Lighthouse: Devlin Series, #2

By Noah Malone

Devlin Blackthorn's search for love is derailed when he discovers he is legally married to the charming advertising executive, Atticus Brady, after a wild night in Las Vegas. Devlin thinks the situation can be solved by a simple divorce, but Atticus is adamant he wants to keep Devlin around. Can love sprout from the most unlikely of relationships, or is the principle of "opposites attract" just a myth?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Noah Malone
• Release date: Oct 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386697022

Book preview

Prologue

Devlin Blackthorn

Early 2015...

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If you don’t want to stay here longer, let me at least buy you a drink, Atticus said as he popped up from the deck chair.

Seeing him up close, I was taken aback by how handsome he was: he was tall and broad, his large shoulders tracing down to his slim waist in a perfect letter Y; he had an impressive set of washboard abs with a light coating of dark hair under his navel that trailed down his bronzed skin and, I imagined, pooled underneath his swimming trunks over his...

Good God, Devlin, control yourself.

No, thank you, I said, steering my imagination well away from his manhood.

I spun around quickly and made a beeline for the exit in an attempt to avoid anything to do with the obnoxiously-handsome Atticus.

Wait, he called out after me.

My legs couldn’t carry myself away quickly enough as Atticus easily caught up with me; he began walking side-by-side with me, evidently not giving up on this unbearable conversation.

Where are you off to? I might join you, he declared. The way he said it with such confidence annoyed me; there was absolutely nothing in my body language that suggested I wanted the company of this man, yet it seemed as if he had already decided my near future for me.

In all honesty, I had no idea where I was off to. I had intended on hanging around the pool to party for an extra hour or two, but my altercation with this obnoxious man had altered my plans, and I was heading off to destination anywhere-but-here.

Back to my hotel room, I lied.

Is that an invitation? Atticus said with a chuckle.

I threw him the best scowl my facial muscles could muster – in hopes that it would finally scare off this arrogant man – but it only made Atticus seem to want more.

Come on, Devlin, he said after a short moment of silence, I’m just kidding. I haven’t met any other Aussies in a while and it’s refreshing to hear an accent from home. Let me just buy you a drink, and then you can get back to your hotel room to whoever is waiting for you there.

There’s no one waiting for me, I replied, not knowing why I felt the need to explain myself to him, I’m here by myself.

Atticus clearly took that as acceptance to his invitation for a drink and I found myself trapped with him. It didn’t look like he was about to give up, and I didn’t want to risk him following me all the way to my room.

Fine, I snapped, one drink. And then will you leave me alone?

I will do whatever you want, Atticus promised.

Chapter 1

Devlin Blackthorn

Early-mid 2015...

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I couldn’t imagine alcohol would be the cause of anything worse than last year – oh God, last year – but here I was, sitting in my apartment, staring at the impressive rock on my ring finger, wondering what the hell happened that fateful night in Las Vegas.

A handsome stranger – whom I admittedly despised from the get go – bought me a couple of drinks and after some very fuzzy details, I woke up next to him in bed legally married to him. Just another tragic wedding story to be added to Las Vegas’ archive.

If I needed a bigger slap in the face to stop drinking alcohol than almost losing my best friend, it was marrying someone I had only known for a few hours. Even though I was wrapped up on my warm bed in my sheets, I shivered. Married. I still didn’t know how to comprehend the fact that I was married.

Despite absolutely hating the idea of being married to someone I didn’t know – and I wasn’t exactly sure of his current whereabouts after leaving him in Vegas – I did quite like the ring he had chosen out for me. Sitting next to the more conservative platinum wedding band was a small yellow diamond surrounded by tiny, encrusted silver gems that complimented the modest, silver design; if it told me anything about my mysterious husband, it said that he had nice taste in jewellery, and a lot of money to irrationally spend on it.

I could barely make out the face of the man who had been lawfully wed to me in front of an Elvis impersonator and, God, I don’t even know who else. He was tall and handsome, with a lean, muscular build, and was arrogant as all hell. That’s all I could remember about Atticus.

Atticus...

Something told me I had to get used to that name for the foreseeable future. Well, of course I had to – he was my husband, after all.

I groaned out loud and sunk my head back into the soft cushioning of the pillow. I hadn’t told anyone of my Vegas wedding; not Jase, not Jordan, not my brother Garrett, not even my loyal confidante Monique. I could just imagine Jase’s reaction in my head, and it was enough to make me cringe.

You what?! he would shout at me. Why on earth would you do something as careless and irresponsible as that? As a matter of fact, why were you drinking in the first place? You need to get your life together, Dev.

I would be lying if I said a small part of me wasn’t still madly in love with Jase. In fact, I’d also be lying if I said a small part of me wasn’t about to use this surprise marriage as a way to show him that I was going to move on from him, as difficult as it was. The year 2014 had been hell for us, and I was glad that somehow, someway, we had come out of the other end of the tunnel barely functioning. I was going to let Jase live his life and hope that I would be in it as much as I was before.

Dwelling on my infatuation for Jase only briefly distracted me from my current situation. What on earth was I going to do?

I was sitting on my bed in Sydney, the evening before I was scheduled to move back to Velvet Springs, and this platinum circle was burning into my ring finger, reminding me of how awful my getaway escape had been. I couldn’t wait to get home and be in a familiar setting, even if it meant revealing to Jase what I had done in Vegas.

After having months off work, I couldn’t wait to get back into my writing at the Velvet Chronicle. Although the sport reporter position had been filled after my quick departure, Harvey, my editor and friend, had found a spot for me on the features team for the newspaper after my moderate amount of success in the same role at Isla Bordeaux magazine. I was fortunate enough to have this opportunity handed to me, but it certainly wasn’t the first thing on my mind right now.

There was a feint knock on my door and, sighing with relief, I got up to answer it. I had ordered a box of greasy cheese pizza to be delivered after I had finished packing; I wanted to spend my last night in the state’s capital with no regrets.

I fished the twenty-dollar note out of my back pocket and opened the door.

Devlin?

Oh. No. It couldn’t be... no. There was no way.

I panicked and bounced off the spot, throwing my fist out in an uncharacteristic knee-jerk reaction. The shot caught him on his eye and he let out a quick yelp of pain, but remained rooted to the ground.

I just Superman punched my husband.

Atticus? What the f-

You seem surprised to see me, he said, his brows furrowing in anger.

He swept past me and kicked the door behind him, as if he had lived in this apartment for years. With me. As his husband.

Ugh!

Despite my burning hatred for him, he looked so effortlessly handsome in his blue button-up shirt, slim black tie, and black suit pants that clung to his legs and showed off his impressive physique.

"I am surprised to see you! I screamed. Let’s start off with the obvious: how the fuck do you know where I live?"

You told me, Atticus replied nonchalantly, in fact, you begged me to come and see you. Plus, it was pretty easy to get reception to cough up the details when they found out I was your husband.

I opened my mouth to argue the point but, seeing as most of the night was blurry and I had no memory after the fourth drink he had bought me, I had no grounds for a case. My mouth snapped shut and Atticus walked into my kitchen, helping himself to a glass of water.

Please, come in, I said blankly, help yourself.

Atticus held up his left hand, a single wedding band adorning it, and he smiled at me.

What’s mine is yours, baby. Besides, you kind of owe me after punching me in the face, which fucking hurt, might I add.

The humanity in me kicked in and I raced over to check on his eye; besides some slight bruising that had appeared already, he looked otherwise unharmed.

Want me to get some ice for that? I asked.

Atticus shook his head and downed the glass of water quickly.

Forgive me if I’m not happy to see you, I began, but that night in Vegas, I wasn’t completely myself.

Atticus pushed past me and sat down on my sofa, spreading and stretching his legs out in front of him.

We had some wicked sex that night, though, Atticus replied casually.

Until this very moment, I had no idea we had consummated our marriage. And I was both disgusted and intrigued at this discovery.

Listen, I said, attempting to put on my most calm, sensible voice, we are both adults who, in the heat of the moment, agreed to do something stupid. It just so happens that something stupid was a legally binding contract that is quite hard to get out of. Now, I want this to be as quick and as painless as possible, so if you’d agree to divorce me as soon as you could, that would be fabulous.

I rested my hands on my hips and shifted my weight onto one foot, waiting for Atticus to agree to my proposed plan with no fights or arguments.

No, he answered.

What do you mean, ‘no’? I spat.

No, he repeated calmly.

Why are you being so difficult? I screamed.

I don’t know about you, honey, but in my family, marriage is a sacred bond that isn’t taken lightly. I’m not giving up on this so easily just because you said so.

I was completely convinced that this man sitting so comfortably in my living room was out of his mind. I was so sure of it, in fact, that my mind started racing about different ways I could possibly call 000 without raising suspicion.

There is no ‘this’! I cried out, my hand gesturing between us.

Atticus smirked at me and raised his left hand again. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms against my chest. I wasn’t going to submit to this smug man: not in my apartment, not in this country, not anywhere.

You think our drunken marriage in Vegas is a sacred bond? I said, raising a challenging eyebrow.

Well, our situation is very different, Atticus replied, but I’m willing to give it a shot and work on it.

There is nothing to work on! I shouted. I don’t even know your full name!

Atticus stood up and walked over to me confidently; he extended his hand out to me and grinned.

Atticus Brady, nice to meet you.

I rolled my eyes and turned around to walk back into my bedroom. I slammed the door shut behind me and decided that I would check out of my Sydney apartment early, if it meant getting away from this horrible man.

Just as I had zipped up my carry bag and placed it on top of my suitcase, I turned around and yelped when I saw Atticus standing behind me, his hands dug into the pockets of his slimming black suit pants.

Why are you tormenting me? I whined.

Because ‘til death do us part, my darling, Atticus almost sung to me.

You best hope I don’t give you a matching black eye, I said, glaring at him.

Atticus chuckled and sat down on my bed before kicking his shoes off. He laid back, stretched his arms above him, and placed his hands behind his head.

What are you doing? Get off my bed! I couldn’t believe the nerve of this man.

Where are you going, Devlin? he asked me curiously.

I’m offended you don’t remember this during our drunken conversation, I snapped, but I’m moving back to Velvet Springs. I’ve decided to fast forward my trip seeing as there is a very unwelcome package making himself comfortable on my bed.

You never mentioned that, Atticus frowned.

Well, I said, trying my best not to sound defeated, I am.

Wow, Devlin. Great comeback.

I grabbed my suitcase handle and began wheeling it to my bedroom door, but Atticus quickly rose to his feet and stopped me before I could make my escape.

Stay for a drink with me, he offered, again acting as if the apartment we were standing in was under his name.

This isn’t your house! I exclaimed. I tried pushing past him again but he didn’t budge, and the futility of the situation seemed to humour him. Get out! I added.

Atticus grinned down at me and, before I knew it, he had grabbed my face and pressed his lips against mine. Stunned, I completely froze and my arms fell limp by my side as the warmth of his mouth took over mine. My legs felt like jelly and, even though my head was telling me not to enjoy this, I was almost putty in Atticus’ firm hands.

He let go of the embrace and he looked down at me with a smug look on his face.

You enjoyed that, didn’t you? he was about to burst out laughing.

I was still too shocked to even form a coherent response, so I simply shook my head and turned around so he couldn’t see the smile that was about to betray me and give my position away.

You liked that kiss, didn’t you Devlin? What else would you like from me? his deep voice sounded husky and if I didn’t have my back turned, I would think he was trying to seduce me. With that in mind, I tried to avoid looking at him, in case my body gave into his arrogant charm again.

I have to leave, I said casually, if you don’t mind, I have a two hour drive ahead of me that I’d like to get out of the way as quickly as possible. That’s if my car even starts.

Making a second attempt in escaping Sydney as soon as possible, I spun around with my car keys in my hand as Atticus leaned against the wall, his arms folded loosely in front of him with an inquisitive look on his face.

Your car has troubles starting? he asked.

I nodded my head and pulled my luggage out of the bedroom, this time with no interference from Atticus. I glanced around my apartment quickly to see if I had missed anything and, after being certain for the tenth time that I had packed up everything, made my way to the exit.

Why don’t I drive you to Velvet Springs? Atticus politely offered. I’d like to see where you came from and, quite frankly, I’d like to spend some time with you.

As much as I detested the persistent attention from Atticus, a part of me was kind of flattered that he was willing to drive me two hours just to spend time with me.

No, I replied shortly. I’ll be fine.

Let me at least walk you to your car then.

Deciding that there was no way I was going to escape him until I was in my car, I waited for him to put his shoes back on and let him follow me out of my apartment and into the elevator. The heavy doors shut in front of us and soon the tension in the grand elevator increased tenfold. I forced my eyes to look anywhere that wasn’t him, but I caught a quick glimpse of his reflection on the shiny elevator door, and the arrogant smirk on his face nearly made my heart jump.

Just another four floors down. You can do this.

I bit my bottom lip and looked down at the floor, trying desperately not to smile. I failed.

Devlin, Atticus whispered.

I looked up at him and the egotistical expression on his face had completely changed to a dark, mischievous look. His gaze fell down to my lips and he sighed. In a quick swift movement, he had closed the distance between us and pinned me against the elevator wall, his mouth only inches away from mine. I could feel his warm breath tingle across my lips, and smelled the fresh, minty scent of it; his sky-blue-coloured irises almost glazed over with the sexual tension as if he could barely see straight in this moment.

What are you doing? I barely mumbled.

The loud ding of the elevator interrupted our brief moment and as quickly as he had brushed his face up against mine, he repositioned himself on the other side of the elevator as if nothing happened.

Ignoring the tension that had built up just moments ago, Atticus held his hand out for me to step out of the elevator first. I checked out at the reception desk and bid farewell to the Huffman Sydney staff members I had befriended over the past several months and made my way into the parking lot, Atticus trailing behind me with each step.

This is your car? Atticus asked me as I opened the front door to Red Cherry.

Yes, I replied, automatically getting on the defensive, she is a beautiful woman with personality. I love her.

Atticus held his hands up as if to say I don’t want a fight and shook his head. I packed my car up and was instantly grateful that everything fit perfectly like a game of Tetris, and walked over to Atticus to bid him farewell.

I don’t know whether or not to thank you for stopping by, I said.

And I don’t know whether or not to thank you for this bruise around my eye, he said with a grin.

I’m so sorry about that.

Not knowing what to do, I awkwardly patted him on the shoulder and turned to sit down in my car. Atticus shut the door behind me and stood back, his hands shoved into his pockets. I put the keys into the ignition and turned: she roared and spat and let out some other unidentified noises, but she refused to start. With Atticus watching me through my window, I wanted to crawl in a hole and never be seen in the light of day ever again.

I bit back every swear word my creative mind would muster and glanced over at Atticus who looked like he was about to collapse in a fit of hysterics.

What? I spat.

He walked over to me and opened the driver door. He reached for the keys in my ignition, his fingers gently grazing mine, and took them out as Red Cherry went back to sleep.

Come on, Devlin, Atticus offered me, pack your stuff in my car and I’ll take you home.

Chapter 2

Atticus Brady

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There was something about Devlin Blackthorn I couldn’t resist.

Not long into the trip to Velvet Springs, Devlin had passed out on the passenger seat next to me, and I took every opportunity I could to glance over at him and watch the muscles in his angry resting bitch face relax into something that resembled calm and tranquillity, but most importantly, a guard that had been let down.

Most of the drive between Velvet Springs and the state capital was on straight country road, lined with tall, dark trees and aged street signs, so I had plenty of time to steal looks at my Vegas husband. This peaceful Devlin was beautiful, with his thick dark hair falling gently over his eyelids, but it was the feisty spitfire Devlin that kept me on my toes that I was obsessed with.

I remember spotting Devlin at the Vegas pool party across from me and thinking Yeah, not bad, but as soon as he opened that vicious mouth of his, I knew I was putty in his hands. It was fun to bite back at him every now and then, but I knew that whatever fight we would have, he would win hands down.

That night in Vegas... I would have never guessed that approaching a stranger sipping cocktails by the poolside would change my life forever. We were both completely smashed by the time we decided it’d be a fun idea to elope under the presence of a poor man’s Elvis impersonator, but now that I thought about it, I could only benefit from my legally binding relationship with Devlin...

Devlin groaned softly in the seat next to me and rotated on the chair to get to a more comfortable position. I thought about reaching over to pat him gently on his lap but wasn’t sure if I’d wake the angry dog, so I opted not to.

Devlin had skipped town before I even woke up and at