Page 2 of Forever Yours
“Sorry, big guy.” He ran his hand over his cock. “She’s gone.” He didn’t even know her name.
Chapter One
Devlin Watkins woke with a start, her heart pounding and her breathing shallow. She had the dream. Again. She often dreamed of Boston, a time and place where she was a different person, before she’d left what seemed like a lifetime of bad decisions. She couldn’t bring herself to call that night a bad decision, but her subconscious wasn’t so sure. She would be going about her day and a wave of heat would wash over her and her body would tense in anticipation. That nonsense was usually squashed before it overwhelmed her, and she’d take a moment to gather herself and get on with her day. Still, her subconscious wouldn’t be ignored, and she found her thoughts drifting to the man.
Her heart had stopped the first time she’d seen him in Amber Falls. On a fall day over a year ago, she’d been at the front window of Books and Beans, her downtown coffee shop, watching the leaves waltz in the street, her mind wandering as she wiped off a table. Then he’d walked by, and the leaves’ rhythm changed to a tango. He looked the same. Tall, with wheat colored hair styled in an undercut. With a face chiseled out of granite, he possessed the look of strength that only someone who did physical work for a living had. His lips were pursed, as though whistling, and his hands were shoved into pockets.The picture of a man without a care in the world.
She’d felt like she was in a fog and had flipped the sign of Books and Beans to closed. She’d hurried outside but hadn’t had to go far. He’d pulled open the door to a business two doors down from hers and entered it. She’d walked over and stood, looking through the frosted-edged glass window and had seen the man from Boston, moving behind a gleaming wood bar top.
She’d focused her eyes on the sight in front of her.Finnegan’s.Her heart had started beating again, fast and uncomfortable this time, and she’d reached out to steady herself, bracing one of her hands on the rough brick wall. The movement must’ve caught the man’s eye and he’d glanced over. He’d squinted at her, the moment suspended in time, then had shaken his head and gone back to pouring a beer, a smile lighting his face as he’d handed a glass to the patron across the bar top.He doesn’t recognize me. Feeling a little a whoosh of lightheadedness at the realization an incredulous laugh had bubbled up from deep inside and she’d backed away from the window and walked back to her shop.
Devlin shook off the memory of that day, stretched upward and yawned. She knew she looked different now. Her long bleach blonde locks had been shorn off and she’d gained a handful of pounds, still thin, but no longer painfully so. It wasn’t really a surprise that someone she’d met in a dark bar, then proceeded to have sex with in a dark hotel room, over a year ago, wouldn’t recognize her. She’d smoothed one hand over her natural brown pixie style, an unconscious habit she’d developed after cutting her hair, affirming to herself she was still there, that chopping off her hair hadn’t also taken away her identity.
Since her move to Amber Falls, she’d become friends with two wonderful women, the curvaceous redhead Prudence Hardwick and the petite auburn spitfire Annabelle Winters. She didn’t want to dwell on the past, but it was hard not to when Prudence falling in love with Greyson Atwood had brought her past crashing into her present. Devlin would’ve been happy to leave the blurry image of Gabe through the etched glass as the last time she’d seen him, however, Prudence’s said soulmate was Gabe’s brother.
Greyson was a movie star who’d left the glitz and glamor of Hollywood to pursue teaching the craft to others. He’d returned to his hometown a few months ago and won the heart of Prudence. Dark where his brother was light, Greyson was taller than Gabe by only a fraction, with the perfect smoldering looks to play his signature role of Ben Stone in a series of hit spy movies. Their happiness had made things very difficult for Devlin over the last few months, as she’d had to come up with creative ways to avoid being in the same room with Gabe.
Since then, she’d perfected the Irish Goodbye—or the French Exit or the Dutch Leave—whatever people called it. Should Gabe show up anywhere she was, she could ghost the place like a pro. But now? It had become almost impossible considering her friendship with Prudence and Prudence’s relationship with…well…it all was getting very complicated. Tonight was New Year’s Eve. The night was going to be rough, and she wasn’t sure how to navigate it since everyone would be at Finnegan’s to ring it in. She’d heard Gabe would be working, but she had a feeling she couldn’t avoid him all night.
One thing at a time, you haven’t even gotten out of bed.She shifted her focus back to her daily tasks, glad she’d made the decision to close early today. She’d been able to hire someone to help part time with the shop so she knew she wouldn’t have to open tomorrow, giving her a rare day to sleep in. Today was not one of those days. She shivered at the predawn chill in the air as she threw back her duvet. Amber Falls had had very little snow so far this winter, but when she looked out of her loft window to the dark downtown streets, she noticed flurries.
Devlin’s short hair made mornings a breeze as she hurried with her early ablutions. She locked her door and made her way down the flight of stairs that led into the Books and Beans office. Quick access from living to working was one of the reasons she had chosen this location in Amber Falls.
Her loft was above the coffee shop, which made for an easy commute. Floor to ceiling windows looked down over the town square, double-paned and soundproof. The original floors had been polished to perfection and she swore you could glide over them with socks on, and she’d just maybe tried this a time or two. It was a large open space with two updated bathrooms, a main and a master, and a cook’s kitchen. One door led down to the office below and one down to the street.This. This is home. The deal was signed.
While the loft was a gleaming example of downtown living, the shop had been left to deteriorate. On the short walk to the shop, Devlin thought about the past year and how she had spent those first hot summer months preparing the shop to open. She had found out very soon after arriving that Amber Falls was a special town. They celebrated the changing of the seasons with a joviality that bordered on crazy, but she loved it, becoming immersed in the seasonal cheer. She’d just participated in the latest Fall Festival, getting into the spirit by having a hot apple cider stand at the hay bale maze and a coffee and dessert stand at the Funny Friday Frights Street dance. She’d even kept her shop open late on Wine Wednesday to get some foot traffic in the door by handing out samples of her new fall flavors.
The extra work had been worth it. Between the Fall Festival and running pop-up carts at farmer’s markets and craft fairs, the extra attention her shop had gotten took her from steady to thriving. Over the last few months, Devlin had drafted a business plan that included an expansion of her shop. She was trying not to get ahead of herself, but she wanted both a larger book section, and something else that would keep customers in her store for longer than it took to drink a cup of coffee. She was also not quite ready to leave what she had created at this location, it had become her own little slice of paradise. Devlin entered her office and turned on the sound system to play throughout the shop. She took a deep breath as she reached the counter, the strong aroma of coffee beans calming any negative thoughts in her head. She started her morning meditation, to focus on the quiet music and just breathe. In and out, her mind drifted to which bean would be the prominent smell for the day.Ah, hazelnut is winning out.She grabbed the grounds and started them as her daily house blend.
Motion outside the front door caught her eye and she glanced at the clock on the wall. Six a.m.—too early for customers, she didn’t open for another half an hour. She saw the person wave and recognized Annabelle. Devlin hurried to open the door and let in Annabelle—and a frigid gust of wind.
“You’re out early today, AB,” Devlin observed, using the group’s nickname for Annabelle as she re-locked the door and walked behind the counter.
“You know us journalists never sleep.” Annabelle gave a melodramatic shiver, stomping her feet on the mat at the door to release the fine snow that had collected on the toes of heeled winter boots that were better suited for anything but winter. “His Supreme Earldom said we could all have tomorrow off, but only if we met our deadline today. I’m sure I’ll get done with just enough time to get dressed before heading over to Finnegan’s tonight.” Annabelle spoke of her boss atThe Amber Falls Bee, Sebastian Locke. Their hate-hate relationship was legendary.
“That makes for one long day. Are you still planning to stay here tonight after the party?”
“You know it. Slumber party!” Annabelle’s mouth widened in a jaw-breaking yawn, as she peered behind the counter. “It smells so good, what do you have started?”
“I have today’s house blend brewing—hazelnut.” Devlin took a cup from the tall stack and filled it. “Tell you what, why don’t I bring you a pick-me-up after I close and grab your dress from your place so you can get ready here? I’ll have a fresh pot on.”
“You know I love you, and not just because I could inject your coffee into my veins, right?”
“I was hoping you loved me for more than just the coffee, but you know I need to hear it spoken out loud.” Devlin grabbed a bagged muffin from behind the counter. “Blueberry?”
“I haven’t eaten a single cookie all Christmas season so I could fit into my dress tonight, but, at this point I’ll eat all the sugar and carbs if it’ll keep me awake.”
“I sized up my flapper dress so I could enjoy Mrs. Crenshaw’s apple pie, and I savored every bite,” Devlin said, referencing the town’s elderly busybody.
“You look the same to me, Dev. Where are these extra pounds you’re talking about?”
“They all landed about here.” Devlin gestured to her midsection in a vague, absentminded way.
“Well, I don’t care where anything lands so, yes, I’ll take the muffin. Hey, how’s that new girl working out?”
“Emma’s great. She’ll be opening the shop in the morning.”
“That’s good news, we can let loose tonight.”