Page 28 of The Devil’s Lair

I rise to my feet and take a step back to give them space. “Would you like me to arrange for something tasty to be delivered for dinner?”

“That would be lovely. Thank you.”

“Leave it with me.” I head for the door.

“Tobias?”

Pausing, I glance over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Would you like to eat with us?”

It’s ridiculous how such a simple request lights me up inside. I hardly know this woman, but right now, I want to be with her and Isla more than I want to be with anyone else.

“I’d love that.”

Her smile reaches her eyes. “So would I.”

For the next two hours, I walk around Oakleigh with an idiotic grin plastered to my face. Thank God I don’t bump into any of my family. They’re already adding two plus two and coming up with five. My connection to Rebecca isn’t what they think it is. It’s something far deeper than sexual attraction—something I’m incapable of feeling.

All I need now is to figure out a name for it.

Chapter Ten

REBECCA

Tobias’s quiet knock on the door signifies everything I’ve so far discovered about the man. He’s gentle, kind, respectful. I still can’t wrap my head around how he asked if he could approach me and Isla when she had a meltdown earlier. Marcus barreled through life, chest puffed up, privileged mediocre white male in its full, vile glory. His friends were a carbon copy of him, too.

Even when I was younger, I can’t recall my personal space being respected. I wasn’t special. All of the girls at my school were treated the same. It’s as though boys learn from birth that they are the superior race, and they spend the rest of their lives living up to that lie.

But Tobias is the complete opposite.

Then again, when I first met Marcus, he showed a different side to himself, too. Always overconfident and exuberant, fooling me with expensive dinners and offers of “taking me away from all this.”

He achieved his goal. He took me away from everything. My job, the few friends I had, my family—although that wasn’t such a loss—but the thing he took away the most was my sense of self-worth. Typical narcissist. Sometimes I could kick myself for not figuring him out before he destroyed my life. Then again, what eighteen-year-old is mature enough to see a man for who he truly is beneath the public mask he wears?

I’m older now, though, made wiser through suffering. It won’t be so easy to fool me a second time.

I push thoughts of my past with Marcus out of my mind. He’s gone. He can’t hurt me ever again. Felicity is trying to continue her son’s desire to punish me, but with Tobias’s help, she’ll fail. I can’t afford to think of the alternative. Staying strong and hopeful is the only thing keeping me sane.

I open the door and press my lips together, trying not to laugh. Tobias is dressed in a chef’s outfit, gigantic hat included. He’s standing behind a trolley loaded with plates, each one covered by a silver cloche.

“Your gourmet meal awaits, Milady. And you can laugh. I won’t hold it against you.”

Marcus would’ve given me a back hander if I’d laughed at him. “You did not cook all that food.”

Tobias feigns shock, eyes wide, mouth open, hand against his chest. “Take that back. I have been beavering away in the kitchen since I left you earlier.”

“Truly?”

He grins and winks. “No. I can’t boil an egg.”

“Disgraceful. That silver spoon must stick in your throat.”

We’re bantering, and I don’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, I’m enjoying every second, and if Tobias’s grin is any indication, so is he.

“Ouch.” He motions for me to step back, then pushes the trolley inside. “How is Isla doing?”

“She’s much better. We’ve been making dogs out of Play-Doh and filling the bedroom with paper chains.”