Page 58 of Handsome Devil
He kinda rolled his eyes at me.
I settled back in my chair. “Besides, the sooner I get things tied up here, the sooner I can get back home.”
Shane just stared at me. He had some nasty new bruises on his face. His lip was swollen a little. He’d had a fight last night, which he invited me to. I didn’t go. He did look half-crazy. Dangerous, but handsome. And still, like a guy who grew up with money. His leather jacket and jeans were worn to hell, but they were expensive.
I’d never understood why he wanted to get the shit beat out of himself on a regular basis. He could’ve done other things with his life.
“You really hate us that much, huh?” he said after a moment. And I actually felt kind of bad. Because I did hate him. But I also loved him.
Did I say we were best friends? We were, but like if Batman and Joker were best friends.
In other words, he’d always been a formidable opponent. As such, I respected him. Shane was one of the few people in this world I could truly say that about.
“Not true,” I said. “I hate the place, not the people.”
“Just one person.”
“That’s got nothing to do with it.”
“I thought that had everything to do with it.”
I just held his gaze and said nothing.
“Come on, man. I thought maybe you’d grow some sympathy. You know, with what you’ve been going through…”
“Please. What I’m going through has nothing in common with that situation.”
He sighed. Then he looked around at the walls again. “Uh-huh. So, what’s the deal, then? You can’t even have some fun while you’re here? Are the women that much better in Toronto?”
“I wouldn’t remember what the women are like in Vancouver,” I said. “It’s been a while.”
“Girl at the front desk is cute.”
“I’m kinda in some hot water in my personal life right now. Even if someone in this wet city managed to catch my eye under all the layers of rain gear—”
Shane chuckled and the door opened at the same time. “Oh. I forgot to knock,” Devi said unpleasantly. She strode straight in, dropped a load of files on my desk without looking at me, and turned to leave.
She stopped short when she saw Shane sitting there.
A grin spread across his face. “Hi.”
I got to my feet.
“Uh… I didn’t know you had company,” Devi said, more in his direction than mine. And before I could say anything, Shane was on his feet and extending his hand to her, still smiling.
“I’m Shane.”
I rounded my desk as Devi cleared her throat a little. “I know who you are. I’m Devi.” She slipped her hand into his and they shook, and I did not love the way he was looking at her.
Like he remembered her.
“Devi…” he said.
“We went to high school together,” she supplied. “Senior year.”
“Oh, shit.” He leaned back, taking a sweeping look over her. “I remember you. Wow. You look different.”
“Shane was just leaving,” I said, and he swiveled his head toward me. A grin spread across his face again.
