She pulled her towel over her chest, feeling suddenly self-conscious and exposed. She really didn’t think he could do it in such a short time, but a thought tingled in her spine that made her wonder if he actually could.
“Four dates?” she repeated.
Devlin nodded his head, smirking wildly. “Four, that’s all it will take.”
She sighed deeply, looking around at the glistening water of the ocean. What the hell kind of turn had her life taken when she agreed to work with Gerri? Everything was turned upside down, and not all of it had been entirely unpleasant.
“Are we swearing on it?” she asked.
Devlin held out his pinkie, looking her dead in the eyes. “Pinkie swear,” he said sweetly.
Kate went to wrap her finger around his, then realized that they hadn’t discussed the details. “Wait a minute,” she said. “What will happen if you don’t win me over after four dates? What’s in it for me?”
Devlin tucked his finger away and placed his chin on his palm, his eyes shining with curiosity. “Name your price,” he whispered.
Kate thought about it for a minute. She was partly excited, partly concerned about what she was agreeing to. But she hadn’t ever met someone like Devlin, who was so sure that he was going to capture her heart in such a short time span.
Plus, the whole fated mate thing sounded like a fairy tale. It frightened her to think that someone could care for her so quickly, so easily, without really knowing her at all. And that made her doubt his feelings in the first place.
“Okay,” she said, unfolding her arms. “If you don’t win me over, and I win, then you have to donate money to one of Gerri’s charities in my name.”
Devlin cocked a brow and scoffed. “Is that it?”
“What do you mean …is that it?” she said, smiling broadly. “You have my heart on the line here, don’t forget.”
She spoke in a jovial tone, yet Devlin seemed to be taking the entire thing seriously. He nodded, leaned over, and stuck out his pinkie finger again. “Let’s seal the deal,” he said.
Kate leaned forward and wrapped her finger around his, their foreheads nearly touching. She looked at him while their fingers were still entwined, feeling her own eyes sparkling at him with intrigue.
“So what will happen if you win?” she inquired.
“I’ll have your heart,” he responded rapidly. “That is all I want.”
“Is it now?” she said.
“Well …” Devlin looked down between her cleavage and licked his lips. “That’s not everything I want, of course.”
Kate felt a shiver move up her spine that felt like feathers caressing her body. Knowing that he hungered for her body in that way made her weak in the knees, almost ready to toss their deal out the window and start fucking right there on the yacht.
But she couldn’t do that, not yet, but somewhere deep inside, she hoped that he would.
She laughed, then loosened their pinkies, leaning back into the lounge seating with a smug look on her face. “Good luck to you then,” she said with a wink.
Devlin rose from the seat, looking pleased as punch. “Do you want me to get you another drink, my lady?”
The man was already causing blood to course through the most private parts of her body, which made her think he had more of a chance than she initially gave him credit for.
“I would appreciate that, my lord,” she replied.
He left with that devilish smirk on his face, and she watched him go around the corner, his massive, muscular back making her bite down on her lip.
Kate wasn’t sure how long she could wait before taking him to bed. She had a few flings in her life, which seemed reckless and fun at the time, but always wound up with her having her heart broken or someone experiencing a misunderstanding.
But it was like a strange, animal attraction that she was experiencing, which helped her relate to what he explained about his shifter nature. Whenever he was around, she wanted to feel his skin on hers and to hear his voice. And the more he was around, the more she craved to see him naked, to have her own nude form pressed against him in the throes of ecstasy.
“Fuck, I’m screwed,” she said, whispering to herself.
Kate felt a wash of sadness move through her when she thought about her parents and everything that had happened when she was young. It hadn’t just been the divorce that symbolized the destruction of what they had taught her about love being the answer to all life’s questions. It was the way they had found new partners, created new lives, and she was just a leftover, like a package of discarded apples.