Playing Irish

by Brooke Harris

  Eva smiled more and nodded while keeping her hand firmly on the door. She waited for Nathan to say goodbye. She waited and waited more.

  Her heart was beginning to race. Julian was coming; he was actually coming to see who was at the door…in her house. Christ, he was ballsy. Or maybe he was just coming to check and see if she was all right. She had been standing in the doorway a long time.

  Eva pulled the door over slightly, sliding to the side to remain visible to Nathan.

  ‘I think I just need a good night’s sleep. I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning.’

  ‘Hope so. You looked as white a ghost earlier. Can I get you anything? Pop to the shop for you?’

  Ordinarily, Eva would have melted like an ice cube with Nathan’s generous offer, but right now, she really wished he would take the hint and piss off.

  ‘No. I’m fine, honestly. Just going to head to bed.’ Eva added a huge yawn for authentication.

  ‘Good, Good.’ Nathan finally began to back away. ‘Well, if you need anything, you have my number. Just give me a call.

  ‘I will. I promise…bye.’

  Eva didn’t have his number, but she really didn’t want to correct him. She felt bad enough that she would have to face him at work tomorrow after blatantly lying to his face, so she certainly wouldn’t be calling him in the meantime to make things worse.

  ‘Goodnight, Eva,’ Nathan said slowly walking away.

  Eva’s tense shoulders relaxed, but the rest of her body didn’t. She was riddled with guilt. This must be what it feels like to be a bitch. God, how does Meghan do it?

  Eva yelped as Julian’s hand slapped her backside. She lost her grip on the door. Julian caught it, kissed her on the cheek, and pulled the door back, fully open.

  ‘Cheers for that earlier, mate,’ Julian said, his hand firmly attached to Eva’s ass.

  Nathan had turned around, hearing Eva’s tiny shriek. The two men were face to face. Eva forced an oversized lump of air down her throat and rattled her brain for an excuse to offer Nathan. Damn, she couldn’t think. Her mind was completely taken over by the thought of where Julian’s hand rested. She knew Nathan couldn’t see but that made no difference.

  ‘You know each other?’ she all but whimpered.

  ‘Your friend was looking for directions to your place, earlier,’ Nathan said.

  Eva shook her head and glanced back at Julian.

  ‘I gave you my address already,’ she said a little confused. Had he come by the office looking for her? Oh, God. She’d had a super-hot guy turn up at her work place. Oh, holy shit. She really hoped Meghan had seen it.

  ‘Yeah, I know, but I was passing and I thought directions wouldn’t hurt. You were on lunch or something but Nate was great. He knows Dublin like the back of his hand.’

  ‘Never heard of Google maps,’ Nathan mumbled, and Eva caught Julian throw him a narrow-eyed glare. She coughed roughly and tried to ignore her ever quickening pulse.

  ‘It was a game of Hide and Seek trying to find you,’ Julian said, attempting breezy but Eva could hear the undertone of irritation in his voice. ‘Nate here was like a personal sat nav.’

  Eva really didn’t want to talk about Julian’s stupid games. Not in front of Nathan.

  ‘It’s Nathan, actually,’ Nathan replied, though an odd crackling in his voice made him hard to understand.

  ‘Oh, shit. Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to offend. Cheers for earlier, Nat-h-an.’

  Julian sounded out the syllables of Nathan’s name as if they were painful between his lips.

  Eva knew from Julian’s approach that he didn’t think much of Nathan. He had a diabolical dress sense and his body language screamed nervous virgin. Eva thought it was endearing, but she knew Julian would think it was pathetic. In fact, she knew most people probably would.

  Julian’s hand moved from Eva’s bottom and crept around her waist. His other arm followed and he pulled her close to him. Nathan stared, his discomfort written all over his face. Julian kissed Eva softly on the cheek, his lips lingering much longer than necessary. Eva knew he was making a point. Nathan would have to be stupid to miss it, but there really was no need, she decided - almost angrily. Almost. Eva’s attention was drawn again to Nathan’s puppy dog eyes. He wasn’t a threat. He was just a nice guy, and Eva hated to upset him.

  ‘You looked so pale earlier, I was really worried. But you’re flushed now.’ Nathan’s palm swept across her cheek, but Julian exhaling deeply and raising himself to his full height distracted Eva.

  ‘Do you have a temperature?’ Nathan continued.

  Eva didn’t think it was possible to feel any more guilty, but Nathan’s genuine concern was like torture.

  Julian laughed. A dry, undisguised laugh. ‘She’s hot, all right,’ he said.

  Eva caught them exchange glances but they both looked away before she had time to introduce them properly to one another. Nathan took a couple of steps backwards, just enough for Eva to notice his slim, average-height physique.

  ‘Goodnight, Eva. I’m glad you’re not really ill.’

  He walked away. Fast this time. His head was down, and he never looked back.

  ‘That guy’s a drip, Evangeline. You can’t seriously like him,’ Julian said as they walked back into the lounge.

  Julian was sexy and vibrant and made her feel alive. More alive than she had ever been, but suddenly it wasn’t fun anymore. It killed her that Nathan was upset, and she was the cause. Julian’s touch wasn’t fun if it was at someone else’s expense. Eva suddenly began to wonder if she had spent the evening with the right man.

  ‘Not everyone is as confident as you, Julian.’

  ‘You are. You just don’t know it yet.’

  ‘Enough with the games. I get it. You’re going to change me. I’m going to be a better person for it, blah, blah, blah. Maybe I like the way I am now…huh? Did you think of that?’

  Julian’s lips moved, but Eva cut across him before sound came out. ‘I’m just like Nathan. Can’t you see that? If he’s boring...then I’m boring, too.’

  ‘There was nothing boring about you in there.’ Julian pointed toward Eva’s bedroom. ‘Or here.’ He tilted his head toward the sofa.

  Eva liked confident, sexy Julian. She didn’t like cocky, arrogant, complete dickhead Julian. Maybe she had made a horrible mistake. Julian was trying to make her something that she wasn’t. She already didn’t recognise herself.

  ‘I’ve got to go,’ Eva said, chewing her lip.

  Julian’s jaw tightened and his brow narrowed. Christ, he could even make a disapproving look sexy. He fell back onto the sofa. The cushions exhaled a sudden puff under his weight. He draped one elbow over the back and picked up his barely touched glass of champagne in the other.

  ‘Now. Julian. I’m serious.’

  Julian caught her hand as she brushed past him. ‘Don’t do this, Evangeline. He’s not worth it.’

  Eva yanked her hand free from his grip. ‘Why? Because you say so?’

  Eva stared at Julian. She expected a response. Some sort of apology. Maybe then she would have stayed. Julian didn’t flinch.

  ‘He’s upset. I need to check if he’s okay,’ she snapped.

  ‘You barely know the guy.’

  ‘I barely know you.’

  The conversation came to an abrupt halt. Eva really wished she hadn’t said that. And now she was about to walk out on the hottest guy she had ever seen. She desperately wanted to pounce on him, rip his trousers open, and fuck him until he exploded. But she was a good girl, and deep down, she knew she couldn’t allow desire to suppress all her usual instincts.

  Eva stopped at the door and inhaled so hard her lungs ached. She looked back at Julian for a brief moment. He casually shrugged his shoulders. Cocky bastard, she thought, trying not to let just a glimpse of his face distract her. Was this part of the game, she wondered. If she left the apartment, would she lose? Fuck it. It was game over as soon as Nathan turned up on her doorstep.

  **
*

  ‘You’re too vanilla for your own good, Evangeline. I’ll let myself out, shall I?’ Julian said, speaking to an empty room. He stood up from the couch and looked at the open door. He didn’t see that coming. Eva was more of a challenge than he thought. She had fire. He always suspected it was there, but now that he had seen it, he wanted her more than ever. Julian picked up Eva’s masquerade mask. It was still damp from earlier, and he was careful not to smudge it as he slid it into his inside jacket pocket. He allowed himself a brief glance around the apartment before closing the door behind him. He stopped abruptly in the corridor and punched the wall a couple of times before shaking out his hand. Ignoring his grazed knuckles, he pulled himself to his full height and straightened his tie. ‘Evangeline Andrews,’ he said under his breath, ‘this just got interesting.’

  15

  Eva looked up every time the main office door opened. It had just gone half past ten, and Nathan still hadn’t come into work. She’d gotten soaked chasing after him in the rain last night. She’d reached the street corner just in time to see him hop into a taxi and he hadn’t looked back. She’d sent an email, well, five actually, to his work address. And she was purposely ten minutes late this morning so he’d have time to read her explanation and apology before she had to face him.

  She refreshed her inbox for the tenth time that morning. Nothing. Nothing from Julian, either. She wasn’t surprised that he was gone by the time she got back to her apartment last night, but she was disappointed. And she hadn’t heard from him since. Not that she could blame him, she’d decided as she’d polished off the leftover wine. She’d been horribly rude. Maybe it was best that he was ignoring her now. He was probably saving them both the embarrassment of pulling out of their arrangement for the ball. She suspected the longer she went without hearing from him, the more likely it was that she never would again.

  She hit refresh again. Still nothing, not even spam. Dammit. She thumped her first on her desk and then blushed, noticing everyone within earshot staring. She punched numbers into her calculator quickly and pretended to be busy. She even threw in a fake stressed-out sigh for good measure. Everyone’s attention quickly fizzled. Eva folded her arms on her desk and flopped her forehead against them.

  The smell of fresh coffee and a gentle tap on her shoulder startled her. She shot upright, cracking her back and almost falling off her chair.

  ‘You okay?’ Shelly asked softly.

  Eva patted tiny tears from the corners of her eyes with the tips of her fingers and tried to smile.

  ‘Yeah, think so.’

  ‘Guy trouble?’ Shelly returned Eva’s smile.

  ‘How did you know?’

  ‘Only a man can make a woman feel as miserable as you look.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Eva half laughed, half sighed. ‘Do I really look that bad?’

  ‘Panda eyes are so the eighties.’ Shelly handed her a tissue. ‘It’s clean, I promise.’

  ‘Hope so.’ Eva laughed.

  ‘Come on, we’re going for coffee. I’m buying and you’re talking.’

  Eva shook her head. ‘I can’t. I’m waiting on a really important email, and I’m due to go for a late lunch today.’

  ‘So…bring your phone.’ Shelly shrugged. ‘And Mr. Doe isn’t in today. No one else gives a shit what time you go to lunch.’

  ‘I’m swamped. Honest. I just can’t.’ Eva really hoped Shelly wouldn’t push it any further. She was already struggling to hold it together. She just wanted to get through the day without melting. And Shelly was so lovely and friendly, it was making her poker face hard to keep straight.

  ‘A few of us are hitting the shops after work. You know, picking up a few last minute bits for the ball. Why don’t you come along?’

  Shelly tilted her head across the office toward some of the other girls’ desks. Eva followed her stare. Meghan looked up and seeing Shelly, she smiled and waved. Eva froze. Shelly seemed lovely, and she could really do with a friend, but Meghan was baggage she just couldn’t deal with.

  Shelly waved back at Meghan and pulled a smile so huge, her jaw looked distorted.

  ‘Fucking hell, I hate that bitch,’ Shelly whispered turning back to Eva. ‘Loves herself, doesn’t she?’

  Eva giggled…and snorted and then quickly slapped her hand across her mouth as Meghan stared. She’d liked Shelly from the start, but now she absolutely loved her.

  ‘Please? You’d be doing me a favour.’

  ‘Okay,’ Eva agreed. ‘But I’m holding you to that coffee first.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you at the main reception at say…5.15?’

  ‘Perfect.’ Eva was suddenly a little giddy.

  ‘I better get back. Mr. Doe awaits.’

  ‘But you said he wasn’t in today?’

  ‘Oops,’ Shelly winked and scurried away, swishing her hips as her ridiculously high heels pitter-pattered across the tiled floor.

  Shelly was fast becoming someone Eva really liked. She trusted her, and she always made her smile. She was pretty but not affected. Confident but not cocky. Slim but curvy. And she talked about fucking her boss and buying shoes all in the same conversation. Not surprising really, since all that boss fucking came with a huge salary, and a girl had to spend it on something. Shoes were as good a place to start as any. Eva wondered if she’d ever be that comfortable in her own skin. She’d given a pretty convincing performance of a confident, Sexy Goddess last night, but that was in the heat of the moment. The heat of a Julian moment. Any moment with him was like fire. But the smouldering ashes of today were a different story. She closed her eyes and hit refresh on her email one more time.

  _________________

  From: julian.harte@yourservice.com

  To: evangeline.j.andrews@ignitetech.com

  Subject: Unfinished Business

  Date: Thursday 16th July 11.05

  Good morning, Ms. Andrews.

  We have a little unfinished business to attend

  to, don’t we?

  J x

  Unfinished business? And the riddle for today was… Eva bit her bottom lip, partially to stop it from quivering, but mostly because it just came as a natural reaction. He still wanted to play. Fuck. Eva took a deep breath and sighed, relieved.

  ________________

  To: julian.harte@yourservice.com

  From: evangeline.j.andrews@ignitetech.com

  Subject: Re: Unfinished Business

  Date: Thurs 16th July 11.06

  Good Morning, Julian.

  What unfinished business?

  Eva

  Evangeline Andrews

  Administrator

  Ignite Technologies

  Block 6

  Plaza Exchange

  Dublin 2

  ________________

  From: julian.harte@yourservice.com

  To: evangeline.j.andrews@ignitetech.com

  Subject: Re: Unfinished Business

  Date: Thursday 16th July 11.07

  Perhaps you hadn’t noticed, but we were in the

  middle of some pretty amazing sex when we

  got interrupted. I wasn’t finished. And correct

  me if I’m wrong, but you weren’t, either. Shall

  we reschedule? Say, starting with dinner,

  tonight? My place.

  J x

  Eva stood up from her seat, brushed her hands over her hair, rubbed her fingertips across her face, and lastly, straightened out her clothes. She sat back down. Christ, he made her so nervous and excited. And, hell yes, she definitely wanted to reschedule.

  __________________

  To: julian.harte@yourservice.com

  From: evangeline.j.andrews@ignitetech.com

  Subject: Re: Unfinished Business

  Date: Thurs 16th July 11.09

  That would be lovely, Julian. Thank you.

  But I don’t know where you live.

  Evangeline Andrews

  Administrator

  Ignite Technologies


  Block 6

  Plaza Exchange

  Dublin 2

  Eva hit send and tapped her index fingernail anxiously against her tooth as she read back over her words. Lovely? Oh shit, that wasn’t very specific. Had she just told him dinner would be lovely…or sex? She’d meant dinner, obviously, but she’d come to learn that with Julian, you had to be painfully clear or you were just eating out of his hands.

  Eva quickly typed out an instant message. She couldn’t allow any more time faffing about with emails. She had to set the record straight.

  Eva135: I mean dinner. Dinner would be lovely. Thank you.

  Oh, God. Her hand covered her mouth. How embarrassing. She’d just made it worse. Now he knew she was thinking about sex. And she was. She was replaying the feel of his hot tongue lapping against her clit.

  Julian: It will be lovely. And just to clarify, I mean both dinner and sex. See you at eight. P.S. Don’t worry about my address. I’ll send someone for you.

  Sex? He’d said it like he was offering ice cream for dessert or something. Eva’s face singed just thinking about it. She tried to distract herself with more immediate thoughts. Like who was this someone? Did he mean a driver? He had a driver? Of course, he did; he was insanely wealthy. A driver was probably compulsory or all the other multimillionaires would tease him at their annual We Are Rich festival. Eva giggled at her own foolishness and began to wonder what to wear. Maybe she should go shopping for some more sexy underwear first. Shopping? Oh no, she had completely forgotten her arrangement with Shelly. She couldn’t cancel now; it was too short of notice. She would just have to try to do both. She could explain about her dinner and rescheduled sex. Okay, maybe she’d leave the sex part out. Hopefully, Shelly would understand and not ask the dreaded, but likely question…with who? Eva practised an excuse that didn’t involve the explanation, ‘well, he’s a Sex-God escort, actually’ just in case.