Written in the Stars Read online

  Claire gazed at the paint brushes and wondered if she should spring for lessons for May. Maybe she would be able to afford something like that over the summer.

  She rounded the corner to pick up some toiletries and gift sets for the older kids when she nearly ran over her boss.

  “Devin!”

  “Claire! Hi, I came to see if you needed any help.”

  She grinned. “That’s very kind of you. But I thought you had a…community thing?”

  “Yeah, it was over quickly. Some ribbon cutting for the chamber. Apparently, I’m a chamber member now and they want us to show up for a photo in the newspaper every time anybody decides to so much as sell Tupperware. I scooted out of there before they busted out the wine and cheese.”

  She laughed. “Do people still sell Tupperware?”

  “Hell, I don't know.”

  She smiled. Wow, he was cute when he was working so hard to make her laugh. He had a way of making eye contact when he was trying to please her that she found incredibly charming and sexy. She also enjoyed the way his ears were red from being out in the cold. She would very much like to warm them up with her lips.

  “Um…since you asked, I do have a list of things I’m going to need from…you know…that other place in town that’s not the general store. Feel like making a teenage boy’s dream come true and picking up an Xbox and some ridiculously expensive games?”

  She held out the paper star for him to look at, but he didn’t seem as excited about that as she would have thought.

  “Actually, I noticed when I came in, you forgot one.” He held up a star and of course, it was the one with the list belonging to her siblings.

  She, of course, lied through her teeth. “Oh, that’s funny, I can’t believe I missed it.”

  He smiled. “No trouble, just glad I caught it. And look at this!” He leaned in close to her to show her the star. He was so close she could smell his aftershave. Like a walk in the snowy woods. She closed her eyes without thinking.

  He continued, “Some 13-year-old girl wants freeze-dried meals and batteries. How awesome is that?”

  Claire nodded. “Yeah, she must be unique.”

  “And look at this kid. He wants socks. What kid asks for socks? Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting electronics. But a kid who wants to build herself a bug-out bag? That’s a badass kid I want to meet. Is that weird?”

  His appreciation for her siblings’ wish lists charmed her to her core and yet made her sad at the same time. “Well, I don’t think you deliver them yourself. You give them to the assistance center or the school or whatever and they deliver them.” Thank god.

  He looked crestfallen. “That’s disappointing.”

  “I think it’s for the dignity of the recipients. To keep it anonymous, so they don’t feel beholden to anyone. And in the case of the recipients knowing the giver? That just adds a whole other level of embarrassment. “

  Devin frowned. “Being poor is not something to feel ashamed about.”

  “True, but I think the agency is probably trying to prevent poverty tourism.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  She had to mine all of the knowledge she had to concentrate on giving him an answer and stop being distracted by the scent of his skin, his piercing eyes. Those dangerously close lips. “People treating the underprivileged like they are an exhibit in a zoo. Givers who give just so they can have an experience for themselves, rather than just giving because it’s what we are supposed to do.”

  Devin stared blankly at her for a moment.

  She felt as if she had said too much. What did she care if he wanted to deliver gifts himself? Besides, she felt that if that was what he wanted to do, there was no stopping him.

  “You’re really smart,” he said.

  She looked down at her feet. “Thank you.” She wished like hell he would back up and put some distance between him and her, but on the other hand she really wished he would get even closer.

  “Thank you.”

  She looked up. He was staring down, studying her eyes, her face, her hair. And then she felt his eyes slipping down farther.

  Chapter 5

  Devin

  Whenever he had kissed a woman before, he never thought about it. It made him uncomfortable to think too hard, like doing his homework in high school. But Claire made him want to think.

  One moment, he was studying her raven hair and the way it beckoned him to bury his hands in it, her high cheekbones he wanted to touch, and her full pink lips that looked so pure he might bruise them with his big dumb face.

  The next moment, his lips were doing what they were built to do. What their lips were meant to be doing together. She felt so good on his lips, he wondered why he had waited even a week before kissing her.

  Her lips were soft and smooth and sticky sweet from her natural pink lip gloss. It was a brief and chaste kiss, but it sent an avalanche of impure thoughts racing through his head, sending his insides tumbling with desire.

  He pulled away to see her reaction. She said nothing and her eyes were still closed for a few seconds, like she was expecting him to keep going. Her long dark lashes, perfectly pink cheeks. Then those lashes fluttered open and her green eyes flashed a message to him that was loud and clear. Keep going.

  So he did.

  The first kiss was a taste to see if she wanted him. The second kiss was him taking possession.

  Devin fully, firmly claimed her mouth. He told her with this kiss that he wanted her and he was going to have her, very soon.

  “Ahem.” A prissy female voice interrupted them. In just one word, it was all the judgment, scandal and annoyance one could possibly communicate.

  Devin pulled his mouth away again, but only because Claire gently pushed at his chest. Devin would have had no trouble kissing all night long next to the bubble bath shelf at the general store, but Claire was obviously a better person.

  The clerk had her arms folded and her eyes narrowed. The shame directed at them poured off her and off her tight little bun, and even radiated from the red No. 2 pencil that pierced it.

  He turned to Claire to make a joke, but she was looking down at her feet.

  Now he was angry. Not at Claire, but because someone would dare make her feel ashamed.

  Devin ignored the clerk and lifted Claire’s chin to force her to meet his eyes. “Hey, let’s pay for all this stuff and go to the Mega-Mart. I’m sure none of the pajama people will look at us sideways for kissin’.”

  Claire’s whole demeanor changed from shame to laughter.

  He had done that. He had made her feel better. He felt fifty pounds lighter and high as a kite without the nasty side effects. She was like a drug in the best possible way. She was his drug and nobody else’s. These things he knew for sure from that moment.

  Now he just needed to make sure she understood that as well as he did.

  Chapter 6

  Claire

  The Mega-Mart should have taken way less time than it was taking for the two of them to complete their shopping.

  Claire and Devin were searching in the electronics section when she looked at her phone and realized what time it was. It was six thirty. Crap, she thought.

  She texted her sister Layla: Running late. Xmas shopping for the boss. Can you handle dinner? Pizzas in the freezer.

  She waited for Layla to reply while watching Devin load up an Xbox and a stack of five or six brand new games.

  “I was thinking more like ones from the bargain bin, but that works, too,” Claire said, grinning.

  “Nah, these games are dope. I know he’s gonna love these.”

  “You play?”

  Devin’s face lit up as he described all the latest military science-fiction first-person-shooter games that he could not get enough of.

  She listened with interest, but she could not help but feel a little disappointed. She didn’t see the point of video games. She preferred books. Not that she ever had a choice in the matter. H
er parents had never allowed television, let alone video games, in the house.

  She could not expect him to be into all the things she was into, but she wondered if video games, especially violent ones, might be a deal breaker.

  Try not to judge right away, her heart said. You like him. And damn if he’s not the best kisser on the planet.

  Not that you know any different.

  Her phone dinged. It was Layla. We’re fine. Homework finished, pizza’s on. Not a problem. ETA?

  Claire smiled. What other thirteen-year-old girl said things like “estimated time of arrival”?

  She told her sister she’d be back in probably another hour.

  Layla texted back: Got it, 19:30.

  If Layla didn’t become a four-star general or a star on Doomsday Preppers one day, there was something truly messed up in the world.

  At least she knew she could rely on her sister, who was beyond her age range in maturity.

  “What’s left on the list?” Devin asked. He was enthusiastic about all this shopping. She never would have pegged him as someone who enjoyed filling up a shopping cart at the Mega-Mart. Then a thrill shot through the center of her, thinking perhaps this rough cowboy type was only enjoying shopping because he was with her. Her heart skipped a beat as she allowed herself to accept this idea.

  She looked down at the paper stars in her hand. “Looks like that’s everything, except I want to make a stop at the personal care section and get some toothbrushes and things, for good measure.”

  “You’re very thoughtful, Claire.”

  She shrugged. “Not really, I’m just used to taking care of people. Sometimes it’s all I think about.”

  “Wait a minute. We almost forgot about these kids.” He pulled out of his pocket the star containing the lists from her siblings. Damn. She was hoping he’d forgotten. “Can’t forget my favorite kids in the whole world.” He grinned at her. “Right?”

  The lump in her throat made it hard to smile and nod. What were these feelings happening right now? she wondered. She swallowed them back.

  She had a feeling there was no stopping Devin once his mind was made up. She’d have to figure out a way to make sure he was not able to get the chance to deliver the gifts himself.

  If you can manage to smuggle your siblings out of a compound in the middle of the night without alerting suspicion, you can work around this cowboy.

  But then she reminded herself that her parents were dead. Repeat it until you believe it.

  Chapter 7

  Devin

  Claire had been acting weird since he brought up the one star she had forgotten. He hoped she didn’t feel too bad about overlooking it.

  “You can go,” she said. “You’ve been a huge help. Thank you.”

  Shit, he was going to have to move fast. He was not leaving without letting her know how he felt.

  “Nah, I’ll walk with you. I like your company. Is that OK with you?”

  She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

  “Fine” wasn’t his favorite word. Why was she acting so weird? Did she not enjoy the kiss? He sure thought she had.

  Then he realized what it was. She did enjoy the kiss. But now she was having second thoughts. She was wondering about the meaning behind it. Chicks did that, didn’t they? They wondered about the meaning of things people said.

  Well, Devin was a straightforward guy. There would be no games. He did not like head games. Mainly because he did not understand them.

  “Listen, Claire.”

  “I’m listening.” She was looking up at him again with those eyes. Shit, she could get him to do just about anything with those eyes. And do it with a smile on his face.

  “I’m gonna kiss you again. Did you enjoy kissing me that time?”

  She smiled and bit her lip, and shit if that wasn’t about the sexiest thing ever. “You mean that time at the general store about 45 minutes ago?”

  “Yeah, that time,” he said with a smirk. She had a killer smile that came out of nowhere. He wished she would smile more often. It might make her a little less of a mystery to him, but there was no way he would ever tell a woman to smile when she wasn’t smiling because, for some reason, his sisters all had nearly threatened to kick him in the gonads at one time or another for saying shit like that.

  She leaned up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.

  “I did like it,” she said.

  “OK, so I’m going to stick with you and I’m going to kiss you again, if that’s OK. Is that a good thing or just ‘fine’?”

  She laughed. He made her laugh again. He could not get enough of her face smiling and laughing at things he was saying. How soon could he let her know she was his girl? As in, 100 percent, no-turning-back his girl.

  They loaded their shopping cart with toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving gel, pink razors, bubble bath, deodorant, and then she moved over one aisle to feminine hygiene.

  Devin had nothing to say about maxi pads and things. He was a little embarrassed he had not thought of it himself. He supposed teenage girls need that stuff too and wouldn’t think to ask for it. Pads, those tampon things. Claire had it covered.

  “All done,” she said. “Ready to check out?”

  He stepped in close to her and hugged one arm around her waist. “Nope. Did you forget something?” He laid on her a deep, slow kiss, making sure there was no question she was his. The hand at her waist gripped her close and his other hand went to her hair. He threaded his fingers into her strands, holding the back of her head as he pressed into her. Claire responded by tentatively setting her hands on his shoulders, then his chest, then down to his waist. It was like she’d never been kissed like this before and wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. That was fine with Devin; he liked the feel of her hands anywhere on him.

  “Devin,” she whispered when he let up on the pressure to her lips.

  “Claire?”

  He continued to tease her cheeks with small kisses as she talked.

  “You’re my boss. Is this wrong?”

  He growled against her neck, “Does it feel wrong?”

  He felt her sigh into his shoulder. That was enough of an answer.

  Then he let go of her waist and held her face with both hands and made sure her eyes were locked on his. “This is right because we feel it’s right. You are the kindest, most thoughtful gift giver I’ve ever seen. A lot of people act nice, but you mean it. You’re honest and genuine and selfless, and I can’t stop thinking about you, even when I’m right next to you.”

  Her lip quivered and Devin fell silent. He waited for her to say something. She looked down and pressed a finger to her lips to control whatever it was that was bubbling to the surface. It killed him to see her like this. “What did I say? Did I say the wrong thing? Because I do that a lot.”

  She shook her head. When she was finally able to pull herself together she sniffed and looked up and met his gaze. “I’m not as good of a person as you think I am.”

  Uh-uh. Nope. He was not having it.

  “I don’t get people. But girl, I get you. I know you better than you think I do. I see who you are and it is something beautiful, inside and out.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded, taking in what he was laying down. He felt as though she was perhaps beginning to believe him. He didn’t know what was going on with her, but he was going to do his best to build her up.

  He angled in and kissed her again, cupping her face. He wasn’t great with words, but he knew how to kiss. And he really liked kissing her. She was sweet and shy and lovely. She was unsure but curious, the way her hands didn’t know where to land.

  Her mouth was sweet and receptive. She made him feel strong. Accepted. Appreciated.

  He teased open her mouth with his tongue and she opened to him. She let him penetrate her with his tongue, and then she hesitantly tasted him back. He loved feeling her tongue in his mouth. He pulled her in against him and she breathed out a small sigh of pleasure. He didn’t care about
whatever happened after that, he would remember how he was the one that made her breath catch, her chest heave a sigh.

  Devin gripped her against him and encouraged her to taste his mouth. Her frantic hands rested on his chest and she sighed again.

  When their faces parted, she asked if she was doing everything right.

  The real answer was, so right that there was a tent pole inside his Wranglers. He didn’t say that out loud, but instead squeezed her tighter. There was no chance she wasn’t feeling his arousal. Her smile changed to surprise and she blushed so deeply her cheeks were nearly purple.

  Finally, she spoke. “I never thought my first kiss would happen in front of the panty liners.”

  Devin should not have pulled away from her. But her comment caught him so off-guard he let her go out of instinct.

  Claire was instantly embarrassed. She went back to averting her eyes. She put distance between herself and him by pulling the shopping cart close to her and nearly bolting away from Devin.

  Dammit. He didn’t mean to make her feel that way.

  “Claire, wait.”

  But she was off and headed to the cash registers, with him following her like a lost puppy.

  He guessed there was no point in buying some condoms for tonight.

  Chapter 8

  Claire

  The office phone nestled between her shoulder and her ear was giving her neck a cramp. Everyone in the office had come up with excuses to not help with wrapping all of the gifts for charity, so she was forced to work on gift wrapping all damn day by herself while also doing her job as Devin’s assistant.

  And who knows where he was. He hadn’t shown up for work yet that day. So, not only did she have to do her job arranging his travel plans to visit a new client down in Kansas, but she also had to deal with every call coming in to Devin.