Devin-2 (2 page)

"Nah, I can handle them. They’re just a bunch of stupid men out with their dates. I think I'm safe from them. But thanks. I appreciate it."

He left a few minutes later, but she noticed that he stopped by the table before leaving and spoke to the guys. Gabbing up the pot, hopefully for the last time, she went to clear and give them their check.

"If you tell me who's with whom, I'll divide up the check for you," she told them as she started away with the dirty plates.

The man in the back, the one with the nice smile, told her he would take care of it and reached out for the bill she had already written up. It was not totaled, but she would do that at the cash register. She noticed that jerk was gone.

She took Spencer Grant’s credit card and went to cash him out. He followed her to the register. His smile really was nice and she wondered fleetingly if he smiled like that for everyone.

"He's not usually such a prick. Okay, yeah he is, but he's usually nicer to pretty women than he was tonight. I'm sorry," he told her when she handed him his slip of paper to sign.

"I've dealt with worse. Don't let it bother you. You have a safe trip out." She started to turn away to clean up, but he stopped her.

"Miss, are you the only person here? The cop hinted that you were and made it a point to let us know that he and his men go by here frequently. He also said you carry a gun. You know it’s not safe, regardless if you’re armed or not.

Someone could do a lot of damage to you in a short amount of time. You should tell your boss he’ll be responsible if anything happens to you.” He grinned to take some of the sting out of what he was saying, she was sure. “Where do you carry that thing anyway?"

Ronnie lifted her pant leg and showed him her ankle holster. He smiled and she felt its warmth all the way across the restaurant. When she turned back, she ran right into the arms of her jerk. He grabbed her before she fell over the chair and her body pressed hard against his.

Her body felt infused with heat and his scent. He smelled expensive and warm. Before she could stop herself, she buried her nose into his neck and inhaled. When he pulled her away from him and stared at her, she flushed with embarrassment. What the hell was wrong with her? She jerked back farther from him.

Taking another step back, she heard the man at the counter call, "Devin, come on, we need to get back," and she fled toward the kitchen.

~~~

Devin and his brothers got into the car and started off. He was not driving this leg of the journey home from their parents’ house and was glad because he was not sure he could concentrate very well.

Ronnie. He did not know what had made him be especially mean to her, but he had. And he had to smile when she did not back down from him like most women did. He found that he liked that. When women found out what he did for a living and who he was, they tended to fawn all over him.

Devin had had a shitty day. First, he had lost his case. It was not the first one he had, nor would it be his last, but it was one thing in the long line of his day.

Then he had gotten a ticket on top of wrecking his new car. Margo Hemmingway had called while he had been waiting on the tow truck to come collect him and his totaled car to tell him that she was engaged and could not be his date for the annual charity dinner in two weeks. The two of them had remained friends after they had stopped dating about three years ago and she had been his date to his mother’s charity event every year since. He was glad she was engaged. He was starting to feel weird vibes from her and he did not like it.

As the miles passed by, he thought of Ronnie’s body pressed to his and nearly moaned out loud. She was tall but she still tucked nicely under his chin, and when she nuzzled his neck, he thought his cock would explode. Right now, he was harder than he had been in a long while and shifted to adjust himself against his too tight pants.

He had looked at her books when she had been busy with Spencer at the front on his way back from the men’s room. Law books spread out all over the table and neat notes filled a spiral notebook still open over one of them. She had to be in her last year—close to finishing, he thought, and smiled when he thought of the huge tip he had slipped under her books. He knew how expensive books were, especially law books, and hoped she would put her hundred dollars to good use. Smiling to himself, he realized he needed to find himself a date and soon if pretty little waitresses made him so hard he ached.

~Chapter 2~

Class ran over an hour and she had missed the bus to the Grant Building.

When she finally opened the doors to the huge thing, she was relieved that their heat was on. Her feet were cold and her hands felt frozen. She walked up to the security counter and smiled at the man sitting there. She had no reason to take her crappy mood out on him.

"Hi, my name is Ronnie Frey and I was wondering if I could speak to Mr.

Grant, please? I don't have an appointment, but I have something I'd like to return to his friend. It won't take a minute."

"Do you know which Grant you wanted to see? There are three working in this building and three more spread out all over the city."

Ronnie noticed the very beautiful woman coming in with a stroller with a set of twins in it. She smiled. Cute kids and puppies always made her grin. Not that she ever wanted any, but they were still a source of entertainment.

"No, I don't...Wait! Spencer. His first name was Spencer. I'm not sure which man was his date, but he would know him, I would think. I promise you, I just want to return something to the jer...one of their dates."

"Date, ma'am? I don't think I know…" He looked over at the lady, confusion written all over his face. When Ronnie looked at her, the woman looked ready to burst with barely concealed humor. Weird.

"I'll take her up, David. Maybe Nickolas can clear this up. Come on, Miss Frey, did you say? Let’s see who you need to talk to."

Ronnie was confused and a little wary of the woman who motioned her into the elevator ahead of her. When the woman leaned down and took one of the little boys from the stroller and handed him to Ronnie, she held him far away from her without dropping him.

"He won't hurt you. Just tuck him closer and he'll be fine. I'm Morgan, by the way."

"Ronnie. I don't know anything about kids, lady. Maybe you should take it back. It might cry or something." Though it did not look like it would, it just stared at her with the greenest eyes Ronnie had ever seen.

"He's a little boy not an 'it,' and if he cries, he cries. Just tuck him in like this."

Ronnie looked over at the woman and marveled how she got the other one to cling to her hip and neck like that, but did not bring hers any closer to her. They both seemed to be fine just where he was.

When the elevator doors opened, there stood one of the men from last night.

He had been sitting next to the jerk and she figured he was his date. Shoving “it,” err…the little boy back at its stroller, Ronnie advanced on the man, poking him in the chest with the money clutched in her hand.

"You tell your lover boy that I do not want his charity. The nerve of that ass...

I've been making it on my own for some time now and will continue to do so for a while longer. Take this and tell him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine or where ever. Have a nice life." She turned quickly and stepped back into the elevator and pushed the button several times to go down before the doors finally closed. She saw the man holding the money with one hand and looking at her as if she was insane.

When the elevator opened again, she walked into the lobby and stormed out of the building and right into the blistering cold afternoon. Damn it, she should have gone to pee first. Tucking down her head, she made her way home—all six flipping blocks.

~~~

Morgan was still laughing when Nick took his son from her. He was holding onto the money and when he looked at his wife, he knew there was no hope of getting anything from her just yet. He tried to wait until she calmed down, but he thought he would be waiting for a while and decided to chance it.

"Would you please tell me why the waitress from last night is accusing me of having a lover? A male lover, at that, and telling me to tell him she doesn't want his charity?"

He thought he had been very reasonable, but apparently, Morgan thought he was hysterical and she laughed all the harder. His sons thought she was funny, too, and started to giggle with her. Nick did not get her at times like this.

Nick set his son on the floor and went to unstrap his brother. He loved these little guys and loved it when Morgan brought them to work to see him. When they were both crawling around the office, he pulled her into his arms for a deep, sensual kiss. It had the desired effect. She stopped laughing, but now he wanted her.

They had been married almost two years now and he still could not get enough of her. He forgot why he needed her attention until he saw the money in his hand.

"Could you please tell me why Ronnie believes I have a lover, and why would he be giving her charity? And just so we're clear, any lover of mine would not be a spend thrift, especially to leave a hundred dollars as a tip. Why, I don't believe the whole bill came to thirty dollars."

"Of course he wouldn't. Now, the real question is, why did she think it was charity, and who were you with when this charity occurred?" Nick knew she was making fun of him, but he could not figure out how, and decided to let it slide—

for now.

"Remember the little diner I told you about? Well, she was the...Devin!"

When Morgan looked at him confused, he hurried on. "Devin was in a really bad mood and didn't want to stop, but Spence and Jamie were hungry, and you know me. I can eat anytime. Anyway, Devin started in with her. He was nasty about the menus. But damned if she didn't give it right back to him, called him a jackass—under her breath, but we heard her. We ordered and he just kept it up, asked her if she was gonna have the cook spit in his food or something. Come to find out this cop came in to check on her and he told us—actually, he warned us that he and his men came in regularly and checked up on her. He said he had our plate number and all. Turns out she cooked our food and served us too. He told us she was working her way through law school. Devin came out last so I bet he was the one who tipped her. I have to call him and tell him." He moved over to the phone when Morgan stopped him.

"No! Wait. I'd love to see his face when you tell him she thinks he's gay. I don't think he'll have an issue with it, but I want to see his face. Maybe he left the money for other reasons. He did just break up with that bitch, didn't he?"

"Nah, not Devin. I don't think he was actually seeing...what's her name, but she was his date for the charity thing. I think that was a little of his pissy-ness last night. I don't think he's really ready to pick up with another woman right now.

It's too soon even for Devin."

Nick had just picked up his phone to call his brother when he came into the office after a short knock.

"You really need to get yourself a better receptionist. I'm not sure, but I think this one is the dumbest one yet. Hello, Morgan. How's my favorite sister-in-law?"

Devin was just bending to pick up Anthony when Nick told him about Ronnie.

"Hey, that pretty waitress dropped something off for you just now. She told me to tell you to stick your charity up where the sun doesn't shine."

"Charity? I don't understand. What...oh, the money. I was pretty rotten to her and I felt bad, especially after what the cop told us. Why would she come to see you?"

"She thinks you're my lover. That you and I are gay lovers. Imagine that."

Devin bellowed so loud he made the boys cry. Nick took Anthony from Devin and hit him in the shoulder. Morgan was trying to sooth Markus.

"Why on earth would she think that? We were all together, so why did she pick me?"

“Actually, I think she thinks we all are, including Spence and Jamie. She didn't hang around for question and answer time, but she shoved your money at me to give to my lover. I hope you know this doesn't mean you get to sleep with Morgan. As my female lover, she is off limits to you," Nick told his brother as he sat his son back down.

"She say anything else? I mean, damn it, err sorry, Morgan, darn it, why would she think that?" Nick watched his brother play with Markus as he asked.

"I'm sure I don't know, but it matters very little now. Here's your money.

You know you shouldn't carry around such a large amount of cash. You should let me...where do you suppose he's going?"

He gave up trying to get an answer from his wife as to why his brother took off without another word. She was off on another round of hysterics.

~Chapter 3~

It took Devin almost an hour to figure out which class Ronnie was in and another to figure out where the classes were being held. He had never realized that the Ohio State University campus was so huge. He had gotten lost twice on High Street and had driven around the stadium three times before he had figured out how to get off the winding road. It was nearly eight o'clock, by then and his mood had not improved.

Nick had been right about Devin not being mad about the gay part. He had several friends who had come out and several more who had not. One’s sexual preferences had no bearing on his friendship with them. He just wanted to know why she had thought he was.

He thought about the information he had gotten at the bursars office when he’d stopped by to get her schedule. It seemed that the beautiful Ms. Frey needed to find herself another place to work out her internship or not be able to graduate on time. The lawyer that she had been working from had died suddenly over the past weekend and now she was in violation of her degree. An impressive one at that—Veronica Frey was very smart and would be sought after from now until she graduated and signed with a firm. He had been right about her being close; she was in her last quarter.

Ronnie had a four point three six GPA and if that was not impressive enough, she also had a minor in Foreign Policy and Procedures and Corporate Law—two of Devin's specialties. When he found her, he was going to shake her hand then wring her pretty little neck.