Chapter 36

CHAPTER36

God, she could really go for a bacon sandwich right about now, Andi thought as she shifted to get more comfortable on the unforgiving concrete walkway. Unfortunately for her, and her bacon addiction, the only restaurant within walking distance that made them closed hours ago.

Thankfully, she’d been able to get her hands on a large, extra-caramel iced coffee from the employee cafeteria before security showed up and escorted her from the building. She should probably be concerned about that, but at the moment, the only thing that she cared about was making sure that Devyn was okay.

They’d be stupid to fire him, Andi reminded herself, repeating the words that had gotten her through the last ten hours. Well, that, and she hadn’t seen him escorted in handcuffs from the building yet. Which meant…

She had no idea what that meant other than she just had to wait a little longer. With that in mind, she swiped to the next page of the file that she’d been working on for her side project, reached for her coffee and-

“Miss Dawson,” came the familiar murmur that had her biting back a smile as she looked up in time to see Devyn taking a seat on the ground next to her as he took a sip of her coffee.

“What happened?” Andi asked, reaching for his hand as he settled back against the building and couldn’t help but notice how exhausted he looked.

“Besides a lot of yelling and demands for my head on a platter?” he asked, entwining his fingers with hers.

“Besides that,” Andi said, waving it off since that had been expected.

“Once they stopped screaming,” Devyn began.

“And I’m sure you appreciated that,” she added, making his lips twitch.

“I did,” he readily agreed as he began caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. “Once they stopped screaming, I explained the situation and why I was forced to keep the embezzlement and fraud from the board. They weren’t happy but considering that one of their own had been involved, they grudgingly agreed that it had been the right course of action.”

“That, and we were able to find the money,” Andi pointed out.

“That definitely helped,” Devyn said, chuckling as he took another sip before placing the cup down on the ground next to him. “It also didn’t hurt that thanks to you, we were able to use the last month to help increase the profits of twenty of Carta Hotels’ properties.”

“I try to be helpful,” Andi nodded solemnly as a thought occurred to her. “Which makes me wonder, why did they fire me?”

“They didn’t fire you, Andi,” Devyn said, making her frown in confusion as she gestured towards the very large security guard that hadn’t stopped glaring at her since he’d showed her the door.

“That very large gentleman that keeps glaring at me was told otherwise,” she said, only to end up narrowing her eyes when Devyn shook his head as though he didn’t have a care in the world as he said, “I did.”

Nodding slowly, Andi reached over and stole back her drink as she said, “You don’t deserve caffeine.”

Sighing heavily, Devyn plucked the iced coffee out of her hand and took another sip before placing it back on the ground next to him. “I was a wonderful employee and any company would be lucky to have me,” Andi said, deciding that she was free to leave now that she’d made sure that the big jerk was okay. With that in mind, she leveled one last glare at him, grumbled something that even she didn’t understand, went to grab her bag as she moved to stand up and found herself sitting on Devyn’s lap.

“I didn’t have a choice,” the man that she was no longer speaking to said as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“I am no longer speaking with you,” Andi said, folding her arms over her chest as she pointedly looked off, only to find herself swallowing hard and shifting her attention back to Devyn when the really large security guard that seemed to take his job very seriously noted the move with a narrowing of his eyes.

“I quit, Andi,” Devyn said, taking her by surprise.

Sure that she’d misheard him, she asked, “What are you talking about?”

“I quit,” he said, reaching up to cup her face in his hands as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers while she sat there thinking about everything that they did to make sure that they didn’t fire him and-

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Andi said, trying to wrap her mind around what he’d said and failing miserably.

“Did I ever tell you why I took this job?” Devyn asked, placing his hand in hers, correctly guessing that she needed the comforting move at the moment.

“No,” Andi said, watching him as she took his hand in both of hers and began toying with his fingers.

“I had a plan, Andi. One that didn’t include falling in love with a woman that absolutely terrified me,” he said, making her go still.

Swallowing hard, she said, “You love me?”

She watched as his lips pulled up into that smile that she loved more than anything as he leaned in again and kissed her forehead. “More than anything.”

“What was the plan?” Andi asked, watching him as he leaned back against the building.

Meeting her gaze, Devyn said, “To never go hungry again,” breaking her heart.

“I loved my mother. Christ, I don’t even think she knew how much I loved her,” Devyn said as he dropped his head back against the building. “She’d trusted the wrong man, got pregnant long before she was ready to take care of herself, never mind a baby, and found herself dropping out of college and living in her car.”

“What about her parents?” Andi asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

Shaking his head, he said, “She didn’t like to talk about them. The only thing that I knew was that we were on our own. She did her best, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. Every time she tried to get ahead, something would knock her back on her ass. I’d lost count of how many times we ended up on the street, sleeping in shelters, seedy motels, but I remember every time my mother cried. She just…”

“It’s okay,” Andi said, pulling her hands free so that she could reach up and cup his face in her hands when his words trailed off as he clenched his jaw shut, the pain in his eyes making it difficult to breathe.

God, he looked so lost.

“It took time, but she finally managed to get it together enough that she was able to get off the streets, but even then, she struggled. She worked sixteen-hour days, grabbing every shift that she could get her hands on, and I hated her for it. I hated seeing her struggle, hated the fact that it was never enough, and I hated the fact that she wouldn’t let me help her.”

“We were a team,” Devyn said with a humorless chuckle as he reached up and took her hands in his again, pressing a kiss to the back of each hand before dropping them back in his lap. “My job was to go to school, get good grades, and stay out of trouble. I tried to help whenever I could, but it was never enough. When I was in high school, I went to the factory and asked for a job, but my mother wasn’t having it.”

“She’d dragged me back to school, making sure that I knew how much she was counting on me to make something of myself so that she never had to worry about me. That’s all she wanted. It was the only thing that she ever asked from me and when she passed away when I was sixteen, I was determined to do more than that. I worked my ass off, took every class that I could, applied for every scholarship that I could find, and picked up shifts washing dishes, mopping floors, and scrubbing toilets, any job that I could get my hands on so that I could pay for college. I busted my ass in college, put in more hours studying than anyone else, continued working my ass off, saving every penny that I could get my hands on.”

“After I graduated, I started at the bottom, took every shift I could get my hands on, read every book that I could find that I thought would help, and worked my way up to the top and when I heard about the position at Carta Hotels, I went after it, knowing that if I could pull it off that it would be enough,” Devyn explained while she sat there, thinking over what he’d said and…

“That really doesn’t explain why you quit,” Andi said, releasing his hands so that she could fold her arms over her chest while she waited for an answer.

“Because they demanded that I give up the one thing in my life that I can’t live without,” Devyn said as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers before adding, “You.”

“You quit for me?” Andi asked hollowly, hating that he thought that he had to do that. She would have stepped back and let him go if it meant-

“God, yes,” he said, smiling against her lips.

“Why?” she found herself asking as he leaned back.

“Because I’m in love with you, Andi,” Devyn said, his expression softening as he watched her.

“But all that work…” Andi mumbled sadly, making him chuckle.

“Would it help if I told you that I was able to more than meet the conditions of my contract and that they are going to honor the raise, stock options, and everything that will set us up nicely for quite some time?” he asked, smiling as he leaned in to kiss her again.

“No, no, it does not,” she mumbled sadly, hating that he had to do this.

“How about this? What if I told you that I hated my job and the only time I enjoyed it was when I was working with you?” Devyn asked, somewhat appeasing her.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Andi said with a nod of understanding.

“And what if I told you that I wanted to spend the next six months in bed with you?” he asked as he kissed that spot on her neck that really made it difficult to think.

“And then?” Andi asked, struggling to focus.

Smiling against her neck, he said, “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”