“Oh, there’s going to be a wedding, Molly,” Devil guaranteed her somberly. “I’m marrying you. The sooner, the better.”
“It’s not going to be a real marriage, Devil,” Molly countered a little desperately as she turned to fully look at him. “Therefore, I wouldn’t be entitled to jack squat. I don’t want jack squat. I’m not going to take diddly squat from you. For crying out loud, you put a half million dollars in my account. That’s not providing for a wife, real or imagined…it’s purchasing one.”
“The money is staying with you,” Devil stated, his position on the matter completely unaltered by her admittedly persuasive arguments.
Pressing her lips together, Molly’s cheeks reddened. “Fine,” she finally allowed with a grim nod. “I’ll give it away. I will donate every stinking penny of it to charity.”
“If that’s what you feel like you should do,” Devil returned with a bland smile. “I’ll simply keep transferring funds into your account. I’m a multimillionaire, Molly. One that seems to get wealthier every year. I can outlast you, babe. And I’ve got staying power.”
“Damn it, Devil” Molly growled, ineffectually smacking her balled fists against the sofa cushions. “Why are you doing this?”
“Look,” Devil replied slowly, sliding one hand over her small fist, “I know this isn’t the way you imagined having a man propose. It’s not ideal. But, Nana’s plight opened my eyes to things I’ve tried to avoid seeing, Molly. I’m not a young man anymore. I’m not old by any means, but I have reached that age where I need to settle down… start a family… build a life with someone. I’ve known you all your life. I trust you when I trust very, very few people. My grandmother adores you. We’re attracted to each other. We have both chemistry and history. This could work,” he rationalized calmly.
“What exactly could work, Devil?” Molly asked nervously.
“Our marriage, Molly. I want a real one. I want a real marriage with you.”
Sizzle: Chapter Thirty-Two
Four hours later, Molly Ramsey thrashed in her bed, kicking the covers off her overheated body. Turning on her side, she beat her fist against the pillow.
Damn it, this wasn’t fair! None of this was fair.
All she’d wanted to do was a good deed for a dear old woman that she loved like a grandmother. It should have been simple. She’d marry a guy she’d known her whole life for a few critical months and then get a quiet, no-fault divorce.
It was supposed to have been an emotionless transaction. At least on Devil’s part, that was. She’d known she had feelings for the insufferable bastard, but she’d been so positive that she could compartmentalize those nasty buggers away into a tightly sealed box in the corner of her mind.
That had been the fucking plan.
Well, that and making him a little miserable for the length of their faux marriage. She’d figured she was owed at least a little reward for her sacrifice.
But, damn it, he had to go and ruin everything by telling her that he actually wanted her. Them!
For the eightieth time, she heard his voice in her mind.
“I want a real marriage, Molly. Our marriage.”
Swallowing hard against the rising emotion lodged in her throat, she shook her head against the pillow. She was never going to survive this, she thought morosely.
“Well, sweetie, when you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned. Those scorch marks are no more than you deserve.”
Groaning, Molly dragged a pillow over her head. “Shut up, Marilyn,” she wailed as the imaginary blonde bimbo’s breathy laugh echoed in her mind.
It wasn’t her fault. She’d been tricked into dancing too close to the flame. Devil Delancy was a dangerously charming, sexy and sensual man that had coaxed her toward the fire.
Yes, and you couldn’t wait to jump in with both feet, could you?
Growling as Marilyn the Inner Psycho cackled again, Molly rolled over to her back.
Who could blame her for the lapse in sanity? Really? Devil was a skilled seducer, well versed in giving and receiving pleasure. She’d been doomed from the moment he’d covered her lips with his. Her clothes had basically fallen off all on their own, hadn’t they? She certainly hadn’t been in control of all her brain cells. If she had, he’d have never gotten close enough to land the first kiss.
This was all her libido’s fault. Sexual frustration had finally driven her to insanity.
But, good God, it had felt good. Even now, her body tingled from the memory of what his lips had done to her. And if she concentrated very hard, she could still taste him on her tongue.
Oh, these were not productive thoughts. Not at all.
The memories were delicious, though. Devil’s mouth had been hot and wild when he’d kissed her in the doorway of her home after he’d followed her back here tonight. He’d refused to allow her to go alone, and when she’d insisted that she needed her car in case of an emergency, he’d been adamant about following her home. She’d told him he was being an ass, but she’d been secretly thrilled.
No man had ever done those kinds of things for her; she supposed her former boyfriend just hadn’t cared enough to bother.
And when he’d seen her to the door and advised her to give what he’d said about their upcoming marriage some serious thought, it had been her first instinct to slam the door in his arrogant face. She would have, too, if his boot hadn’t been quicker than her arm. Before she’d realized what was happening, however, he’d slid his foot between the door and the doorjamb and leaned over the threshold to cup a hand around her neck and pull her lips to his.
And as it had every, single time he touched her, passion had exploded between them.
Her plain cotton panties got damp just thinking about those steamy moments they’d shared during the evening. She could still feel his tongue swirling around hers, sensually exploring her mouth as one of his hands had cradled her head while the other was left free to explore her body. It was only when she’d felt his hands easing her shirt back up over her waist in plain sight of the neighborhood that she’d found the inner fortitude to shove at his chest and back him out of her house. She’d refused to allow herself a replay of what had already occurred between them in his bedroom earlier.
At least, not until she made a decision about them.
She had finally slammed the door in his face – it had just taken a few moments longer than it should have. She’d also heard his deep chuckles as he’d walked back down her sidewalk to his own car.
Even hours later as she replayed that laugh in her head, it made her smile.
“Craaaapppp,” she muttered to herself. “Why him, Lord? We’re all wrong for each other,” she whined, staring up at the ceiling. “He’s overbearing and arrogant. He’s too blasted attractive to be considered legal. His kisses feel like bottled sin. He’s all wrong for me, isn’t he, Lord?”
Everything she had spoken was true, she thought desperately as she silently asked the Almighty for guidance. But, even as solid as those facts were, she could admit to herself that nothing had ever felt more right than being in his strong arms.
“Just give me a sign, Lord. Something that lets me know which way to go here,” she begged, biting her lip as her eyes blurred with tears. “One teeny tiny sign,” she whispered, swallowing hard. A moment later when the phone beside her bed rang shrilly, she jerked upright, startled. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was just after two in the morning, she clamored for the cordless, jabbing the button quickly.
“Hello?” she greeted whoever was on the other end of the line breathlessly.
“So, you’re not asleep either, huh?” a deeply familiar baritone drawled from the other side of the city.
“Devil.” Molly couldn’t help the smile that accompanied his name.
“You’ve got other men calling you at this time of morning?” he asked sardonically.
Her lips twitched again at the slightly put out tone she heard reflected in his voice. “Nope. Just you,” she acknowledged softly.
“Although this is the first time you’ve ever called me this late.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” he confessed.
“Me either,” she replied truthfully, gripping the phone. How was it possible that just the sound of his voice could make her nether regions do a happy dance? “What made you call me?” she asked before she could call the question back.
“Do you want the truth?” he asked huskily.
Leaning her shoulders against the headboard of the bed, she bit her lip and thought about her answer. Honesty was always the best policy, right? “I do,” she returned quietly.
“The truth is that after having you in my bed tonight, however briefly, I miss having you here now. The pillows still smell like that lilac perfume you wear,” he confided deeply. “It’s driving me crazy, Molly. I want you here with me.”
Her heart skipped a beat as he confided in her and she felt herself flush with happiness. Hell, she felt positively giddy. “Devil,” Molly whispered. “You have no idea how much you’re confusing me right now.”
“I know,” he conceded with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this, Molly. In fact, I’ve fought this very thing since the day you showed up in my office needing a job. But, you know the saying, honey. God laughs as man plans.”
Molly shivered as she listened to him spout the old proverb. Well, she’d asked for a sign she thought with a hard look at the ceiling. “I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of an ‘us’, Devil,” she worried aloud, chewing on one of her nails nervously. “Up until about thirty-six hours ago, I was convinced that you’d nailed half the female population in Atlanta. Now, you keep proclaiming that you want me.”
“First of all, I’m not just proclaiming that I want you, Molly. I think I gave you a pretty fair demonstration of just how much I need you this evening right here on the very bed I’m sitting on. Second, I told you that I used those women as a smoke screen to keep from acting on what I felt like was an inappropriate attraction at the time. I did what I thought I needed to do in order to keep you safe from me. And third, you don’t seem to quite believe that I do want you, angel. Why is that?” he questioned softly.
Embarrassed by his question, Molly stared down at her comforter, unable to form a response.
“Molly… baby, answer my question,” Devil urged, his deep voice gentle and sweet.
“I…I don’t know how to answer that. I mean, obviously I’m not your type of woman, Devil. I’m nothing like those women you’ve been escorting around the greater Atlanta area this year,” she blurted quickly, hating how vulnerable that admission made her feel.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” he asked, his voice tight.
Pressing the phone to her ear, Molly grimaced and felt a blush redden her cheeks. At least he wasn’t here to witness her humiliation. “They looked like models, Dev. Some of them were models,” she recalled painfully. “Thin and beautiful. Cultured and poised.”
“They were also bitchy, greedy, deceptive, caustic, and dull as dishwater,” he informed her truthfully. “You’re beautiful, Molly. Inside and outside. Your smile lights up a room and your laugh makes me believe that real happiness might actually exist. You never met a lie you could tell worth a damn, and you don’t have the time or energy it takes to bother with putting on airs. No matter what kind of day I’ve had, I can look at your face and feel happy. Believe me, darlin’, none of those ladies can claim that feat. Jaded as I might be, I can still recognize a genuine lady when I see one, and the only one I’ve watched for the last year has been sitting outside my office door five days a week driving me to distraction with her sweet smiles and hair-trigger temper.”
“I don’t have a hair-trigger temper,” Molly mumbled, blinking back tears as she listened to his praise. Oh, Lord, the man was going to make her cry again.
“Only for me, sweetheart,” Devil teased.
“Well, you antagonize me,” Molly huffed, almost hearing the smile in his voice.
“I can’t help it. When I get you riled up, those pretty green eyes of yours sparkle like emeralds. I’ve spent the last year living for those moments, Molly.”
“I want to believe that,” she divulged shakily, twisting her hands in the bedspread covering her legs. Giving voice to that one simple truth caused her insides to quake.
“You’ve no reason to distrust me, angel. For as long as you’ve known me, have you ever caught me in a lie before now?” he asked patiently.
“No,” she confessed, realizing that he had asked her that very question more than once recently. “But, you’ve never really wanted anything from me before this week either.”
“That’s fair. Honestly, though, we both know that you’re going to marry me, Molly. Your sense of duty won’t let you do anything else any more than mine will. Why would I lie now? What do I have to gain by pouring out my heart here? Well, other than you, that is.”
“I don’t know,” Molly returned softly. God, she wanted to believe him. Devil was everything she’d ever wanted, but if this was just some passing flirtation for him, she could end up with nothing but a shattered heart. “I guess after watching you manipulate entire boards of directors into doing your bidding for the past year, I’m skittish. I’ve seen the damage you do in business, Devil. You can be ruthless. I don’t want to end up one of your casualties.”
“You think I’d hurt you?” Devil asked hoarsely.
Closing her eyes, Molly winced as she heard the twinge of horror in his question. That hadn’t been exactly what she meant. “Not deliberately, Devil. Grant would kill you. You have to try and understand. I’m not in your league. Even if I wanted to make a go of this m-m…”
“The word is marriage, Molly.”
“Even if I wanted to try things the way you wanted me to do them, I wouldn’t know how. I’m a normal girl. I grew up in a normal neighborhood with a normal family that lived comfortably, but within their means. As you’ve pointed out multiple times, you’re a millionaire several times over, Dev. Our lifestyles are nothing alike. You dropped half a million dollars in my bank account like it was play money. I never expected to make that much in the next twenty years. We’re too different to even try to make this work.”
“That’s crap, Molly. I came from the same place you did. The same damn street, as a matter of fact. I watched you grow up. I was there with Grant the day you learned to ride a bike… to shoot a gun. I’m the same man now that I’ve always been. Yeah, I have more money, but I’m still the same person that used to show up for pot roast Thursdays at the Ramsey house. I haven’t changed that much.”
His words were true, but her emotions were still wavering uncertainly. “I don’t know.”
“I do,” he insisted. “Just have a little faith and trust me.”
“I want to,” Molly admitted softly, looking down again at the ring on her finger, the lamplight bouncing off the diamond and making the gem sparkle. She hadn’t dared take it off her finger earlier, afraid that the valuable jewel would vanish into the mist.
“I can give you anything you’d ever want, Molly,” Devil offered gently. “Give me a chance.”
“Not everything has a price tag, Devil,” Molly responded, her voice cracking as tears welled in her eyes. He couldn’t buy love, and while he already had hers, she didn’t possess his.
“Molly, I know…”
“I’m tired, Devil. We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?” Molly interrupted, suddenly needing to put some distance between them.
“Alright, honey,” he conceded reluctantly. “At least tell me you like the ring, Mols,” he implored softly. “If you really don’t care for that one, we can find one that suits you. I just hoped…”
Lifting her left hand, Molly stared again at the twinkling jewel on her finger. “I love the ring, Devil. No woman could ever not love this ring. Besides, you said it would make Nana happy.”
“It will thrill Nana to see somebody she loves wearing that ring again,” Devil agreed. “More than that
, however, it makes me happy seeing you wear it. I’m glad you love it.”
Molly’s lips lifted in a half-smile. She could recognize that Devil was trying to be more open with her. He wasn’t a man that talked about how things felt. He’d always been more of a man of action than words. So far, however, all that his actions had indicated was that he was a horny guy in desperate need of a wife to assuage his guilt where his grandmother was concerned.
She couldn’t afford to lose sight of that fact. If there was a snowball’s chance in hell that she could make this work with him, she had to move carefully. That meant not showing him how deeply she felt until she was sure he also wanted her for her.
“I’m very tired, Devil. Goodnight,” she murmured softly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Sweetheart.”
Molly held the phone in her hand long after the call ended. Lifting her eyes toward the ceiling, she sighed. “I know I asked for a sign, Lord, and I thank you for answering my prayer. The next time, could you please just make it a little less ambiguous?”
As she slid deeper into the bed and pulled the covers over her, she hoped it was her overactive imagination that made her hear what sounded like low laughter outside her bedroom window.
Sizzle: Chapter Thirty-Three
Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny and clear. As she stared out the kitchen window at the cloudless sky, Molly knew the Lord was mocking her. While her life was in turmoil, the weather outside was the stuff of which dreams were made.
Muttering to herself, she dumped the tepid remainder of her coffee down the sink and rinsed it out before trudging to the bathroom to touch up her makeup. Reapplying her lipstick, she sighed. She looked like she felt. Tired, stressed and overwhelmingly crappy.
Momma was gonna notice the bags under her eyes straight off. No amount of concealer could fill those craters. That was bad since her mother had a strict policy that no matter how bad you felt, you showed up for Sunday services polished, friendly and looking your best for God… and whatever unsuspecting, single, successful Baptist she could throw in her unmarried daughter’s path. And even though her parents had returned from vacation late the evening before, she was certain they would be at church that morning. They hadn’t missed a service for anything less than hospitalization in their lives, after all. And her mother’s desire to match her up with the first available young man was legendary.
The Sizzle Saga Page 19
