The Maid's Daughter - S01 E07

Story 3 years ago

The Maid's Daughter - S01 E07

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 7

Shock and distress left Gillian almost speechless. She was

pretty sure she knew where this story was heading, and her

heart bled for Devlyn.

He kept talking, almost as if he had forgotten she was beside

him. “I didn’t know what to do. It was weird and awkward

and wonderful all at the same time. But she was married.

And I knew that.”

“She took advantage of you, Devlyn.”

“Who’s to say? I didn’t waste much time weighing right

and wrong. We undressed and then we…well, you know.”

He fell silent. Gillian felt somehow as if the world had

shifted on its axis. She didn’t know Devlyn at all, not really.

Except to understand that he had a streak of caring that ran

soul deep when it came to women. He was a protector, a

slightly tarnished, but decent knight.

“What happened afterward?”

“She stayed there while I ran back to the house and got the

money. I’d been doing odd jobs around the house for years,

saving up to buy a car for college. My dad believed implicitly

that young men should work for what they wanted.”

“And it wasn’t in the bank?”

“Our house was a fortress. I kept my earnings in a small

wall safe in my bedroom.”

“How much?” Gillian asked.

“I went back and handed her seven thousand dollars in

cash.”

“Please tell me she didn’t take it.”

His mouth was grim. “Oh, yes. She took it. And I never

saw either her or her husband again.”

“Do you think they deliberately set you up?”

“I don’t know for sure. I’ve thought about it a million times

over the years. I think it just happened. And with the money

in hand, they took off. It’s possible she even stayed with him.”

A hint of nausea returned. Gillian knew without Devlyn

saying the words that his first sexual experience had been

tainted with guilt because of the woman’s marital status. He

had been seduced, plain and simple. Even if it truly was a

spontaneous act on the woman’s part, it was a terrible thing

to do to a young boy.

“So what happened when you went off to college?”

A long silence ensued. Then Devlyn sighed. “Honest to

God? I was scared. It occurred to me that I hadn’t used a

condom. So disease was a possibility. And there was even a

chance that I had fathered a child. For months I lived in fear

that she would show up on my doorstep.”

Gillian scooted closer and wrapped an arm across his

chest. “I’m so sorry. She took your innocence.”

“Yeah, but what eighteen-year-old guy wants to be innocent?”

The words were flip, but she could hear the hurt that lin-

gered, even now, more than a decade later. “But you found a

girlfriend eventually?”

“Not a girlfriend. More like a series of one-night stands,

mostly after keg parties.” He covered her hand with his. “I

was smart enough to use protection every time, but that was

about the only bit of intelligence I exhibited. I lost count of

how many girls I screwed the next two years.”

Gillian didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t the only guy

to sleep his way through college. But she sensed that the experience

was a dark spot in his soul. Or he wouldn’t be telling

her in such detail. “You said two years…what happened

after that?”

“I wised up…woke up one day in some dorm room I didn’t

recognize, and I realized that I’d had enough. Three months

later, I met Tammi.”

“Tammi?” He had said her name with affection.

“We met in an upper-level business class. I was doing advanced

work. Tammi was a senior. The professor assigned a

project and made us partners.”

“And you fell in love with her.”

Devlyn’s chest rose and fell as he laughed. “Who’s telling

this story? You, or me? No, I didn’t fall in love. But for

the first time in my life, I had a female friend. It was novel,

but nice. Tammi helped straighten out my head a little bit.”

“Did you ever sleep with her?”

“Once, right before she graduated. But there were no fireworks.

It was a bittersweet goodbye, nothing more than that.

I hear from her now and again. She’s a stay-at-home mom

with three kids.”

The little lick of jealousy Gillian experienced was unfounded,

but real. And at that moment she realized the danger

Devlyn represented. Already he had disarmed her with

his painfully frank recitation. She wanted to hold him, to

make up for the past.

But Devlyn Wolff was a grown man. And he didn’t need

Gillian’s sympathy. What he wanted…apparently…was a convenient

affair.

She got to her feet, wobbling only slightly. “Shouldn’t the

car be here by now?”

Devlyn stood as well, frowning. “That’s all you’re going

to say? After I poured my heart out to you?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist, her stomach

clenching with faint memories of her gastric distress. “You’re

trying to convince me that it would be fun to fool around

while I’m working with you.”

“Did I succeed?” That wicked, flashing grin was back.

“I’ll consider it. You’re a handsome man with a quirky

sense of humor. And I’ll be living in a town where the pool

of eligible men is almost nonexistent. So maybe. But don’t

push. My mother works for your family. I’m not sure how I

feel about that. Give me time to think about it.”

“Fair enough.” He smoothed her hair from her face, making

her pulse stumble. “How about a kiss…just one…so we

can test the waters.”

“I’m not kissing you after I puked my guts out. That’s not

the kind of first impression a woman wants to make.”

“Believe me. Guys aren’t that picky. But in honor of your

meticulous hygiene, how about I avoid your mouth?”

She took a step backward. “No.” Devlyn Wolff touching

her anywhere seemed like a really bad idea.

He circled her wrist with one big hand, his thumb on her

pulse. “Relax, Gillian. I can’t do anything to you out here in

the open.”

But that was a lie. He reeled her in, not stopping until her

breasts were against his chest. She could either crane her neck

to see his expression or rest her cheek on warm, starchy cotton

that smelled like Devlyn. It was no choice at all.

Their heights were a good match. She fit nicely in his em-

brace. “Go ahead and do it,” she said. “You’re making me

nervous.”

He laughed. “Whatever the lady wants.”

Nudging her head to one side, he nibbled his way from her

ear to her shoulder. Gooseflesh erupted everywhere his teeth

grazed her sensitive skin. When her knees began to tremble,

her arms went around his neck for support.

Then it was no problem at all to return the naughty love

bites Devlyn was inflicting. But when the tip of her tongue

traced his throat at the opening of his shirt, he released her

abruptly and staggered backward several steps.

He held out his hand. “I think we’ll call that experiment a

success.” His cheeks were ruddy and his chest heaved.

In the distance a car horn tooted.

“Is that our ride?” Gillian turned, not sure if she was relieved

or disappointed.

Two dark SUVs pulled up at the edge of the field. There

was not much of a shoulder, so the vehicles were partway in

the road.

Devlyn started grabbing up stuff. “C’mon. Let’s not keep

them waiting.”

They tramped across the field rapidly, but Gillian held back

when Devlyn chatted with the drivers. The sun was very low,

casting lengthy shadows across the land. Would Devlyn still

want to show her the property after dark? Surely not.

He turned and motioned. “I can send you back up the

mountain with the guys, but if you feel like it, I’d like you to

join me for dinner with an investor. I stood him up last night

after you played pinball with that tree.”

“I’ll go back to the house.” And do what? she wondered.

Staying at the castle was really an awkward arrangement.

Perhaps she could get her mom to come pick her up for the

evening or ask one of Devlyn’s drivers to take her directly

to her mother’s.

Devlyn frowned, evidently not hearing the answer he

wanted. “Come with me,” he cajoled. “He was really angry

when I didn’t show. You’ll be proof that my Boy Scout good

deed was the right thing to do. And besides…you’re on the

clock, remember?”

“That’s not fair.”

He grinned and opened the passenger door of the car he

was preparing to drive, motioning for her to get in. “Dinner’s

on me.”

She shook her head in mock disgust. “You must have been

spoiled rotten as a kid.”

His smile dimmed. “Let’s just say that I like getting what

I want.”

She slid in beside him, conscious that her only hope of escape

was driving away in the opposite direction. “And so do

I. So one of us is doomed to disappointment.”

Devlyn drove in silence, rethinking his strategy with Gillian.

Perhaps having her at the castle wasn’t the best idea.

His family would be bound to notice if he started having

sleepovers. And Gillian’s mother was not likely to appreciate

the son of her employer hanging around.

Life would be a lot easier if he could simply spirit Gillian

away to his multimillion-dollar rooftop condo in Atlanta.

But the job he had hired her to do was real. And needed to

be done in and around Burton. Which meant that if Devlyn

wanted to explore this surprising and compelling physical attraction,

he was going to have to stay on the mountain much

longer than he had originally intended.

He’d never had much respect for entrepreneurs who allowed

pleasure to get in the way of business. But damned if

Devlyn hadn’t just entangled the two without the slightest

bit of regret.

They pulled up in front of the restaurant in Charlottesville

with five minutes to spare. Gillian fussed with her hair. “I’m

not really dressed for a place like this.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, handing his keys to the valet. “It’s

pretty dark inside.”

“Very funny.”

Horatio Clement was already seated. The man was a longtime

family friend, at least a decade older than Victor and

Vincent. He was a bachelor, had a stock portfolio that would

make Bill Gates weep and was as tightfisted as Scrooge.

Devlyn’s job was to cajole him into loosening the purse

strings long enough to invest a healthy chunk of cash into

Wolff Enterprises’ latest expansion…a brand-new headquarters

in Mexico City. With locations already on the West Coast

and in London and Paris, the Wolffs owned a sizable chunk of

real estate…high-tech offices that oversaw a multitude of interests

from railroads to television stations to manufacturing.

Devlyn put his hand at Gillian’s back, ushering her forward.

“Hello, Horatio,” he said. “I was hoping you wouldn’t

mind some feminine company this evening.”

Horatio’s bushy white eyebrows lifted. “Not your usual

style, is she, Devvie boy?” He turned toward Gillian. “What’s

your name, girl?”

She shook his bony hand. “Gillian Carlyle. And you’ve hit

the nail on the head, sir. I’m definitely not his type. But he’s

feeling guilty for running me off the road last night. That’s

why he missed your dinner appointment.”

Devlyn ground his teeth. “I did not run you off the road.

You were going way too fast.”

Horatio snorted. “I’ve seen you drive, kid. I choose to believe

this nice young woman.”

Devlyn had no choice but to sit down and nurse his

wounds. Before he could get the ball rolling, Gillian and

Horatio were thick as thieves, the old man spinning one out-

rageous tale after the other, and Gillian egging him on with

her contagious laughter.

It was going to be a long night.