch of the main house to make his trek to the cabin, the sharp sound of Devon’s voice came out of the darkness and he halted.

  “You’re coldhearted, Reed Barrington.”

  “And you, Miss Brooks, don’t know me well enough to make that kind of judgment.”

  “I’ve been here long enough to see quite clearly the nature of things,” Devon replied in a stern tone of voice. “Shane is much too busy with Barrington Industries to show an interest in his sister, but you…you’re nothing more than a younger version of your father. Jasper has withheld his affection from his daughter for so long that he has forgotten how to show his love. He ignores Blair.

  “He says nothing to her and refuses to touch her. She’s earned a degree in business administration from Harvard, no less, yet she hasn’t even been invited to join the company. Shane thinks she’s not interested, but that’s not the truth. I suppose your father has his reasons for his coldness, but what’s your excuse? The only one I can determine is you must have inherited all of your father’s worst traits. You’re deliberately cruel, incapable of love and passion…”

  “Enough! So, you think I’m incapable of loving my own sister? And as far as passion is concerned, I believe I’ve proven how passionate I can be to you already.”

  “You’re vile. You feigned passion with me in order to prove me a fraud. I don’t think you’ve ever experienced real passion with anyone.”

  “Careful, Brooks,” Reed warned. “You’re treading in dangerous waters.”

  With those words he left her alone. The excitement and tension that had been building between them slowly ebbed. Devon took a deep, steady breath while tremors shook her entire body.

  Chapter Seven

  The following evening Devon and Shane had a dinner engagement at the home of one of his business associates. As they made their way down the spiral staircase, Devon saw Lara Hampton waiting in the foyer for her date with Reed. She appeared fresh and pretty in her pink sundress. Devon felt sorry for her. Lara had no idea how to deal with a complicated man like Reed.

  As she and Shane reached the bottom of the stairs, Reed joined them. He shot Devon a triumphant, sardonic glance, and much to their astonishment, especially Lara’s, Reed pulled the unresisting girl toward him and kissed her with unbridled passion. Without a word, he took Lara’s hand and led the embarrassed young woman outside.

  “Well, that was calculated,” Devon complained to Shane as they walked to his Porsche.

  “I agree. Maybe he was sending a message to Lara. She’s totally out of his league.”

  “He was sending the message to me.”

  “Oh? Why?”

  “We had words last night about Blair.”

  “You really do rub him the wrong way, don’t you?”

  “It’s mutual. He rankles me. I can’t explain it.”

  Later, she forgot about Reed. Comments flowing around the room about Devon’s past set her teeth on edge and offended Shane when he heard them. Gripping her hand in his, he moved from group to group and forced them to face her. Her grace, intelligence, and charm, not to mention her capacity for kindness, eventually won the arrogant fools’ respect.

  Though Shane considered the evening a success, he was quiet and withdrawn on the way back to the Barrington estate, and Devon could sense his outrage beneath the surface.

  Touching his arm, she said, “Thank you for your interference on my behalf tonight
.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “Don’t be sorry for me. I’m just concerned about Alana. Those people will rip her to shreds. I’m beginning to think the kindest thing you can do for her is to let her go. She can’t survive in your world.”

  His hands gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. “No, I won’t let her go. She’ll learn, Devon. She’ll be fine.”

  “Is this really what you want for her?”

  “It’s not as bad as you make it sound. Alana already knows these people.”

  “If you say so, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”

  Upstairs at the Barrington estate, Devon changed her clothes and wondered if Reed had returned from his date with Lara. She found it odd that a surge of hot jealousy possessed her as she watched Reed kiss Lara, much the same way he’d kissed her.

  The sudden ringing of her cell phone disrupted her thoughts. When she noted the caller, she froze. She could almost feel Emmaline’s urgency, and she knew why. “Uh, hi, Em,” she greeted her sister with false gaiety.

  “You have a lot of explaining to do, Devon. I knew something unusual was going on with you and this man you mentioned, but imagine my surprise when I saw you and your fiancé on CNN, in addition to every tabloid show on the air. How in the world did you wind up engaged to a multi-millionaire playboy who’s being touted as the country’s most popular soon-to-be-ex-bachelor? This time I want the truth. Caleb saw the same broadcast, and he’s livid with you for lying to him.”

  “Em, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you and Caleb about Shane, but it’s not what you think. I’m not really engaged to him.”

  By the time Devon finished her tale, Emmaline was even more flabbergasted and disappointed in her sister’s actions. “I’ve never known you to be so irresponsible, Devon. You’re taking a huge risk, both professionally and personally, and I pray it doesn’t backfire on you.”

  “I can’t change things now, although I wish I could. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer before Jasper Barrington relents and gives Shane what he wants.”

  “Huh. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. Look, I have to go. Call Caleb. He’s concerned about you in spite of your stupidity. His words, not mine.”

  “I will. Thanks, Em, for not being too upset with me.”

  Emmaline chuckled. “I’m sorry it’s a farce. I could get used to having a multi-millionaire for a brother-in-law.”

  The day before the Fourth of July Devon received a frantic call from Jill. “What is it?” she asked as a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach took root. “I can barely understand you.”

  “Oh, Devon!” Jill cried. “Something horrible happened last night. Chrissy Lockridge died.”

  The color drained from Devon’s face, and she sank onto her bed. Chrissy Lockridge was the little girl who began chemotherapy shortly after Devon left San Francisco. Fighting a wave of nausea, she asked in a hoarse voice, “How? What happened?”

  “Dr. Franklin said her heart couldn’t take the strain and gave out. It just gave out, and she was gone. In the blink of an eye, they said. It happened that quickly.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.” She pressed the END button.

  Tears rolled fast and furiously, blinding Devon as she fled the house. She didn’t stop running until she entered the main stable and found an empty stall where she sobbed her heartbreak. Chrissy Lockridge died because Devon wasn’t there. She broke her promise and an innocent child died. Devon doubled over and rocked back and forth as she cried Chrissy’s name until her throat was raw. Remembering her own loss cast her into a pit of despair.

  Reed heard heart-wrenching sobs coming from the stall next to Pale Promise’s. “Blair!” he called with concern. “Is that you? Why are you crying?”

  Devon leaped to her feet as Reed opened the wooden half-door, and they stared at one another. “I’m not Blair,” she said and tried to brush away her tears. She couldn’t stop crying regardless of her effort to control herself.

  “I can see that,” he responded in a soft tone. “What’s wrong, Brooks?”

  “I lost a patient last night. Chrissy Lockridge. She died undergoing chemo for a brain tumor. I should have been there. Oh, God, I should have been there.”

  Needing comfort, he supposed, she threw herself against him and cried into his shoulder, soaking his white T-shirt.

  Stunned by her raw pain, Reed let her cry until dry wracks shook her body. When she lifted her head, he gazed into her luminous brown eyes and cupped her face with his hands.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Slowly, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Following their salty path as they dripped past her trembling mouth, Reed bent his head and placed a tender, compassionate kiss on her lips. Gentleness soon flared into passion. He had no idea what madness possessed him as his kiss deepened, and his tongue found its way into the utter sweetness of her mouth.

  Devon answered his eager exploration with tiny thrusts of her own tongue. Her hands were trapped between them, and his muscles leaped beneath her touch. Her mouth aroused a deep, hungry desire within him, making it difficult to breathe. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, his heart slammed into his chest.

  The slight pressure of her firm breasts caused Reed to grow hard and bold with his passion. A hand slipped beneath her loose blouse and caressed a sensitive nipple hidden within her lacy bra. Lost in the sweetest sensations he’d ever known, Reed moaned low in his throat and would have continued to make love to her if not for a timely interruption. Pale Promise neighed, and they broke apart.

  The rise and fall of Devon’s chest drew Reed’s attention. Her mouth bore evidence of their heated kisses, and if he continued to gaze into the liquid depths of her eyes, he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

  Guilt and confusion gave way to rejection. “If you’re looking for sympathy, go find your fiancé. Please. I can’t be your shoulder to cry on. Even if I wanted to be.”

  “I’m sorry for being an imposition.”

  Devon swept past him, head high. The faint scent of her flowery soap teased Reed’s senses. He jammed his fists into the pockets of his Levi’s and swore beneath his breath. Every time she looked at him with her big brown eyes, he felt himself drowning like a swimmer who couldn’t fight the swift current any longer and gave up.

  “Fuck,” he muttered and reached for a saddle. “Fuck.”

  Devon spent the remainder of the day in her room and declined to join the others for dinner. She sat in the dark and couldn’t keep tears from rolling down her cheeks. When she believed she couldn’t cry anymore, a fresh flood fell anew. If only she had been at the hospital with Chrissy, the child might have lived. If only…if only she had been more careful during her pregnancy, her own child might have lived. In her grief-stricken mind, the two deaths merged into one. How could she prevent the death of any child when she couldn’t prevent the death of her own?

  When she didn’t come downstairs for breakfast the following morning, Shane delivered a tray to her room and offered what little solace she would accept.

  “Reed told me you lost a patient, a little girl who passed away from a brain tumor.” He set the tray on the bed and perched next to it. “I guess it wouldn’t do any good to apologize. That’s all I keep doing lately. To you. To Alana…”

  “Shane, are you any closer to achieving your goal? Because it seems to me we’re just spinning our wheels.”

  He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know what Dad expects of me. I’ve done everything he’s asked of me and more.” Shane rose to his feet. “If you’re not up to attending our annual 4th of July barbecue, I’ll understand. I’m not in the mood to schmooze anyway.”

  Devon cracked a small smile. “I’ll be there, Shane. To help you schmooze.”

  He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Thanks. You’re one in a million women, Devon.”

  At the Barringtons’ annual Fourth of July barbecue
, Jasper served as the undisputed chef. He treated his guests to T-bone steaks, chicken, ribs, and hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone enjoyed plenty of food, drinks, and fun. Families frolicked on the lawn, playing croquet, volleyball, and football while others participated in tennis matches or swam in the huge kidney-shaped pool. Some chose to ride the Barringtons’ fine stock of horses, and Reed supervised pony rides for the younger children.

  Devon waited until long after the majority of the guests arrived before making her way downstairs. Makeup did little to hide her red, puffy eyes. She wore a pair of yellow shorts and a matching crop top over a one-piece bathing suit. After she circulated among the guests with Shane, Devon intended to plead a headache caused by the relentless Texas summer sun, then retreat to her room and to her grief.

  As soon as she stepped onto the patio made of the finest river rock, Shane led her toward a group of executives milling with their wives. “Have you met Dr. Devon Brooks, my fiancé? Devon, I’d like to you meet…”

  She pasted a false smile on her face and tried to concentrate on the conversation as it buzzed in her ears. At one point Jasper saluted her with his spatula, so Devon figured she and Shane were making him happy with their closeness.

  After two hours of dutiful socializing, Devon wandered away by herself and would have liked a swim to cool off, but the pool was too crowded for her preference. Since she wasn’t hungry, either, Devon decided to head indoors after she made her excuse to Shane. Sensitive to her grief, he kissed her on the cheek and told her to rest. As she rounded a corner by a cabana, she overheard a loud exchange between Reed and Lara.

  Taking a peek, Devon saw him grip the girl’s arms as he declared, “What do I have to do to make you understand I don’t want a relationship with you? I’m sorry, Lara. It’s not my intention to be cruel, but you’re not my type.”