Devil Inside Read online

  Devil Inside

  Brandy Isaacs

  Text Copyright © Brandy Isaacs

  All Right Reserved

  Cover Art Copyright © Tina Pugel

  This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my brilliant and patient friends Shannon, Anita, Edgar, Katie and Devan.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Part One

  “You know you want to see his penis. You should just go talk to him,” Harley laughed.

  “I do NOT want to see his penis. And besides, I don’t see you talking to the hottie that keeps looking over here,” Jamie shot back rolling her eyes.

  Chuckling, Harley responded, “That’s because he is more than a three shot hottie. Come on, let’s get another Jagerbomb and work on a game plan.” Harley led the way back to the bar to buy another round of shots. She slipped her way through the crush of people to gain a spot at the bar with Jamie following in the path that she carved. Harley, Jamie and several of their friends were hanging out at Jay’s, one of the few bars in Lexington to play good live music. A rock band was on stage currently. Harley couldn’t remember the name of the band but they were talented. They only played cover songs but had pretty good renditions. For the past hour or so both girls had been working up to initiating some sort of contact with the two guys whose attention they seemed to have caught.

  Jamie had been particularly interested in a small guy with sandy blonde hair. He had been standing at the side of the crowd in front of the stage with a group of guys and girls. He kept not-so-casually looking over his shoulder in Jamie’s direction. He wore jeans and a light colored polo shirt and his hair had been gelled in the “I fixed my hair but I’m trying to not look like it kind of way.” Harley smiled to herself as she watched Jamie peeking at him out of the corner of her eye. Jamie was taller than she was and had light brown hair that curled in a way that Harley had always been jealous over. Right now her friends pale green eyes sparkled in excitement. Typical, she thought, Jamie always goes for the little ones. Harley, on the other hand, had her eye on the big guy in the corner who looked like trouble. She laughed to herself, realizing how predictable they both were.

  The guy she had been sneaking glances at was sitting in a booth near the bathrooms; he had been alone the whole night. So there was a good chance he was single, Harley thought to herself. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans and was casually rolling his beer bottle along the edge of its bottom. He had long dark hair and broad shoulders. He was watching the crowd intently and every so often Harley caught him looking at her a little longer than he seemed to be looking at everyone else. Whenever she tried to catch his eye, he would look away. Slowly, as if he didn’t care that she saw that he was watching her. The brief glances caused her stomach to tingle excitedly. Despite the fact that the guy kept coming back to her, he seemed to be serious about his crowd watching. He didn’t look as if he was having a bad time; he was just apparently really interested in the bar’s crowd. Harley lost sight of him when a group of dancers drifted into her and Jamie’s path to the bar. The two women had to wait, laughing, until the dancers drifted away before they could finally continue on their way.

  Harley and Jamie finally made it to the bar with minimal jostling. Three shots in and Harley was finally feeling the warm numbness spreading from her stomach to her limbs. She was just buzzed enough to not care that so many people were in her personal space. She elbowed her way to the front of the bar. “Two Jagerbombs” she yelled when the bartender pointed to her. Her fingers were starting to feel clumsy from the alcohol she had consumed and she struggled to pull the wad of bills from her pocket. As she tried to get a grip on the money, several bills slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor. Laughing, she looked to see if Jamie had noticed the classic drunk behavior, but Jamie didn’t seem to have noticed what had happened because she was staring over Harley’s shoulder. Figuring that Jamie was checking out the short blonde guy, Harley steadied herself on a bar stool and bent to retrieve the money. As she did so she discovered what had caught her friend’s attention. The “more-than-three-shot-hottie” had already bent to pick the money up from the floor.

  Harley wondered how he had gotten through the crowd so quickly. When she and Jamie began to make their way to the bar he had been near the bathrooms. The fact that her muscles had frozen in a crouched position was the only thing keeping her from falling over. She felt as if her stomach had dropped to the floor. What if he had heard them? Oh, how embarrassing! Harley’s hand remained suspended in the air over the money while he scooped the money up swiftly. She met his eyes as he held the bills out to her with a small smile. The unexpected encounter left her unprepared and stupefied with an incredibly dry mouth. OK, get a grip Harley. Close your mouth and say something.

  Suppressing her embarrassment, Harley returned his half smile. “Thanks.” Well, that’s a start. At least you managed to form a complete and intelligible word.

  “No problem,” More-than-three-shot-hottie replied. His voice was deep and rough and while he didn’t speak overly loud Harley had no trouble hearing him. It was as if her senses had tuned themselves to his unique frequency. He held the bills out to her again as they both stood. Please don’t let me fall, please let me stand like I’m more sober than I actually am. She accepted the bills and tried her best to look charmingly sheepish. “I call it Jager-fingers,” she laughed.

  “It happens,” he chuckled and shrugged one shoulder. Harley threw out a quick head-to-toe, attempting to send the subliminal message “Hey, you’re so hot I am checking you out right to your face.” He was tall. Not so tall that it was awkward to look him in the face. He was solidly built but didn’t look like a gym-rat that spent all of his time working on his muscles. His hair was long and black brushing his shoulders in that carefree kind of way that only lucky people were born with. He was beautiful in the way that antiques were beautiful even though he looked to only be maybe in his late 20s. Antiques were sturdier and their beauty came from the way that they bore the years of use they had seen. The lines and scars that marred their surfaces only added to their beauty. While he didn’t have any noticeable scars, his face was worn and looked as if he was used to working outside. He was somewhat pale and had a strong jaw line and noticeable cheek bones. They weren’t exotically high but they showed an ancestry that was probably Native American. His mouth was set firmly and carved into a half smile. His eyes were a dark blue, so blue they were almost black and were filled with a wary amusement. He was so undeniably mysterious and delicious looking that it wasn’t fair.
br />   Harley realized that they had been staring silently at each other long enough to be weird. The stare down was broken when a look of indecision suddenly shifted his features. He broke away with a polite nod picked up his fresh bottle of beer and melted back into the crowd. What was that? She stared after him perplexed. It was a dangling teaser that had half annoyed and half intrigued Harley. She turned slowly to meet Jamie’s amused gaze.

  “Well, that was one giant fail.”

  “I was completely caught off guard! I had no time to prepare at all. Is it just me or was he even hotter up close?” Harley feigned breathlessness, fanning herself.

  Jamie tried to restrain her laughter. When it still threatened to bubble up, she put her hand over her mouth. Harley scowled at her and crossed her arms. “OK, OK. Fine. Watch this,” she said with a smirk. Harley turned to the bar to pay for their drinks and ordered two beers. She handed one shot to Jamie and held the other up in salute. “Here’s to growing a pair.” Jamie and Harley knocked their shots back in unison—a feat that took practice. Harley grimaced against the sourness of the shot.

  “What are you going to do?” Jamie asked shuddering and giving the empty shot glass a scowl.

  “I’m going home with that man tonight.” Jamie had thrown the dare out there and Harley was going to take it—even knowing that Jamie had only been half serious.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jamie asked shaking her head and trying not to smile, already knowing Harley’s answer.

  “Am I sure now? Absolutely. Tomorrow? I will probably regret it.”

  “Then why do it?” Jamie rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

  “Cause it will be damn fun.” Harley had that feeling in her stomach, the one daring her to live, to do whatever she felt like. Despite the nagging voice of reason telling her this was a bad idea, her heart picked up in anticipation of the adventure to come.

  Harley smiled at Jamie and asked, “Will you be OK on your own?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she answered, chuckling. “I’ll go hang out with Jason and Olivia. Have fun and make sure you do something I wouldn’t do.”

  “You know it,” she retorted, wiggling her eyebrows. Jamie acted like she disapproved, but her and Harley both knew that she was jealous that Harley could throw caution to the wind and act on her desires. Jamie’s subtle urging was her way of living vicariously and Harley was usually willing to oblige.

  Harley picked up the two beers from the bar and scoped the crowd. Hottie had been sitting near the bathrooms and it was there that she found him again. He was still sitting in a booth alone as he had for most of the night. He watched the crowd with a slightly amused smile on his lips despite the intensity in his eyes. Harley made her way towards the booth, zigzagging and shimmying around the crowd. She hoped she looked more graceful than she felt. She couldn’t really believe she was doing this, if she was honest with herself. She could tell she was pretty drunk because that was the only time she would put herself out there like this. Usually, she just waited until a guy approached her. But she had had just enough liquid courage and just enough of a dare from Jamie that she was going through with it. Besides, the guy approached her first. She refused to allow herself to think too much about what she was doing. Else she would think better of it and change her mind. Halfway there Hottie looked her way and saw her coming. As their eyes met she refused to look away. He didn’t look particularly uninviting. He simply looked curious and maybe a little surprised.

  As Harley made her way towards his table she concentrated on not making a fool of herself. She placed her feet carefully and did her best to avoid letting the crowd bump her too much. Falling flat on her face would not make the impression she was hoping for. Arriving at his table she forced her face to give him a sly smile that alluded to more confidence that she actually had. She held the beer in her right hand up and said, “A thank you. For being nice and not stealing my money.”

  Hottie smiled quietly, “You are welcome. But you really didn’t have to buy me a beer for that.” Harley met his eyes. They weren’t unfriendly, but there was a hardness to them that Harley found intriguing. It would have been easy to describe his eyes as cold; yet, the intensity of their navy color reminded her more of a warm summer sky darkened with storm clouds. Harley took a deep breath to give herself time to speak clearly.

  “Oh, I’m glad to. My name is Harley by the way. Harley Finn.”

  “Seriously?” he chuckled

  Harley laughed. “Yeah. My dad was a Batman fan. It’s even worse,” she answered sheepishly. “My middle name is Quinn.”

  Hottie laughed a little harder. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s fine. I’m used to it.” She held the beer up and raised her eyebrows.

  “Sorry—sure. Thanks,” he quickly recovered, extending his hand somewhat reluctantly towards the empty side of the booth. “My name is Levi Bonham.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Harley responded, sliding into the booth. It was when she sat down that she realized that she hadn’t really thought things through much further than this. Now that she was sitting on the other side of the table from him she wasn’t sure what to do next. Willing herself to not be a socially awkward, weirdo she smiled and tried to think of a question that was conversational and yet not cliché.

  “Have you ever been here before?” Wow—that was just a rearranged version of do you come here often. Good job, Harley.

  Levi seemed to be trying to suppress a laugh as he answered, “No. I’m just passing through really.” He seemed to relax his shoulders and let go of some of his reluctance as they talked.

  “Sorry. That was the lamest question ever, right?” Harley decided to own her awkwardness. When social graces fail—self effacing humor saved the day.

  “It’s pretty classic,” Levi finally let loose the soft chuckle he had been holding back. His laugh raised the hairs on Harley’s arms. She couldn’t figure out what was so enticing about this guy. He was good looking in her opinion—really good looking. But she realized that plenty of women would have seen him as too rough and scruffy. No, it wasn’t looks that Harley found so captivating. Harley suspected that it was the coarse and guarded attitude that he gave off. It was in the tense way he carried his shoulders and the wary look in his eye. Harley almost sighed out loud. The man’s entire demeanor screamed enigmatic and troublesome. Predictable. That was just the type of guy that she always gravitated towards.

  Levi seemed to take pity on her, “Do YOU come here often?”

  Harley chuckled. “Yeah, my friends and I come here quite a bit. There are not a lot of bars in Lexington that have good bands and good crowds. You said you were passing through, from where?”

  “All over really. Most recently I was living just outside of Atlanta. I’ve been here for about a week.”

  “Nice. What brought you to Lexington?”

  Levi seemed to hesitate. “Sorry,” Harley tried to retreat. “I guess that could be a personal question.”

  “No, no it’s fine. I do consulting work so I get to travel a lot. I decided to rest here for a while.”

  “Wow, that’s pretty awesome. I’ve kind of always wanted to do that—travel for work.”

  “It’s incredibly freeing.”

  “I bet.”

  The conversation reached a natural lull. They both watched the band for a minute. The silence didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, it felt as if they were both feeling the music. Just enjoying the sounds. Harley was well aware of him sitting across the booth from her. It was like a line from one of her favorite TV shows—her body was like one of those dogs that point—and her body was pointing at him. He seemed to relax even more as they listened to the music. Harley couldn’t help thinking it was because she wasn’t pressuring him to talk. Guys like him didn’t talk a lot and bombarding him with words would on put him on edge because he would be forced to talk more than he would really want, either that or be rude. Harley let him settle in even more and waited. Not overly talkative her
self, she had always enjoyed being able to silently appreciate the moments around her.

  He shifted in the booth and his knee brushed against her knee. The touched zinged all the way up her leg and pulled at her breath for a second. He glanced at her as if he felt the same thing. It was all Harley could do to not reach out and touch him. She wanted to run her hand along his forearm that he rested on the table. She wanted to brush the fine hairs and feel the muscle flex beneath his skin. Harley tore her eyes away from his arm when she noticed him notice her staring. She felt her face heat up slightly even though she willed it to not give her away. He didn’t seem concerned by her staring; rather his eyes softened for just a moment before he smiled softly at her before refocusing his attention on the band. Harley did the same, relieved that he let it go. She knew she wasn’t experiencing some sort of mystical, meeting of souls. She was simply feeling the rush of endorphins that came along with meeting someone that she found incredibly attractive. That combined with the alcohol made her entire body alive and extra sensitive.

  They both continued to watch the band for a while. A young blonde woman swayed drunkenly in front of the small stage, teetering on her high heels. Suddenly, the drunken girl’s equally blonde and drunk friend stumbled out of the crowd and half fell and half hugged her. Giggling they both crashed to the ground. Harley laughed and covered her mouth slightly embarrassed for the girls but mostly glad to be entertained by their antics. She realized that Levi was smiling slightly too. Their eyes met in a shared camaraderie that relaxed them both even further.

  “They remind me of these sorority girls that used to come to the bar that my friends and I went to when I was in college. They always got too drunk, too early, and ended up dancing in front of the bar like that,” she told him.

  Harley told the first “drunken people show” story and Levi matched her story with one of his own. Before she knew it they were trading stories like old friends. Despite the fact that he appeared to be enjoying himself, he never seemed to fully let go and laugh unrestrained. Instead, his laughter—or chuckle—died rather quickly on lips that never fully opened. Harley didn’t think it was due to a lack of interest or humor. It just seemed as if he had something else on his mind. It was just enough to maintain his mystery but not enough to deter her interest in him. Whenever she would begin to think that maybe she should leave him alone, he would draw her back in with a question or a light touch on her arm or hand. Each touch tingled long after he pulled away. Eventually, Harley found herself relaxing and getting more and more comfortable with Levi.