by Ashley McLeo
But Lily wasn’t having it. No way should anyone feel bad about ditching us other than the person who should be here and isn't. It’s like Evelyn doesn’t even care about what we went through three weeks ago. I killed someone I loved but she can’t turn down a business deal? If it had been her mother she wouldn’t be thinking like this.
“Don’t feel bad about yelling at her!” Lily said indignantly. “She deserves it for thinking she can abandon us like that. Like we don’t even need her! She heard Seraphina’s tale and the prophecy! I can’t believe this. I was just starting to trust her . . .”
“Who knows? Maybe she’ll finish earlier and come to join us. Business people always set long deadlines so it looks better when they meet them. I bet she’ll be back in a few weeks. Evelyn wouldn’t leave us like that, Lily,” Sara said, her voice small.
“How do you know that, Sara?” Lily asked, her tone mocking as frustration bubbled into anger inside her. How can Sara take Evelyn’s side when she’s ditching us? “Evelyn hasn’t lost anyone yet. Didn’t have to kill them and see them die right in front of her. I bet she thinks she can go back to her glittering life. I mean who walks out on people who have given up everything to save humanity with them? What kind of person does that? As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been right to keep my guard all these months.” The couch shook and Lily looked down to see her hands clenching the fabric, glowing blue with rage. Small ripples of blue were radiating out and down into the floor which shook below them. She let go, allowing the rage to dissipate and create ripples in the air all around her.
“If you’d have opened up to Evelyn, maybe you’d trust her more,” Sara replied.
“Oh whatever! Even Nora knows Evelyn better than you do, Sara. Why else do you think she hardly ever comes around? Why she doesn’t want to stay in Evelyn’s room? Nora doesn’t trust Evelyn either after she broke into her head! Not everyone is as shiny and good as you make them out to be. You should lay off the meditation. I think it may be making you a poor judge of character.” Lily clapped her hands over her mouth, instantly regretting the words.
“Just because I want to trust Evelyn doesn’t make me blind,” Sara said leaning away from Lily. “She has faults. We all do. But I know we work better together than apart. I wish you’d see that, Lily.”
“I wish I could, too.” Lily turned to Nora. “Nora, you can have my bed. I’ll take Evelyn’s room, seeing as you didn’t want to. Evelyn won’t be using it anytime soon.” And with that, Lily turned on her heels to storm down the hallway before she said something else she’d regret.
Business and Pleasure
Is this even real? Evelyn wondered.
She watched Roman Simons breathe next to her, his head on the pillow. How did this happen? In less than a week I’ve gone from dead set on returning to Ireland to . . . whatever this is? She couldn’t deny it, even to herself. She was falling for Roman. Falling hard. A client she didn’t want to take in the first place. A man she’d seduced into her bed that same night for fun and met at the office the next day to work out the kinks in his business plan without her parents being the wiser. Evelyn grinned; those weren’t the only kinks they’d been working out.
In all their days and nights together, Roman had proved himself to be nothing short of amazing. And yet even with the head rush that accompanied Roman’s alluring scent and the jittery tingles she got every time she looked at him, Evelyn had her reservations. It was a weird feeling. So unlike the Evelyn of six months prior, before she knew she was a siren. Back then Evelyn had blurred the lines of dating and business by asking out eligible men in positions of power at competing companies and blasting them with her charm to get the inside dirt. All with zero reservations.
But it wasn’t really charm that hooked them, it was my magic.
She could no longer deny she’d probably been using her magic all along. Likely some mix of siren power and ceremens that no man could deny. How could they when I had the ability to manipulate their minds and blast them with a cocktail of pheromones so intense most guys could hardly keep their shit together? Almost all of them had given her what she wanted as soon as she asked. The consequences, which often involved them losing their high-powered positions, be damned. All for so little: a touch, a smile, and if she’d received something particularly promising, a kiss. Never anything more, definitely not anything serious. Her father had always wondered how she’d played the market so well.
But she’d never done this. Slept with a client of Locksley Enterprises. A big client. Four nights in a row! Like they were a couple. Holy hell, are we dating? The thought was as thrilling as it was terrifying.
Evelyn hadn’t dated, really dated, anyone since high school. In the back of her mind there was always that niggling thought that her potential love interests were using her for her money or power. It’s why her closest friends had been the same for years. She’d gone on dates, yes, most of them for the sake of Locksley Enterprises or to satiate carnal desire she could no longer deny. But they’d all seemed as if the spark was too easy, too one-sided.
Dating a siren would tend to do that, she supposed. But whatever was between her and Roman didn’t feel that way—not now that she could choose when to use her powers. Evelyn thought back to her siren performance the other night at the club and winced. For the first two days of their fling Evelyn couldn’t stop wondering if Roman had been there for her escapades. He didn’t seem the type, but still, one never knew. She’d slipped in a few of the club’s names when they were deciding where to grab a drink their second night together, after another twelve-hour day, and did a mental jig when Roman said he’d never heard of any of them. She’d always been careful to wipe the memories of the club goers but that didn’t change the fact that if there had been even the slightest chance Roman had fallen prey to her powers, Evelyn wouldn’t be able to take him or his attraction to her seriously. But there wasn’t and since they’d met she’d barred even the slightest bit of her siren magic from leaking out even before it became clear they were attracted to one another. It was a matter of professional etiquette. Roman was a client, not competition like all the men before.
Besides being a paying client, Roman was also, quite possibly, the sweetest, sexiest, most in touch with his feelings man that Evelyn had ever met. Unlike all of her previous flings, there was no denying the tingles she felt when they touched or how Roman seemed to see Evelyn better than people she’d known her entire life. She couldn’t help but want him for herself. It was a foreign feeling but one Evelyn found herself enjoying.
“I see through your hardcore city girl, business mogul exterior. I can tell, deep down you’re sweet as sugar. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. We all have to keep up appearances, am I right? We won’t even mention the name of this place, it would tarnish your rep. Wait, does it have a name?” Roman laughed, as Evelyn shrugged and they left the dive bar their first night together.
A beam of sunlight shot through her blinds, falling on Roman’s high cheekbones.
“Well, well, it seems I have an admirer,” he whispered, his cool blue eyes cracking open. “How long you been starin’ at me, sweetheart?”
“Just counting the pillow lines on your face,” Evelyn teased, less mortified than she would have imagined being two weeks ago if a man woke up to find her staring at him.
“You should get a new hobby. Want me to show you one of mine?” Roman asked.
The hem of her silk nightgown rose up her thigh as he pulled her over to him. Evelyn’s breath shortened as Roman’s hands caressed her arms, along her collarbone, and up her cheek. The kiss he gave her was smooth, skillful, and full of need, like the first one they’d shared. The strap of her nightgown slid down her arm and Roman teased it down further.
Evelyn came up for air. “I think we may find some common ground here,” she said, before diving back into his lips.
“So when do you think we should tell your father?” Roman asked, pulling a tailored jacket over his broad shoulders as E
velyn watched from bed.
“Tell him what?”
“That we’re dating.”
Her heart stopped. So we are dating. Well, isn’t that a development. She wrapped the sheet around her and made her way over to her new boyfriend.
“Is that what we’re doing?” she asked, coming up behind Roman and wrapping her arms around him, knowing the tension in his body would belie any falsehood or misgivings he might have.
He swirled in her grip, pulling her so close she felt the soft sheets in places she never had before.
“It’s what you want, isn’t it? I know I do.” His voice was a low whisper, edging on a growl.
Roman’s aroma of cloves swirled in the air and Evelyn nearly swooned as she took in the peppery scent before shaking her head to clear it.
“Yes. I want it, too.” The admission spilled from her lips. “Well, I won’t lie, my parents have already told me they thought we’d be good together. But I doubt they thought it would happen so fast. Definitely not while you were still on my client list. This isn’t a scenario that’s ever come up before.”
“I should hope not,” Roman whispered, nibbling at her ear.
“What if he takes me off your account? I know Dad and Mom were angling for this, but it’s against company policy to date a client and way too soon for me to hand your account over to anyone else. That’s what happened before when someone at work fell for a client. We had to take them off the account to keep the interests separate. And this project is the only thing keeping me in the city.” She felt guilty saying it, knowing she’d prefer to be here, with Roman, rather than in Ireland. But who could blame me? I mean look at him.
“Let me talk to your father,” Roman said raising his eyebrows as if he could hear her thoughts.
Evelyn raised her eyebrows in reply, “Won’t that be weird?”
“Trust me. I’ll persuade him. I’ll talk to him tonight. Man to man. Our account is so important to him that I doubt he’ll deny us being together if I insist you continue as account lead, but you can’t be there. I don’t know your father well, but if he’s anything like mine and this was either of my sisters dating a client, well . . . one strict look from my dad and that relationship would be over.”
She cocked her head. “You have sisters?”
“Two,” Roman answered with a grin. “Both still in school. Lacy is a business major and Rita’s in finance. I have a brother in high school, too. Lucas is the star of the football team.” He paused to assess her. “Have you been having second thoughts about staying? Do you want to go back to Ireland sooner to be with your sisters?” His grip tightened on her and she felt a wave of tingles rush through her.
She sighed. Not if you’re here.
“It’s fine. I’ve already spoken to Brigit, my biological mother. They totally understand what’s happening,” she fought the natural wince that accompanied the lie. “Besides, Dad and I already have a plan in action. The Locksleys are my family, too, and I’m not sure I can trust anyone else with your accounts right now. Not until they hire someone spectacular and they’re trained up a bit.”
He bent down to kiss her and her lips burned. It was all Evelyn could do not to gasp. How is he such an excellent kisser?
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved. I want you here, too. It’s decided then? I’ll speak to your father tonight, and we’ll keep working this insane schedule so you can take off when we’re done. Leaves us with seven weeks to get to know each other better. We can continue that exploration tonight after I have drinks with your father. See you at the office?”
“I’ll be in around ten, but Dad should be there already, and Vici, too. She can help you with anything you need if Dad isn’t there.”
“Ahh, I’ll get to talk to Vicencia alone for once.”
Her best friend had been absent the last few days, staying over at Michael’s and stopping at the apartment only for clothes. Vici claimed it was because Evelyn needed privacy with her new male suitor. They both knew it had been ages since Evelyn had liked a man enough to bring him home but Evelyn recognized Vici had another motive.
Vicencia was using this time to give her own relationship a little nudge. If Vici was right, and she usually was, Michael was going to propose soon. Vici was using Evelyn’s man-candy distraction as an excuse not to hurt her best friend’s feelings and trying to give her boyfriend ample incentive to propose all at once.
“Remember . . .”
“I know, I know I won’t tell her I’m your mystery man. Or the one that left the toilet seat up in the hall bath.”
Evelyn smiled and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “How about I tell her tonight while you’re out with Dad?”
“Sounds perfect. See you soon, babe.” Roman returned her kiss before walking out the door.
She exhaled. Only one more day. What a relief. The uncertainty between her and Roman mixed with his big shot client status had made easy conversation with her parents far more difficult these past few days. Evelyn had been all too aware that one slip up and the Simonses’ account would have been taken away from her and reassigned. But Roman was right, if he was the one to request she stay on Roman’s account James would be far more likely to allow it. The client is always right, after all.
One problem off her chest, Evelyn found herself pivoting to one of the many other issues in her life. Like how she was going to practice magic with a new boyfriend around all the time. No doubt she would confess her witchy status to him if they stayed together. She just needed time to work her way up to it. But Evelyn would get rusty without practice and the magical tension in her body was growing unbearable. The water surrounding Manhattan called to her as soon as she stepped out of the door every morning, begging her to use it, to transmute it and let it flow from her fingers in the flashiest way possible.
Instead, she ignored it.
She’d considered practicing ceremens a few times, though that too was risky. What if she accidentally tried on another witch and blew her cover? She’d managed a few minor rounds on Rose, but those were limited to her time to and from the office door to the elevator. Evelyn would need more than a few minutes if she was going to strengthen her skills and not fall behind her sisters.
Sara had been the only one who’d bothered to reach out since the disastrous phone call with Brigit, when they’d both said things they didn’t mean. She wasn’t surprised by the fact, but it still hurt. Sara assured her that all was well in Ireland, that she should finish her work and hurry over as soon as possible, and that Brigit was more worried about Evelyn than mad—a story Evelyn found hard to believe considering the guilt trip she’d laid on Brigit. I still can’t believe I threw her putting us up for adoption in her face. Especially now that I know everything she said about the fata and the prophecy is real. I would be mad at me if I were her, just like Lily.
It hadn’t escaped Evelyn’s notice that Sara had provided updates on every witch that frequented Fern Cottage except one. But then, Evelyn had known Lily would be pissed at her and probably would continue to be so long after she returned to Fern Cottage, tail between her legs. The worst part was, Evelyn couldn’t blame her. In the few moments she and Roman weren’t together having the time of their lives, Evelyn had experienced severe pangs of guilt at her capacity to abandon her family in Ireland when so much was at stake. But there are numerous types of abandonment, aren’t there? And I’ve been a Locksley longer than I’ve been a McKay. And I’m coming back eventually. I’ll fix everything then. I hope.
Her head began to pound and she turned to her closet, welcoming the frivolous distraction dressing for the day brought. She settled on a low-cut white blouse and dark blue pantsuit, a striking combination with her eyes. The suit was tailored to her exact measurements, and it screamed power, authority, and sex. Roman wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes off her. She smiled a self-satisfied smirk in the mirror. A quick turn of the curling iron, a few swipes of her mascara wand, dabs of concealer to mask the nights when guilt stole her sle
ep, and one espresso later Evelyn was out the door, ready for whatever the day would bring.
“What did he say?” Evelyn asked later that day as Roman walked through her apartment door reeking of cigars and whiskey.
“Easy, darlin’! No need to worry, we have your father’s blessing.”
Evelyn gawked. The entire day had been one long emotional roller coaster. Mundane tasks like walking into her dad’s office to drop off reports had her nerves jumping. Sitting across from her boyfriend, feeling the pull of his eyes and tingle of his skin when their hands touched was nearly impossible. It was only when Roman left with her father for the club that Evelyn felt she could breathe again. That was, until she remembered what he was going to do. Since then, she’d been checking her phone every ten minutes for a text from her father, demanding they talk.
“But what about you being a client? Our huge client! Am I off the account? I can’t believe it. That’s so unlike Dad.”
“Your father seemed to think you were more than capable of separating business and pleasure. He has a point. I mean we’ve been dating for days now and no one’s noticed. It’s like you said, they wanted us together. He seemed happy about it.”
“I still can’t help feeling a little surprised. And relieved. And happy. We’re breaking company policy, which my parents are total sticklers about, but I get to have my cake and eat it, too!”
“I hope to get you used to that feeling,” Roman smiled at her and grabbed her hips. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to wait to tell your father. Seeing you today, in that power suit, all work, work, work; I got a little worked up myself.”
Evelyn grinned wickedly, “I thought you might.” She lifted onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
