“Anyway, it wasn’t romantic the way he hoped it would be with my bodyguards standing around watching but not watching, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would ruin the mood.”
Explains too why she’s so inexperienced for someone so stunningly gorgeous. Never had the chance to fuck anyone else being under constant watch by her father’s men, for which I’ve never been more grateful for Nick’s overprotective nature.
“That’s my Dad for you.”
She takes a long sip. Diluting her irritation with alcohol while my agitation grows. Rare guilt concentrating in my conscience from our deception against the man. I’ve held off as long as I could, but the time has come to discuss the duplicity we have to end. That I’m perpetrating day after day with each text to him that everything’s fine. When between her and I, everything’s actually perfect. But between him and I, everything’s horribly wrong. “Speaking of your father, we need to tell him about us trouble. I respect him too much not to tell him I’m in love with his daughter.”
Pink circles her cheeks from my declaration, but her sweet blush doesn’t negate the fact we should be forthright with him. That I should be honest with him since I’m the one who fucked up. “He and your mum deserve better than us sneaking around behind their backs.”
Putting her empty drink next to my half full glass, she sighs and rubs across the green silky fabric covering her bent legs, tucked gracefully to the side. “I know but I’m not ready yet. He’s going to freak out and force me to come home. I might never see you again.”
Now it’s my turn to set down my plate from her agonized whisper. A few blueberries tumble off from my haste, but I have to reiterate what I’ve told her before and eliminate any doubt. I cup her cheek and turn her to face me. “Never happening. I don’t care how mad he is at me. I will fight for you. We will be together.”
“You’ll fight for me?”
“Fuck yes. You know I will.”
She does know. Her head bobbing up and down furiously as she leans in and presses her lips to mine. Her mouth even more lush and decadent than normal from the wine. “I’ll fight for you too.”
Gus fights for the food he mistakenly thinks we’ve abandoned. Vacuuming up everything on our dishes in our distraction. I can’t even be mad. I’ll let him enjoy the treasure he’s found while I enjoy mine.
“Can we at least wait until my internship is over? I’ve been working really hard and want to finish it with a good reputation. It’s unfair to ghost on them.” She tugs on my shirt with her plea. The frown I hate crossing her face. “Then we can enjoy the rest of the summer together too.”
Telling her no is almost impossible. With only a month left, not much will actually change. Besides, she is doing a good job—a great fucking job actually. For both them and her father. Focused and engaged at SBI and not once doing anything to put herself in danger. She’s really risen to the challenge Nick and I both set for her. Although I know it’s wrong and I’ll probably regret it, I nod in agreement. And, get rewarded with her flying over the dog to hug me. Peppering my face with kisses that quickly turn more urgent and dangerous. I need to get her home. For so much more than my pie.
As much as I hate stopping, I pull back from her embrace. Needing to get her, and more importantly myself, under control. I still need to protect her and can’t do that if I’m distracted by my obsession with fucking her. “Okay, trouble settle down or you’ll spill my drink.”
“Too late.”
Her carefree laugh surrounds us as she lures Gus away from trying to lap up the liquid by waving her plate of goodies in front of his snout. I pour her another glass once he settles down to gobble up the fruit. Maybe not the romantic afternoon we planned but still damn near perfect. Just like she is.
“I’m sorry we have to stay in tonight.”
She pulls the sparkling, jingling bracelets she likes to wear off her wrist and lays them on top of the dresser. Such a simple act but I like the familiarity of her stuff here. Like it belongs. Like she belongs.
“I’m not. You know I hate small talk.” While she slips on her favorite striped socks, I toss my wallet in the drawer and look over at Gus, hunkered down on his bed with the weird but seemingly helpful vest we bought him this afternoon after he freaked out from the boys shooting off bottle rockets by the fountain. Which always cracks me up how kids can’t wait until it’s dark to really enjoy the colors. “And people.”
The playful smile slides off her face from my insinuation of the person I hate the most. She warned me Josh might be at the party, and if he was, I’d probably have to beat his arse for thinking about her, let alone looking at her. Which is so unlike me to be this territorial I almost don’t recognize myself. Yet I can’t deny the truth of what she does to me. Only she awakens the irrational beast inside me that I didn’t even know existed until I met her.
“You don’t have to be jealous. I don’t want him. I never wanted him.”
Guilt from the time he came here to meet her weighs in her voice. No need for any remorse from either of us. Despite the fact I hate that bloke, he did me the best favor he ever could without even realizing it. I finally admitted my feelings to myself and to her because of him. “I know and if we did see him at Lauren’s I would’ve been on my best behavior.”
The grin returns from my lie. There’s no such thing as best behavior when it comes to another man wanting her. I’d be unable to control myself around her with him nearby. Almost as much as I’m struggling now with her lips skimming my cheek as she heads back to the kitchen. Excited yet anxious about her—well my—pie. Even if the dessert tastes like the bottom of my boot, I will inhale every bite.
She finger-combs her long hair to the side so the strands don’t fall in her face when she bends over to slide out the tray. Silky waves that sway across her shoulder when she tugs on the oven mitts and tips forward. Wild and loose instead of the sleek style she normally wears to work. Mesmerizing me with her sweet femininity and gorgeous arse straining against the little pink shorts she wears at home. The perfect combination of grace and temptation.
“Well, it looks pretty good. What do you think?”
Uncertainty frowns her forehead when she turns to me for approval. That I most certainly do. “It looks amazing.”
“If it tastes bad, you don’t have to eat it.”
“You worry too much. It’s good.”
Scarlet circles her cheeks, and she nods. Accepting my confident tone, she rummages through the drawer for the small spatula. If she keeps baking for me like this, I’ll have to buy her some better utensils. Gus perks up from the noise, smart enough to realize the sound of silverware clinking together might mean food for him.
I grab the tiny dish she uses for his treats and place the bowl next to ours. She gives me the silent eyebrow. Once again accusing me of liking the dog more than I’m willing to admit. While she’s unwilling to believe my assertion that I just get tired of him whining and moping around all annoying and pitiful when we eat.
Steam swirls above the crust from each slice, and I ignore her knowing snort when I put his in the freezer to help cool the small piece down. Trading the saucer for a carton of vanilla ice cream to garnish her dessert. Which makes him leap up on me and her giggle. Both of them obnoxious, and I roll my eyes to let them know what I think of their smugness. Which only makes her laugh harder.
“Balcony, then roof?”
She stops scooping and looks up at me. Beaming with the stunning smile that makes my breath catch every damn time.
“That’ll be perfect.”
Just like we are together. “Okay, I’ll set it up.”
Gus of course stays with her while I go outside and turn the chaise to face the street. We can people watch while everyone heads to the riverfront and then we’ll climb up to the roof to watch the fireworks in the solitude I prefer.
“Okay, I think we’re ready.”
I hustle back inside to slide the tray out of her h
ands. She’s learned not to argue with me about carrying things for her that she’s perfectly capable of carrying herself as she likes to remind me. Or maybe she’s given up trying to convince me, I’m not sure. But at least she lets me this time without any protest. Instead, I get a pat of gratitude on my arse. She’s extra cheeky tonight, which will bode well for me later when I fuck her under the stars.
I sit on the lounge chair first and she climbs between my legs, laying back against me. Gus jumps up, begging to join us, and I pat on the cushion for him while holding tight to our dishes from his awkward maneuvering before he plops down.
The first taste hits my tongue, and I moan in approval like she always does. The pie is outstanding. “Excellent trouble. Really brilliant.”
“I’m so glad you like it.”
“I do and I love you for making it for me.”
I kiss her cheek while she chews and the dog slurps his treat at our feet. Everyone’s happy and content, including me. Once I finish, I curl my arms around her torso waiting for her to eat her last few bites. Smiling to myself that I finally have her just the way I wanted ever since we made s’mores at the lake house.
“Next time I might make blueberry.”
I rub over her arms. Concerned the cool breeze will chill her skin with only the tiny straps of her silky top covering her shoulders. “Whatever you want. You make it, I’ll eat it.”
“You know, you don’t seem to hate small talk with me…”
The tip of her finger taps on her chest as she looks up at me. A flirty desire smolders in her gorgeous turquois eyes. “Well, your small talk is a little more interesting than the average person.”
I lean down to kiss her. With her mouth sweetened from the rich ice cream, she readily parts her lips to let me inside. Which I take full advantage of until a whistle and a whoop echoes from the road. Someone else enjoying my affection for my trouble. She giggles against me, good-naturedly embarrassed from being caught. That’s okay. Holding her is enough for now when I know what’s waiting for us later. With a chaste kiss on top of her head, she snuggles back in. Both of us full and comfortable in every way possible.
I get that same weird vibe I did this morning when she said she wasn’t very hungry. She never says no to my banana walnut pancakes.
Now I catch her hunched over her mobile. Acting nonchalant but I know she’s fucking hiding something when she doesn’t acknowledge me returning from my shower. “What’re you doing?”
Jumping out of her skin and off the sofa, she taps the screen fading the image back to the icons filling the purple background. Slick but not quite quick enough for me to miss the calendar she was studying intently.
“Nothing. I was just deep in thought and you startled me.”
“Evie?” Her arms wrap around herself. Seeking comfort that I can easily give. Although my own demons from past mistakes war in my mind and mouth. But I try to keep calm. Reminding myself she’s not trying to fool me or trick me. She’s just worried about something. Probably related to the fact she only has two weeks left in her internship which means facing her father. But I can’t assume. I have to know what’s bothering her. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. Just say it.”
“I said nothing.” She gives me a forced smile and motions toward Gus sacked out on his bed. Sprawled on his back showing us his jewels while in a deep sleep. “Let’s take him for a w-a-l-k.”
Fuck that. She is not dismissing me or my question. I block her path as she tries to scoot past, taking everything I have not to grab her. Checking myself because of how strong my hands are despite not having put them on anyone in force for so long. I can’t take the chance of hurting her when I’m freaking the fuck out.
Defeat more than fear seems to draw her face down with me looming over her, and she huddles into herself. “I need to get something from my apartment.”
“This is your apartment.”
I’m being irrational and I don’t give a damn. She knows it too. Huffing in irritation, she shakes her head.
“Can you please stop being so you about this?”
Now I’m pissed too. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Forget it.”
Finally, she looks up. A steely gaze I haven’t generated in a long time hardens her usually docile face. The mafia princess is ready to battle.
“If you don’t let me pass, then you’re holding me in here against my will. Are you really going to keep me prisoner Andy?”
Motherfucker. She’s correct and sexier than fuck in her righteousness. I’d fuck her right now if I wasn’t so angry and terrified and confused. “I just want to talk.”
“But. I. Don’t. Want. To.”
All the emphasis without any of the emotion. No shrieking or fury. Her tone only holds detachment. She’s pulling away and I don’t understand or like it. Reasonable and patient have never been my strongest attributes. Especially when the woman I love tests me more than I can stand. I will try. For her. “Two minutes and then I’m coming for you.”
The rage I expect from me being a controlling bastard doesn’t happen. She only nods furiously and races around me. A wide path reflecting her desire to be as far away from me as possible. No talking or touching. Just devastation that she’s so eager and happy to leave.
I’m on the move too as soon as the latch clicks behind me. Flicking on my laptop and waiting for her to come into view. Heat blazes through my body when she locks her door, well aware I can easily get inside. A symbol of her wanting to keep me out.
Fuck it. I pull up the texts on her phone. Breaking another promise to myself that I would only invade her privacy for security reasons. I’m too far gone to care at this point about honor or integrity. I just need to know she’s okay. Because I’m definitely not fucking okay.
Messages from her friend at work who tried to set Evie up with her soon-to-be brother-in-law are the most recent.
Lauren: R U sure U can’t get away for just a few minutes
Evie: No. I don’t have any reason I can give him to leave without him
Lauren: How R U going to stand it all night
Evie: IDK
Lauren: I hate this for U
Evie: Thx. Me 2
Lauren: Just hang on until tomorrow
Evie: I’m trying but I’m scared he’ll figure it out
Lauren: He won’t. Guys r so oblivious sometimes. LOL! Josh didn’t even realize Andy was your boyfriend until I told him. Duh!!! ☺ ☺ ☺
The realization hits me like a round of bullets.
She’s fucking seeing Josh.
I’m not her boyfriend anymore.
We’re breaking up.
Or so she thinks.
I switch back to the cameras but she’s not visible. The only place she can hide is the bathroom. And even that closed door won’t stop me from getting to her. Heading to her place, I swipe my mobile to release the lock and shove open the front door.
“Evie!”
Nothing. Damn it. I barely feel the splintering wood against my shoulder as I bust in the bathroom door. She screams and the small gray rectangle she’s holding skitters across the tile. I swipe the thin box from the tan ceramic before she can hop up from sitting on the side of the tub. But she doesn’t have any intention of moving. Not toward me anyway. Not with her fingers wrapping around the white marble. Trapped and paralyzed with nowhere to go. No way to escape the mad man I’ve become. “What am I too oblivious to figure out?”
Genuine confusion lines her face from my question. Her gaze flicks from me to the thin sheet of foil nested in the plastic. As if the answer lies within my hands. Most of the circles are empty but four still contain small pink pills. Three in the first row and one in the second. I’ve never seen packaging like this before in my mostly celibate life but even a dumb arse like me knows what they are—her birth control. And, that they should all be empty. I lift my gaze from the medicine to her trembling body. I am the stupidest fucking arsehole to ever live.
“I’m late
.” She talks to her feet instead of me. Curling her silver tipped toes into the rug over and over. “I missed taking my pills a few times before I moved all my stuff over, and I didn’t think it was that big of a deal since it was only a couple, but I guess it was. It might be.”
Late.
Pregnant.
Baby.
I can barely process what I never expected her to say and can’t seem to form words. Her head flies up from my silence, and she stares at me in panic. But I have no doubts and drop to my knees in front of her. Taking her tiny shaking hands in mine. Attempting to soothe her worries. Relishing the joy exploding in me.
“I kept falling asleep after we’d make love, and then I’d remember the next day. But I was at work and it was too late to take it by the time I got home, and I thought—”
Her needless explanation drifts away as a shriek fills her mouth when I jump up and pull her with me, coiling her legs around my waist. We tangle in the shower curtain from me spinning us around so furiously and the rod jerks out of the black holders, slamming into the mirror. Cracks race across the smooth surface while the other end of the pole gouges the drywall before crashing into the towel bar. Ripping the chrome triple rack from the studs and toppling the towels to the floor. It’ll take me a week to fix all of the damage I’ve caused but I don’t give a fuck. I carry her out to the open space and lay her on the bed.
“You aren’t mad?”
She stares at me in shock. More from my emotions than my actions. Not resisting as I slide the orange dress up her body and over her head. Totally wide eyed when our gazes meet again on the other side of the fabric. “Fuck no, I’m not mad.”
“You aren’t afraid?”
She grabs for my hands but I’m too busy pulling her little white knickers down her legs. Moaning when she’s fully naked yet still asking me unnecessary questions. “Nope.”
“You aren’t—”
“Evie!” Her sweet pink lips curl inward together from my outburst. “All I want is inside you.”
I sheath her body, kissing her face, her neck, her chest, her stomach. She doesn’t fight me, but she doesn’t respond either. Just watches me love her. I press another gentle kiss to her warm skin above where my baby grows and smile up at her. Reassuring her we’re good. Everything’s great. She’s fucking perfect. “I need you to be here with me Evie. I need you to know I’ve never been happier.”
Another Round Page 12
