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.