“It’s good to have choices,” she remarked, still laughing a little.
They talked about her job, and he listened to her go on about the lack of money, the annoying customers, and her frustrating boss. Devlin could listen to her talk for hours. She had a low tone that perked up when she got excited, and the jiggle of her breasts in his peripheral vision when she got into a story wasn’t too bad either.
The day faded into night quickly, and Kate looked at the time on her phone with surprise. “Damn it, I need to get home,” she said. “I’ve got to work early tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
She slipped off of her stool and adjusted her dress, with Devlin making sure he didn’t gawk too obviously.
“People need their cheap furniture,” he said, grinning. “Can I ask you something a little bold?”
She looked up at him with a hopeful smile, the pink of her tongue slipping between her teeth. The gesture made Devlin’s cock twitch in his pants.
“You may,” she murmured.
“Can I see you again?” he asked sheepishly. “I have really enjoyed getting to know you tonight, and looking at you hasn’t been too terrible either. You really are stunning.”
Kate looked away, covering her mouth again with a cute bashfulness. “That is bold,” she whispered.
“Too bold?”
She shook her head, then took her phone out of her purse. “I have to warn you, I work a lot,” she said, handing him her phone. “So try not to take it personally if I’m busy for a few weeks.”
Devlin dialed in his digits, trying to hide his shaky hands. “I will do my best not to,” he said, handing her back her phone. “As I said before, I know that people need their furniture. It’s a serious situation.”
She looked down at her feet as she placed her phone back into her purse. She then gazed up at him, her head slightly tilted, her mesmerizing eyes taking his heart into a chokehold.
“I look forward to hearing from you,” she said quietly.
“You will be on my mind until we meet again, my paddle girl.”
Kate grinned widely, her bottom lip slipping beneath her teeth. She walked out of the venue playing with her hair, a gesture that Devlin interpreted as positive.
He watched her as she left when she couldn't see him, then collapsed his head onto the bar. “Jesus fucking damn,” he muttered.
Devlin had, of course, known about the concept of fated mates for his entire life. It was something that always sounded whimsical to him, something that wasn’t for him in this life, at least. But after meeting Kate, he knew it was real.
She had hit him like a subway train, and he wasn’t ever going to be the same.
Devlin found himself whistling as he walked through the darkness with his entourage to meet up with his driver. He asked the driver to drive around for a bit because he felt way too jittery and wound up to go home.
When he got in the car, he stuck his head out the window like a dog, feeling exhilarated, compelled, and utterly alive for the first time in years.
FOUR
KATE
The day after the table tennis tournament, Kate’s mind was a carousel of emotions. She had gone home in a cab, gnawing on her knuckle, thinking about Devlin. She had put two and two together and realized that Devlin was the man Gerri had set her up with, but in a way that was indirect.
It excited her to see how handsome he was, how big and strong his hands were. The man also had a silver tongue, lashing her with compliments that made her entire body blush and that weren’t too over the top. When she got home, she found herself lying in bed, in her underwear and a loose T-shirt, thinking about him.
She had seen the way he had smashed into those ping pong balls, annihilating the competition without even breaking a sweat. She knew he was a shifter without ever having to ask because, frankly, it was pretty obvious.
Which got her thinking about what Gerri had said about a shifter’s nature, loyal, sexy, but intense and protective.
She fell asleep with sexy thoughts soothing her mind, wondering what his hands would feel like wrapped around her waist …
Kate went to work the next day, feeling hungover with attraction and confusion. She ditched the cocktail dress for jeans and a T-shirt, tying up her hair into a loose ponytail, the way she normally did for her job. She looked in the mirror and wondered why on earth a super-rich shifter man would ever be into someone like her.
She carried the thought with her all day, even when she regaled the details of the date to her friend Dana in the back room.