Page 36 of Saving the CEO

“I am, but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble. You should know that I don’t need any kind of special treatment.” Pointing to her outfit, she remarked, “I’m a jeans and sweatshirt kind of girl. I don’t need much.”

“I know, but that’s not going to stop me from giving you the best. I also prefer not to make a fool of myself in front of a room full of strangers if I can help it.” Holding onto the wall for support, Devin took his first steps onto the ice. He moved forward slowly, inch by inch, as if he were walking on stilts. His brows drew together as he winced. “This isn’t my finest hour as you can see.”

Her heart did a happy little flip as she watched him. If this wasn’t a sacrificial act on his part, she didn’t know what was. “I disagree. You look pretty hot in those jeans, Devin Kendall. I happen to have a soft spot for guys who go out of their way to make a girl’s wish come true.”

“You better be talking about one guy, and one guy only.” He released his hold on the wall with one hand to point at himself. In doing so, he lost his balance and fell onto the ice with a groan.

Scarlett rushed over and helped him to his feet. “Bend your knees and lean forward a bit. That way you’re less likely to get thrown off balance.”

“Now you tell me,” he muttered through gritted teeth. Red colored his cheeks, likely more from frustration than the cold. “Any other pointers you want to give me before I break my back?”

“You are so dramatic! You’re not going to break anything going zero miles an hour,” she chided him with a cheeky grin. “If it’s any consolation, you did the right thing by landing on your backside. You’re less likely to break anything that way, except for your pride.”

“Believe me, I’m way ahead of the game on that one.”

His droll expression had Scarlett laughing when a young voice suddenly called out to them. “Hey, mister! You look like you need some help!”

A young blonde girl appeared at the entrance to the rink. In her hands was a metal device that Scarlett recognized as a skate trainer. “That’s perfect, thanks!”

Stepping onto the ice with her sneakers, the girl walked the apparatus over and unfolded it. With a beaming smile, she offered it to Devin. “Here you go. This will keep you from falling.”

“What is this? Some kind of walker?” He eyed it suspiciously, studying the pair of trapezoid frames that were held together by two parallel bars on one side. “I don’t need a walker. I can walk fine on my own.”

The girl narrowed her blue eyes at Devin. “If you don’t want to break anything, you should use the walker.”

“Ha! She makes a good point, Devin.” Scarlett gave her newfound friend a high five. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Ella.” She stared up at Devin, recognition lighting up her eyes. “You’re my mom’s favorite singer!”

He shook his head adamantly. “No, you’re thinking of my brother, Jace. I’m Devin.”

“Oh.”

“Ella, where are you?” a woman called out from a distance. “Come finish your homework!”

“I gotta go! Tell your brother Leah Parker said hi!”

Scarlett watched Ella run off, her ponytail swinging from side to side. “She’s cute.”

“Humph.”

She took one look at Devin’s dejected expression and kissed him on the cheek. “Cheer up, old man! She was just trying to help.”

“I’m not upset about the walker. It was the disappointment on her face when she realized I wasn’t Jace. You wouldn’t believe how many times I got that same reaction when we were younger. For a second, some of those old insecurities came back. Ridiculous, right? Here I am, a grown man and still hung up on things from the past.”

“It’s not ridiculous, Devin. Just because we look like adults doesn’t mean we always feel like one. You’re allowed to be vulnerable and insecure.”

His eyes clouded with unspoken emotions. “Those words aren’t part of my vocabulary. My father made sure of that.”

Her heart cracked to hear the hurt in his voice. That explained why Devin was so good at keeping his emotions in check and why he worked so hard at being in control. She ached for the little boy who had to grow up too fast. “You don’t have to put up a front with me, Devin. I want to know all of you, especially the parts of you that you don’t show the rest of the world. You’re safe with me. You know that, right?”

A moment passed before he nodded. A moment in which tears filled his eyes, along with a look of tenderness that stole Scarlett’s breath away. In that stillness and quiet, all she could think of was how blessed she was to be able to love Devin in a way that he possibly had never experienced before.Help me to love this man well, Lord.That was Scarlett’s simple prayer as she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight.

She felt Devin’s body relax as he rested in her embrace. He kissed the top of her head, then murmured in her ear, “Marry me.”

She froze, wondering if she’d heard him wrong. Pulling away to see him, she swallowed hard as she found herself staring at a diamond solitaire ring. It sat in a black velvet box cradled in Devin’s palm. Scarlett’s gaze flitted from the ring to Devin’s hopeful smile and back again as her mind struggled to process the scene.

“Marry me, Scarlett.”

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