The Devil Inside by Kate Davies Page A

was tempted. But you were fifteen, I was eighteen. You do the math.”
    "Well, of course you did the right thing. That didn't make it easier on me."
    "You think it was easy on me?"
    “But you never said anything.”
    “What was I supposed to do? Tell you your mom told me she’d call the cops if I so much as breathed on you wrong?”
    “Yes!” She fisted her hands on her hips. “A little information would have been helpful. I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that you were starting to act weird. And I wanted—” She cut off the statement abruptly, covering her mouth with one hand.
    “I know. I wanted, too.” He pursed his lips. “Finding you in my bed was the best, and worst, thing that could have happened to me that summer. The best, because it was what I wanted more than anything. And the worst, because I couldn’t do anything about it.”
    When she spoke again, it was barely a whisper. “You were so—dismissive.”
    “I couldn’t risk it happening again. Bad enough that I had to smuggle you out of the bunkhouse without anyone seeing us. What if you’d gotten just enough encouragement to give it another try?”
    “I was so humiliated.” She angrily rubbed one knuckle under her eye. “There I was, in the sexiest negligee I could find, and all you could say was, ‘I think you’re in the wrong bed, little girl.’”
    He heaved a sigh. “Not my finest hour, to be sure. But in my defense…”
    She looked up. “Yeah?”
    “I was eighteen. With a hard-on that wouldn’t quit and a girl I couldn’t touch. I was going insane.”
    She laughed at that, a shaky one but a laugh nonetheless. “Well, I guess I can take comfort in that.”
    “You should.”
    “I should probably take comfort in the fact that you're a decent guy, too.” She sighed. “Taking me up on my offer would have been a pretty creepy thing to do.”
    “I thought so.” He reached out and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. “And I can promise you this. I will never, as long as I live, ever kick you out of my bed again.”
    She smiled, her eyes starting to sparkle just a bit. “That’s if you ever get me in it again.”
    “Ouch.” He slapped his free hand over his heart. “Well, I guess that gives me something to look forward to.”
    “Oh?”
    He grinned wickedly. “A challenge.”

    Sam did the only sensible thing.
    She retreated.
    The kitchen was a logical place to go, considering she hadn’t had breakfast yet. And if it happened to be on the other side of the apartment, well, that was just coincidence.
    She pulled down a glass for orange juice, then, sighing, grabbed another one. Much as she’d prefer to avoid her houseguest completely, it wasn’t possible.
    The man had to eat.
    Not sure how strong his stomach was at this point—all he’d had to eat for the past few days had been dry toast and broth—she decided to make him her favorite “feeling a little wonky” breakfast.
    Brown sugar and cinnamon toaster pastries.
    Figuring a little protein wouldn’t hurt, either, she boiled an egg as well.
    Waiting for the food to be ready, she ate a bowl of cereal and read the morning paper. Or, at least, she pretended to read the morning paper. Five minutes passed before she realized it was upside down in front of her.
    No, what she really did was think about their conversation.
    Try as she might, she couldn’t dismiss his version of that night. She’d been so humiliated, so horrified at his reaction, she hadn’t bothered to talk to him about it, even to ask why. Instead, she’d avoided him completely. A week later, her father had died.
    And she’d never seen him again.
    Sad as it was to admit, she could see her mother threatening him with jail time. To her mother, Cody represented everything she feared—the rodeo, danger, adventure. If she could protect her daughter from those demons, she would.
    If she could have cut him out of their lives completely, she would have done it in a heartbeat.
    Sam shook