Chapter 11

ELEVEN

TULLY

The look on Dev’s face when Lellie attempted to say his name could only be described as shock. I knew her well enough to know she was attempting to say “Dev” because she didn’t know him as anything other than that, but the way she said it could definitely be interpreted as a toddler’s attempt at saying “Dada.”

I quickly tried to ease the tension. “That’s right. Dev’s here. Maybe Dev needs some flowers, too.”

“Dah!” she said, grabbing a handful of flowers in her fat fist and standing up to approach him. By the time she reached Dev, the flowers were more of a yellow mash, but he received them as if they were the Crown Jewels.

“Thank you, sweetheart. What beautiful buttercups. Do you know these flowers have the same name as the horse you met yesterday? Her name is Buttercup, too.”

She ran back and threw herself down with abandon. Dev followed, lowering himself carefully to the ground beside me. I tried not to appreciate the intoxicating combination of horse and clean sweat coming from him, but it was nearly impossible.

He began to tie the flowers together into a chain, narrating the process to Lellie, who pranced around us, babbling and pulling at random clumps of grass. When he finished the chain, Dev leaned over and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry I left earlier without asking you to watch her. It was rude and presumptuous.”

I blinked at him in surprise. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you for watching her for me. I was upset and didn’t want to be around her while I was feeling that way.” He hesitated. “Let’s chalk that up to another reason I’m not exactly parent material.”

I appreciated his gratitude, but his self-deprecation rubbed me the wrong way.

“What will you do when I’m gone?” Because if he decided to walk out every time he got upset around a toddler, he was going to spend a lot of time alone.

His hazel eyes met mine. “You leaving?”

My heart rate ticked up the way it always did when I was the sole recipient of his gaze. “No. Uh… I mean…Not right away. Not anytime soon.”

Something in his face softened. “I’ll have to stop behaving like an ass, I guess.”

“Always a good strategy,” I murmured, looking away in hopes of getting out of the damned tractor beams that wanted to lure me somewhere I had no business going.

The crunch of tires on gravel alerted us to a visitor. The SUV was emblazoned with law enforcement symbols and lettering, and sure enough, out stepped the tall fucker from the night before.

The sheriff came bearing gifts.

“What’d you just say?” Dev asked.

I blinked at him. “Me?”

“Yeah, sounded like you muttered, ‘Fucking great.’”

My face heated. “Did I? I… I’m just embarrassed because my hair is full of flowers and dirt.” I quickly brushed some of the flowers out of my hair to support the lie.

Dev’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to impress him?”

I stopped and took a deep breath. “Please. Pretty sure that’s your job, Dev. The man’s not interested in a random lawyer from out of town.”

“Says you.”

“Says the guy who saw exactly how protective the asshole was of you last night,” I hissed as the sheriff got closer.

“We’re just friends,” Dev said defensively.

“None of my business. And I hardly care,” I shot back.

Wow . Apparently, it was true what they said about lawyers. They really did lie all the damned time.

The sheriff’s grin was almost as big as his wingspan when he reached us. “Hey, Dev. I thought you might appreciate a home-cooked meal to celebrate the new addition, so to speak.”

“You cooked?” I blurted.

His smile dimmed as his eyes flicked from Dev over to me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I stopped at the cafe and picked up Dev’s favorite.”

Dev smiled. “You brought me your mom’s Thai power bowl?”

The sheriff nodded. “And she threw in some penne pasta with marinara for the princess. Hope that’s okay.”

Dev took the large paper bag with reverence. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much.”

Awkward silence landed like a harsh bellyflop.

“So…” Foster gave me a cool-eyed stare that marked him as law enforcement as surely as the shiny badge and the holster at his waist. “I’m Foster Blake. And you are?”

Dev shook himself. “Sorry. Foster, this is Tully Bowman. Tully, Foster. He’s the sheriff of Majestic.”

As if that wasn’t obvious.

Foster held out a giant hand to shake. For a split second, I wondered if I could get away with pretending I hadn’t seen it, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for Dev with his friends, so I shook the man’s hand. And nearly felt my bones pop in his grip.

I gritted my teeth before pulling my injured hand back.

Dev sensed the tension. “And this is Lellie,” he said, gesturing to where she was still denuding the general area of all things that came close to being classified as flowers.

Foster moved closer and crouched down near her. “Hi, baby. Are you picking flowers for your da?—”

Dev and I both squawked out a sound to keep him from finishing that sentence. Foster glanced at us in surprise. “Ix-nay on the ad-day,” I said without thinking.

Dev bit his lip and shifted from foot to foot. “It’s just that I’m not… I don’t know if I’m… We’re not doing that right now.”

Foster looked between me and Dev. “Oh-kay…?”

I walked over and picked Lellie up. “Why don’t I take her and the food inside so the two of you can talk?”

Dev’s forehead crinkled. “There’s no need?—”

“That’d be great,” Foster said with a shallow smile, taking the paper bag from Dev and shoving it at me. “Thanks, man.”

Lellie chattered unintelligibly while I carried her and the food inside the barn. I mentally mapped the apartment to determine which window might give me a view of their private conversation, but when I arrived in the apartment, I forced myself to stay away from all the windows lest I be tempted to turn into someone I could hardly respect.

But it galled me knowing Foster was out there asking Dev about Lellie. About Katie.

About me.

I sat Lellie and the food on the kitchen counter before pulling the flowers from her fists and collecting them in a little pile I promised to preserve. Then, I moved her to the sink to wash her hands.

I was so surprised by the sound of Dev entering the apartment a minute later I nearly sprayed water everywhere.

He seemed to be alone.

I cleared my throat. “Did your friend leave already?”

Dev shook his head and moved around the kitchen island to wash his hands, too. “I invited him to join us for dinner. He’s just running up to the big house first to talk to Way about work stuff.”

“Oh. Well. I guess I could head into town and grab dinner myself to give you two a chance to…”

Dev glanced up with a frown. “There’s plenty of food. Why would you leave? Unless you don’t want to be here?”

“No, I… I just assumed that you and the sheriff would want some privacy.”

The divot between his eyebrows deepened. “Why?” Suddenly, his forehead smoothed. “Ahh, you think there’s something there. Between me and Foster.”

“I don’t think it, I know it,” I said without thinking. “Which is fine. Obviously. I’ll make myself scarce.”

Dev stepped closer until our hips brushed together. “I’d rather you stayed.” His voice was low and made my muscles feel warm and loose. “I told you, Foster and I are just friends.”

“I think you’re being naive.”

He laughed softly under his breath. “I didn’t say we didn’t give it a try. His mother keeps trying to push us together. But?—”

“What do you mean by give it a try?” I blurted before snapping my mouth closed and wishing I could cut out my own tongue.

Dev turned and studied me. “We ended up out late together. Drinking. I asked him back to the ranch. He asked if it would be better than the last guy I was with. And the answer to that was an unequivocal no. Nothing could possibly be better than the last guy I was with. So Foster and I decided we were better off as friends.”

My heartbeat could have rivaled a wild stallion’s. Who’d he hook up with last? “Oh,” I said, doing my best not to look interested. The heat of his stare stood all of my body hair on end. “Must have really been something.”

His hand moved to my hip as if nudging me aside so he could reach the kitchen towel, but instead of pushing me away, he pulled me closer. Dev’s face was close enough for me to see the honey-brown striations in the green of his eyes.

“It was definitely something,” he murmured, eyes lowering to my lips. “I wasn’t allowed to come. Never done that with someone before. Can’t imagine what it would be like if I got to do it all over again. I sure as shit wouldn’t hold back like I did the last time.”

Before I could fully process what he was saying, Foster let himself into the apartment, and I jumped away.

Dev’s words echoed in my head and in my gut the entire time Foster was there. Dev hadn’t been able to come when the two of us were together. I’d learned later, of course, that he’d had to save himself for the visit to Katie’s clinic the following day. If he’d never done that before his last hookup, that meant… that meant I’d been his last hookup. How was that possible? We’d had one night together two years ago.

Two years .

He hadn’t been with another man in two years? Why?

Could it have something to do with what he’d admitted to Foster the night they’d almost given it a try? That none of the opportunities he’d had since would compare?

Surely not.

My stomach tightened with need as I watched him. While I’d had plenty of hookups in the past two years, Devon McKay had been the gold standard since that night. It was true nothing I’d done since then had come close to the one night I’d had with him.

Now, as I watched him with Foster, I tried to see their relationship as just an affectionate and trusting friendship, but it was hard to see Foster’s protectiveness and possessiveness as the behavior of someone who only regarded Dev as a friend. Surely, Foster wanted more.

Who wouldn’t?

“Dev tells me you’re from Dallas,” Foster said, jerking my attention out of the clouds.

I was sitting on the sofa enjoying a cold glass of white wine while Foster sat on the floor with Lellie and a few empty Tupperware containers and a wooden spoon. He was alternating between pretend cooking and pretend drum playing.

I tried to focus on being polite. “Yes. I grew up halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene. Little town called Gordon.”

Foster’s eyebrows lifted. “And you ended up practicing law at a fancy firm in Dallas. Must have busted your ass to make that happen.”

While I wanted to interpret his comment as snide, I chose instead to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I did. What about you? You from here?”

He nodded. “Born and raised. My mom owns a cafe called the Love Muffin. Way’s sister and her husband work there, too. I basically grew up in the center of the town’s gossip mill.”

Dev chuckled as he lowered himself to the floor near Lellie and handed her several plastic bottle caps he’d rescued from his recycling bin and washed in the sink. Her face lit up as she dropped them one by one into one of the Tupperware containers and began to stir with the spoon.

Dev spoke without looking up from Lellie’s play. “Foster’s mom is definitely the hub of gossip in town and the local matchmaker. You’ll meet her on Friday. I think she’s going to help out with Lellie.”

Foster grinned at me. “If you’re not careful, she’ll set you up. Expect her to ask you all your preferences as soon as you meet her.”

He kept his eyes on me as if waiting for me to add to the conversation by going ahead and informing him of my preferences.

I didn’t.

Dev cleared his throat. “Tully’s not here for that.”

Foster glanced at me with dancing eyes that seemed to see right through me. “That right? You sure?”

I stood. “Anyone ready for a refill?”

Foster’s low laugh made me smile, but I’d be damned if I’d let him catch it. Instead, I headed to the fridge and leaned my head into the cool space to give my hot cheeks a break. Dev’s murmured warning for Foster to “lay off” was answered with another low laugh.

“This the guy?” he asked.

I didn’t hear a response. Instead, I imagined Dev shooting him a glare in hopes of silencing the teasing.

As I grabbed the wine and returned to the living area, I tried to remind myself that I was here for Lellie. I was not here for any reason connected to my dick. And even if I was, Dev himself had said I wasn’t here for that. He obviously had plenty on his mind right now without a one-night stand—even a best-ever one-night stand—showing back up in his life begging for a second, third, and possibly fortieth night.

The rest of the evening was fine. Foster talked about the challenges he faced in organizing law enforcement coverage for the influx of tourists in the summer season and how the needs would be much greater considering the large adventure races Majestic was hosting.

While listening to them talk about the town and its people and events, I learned a great deal about the place Dev had decided to call home. I could see the appeal. Unlike in the small town I’d grown up in, the townsfolk here in Majestic seemed open-minded and eager for new opportunities. It sounded like a charming small town, which I had to admit could make it a good place to raise Lellie.

If only Dev wanted her.

As the evening wore on, I couldn’t help but notice what a natural Dev was in caring for his daughter. He was gentle and attentive. Even though he didn’t know much about babies, his affection for her was obvious. And he couldn’t take his eyes off her. At first, I’d thought it was out of concern for her safety. And there was that, for sure. But he also watched her with a sweet kind of fascination. I caught him smiling tenderly at her when she tried and failed to balance a piece of pasta on her spoon all the way to her mouth and grinning like a fool when she stacked three containers in a row without them falling over.

He was fucking adorable with her… and it was winding me up in unexpected ways.

First and foremost, I still couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to keep her. He’d said he wasn’t what was best for her, and then he’d implied he had trouble controlling his temper. Or… well, that wasn’t actually what he’d said. He’d said he hadn’t wanted to be around her when he was upset .

Was he seriously implying a parent couldn’t be upset around their children?

“Foster,” I said, remembering a story from earlier in the evening about the age difference between the sheriff and his little sister. “When you were a teenager and Anna was younger, did you ever get upset around her?”

He looked at me like I was cognitively impaired. “Uh… is this a trick question? Of course I did.”

I glanced at Dev before looking back at Foster. “You don’t think being upset around little kids can be detrimental?”

Foster looked between Dev and me as if searching for the catch. “I guess it depends on what you mean by upset. Are you talking about abuse?”

“No. I just mean being disappointed or angry. Losing your temper when they’re in the vicinity.”

“That’s… standard fare for a teenage boy, isn’t it?” He scratched the back of his neck. “At least for me. One of the reasons I wanted to be a cop was because injustice got under my skin so badly. Still does, obviously. I remember one time I learned a few kids in Anna’s class had stolen her new snow boots. I wanted to beat the shit out of them.”

“Did you take it out on Anna?”

“Of course not,” he said at the same time Dev said, “Tully, what the fuck?”

I waved my hand in the air. “So you’re saying that it’s natural. It’s not detrimental to be your regular self around a little kid, even if that means ups and downs in your mood.”

Foster seemed to understand there was subtext here. “I would say it’s necessary. How else do you model proper self-control to your kids? If they never see you upset, they’ll think it’s not natural to get upset. And if they don’t see how you handle it, they?—”

Dev stood up and lifted Lellie off the ground. I could tell he knew exactly what I was doing, and he wasn’t happy about it. “Sorry to cut your visit short, Foster. It’s time to get this girl in bed.”

Foster’s easy grin was the exact opposite of the tension I felt. “Yeah, no worries. Thanks for including me tonight. I had a good time getting to know this little one.” He cupped the back of Lellie’s head and leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Lellie-girl, will you let me come visit again sometime?”

She leaned her head against Dev’s neck and peeked at Foster with a shy glance before giving him a smile. Foster beamed at her.

I couldn’t help but realize he would make a good dad, too. In fact, the two of them would be a dream come true for Lellie.

I didn’t realize I was holding my hands in fists until I felt the bite of fingernails in the tender skin of my palms.

“Nice to meet you, Tully,” he said to me before clapping me on the shoulder.

I hoped I managed to mumble something polite in reply.

After he left, Dev muttered something about giving Lellie a bath and disappeared into the bedroom. I busied myself by cleaning up both the makeshift toys and the remains of dinner. It wasn’t until Dev never reappeared that I wondered if he was avoiding me.

I finally peeked in to see him dead asleep, curled up next to Lellie, who was also out like a light. Three picture books were spread out around them as if Dev had fallen asleep mid-story. Dev had changed into a soft T-shirt and baggy knit shorts, and the sight of his long muscular legs stopped my breath.

My hands remembered the feel of those muscles, of rough hair against soft skin. Of the contours, the curve of his inner thighs.

My tongue remembered, too.

I stood there staring at him, drinking in every inch of him since he was safely tucked away from my hungry attention in the escape of sleep.

He was the sexiest man I’d ever known. Even Katie had called him sexy. One night, we’d been out to dinner at an Italian place after work, and she’d pointed out a man across the restaurant.

“That guy looks like my friend Dev,” she’d said only a couple of months after the night of her party and my hookup.

My eyes had raced across the space in hopes of seeing her elusive friend. When they’d landed on the man she referred to, I realized it wasn’t actually Dev, just a guy with the same dark hair and similar hazel eyes. “Not even close,” I’d said without thinking.

Her bubbly laugh had indicated her delight at my response. “Dev’s gorgeous as hell. I’d set you up with him if I thought he’d ever make his way back here. But I think…” She’d stopped and rubbed her barely there pregnancy belly with a wistful smile. “I think he’s not going to have much reason to come around anymore, now that the fertility stuff is done.”

I’d knocked over my wineglass, which had then spilled into her purse. She’d jumped up, tipping the table and knocking several pieces of flatware onto the floor in a noisy clatter.

Once we’d finally gotten everything cleaned up with the help of a nearby server, I’d fixed her with a stare. “Dev is your baby’s father? Dev is?”

“Yes? Why do you look so freaked-out by this?” she’d demanded. “Is it because I wouldn’t take your advice about putting a legal agreement in place? I told you I was asking an old friend to donate, and we don’t need?—”

“You didn’t tell me which old friend,” I’d groaned. Finally, I’d confessed, “I… I slept with him. With Dev. The night of your party. We hooked up.”

Her eyes had gone wide as she’d leaned across the table. “Oh, my god! Really? That’s excellent! But… wait, I thought he wasn’t supposed to, you know, engage in those kind of activities right before the donation?—”

“He didn’t,” I’d blurted. “ He didn’t.”

She’d lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me before laughing out loud. “Did you?”

When I’d answered with a comically manic nodding of the head, she’d laughed even harder and asked me to spill the details. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from gushing about how we’d started talking out back on her patio, how we’d spent hours teasing and flirting, and how I’d begged him to sneak back to my place.

When she’d looked a little concerned by my enthusiasm, I’d forced myself to backpedal and play it off as nothing more than a hookup… and I’d been glad I had when she’d explained Dev wasn’t interested in commitment. It was probably better she didn’t know I’d also begged him to let me see him again, to give me his contact information, to at least admit that a connection like ours didn’t come around often.

It was definitely better that she hadn’t known how many nights I’d spent wondering why he’d been so reluctant and simply mumbled that he had to go.

Now, I was beginning to connect his reluctance to claim Lellie—or any child of his—with the reason he’d been so quick to bolt and never return.

I just didn’t understand why .

I knew plenty of men who never wanted to become parents. Hell, I knew plenty of women who felt that way, too. But if your own child was placed into your arms and was as lovable as Lellie was… wouldn’t that change things?

As I watched the two of them sleep, I realized he’d done me a favor by walking away after that night.

Because I wasn’t so sure I wanted to have a relationship with someone who could reject Lellie.

In fact, watching her sweet face relaxed in sleep with a chubby fist wrapped around her little stuffed horse’s mane made me start to wonder.

If Dev didn’t want this precious girl… maybe I did.

And maybe I’d decide to fight him for her.