"Now why, oh why, would she do that?" Devlin sauntered over to them and stood with his arms folded, staring down the kid.Ernie had a shocked and scared look on his face. He looked from Devlin to Faith and then back. Faith felt bad for the poor kid.She stood and smacked Devlin's arm. "Shush!" She began to apologize in whispers to everyone who'd looked up at the sound of his voice.But now most of them had recognized him and they stared at him instead of acknowledging her apologies.She quickly realized that they'd clocked his identity because she promptly grabbed her stuff and stuffed them into her bag."I'm so sorry about this, Ernie," she whispered urgently. "I'll talk to you later." She all but dragged Devlin out of there before any phones could fly out and start clicking away.Once they cleared the library, she rounded on him. "What the hell did you do that for!?""Do what? I only asked a question.""Do you or do you not understand what a library is? Why did you just shout like t
"Hi," Devlin said quietly."Hi, I was just about to call you," Faith answered.There was silence on the line for a few seconds then he spoke. "I'm sorry about--"At the same time, Faith started, "I wanted to apologize--"They both stopped and laughed. "You go first," Faith said."Okay. I was saying that I'm sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have reacted that way. I could have just trusted you, waited and then asked you about it later instead of flipping out.""And I wanted to apologize for reacting rashly as well. I know you only reacted that way because you care about me.""We could have both handled that a whole lot better.""Yes, we could have." Faith curled up on her bed. "Thank you for the food as well. I didn't realize I was starving until I opened the bag.""I knew you wouldn't remember to eat."She giggled. "Now that I have you, I don't ever have to remember again.""I suppose that is right," he said gravely.They both laughed. "You know, there is nothing going on between
"Just spit it out already, what is the surprise?""Not what...who, and he is behind you right now."They both whipped around so fast, Faith thought they would fall off their chairs. Devlin stood beaming at them."Hello," he said casually, coming to sit beside her.They both stared at him, dumbfounded with surprise.He'd dressed up for the occasion in a crisp black shirt and trousers. Faith thought he looked really good but then again, she was probably biased.They were on side of the table while Sheila and Adele were on the other side, facing them.Sheila recovered first. "Devlin Banks is our surprise? What are we supposed to do? Eat him? I probably wouldn't mind that though." She gave him a cursory look over in a playful manner."Sheila!" Adele gasped. "I'm so sorry about her. She's like that."Devlin laughed. "I've heard so much about her, I knew exactly what to expect.""See? I can be myself," she said to Adele.The girl shook her head at her friend. "I've always wanted to meet you
"Are you sure you've grabbed everything?" Adele asked for the umpteenth time.Faith sighed. "Yes, I have." Adele had been fussing all morning. You would think that Faith was leaving forever.Devlin had finally worn her out and she'd agreed to move in to his place for the duration of their exams.The exams would span over two weeks. For those two weeks, she would be living at the mansion with him. His argument was that he needed her help with studying and that would work more easily if she just stayed with him.He thought he was sleek with that one but the only reason why she agreed to move in with him was because she wanted to.They'd become so close over the past weeks and months that she hated being away from him. She missed him every second they were apart. So she said yes, letting him think that he had somehow convinced her.Mama Rose had been excited at the news and called to tell her just that. She told Faith not to bother herself over anything. She would make her stay very comf
Faith was exhausted. She stood and stretched. "I'm gonna go freshen up for dinner, okay?""Okay, love," Devlin answered, already tapping away on his phone.They'd been studying for the past three hours nonstop. Two hours separately and then the last hour, they spent quizzing each other on the things they'd read.This was the format they'd adopted over the past few days. She'd already written two exams while he'd written oneFrom all indication, they'd all gone well. If they could keep on with this momentum, they would both do well on their exams.Faith padded off to Devlin's room which they were now sharing. She sat on the bed and pulled one of her boxes to her. She hadn't opened this one since she arrived.The small bag held her toiletries and make up and such which she arranged in the bathroom the day they arrived. She'd been using the clothes in the other bag till now. Most of them were off for laundry already.As she opened the bag, a flash of red caught her attention. Faith frown
Devlin stood at the doorway staring at the lingerie-clad Faith in shock.Perhaps because she'd seen this exact scene play out her very first day in this very house, Faith recognized that a serious battle was going on in his head.She waited for him to come to her with bated breath. Surely there was no way he could resist this time.The seconds ticked by slowly while he warred with himself. Faith shifted self-consciously. She fought the urge to cover herself with her hands under his intense scrutiny. It was nerve-wracking.Finally, Devlin took a step--but instead of the step carrying him forward, he stepped backwards. "I'm sorry," he muttered and disappeared from the doorway.Faith was stunned, utterly stunned. For a few minutes, she just sat there unmoving, staring at the empty doorway.He'd just walked away without a word. She'd thought they were making progress but the exact same incident of the past just repeated itself.She was mortified. She'd put herself out there, making the pl
Days had passed since the lingerie incident and Faith and Devlin had settled back into their routine.They read, they studied...and Devlin couldn't keep his hands off her. In the past days, his self-control had taken a real blow.Now when they started making out, it was often Faith who had to pull back when they got too far much to Devlin's chagrin.She couldn't lie. She was quite enjoying it. Now she was the one with the iron grip on her will while he was the needy one. It was a welcome change of pace.On more than one occasion in the last few days, some maid or the other had stumbled upon them getting hot and heavy in some hallway or empty room.At this point, Faith just didn't have the strength to be embarrassed anymore. It had happened so frequently, there was just no point.Each time, she made it a point to apologize to whatever maid it was for scarring her poor eyes but that was that.Of course, it would be a different story if Mama Rose were to walk in on them making out. In th
Faith stepped out of the school building. A smile graced her face. She barely took in the excited chatter around her, staring up at the sky instead.She just wrote her final paper for the year and she was filled with happiness. Now she could spend time with Devlin without exams hanging over their heads.She did a little celebratory dance then blushed when she caught someone giving her an odd look. She hurried away.Devlin was supposed to pick her up. Where was he? She scanned the parking lot and immediately spotted the lone man leaning against the auspicious red car.He was clutching something in his hand that she couldn't see well. He spotted her and waved. Faith approached him.When she got closer, she could finally see what he was holding. He held a big card that said "Congratulations on your last paper" and a bouquet of flowers in the other hand.Faith squealed and ran up to him, jumping on him and throwing her arms around him. Devlin caught her with a laugh."You're going to sque