Hot and Bothered (Sin and Tonic Book 4)

by Athena Wright

  But I hadn’t seen an extra set of women’s shoes at the door. Evan was home alone.

  My face flamed.

  Did that mean he was…?

  I thought about dashing to the front door and leaving, pretending I’d never come home and heard those noises.

  But as the noises continued, I realized they were coming from the spare room. There had been weights in the room.

  I didn’t want to disturb Evan, but I did need to ask if he had a charger for the phone. I made my way down the hallway and took a look through the half-open door.

  As I had suspected, Evan was in there with a pair of headphones. I could hear the music blasting even from several feet away.

  He wore a pair of dark grey sweatpants hung low on his hips and a tight black t-shirt. The t-shirt clung to his chest and torso with the sweat of exertion. The peaks and valleys of his abs were clearly visible.

  I couldn’t keep my eyes from trailing along those abs, up his muscled chest, to the strong arms that were currently lifting weights up and down. The muscles shifted and flexed as he curled each arm.

  He let out soft grunts in time with his movements as he exercised. The sounds were almost hypnotic. I watched as his chest rose and fell with every breath. My own breath began to rise and fall in time with him, as if we were in sync somehow.

  Beads of sweat lined his brow, making his hair stick to his forehead in damp strands. My eyes greedily took in the sweat rolling down his neck and soaking into the collar of his shirt.

  My heartbeat sped up to a rapid pace. Heat began to rise inside me, a slow simmering warmth that started in my stomach, flowing downwards to my belly button and then lower, centering at the apex of my thighs.

  I had noticed Evan was handsome the first time I’d seen him. I had continued to notice how attractive as we ate breakfast and as we worked together.

  But it was only now that these feelings turned from a casual thought at the back of my mind into a raging storm whirling in my gut.

  This man was absolutely gorgeous.

  I didn’t know how long I stayed in the hallway peeking through the door, watching Evan work out. It must have been for far longer than I’d assumed because he ended up finishing his work out while I still stood there. He plucked the headphones from his ears, grabbed a towel from a hook on the wall, and wiped the sweat from his face.

  I took a step back, not wanting to be caught watching him like this.

  I tripped over my own two feet, smacking against the wall and drawing unwanted attention to myself.

  Evan stopped in the middle of toweling off his hair and glanced outside the door. He saw me trying to right myself. I hoped he didn’t notice the redness of my cheeks.

  I opened my mouth to apologize but stopped. I had been saying I’m sorry an awful lot. I didn’t need to apologize this time, because for all he knew I had just walked up. If I said I was sorry he would know I had been surreptitiously watching him work out. That was even more embarrassing than tripping over my own two feet in front of him.

  “Hey,” Evan greeted me. “Is everything okay?”

  “I was just wondering where you kept the charger for the phone you gave me,” I asked him. My voice came out more breathy then I would have liked.

  “I’ll get one for you,” Evan said.

  My mouth dropped open as he tugged off his shirt. I stood transfixed in the doorway as he ran the towel all over his chest and arms, letting the towel soak up the sweat. He didn’t even look at me as he did so, as if he’d already forgotten I was there.

  I closed my mouth with a snap. I turned my back to him and stumbled down the hallway.

  The heat between my legs throbbed and ached. The feeling was unfamiliar. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d reacted to someone like this. I brought my hands to my cheeks and felt the heat in them.

  Did Evan work out every night? Was this something I was going to be walking in on all the time?

  Anticipation tingled through me.

  No, I chided myself.

  Now that I knew this was Evan’s routine, I would give him his privacy. No peeking in on him, no stolen looks.

  After all, would I have appreciated someone creeping on me while I worked out? Of course not.

  Still, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help remember how his eyes lit up with amusement when he had found me standing there in the doorway.

  Evan hadn’t seemed to mind me walking in on him at all.

  7

  My cheeks were still flushed and my heart was still pounding by the time Evan came out of the spare room.

  I was sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly flicking through channels on his TV, not paying attention to what was on the screen. I had turned to the news, but the coverage was depressing so I switched it to a talkshow.

  I sat primly with my back straight and my hands in my lap. The host’s voice barely registered with me. My mind was still on the gorgeous sight I’d just witnessed.

  The heat between my legs hadn’t dissipated. If anything, it had grown stronger. The more I tried to put Evan out of my mind the more my inner voice continued to speak up.

  Was I sure it was a good idea to stay at this guy’s place? He was a stranger, he had a girlfriend, or at least, he was in an intimate relationship.

  And I’d just been caught drooling over his half-naked body.

  Maybe things would be too awkward, too complicated, for me to continue staying here. But the thought of going home made my heart clench in my chest.

  It wasn’t just because I was dreading the reception I would get from my family. It was the thought of leaving Evan. He had been so nice to me. It wouldn’t be fair of me to walk out after all the help he’d given me, would it? I was determined to pay him back somehow. Whether that was by working hard at the bar or by helping out around the house, I wanted to let him know how much I appreciated what he had done for me.

  If I ran off now it would be rude. Right?

  “Here’s the charger for the phone,” Evan said as he came into the living room. He laid it down on the coffee table in front of me. “What do you think about burritos for dinner?”

  He was still shirtless with the towel slung around his shoulders. I fought not to let my jaw gape open, firmly clenching my teeth.

  Was this the kind of thing Evan did? Walk around shirtless in his own apartment?

  Of course he probably did, I reminded myself, considering he lived alone. He shouldn’t have to change his routines just because I was crashing here.

  I still couldn’t help my eyes from roving all over the planes of his chest. A few droplets of sweat that hadn’t been sopped up by the towel dotted his skin. His sweatpants were low on his hips, showing off a tempting V.

  I quickly snapped my eyes up before I could be caught ogling him.

  The heat between my legs flared, but I refused to let my libido take control like that. I didn’t want things to be awkward, and if I was caught drooling over him it might end up ruining everything.

  “Are you going to order food?” I asked. “You don’t have to do that, I can fend for myself.”

  “Are you saying that because you don’t want to impose on me or are you saying that because you don’t like burritos?” he asked.

  “I’ve only had burritos a couple times in my life,” I confessed.

  That wasn’t the kind of thing my parents served us for dinner. I didn’t say that out loud, though. Evan no doubt already suspected the hoity-toity life I had run away from. I didn’t need to tell him all the details. I knew how it sounded. Although that life was normal to me, I was aware of how unusual it was to everyone else who wasn’t in my parent’s social circle.

  As soon as the words left my lips, that I’d rarely eaten burritos, Evan shook his head in feigned sadness.

  “You poor deprived thing,” he said. “I know the best place for burritos. I’ll have them delivered. Just give me a second to go change out of my workout clothes and then I’ll place the order.”

  He
went to his bedroom, and I breathed a soft sigh of relief. I no longer had to fight the urge to scan up and down his body.

  I’d never reacted to a guy like this before, with such improper and unseemly behavior.

  But it hadn’t escaped my notice that, while I’d been struggling to keep my eyes focused on Evan’s face, his gaze had dropped to my lips and my legs once or twice. It was subtle, a quick flash of his eyes, but I’d noticed.

  I had a sinking feeling things were going to get messy.

  I picked up the charger and plugged in the phone, checking the battery percentage. It was now at fifteen percent. The battery in this old thing really did drain quickly.

  * * *

  The phone buzzed and chimed. My heart leapt to my throat. With a rising sense of dread, I turned the phone over in my hand.

  It was the messaging app I’d used to contact my sister.

  She had written back to me.

  My hands shook as I hovered a thumb over the screen.

  Did I want to hear what she had to say? Or was it better to ignore the message? What if something really important happened? What if my mother or father had fallen ill?

  Maybe the shock of running away gave one of them a heart attack.

  I tapped to open the app and begin to read what my sister had written.

  My heart sank as I scrolled through paragraph after paragraph of condemnation and condescension.

  My sister was just as upset with me as I had expected, and from what she had written, my parents were even more so. Tirades about the family business and my now-ruined reputation were only the beginning of her rant.

  My chest felt tight. I could barely take in any air around the lump of pure lead sitting in my lungs. My breath came in fits and starts.

  It became hard to continue reading because my hands were trembling so hard the screen ended up shaky and blurry. The beginnings of tears pinpricked behind my eyes.

  A strong hand covered mine, ceasing the quakes.

  “Are you all right?” Evan asked.

  I shook my head. My lips parted but no words would come out. My breath hitched, just as it had when I been drinking and crying at the bar, as if I was seconds away from having the same breakdown.

  “Is it your family?” Evan asked.

  “They’re just as upset with me as I thought they would be,” I said in a small voice. “My sister said Jacob’s parents are pulling out of the merger. My family’s reputation is in ruins.”

  Evan took the phone from my hand and laid it down on the coffee table. He clasped both of my hands between his and ducked down to look me in the eye.

  “Forget about them,” he said. “If they care more about this business merger or their reputation than your happiness, then you don’t need them.”

  Easier said than done.

  How could I cut my family out of my life when I had relied on my parents for so much and for so long? Did I have what it took to stand up to them? Did I have what it took to strike out on my own?

  I blinked back tears and cleared my throat.

  I’d done well enough at working at the bar today, I reminded myself. Maybe it was a small baby step, but I wasn’t completely helpless.

  I inhaled a breath through my mouth and let it out slowly through my nose, trying to calm myself. I drew my back up straight. Evan still had his hands around mine, but now it was my turn to squeeze his firmly.

  “I think I’ll be okay,” I told him.

  Evan brushed a strand of hair from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. The softness of his gaze made something inside me flutter.

  Evan continued staring at me silently, as if he was waiting for me to continue.

  But my mind had gone blank the moment his fingers brushed my cheeks. I could feel the phantom touch on my skin.

  I wanted more of it.

  I wanted to feel his strong hands circling my waist.

  I wanted to feel the hard muscles of his bare chest under my fingertips.

  Evan’s eyes flared as I bit my lip. His gaze dropped to my mouth. My heart beat heavily in my chest.

  His hands squeezed mine as he brought my hands to his chest. I was forced to take a step closer towards him. Our toes touched.

  I parted my lips.

  Evan’s phone rang.

  The heat in his eyes quickly cooled. He dropped my hands and took a step back. Disappointment filled my chest. I felt bereft of his touch. I brought my hands to my sides and plucked at the hem of the dress Lizzy had lent me.

  Evan turned away from me and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, bringing it to his ear. He had another hushed conversation. His lips curled into a small smile, and he gave an unconscious nod before ending the conversation.

  I pretended to pick a piece of lint off my dress when Evan turned back to me. I couldn’t meet his eyes.

  I had been so caught up with his touch, so caught up in the moment, I had almost done something I knew I would regret.

  “I forgot to tell you.” Evan gestured to the bag on the kitchen table. “I got you some new clothes. I took the shoe size from your wedding shoes but I had to guess at your dress size. Hopefully, I got it right.”

  “Thank you,” I told him, trying not to let my voice sounded shaky. “I really appreciate it.”

  “I’ll also make sure you get an advance on your salary,” he said. “That way you can go out and get anything else you need for yourself.”

  Evan ran a hand through the short hair at the back of his head. He hadn’t looked me in the eyes this whole time.

  “I’ve got some stuff I need to go do,” he said. “We’ll have to get those burritos next time. I’ve got some food in the fridge if you get hungry. Feel free to eat anything in there.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” I said politely. I needed to bring us back to a respectful distance.

  Evan grabbed his wallet from the table and shoved it in his jeans pocket. It was late in the evening, and I had to wonder where he was going at this hour. I wasn’t about to ask and pry into his personal business. Not after the moment we had just had.

  I wasn’t going to screw up this roommate thing. Just because Evan was attractive, just because he made me feel things I hadn’t felt before, didn’t mean I had to act on them.

  I still didn’t know what I was going to do long term, but as long as Evan was willing to let me stay with him, I wasn’t going to do anything to mess that up.

  8

  My next shift at the bar didn’t go better than my first one. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was ten times worse.

  I did the usual sweeping and cleaning when I got there, carefully avoiding the dishes in the sink. But it was going to be a longer shift than the first one so Evan needed to find me something to do.

  “How about you go take the customer’s orders?” He handed me a pad of paper and a pencil. “You won’t have to memorize anything. You can write it all down and give it to Grant. He’ll take care of the rest.”

  With a determined nod, I took the pen and paper firmly in hand and surveyed the room. It was much busier than it had been the last time I’d worked here, with people clearly getting ready to let loose and have fun with copious amounts of alcohol.

  I didn’t have to wait long before a man lifted his head from his conversation with his friend and nodded his chin in my direction.

  I went over to him with my pencil poised above my pad of paper.

  “Hi there,” I said with a cheery smile. “What can I get you today?”

  I had hoped the man would order a beer or something relatively simple. Instead, he rattled off the name of a drink I’d never heard of, some kind of cocktail with half dozen customized requests. I struggled to write down everything he said because he was talking so fast.

  “Sorry, could you repeat that last bit?” I asked him.

  He practically rolled his eyes as he repeated himself.

  “I’ll be right back with your drink,” I told him politely.

  I took the order
to Grant. He squinted at the paper, trying to read my writing. I couldn’t tell him what it said because I had already half-forgotten most of what I’d written down.

  “Okay, I got it,” he said. “I’ll have it to you in a minute.”

  The drink had sounded complicated. I hoped it didn’t take too long to make because I had a feeling the customer I was serving was the impatient type.

  When Grant handed me the drink in a short glass, I used both hands to carry it carefully to the table. I wasn’t going to have another episode of fumble fingers like I had with the dishes.

  I set the glass down in front of the customer with a smile.

  “Here you go,” I told him.

  He nodded in thanks and brought it to his lips. He took the smallest of sips, then blanched. He lowered the glass, letting it clink heavily on the table as he set it down.

  “This isn’t what I ordered,” he said in a harried voice.

  My heart sank. I had gotten the order wrong. Whether I had misheard the customer or whether Grant hadn’t been able to read my scribbles correctly, I had screwed up either way.

  “I apologize,” I told the customer. “If you don’t mind repeating your order, I’ll write it down again and make sure to get it right this time.”

  This time the man spoke slowly and deliberately, enunciating each word as if I were a three-year-old, the way adults talked to children. It was condescending and it began to rile me up, but I forced myself to stay calm. After all, I had messed up the order. It was no wonder that the customer was upset.

  I printed in big block letters, making sure to write down every word correctly.

  “I hope you’ll get the order right this time,” the customer said impatiently.

  “Yes, I’m so sorry,” I told him. “I’ll make sure to get your drink straightaway.”

  I hurried back to the bar and had to explain to Grant what happened.

  “No worries,” he said, but there was no reassuring smile to go along with the words.

  I pushed back the sinking feeling in my stomach and went back to roaming among the tables, looking for customers to wave me down.