Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss (Pregnancy & Passion #3)(53)

It didn’t make sense to her. She had no doubt that he wasn’t exactly celebrating her departure from the marriage, but with the deal still intact, he was getting precisely what he wanted without the unnecessary burden of a wife.

When they pulled up outside the shelter, Ashley sat there, bewildered. “Why are we here, Dev?”

Devon opened his door, walked around to hers and held out his hand. “Come on. There’s something I want you to see.”

She allowed him to help her out of the car and they hurried toward the entrance of the older building. As soon as they ducked inside, the sounds and smells of the animals filled her senses. Her heart softened when she saw Harry the cat sound asleep on the reception desk. He was their unofficial mascot and the children who often filtered through the shelter in search of a pet loved to pet him as much as he loved being petted.

To her further surprise, Devon ushered her past the reception area and through the hallway lined with cages. He’d never been here before. How could he possibly know where he was going?

He stopped outside the larger room they used for animal orientation when they’d put pet and new owner together for a period of adjustment before the animal was released to his new home.

He gave her a quick, nervous smile and then pushed the door open. Inside, Molly and the other shelter volunteers stood beaming in a line, and when Devon and Ashley walked fully through the entrance, they let out a loud cheer.

“What’s going on?” Ashley asked in bewilderment.

“Say hello to your new staff,” he said. “You are now the acting director of the Copeland Animal Shelter.”

Ashley’s eyes went wide as she stared at Molly and then at the other grinning volunteers. Then she glanced back at Devon. “I don’t understand. We aren’t closing?”

Molly rushed forward and threw her arms around Ashley. “No, we aren’t closing! Thanks to your husband. He gave us the funding we needed to stay running. Not only can we stay open, but we also have the money for improvements and for marketing so we can heighten awareness for the animals we need homes for.”

She disentangled herself from Molly’s embrace and then turned back to Devon. “You did this for me?”

“I did it before you left,” he said gruffly. “I talked to your father about it the night of the party. I threatened to refuse to take his position if he didn’t agree to fund the shelter.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. She wanted to throw her arms around him so badly, but she knew it wouldn’t be what he wanted. But he looked so nervous, as if he worried she wouldn’t appreciate what he’d done. How could she not?

“I know how much the animals mean to you, Ash.”

Tears blurred her vision and her heart ached. She loved him so much. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I can never thank you enough for this. It means the world to me.”

“You mean the world to me,” he said softly.

Her eyes widened and her heart thumped so hard against her chest that she put a hand over her breast to steady herself.

But before she could question him, he turned to the others and said, “As much as we’d love to stay and celebrate with you, I have to take Ashley one more place.”

After saying their goodbyes, Devon ushered Ashley out to the car again. She sat in her seat, bemused and a little hopeful, but for what she wasn’t sure. Something was different about Devon. Something that went deeper than simple regret or guilt.

“What did you mean, Dev?” she asked softly as they drove away. “Back there when you said I meant the world to you?”

His hands tightened around the steering wheel and his jaw worked up and down.

“Exactly what I said, Ash. There is so much I need to say to you, but I’m asking you to be patient with me. This isn’t a conversation I want to have in a car when I’m driving and I can’t look at you or touch you. So I’m asking you to give me a little while. There’s a place I want to take you and then I want us to talk and I want you to listen to everything I have to say.”

Her mouth went dry at the intensity in his voice. He was tense. Almost as if he feared she’d refuse and demand he take her back. Wanting in some way to alleviate his obvious stress, she reached over to lay her hand on his leg.

“Okay, Dev. I’ll listen.”

Twenty-One

Devon continuously had to ease up on the accelerator as he headed out of the city. He was impatient and time was running out for him, but the roads were slick and the very last thing he wanted to do was endanger his wife and child.

His wife and child.

The words and the image were powerful. His wife and child. The woman he loved and had hurt so terribly. A child resting inside her womb. Their creation. His family. Something that belonged solely to him.

What would he do if he wasn’t granted a second chance to make amends?

He couldn’t—wouldn’t—focus on that possibility. To do so would drive him insane. It was up to him to make her forgive him or at least agree to give him one more chance to make it all right.

She was so beautiful, but there was an aura of sadness that surrounded her. It was as if a light had been extinguished or a black cloud had crawled across the sun and clung stubbornly as the storms rolled in.

He wanted her to smile again. He wanted her to be happy. But more than anything he wanted to be why she was happy. He wanted her to be happy with him.