“I can’t believe it, Evan, after all those years of not hearing a word from you and you were just across the city,” she said.
“My grandmother said I should get out as soon as I could and so I did. I put every hour, every minute into my job and within a short time they saw my skill and my paycheck took a hike up. After that it just seemed to flow until I owned a company and I wasn’t doing the job I loved anymore, I was telling others to do it,” he said.
At some point, he’d grabbed her hand because he was now stroking the soft skin on the back of it. When he looked up at her face, she was closer so he closed the gap and planted his lips on her full, sweet ones. He hadn’t been prepared for the thrill that ran through him. Her tongue found his and somehow her hands were in his hair; it felt divine.
The knock on the door stopped them and she answered it. He was relieved he’d paid over the phone because her effect on him had meant that he couldn’t risk standing up. They ate and he asked her about her life: how she had come to have a child, how she started the soup kitchen and what her plans were for the future. They’d finished their meal by the time she told him about the recent sizable donation and he just smiled at her.
“That’s got to make a difference right?”
“Evan, was that you?”
“Not me exactly; my company often donates to charity. I figured it should be yours,” he said.
“You can’t buy your way into my life, Evan. Money is at the root of people’s problems here; you can’t just throw it at people and expect to solve everything,” she said, surprising him with her anger.
“No, you can solve their problems with the money,” he said. “I saw what you wanted to do in the future and for that you need capital. I just wanted to help.”
That was when they heard the crash of broken glass and his car alarm just seconds after. They ran to the window to find his lights flashing and everyone in the neighborhood twitching their curtains. Scarlett’s face fell, and he had the feeling he was fighting something with the wrong tools. She looked disappointed in him and closed off.
“You should go,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t belong here,” she said, pointing back at his sports car.
“I don’t belong anywhere Scarlett. You are my only link to the past. You’re the only person who grounds me. I know who I am with you,” he said.
“But I don’t know who I am with you,” she replied.
“Mommy,” a small voice said.
A tiny pink-clad child walked into the room hugging a stuffed elephant. His heart did a little back flip. She was like a carbon copy of her mother, the one he’d grown up with just blocks from where he was standing.
“Please leave,” Scarlett whispered, and he closed the door behind him.
*****
When Evan walked to his car he was hit with the unfairness of it all. He had everything and yet everything wasn’t enough. He wanted a woman who wanted nothing to do with his wealth. It was the complete opposite from everything he’d experienced over the past few years. He didn’t know what to think. He knocked out the rest of the glass that still clung to the rear window and got in. He was still aware of the neighbors and their twitching curtains but Scarlett’s house wasn’t one of them. He started the engine and drove to his grandmother’s house.
The maintenance team had begun the work but his grandmother’s things were still there, albeit packed into boxes for the most part. He flopped onto the sofa and remained there staring into space in the dark. He wasn’t happy with his old life, the life he’d built from scratch but he hadn’t been happy with his life before that, the poor kid who couldn’t walk through a mall without the staff eyeballing him like he was going to steal their goods. He needed to create something in between, something that made him happy. Maybe even something that made Scarlett accept him.
****
He woke when the maintenance crew turned up and he didn’t know who felt more awkward, them or him. He drove the car straight to the garage and walked back to his penthouse suite. He wasn’t needed at the office; his input just wasn’t required. His job had been more of a formality and it was time someone else handled it because, if he was honest with himself, he’d checked out of that lifestyle weeks ago.
With his business skills, along with his computer programming genius, he could start something new and that was exactly what he was going to do. His first stop was to secure premises and he was taking his new business and his money back to where it all started, Scarlett’s neighborhood. He put the penthouse suite up for sale and put an offer on a Victorian house near his grandmother’s place. It was much larger and had the beautiful hardwood floors that his grandmother had coveted.
He turned up at the soup kitchen a few days later with a stack of fliers and placed them on the tables before grabbing a tray of rolls and beginning the rounds. Scarlett watched him but didn’t say anything and he didn’t want to push her but when she picked up one of his fliers and read the text he was secretly thrilled.
The fliers outlined the business that he had begun. He would secure funding from big corporations and match skills to jobs. He also wanted to provide funding for the young people in the area who wanted to go to college or learn a trade but couldn’t afford to live as students. He wanted to give the area a future and that meant creating jobs, providing better housing and tackling every issue that fell below the state’s radar. He couldn’t do it alone because he didn’t know the people or their problems; he needed Scarlett and he hoped that his involvement in her favorite cause would at least win her friendship, if nothing else.
He watched as she tucked the flier into her pocket but she didn’t approach him. She needed time and so did he. He needed to find out who the new Evan was and it wasn’t Evan Collier or Evan Mandelson, he was somewhere in between.
The more he worked, the more invigorated he became. The fliers had worked for the few customers who knew him from the soup kitchen and soon, with word of mouth, he had clients lining up for help. He also had investors lined and he had his name and his reputation as a business tycoon to thank for that. He was pretty sure that people would see him set up shop in the scruffy streets of his grandmother’s neighborhood and follow suit. The rent was cheap and so were the business rates. He’d already located several empty factory buildings that were prime for use.
He’d even employed a young woman, Jocelyn, who had fallen on hard times to work as his secretary; granted she was a bit too chatty but her knowledge of the area and people made her invaluable to his new business. He was no longer bored; in fact, he was more excited than he’d ever been in his life and that enthusiasm rubbed off on just about everyone. He’d even persuaded more people to donate to Scarlett’s charity, which had to be making a positive impact on her life.
He was still missing something in his life but now he had identified the gap and knew that Scarlett was what was missing. She hadn’t contacted him as he’d hoped and he didn’t want to push her further away. He was surprised when an older woman walked in, hand in hand, with a small child that looked a lot like Darla, Scarlett’s daughter.
“Evan Collier,” the woman said.
“I usually go by the name Mandelson but I definitely used to be Collier,” he grinned but the butterflies were dancing in his tummy.
“Darla, you go and make friends with Jocelyn,” the woman guided the child towards his secretary.
“How can I help you?”
“You can help me by telling me why my best friend is walking around like a zombie even though her charity has taken off to such a degree that she can give up her day job and concentrate on it full time, which has been her dream for, like, forever. You can explain to me why she’s moping around and staring into space when she should be dancing for joy?”
Evan was speechless and he gaped fish-like for a few seconds having already turned beetroot red. What could he say? He wasn’t sure which of the many possibilities was
responsible for Scarlett’s behavior. Was she pissed at him for meddling or angry because he’d forgotten her? Could she have feelings for him?
“Just as I thought, another clueless male. Let me help you,” she said and he saw the cunning streak glitter in her eyes.
*****
When Evan turned up on her doorstep her stomach had flipped a one-eighty. She was amazed each time she saw him because he looked more and more appealing. His hair was doing its thing heedless of its owner’s combing and his blue eyes melted her to the spot. How could a man be so damn beautiful?
“I’m so sorry I didn’t come back to see you and I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you after all those years but I’m here now and I want to fix it,” Evan said.
“I don’t blame you for leaving when you were young; I’m just disappointed that you didn’t connect with me until now,” she said.
She realized then that she had no idea why she was pissed with him. Was it because he left and got out of poverty without a second glance back? Was it because she had loved him almost as much as she’d loved her mother? Or was some part of her jealous that he’d made something of herself? She didn’t know.
Scarlett opened the door wider to let him in and he sat at the kitchen table. She made coffee for them both. She wondered if she was annoyed with herself more than for him because she didn’t get out or if it was just because she felt what she did when he was in close proximity. She had often wondered what would have happened if they’d grown up through their teenage years together.
“I really like you, not just the you from before but you now. The hot sexy woman who makes me want to be a better person just so I’ll be good enough for her,” he said.
“Stop it already,” she said, slamming her cup down. “I like you too but I’ve got an agenda for this neighborhood and if I start dating Evan Mandelson, the billionaire tycoon with the reputation of making women’s panties fall off just from a wink, what do you think people would say? Evan, I Googled you. I wouldn’t be taken seriously.”
“Scarlett, I’m changing. I am still Evan Collier inside and I’m meeting you halfway,” he said. “Just give me a chance because we owe that to each other.”
“Okay,” she replied and the relief that flooded through her surprised her to her core.
“Good,” he said standing. “Let’s start by having lunch at my place.”
****
When Scarlett saw the beautiful Victorian house, it was love at first sight. It was stylish but had all the original features. It was the house she would have chosen had she had money. Evan could have afforded something bigger and grander but he’d chosen well.
“I’ve always liked this style of house,” he said. “I’m not much of a cook but I had help.”
“What are these? Did my daughter make these? Did you sweet talk Sylvia to help you?” Scarlett asked, picking up a ladybug cookie.
“Yeah, I was a desperate man,” Evan replied, blushing.
She felt her heart swell and she knew right then that her problem was her anger at herself, not him. Scarlett stepped closer to him and he tentatively wrapped his arms around her. She lifted her face up to kiss him and found that he was too tall. He reached down and lifted her so she could kiss him and she did. Her arms sought his skin and his warmth and scent were intoxicating.
He lowered her to the sofa and, one by one, pieces of their clothes fell to the floor. She felt like a teenager again: following passion, following her heart. Evan’s body was perfect in every way. Not the skinny boy she’d once known but a man who worked out a few times a week with lean muscle and soft skin. She hadn’t felt this way for years. A sudden thought flashed through her and she sat up nearly knocking Evan off the sofa.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t want to get pregnant, again,” she said.
“Not to worry,” Evan replied and reached into his wallet, pulling a small packet out. “Can we do it now?”
His grin was infectious and she felt it right to her toes. Scarlett took the packet, split it and slid it onto him. She wasn’t taking any chances in that area. Evan leaned towards her and kissed her once more. She pulled him closer and he slowly and carefully brought her to orgasm. She felt like she was in heaven and when he joined her shortly after she felt something inside her snap.
She had held her emotions tightly since her late husband hit her but she was falling hard for Evan and she didn’t want those barriers anymore. She didn’t want anything to stop them from getting closer. He felt like he was hers already and it scared her because she felt like she knew half of him but the other half was a completely different person, a person who scared her.
“Evan, I am trusting you with my heart. If you break it I will kill you, don’t think I won't,” she said.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said, kissing her hair.
“And you can handle the fact that I’m a mother?”
“Yeah, I met Darla this morning, and we had a blast making cookies,” he grinned.
“Sylvia is a scheming, devious, little creature. Remind me not to trust her,” she said.
“I’ll do no such thing. She loves you and she likes me,” he grinned.
“Who wouldn’t like you? You’re all pink cheeks and innocent eyes,” she replied, and he vaguely remembered her saying the same thing to him many years before.
“Can you handle the fact that I come with a past too?” He asked, biting his lip.
“So, the playboy rumors are true,” she said, wrinkling up her nose.
“If you want me I’m all yours,” he whispered.
*****
When Evan dropped Scarlett off at the veterinary office for her last shift, she’d been excited and sad. Her life had changed since his company and a few others had donated large sums of money to her charity. She could now take a wage from the charity so she didn’t have to run herself ragged with two jobs and the neighborhood was starting to see the benefits of both of their combined efforts.
He’d spent the week moving into his new home, dealing with business, helping at the soup kitchen and spending time in Scarlett’s arms. He knew she was still uncomfortable with his money and his status but when they were alone together, none of that mattered; he was still Evan Collier underneath. He’d also had to ask his secretary to screen calls from Grace. He was sure she’d get the message eventually but it might take a while.
He had never enjoyed the publicity that went with the success. He’d avoided media coverage and interviews but he still found his name and mugshot on the front of the morning paper which his secretary had placed on his desk before his arrival. He blanched immediately because they also had a nice piece about Grace, an up and coming star with aspirations to be an actress. The report came across like he was some kind of vulture sucking the life source out of women and breaking their hearts. The worse thing was Scarlett had been named, along with her charity, and she had been called his latest victim. He buried his face in his hands and moaned.
“I’ll get you a coffee with an extra shot,” Jocelyn called out.
She came back in a few minutes with a steaming cup. She pulled her chair next to his and stretched over him to tap at his keyboard. The local news popped up and with it Scarlett’s stunning profile. After Jocelyn’s quick fingers flashed across the keyboard, he heard Scarlett’s voice. His heart had stopped in his chest and he’d forgotten how to breathe but none of that seemed to matter.
“Vulture? Let me tell you something about Evan Collier or Evan Mandelson as you know him. When I was six years old, I fell off the swing and grazed my knee, badly. A six-year-old Evan Collier carried me home and washed the dirt off, then dressed it with plaster. He continued to look after me, confide in me, and make me laugh until we were ten years old. He lost his parents, and we lost touch but he is still that same little boy who cares deeply and wants to do the right thing. He has been volunteering at the soup kitchen, feeding those who have fallen on hard times,” she said.
“Maybe he sh
ould just hand over some of his money,” a voice in the crowd jeered.
“Even the poor have pride,” she retorted.
She was amazing. She wasn’t just sticking up for his or her reputation she was publicizing her cause, their cause. She was clever, shrewd, and articulate. If he wasn’t crazy in love with her before then he definitely was now.
“Isn’t she great? Evan, she’s a keeper.” Jocelyn winked and left the room.
He grabbed his coat from the hook and threw it on while dashing for the door. Jocelyn said something about holding his calls but he ignored her and ran through the streets. The ten-minute walk took him about four minutes and by the time he had the news crew in sight he was glowing red and sweating.
She saw him and raised her eyebrows. The news crew who were packing to leave stopped but he paid them no attention. He ran straight to her, picked her up, and kissed her firmly.
“Evan,” she whispered against him.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you, I love you, I love you. I have always loved you.”
“The cameras are running sweetie,” she whispered, and he turned to face them.
“I love this woman,” he yelled and then he let go of her and dropped to one knee.
He hadn’t known what he was about to do until he was already looking up at the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. He had no ring or plan or even a clue as to how it would work out but he knew that he loved Scarlett and that he’d do anything for her. She was the only one for him.
“Will you marry me?” he asked.
“Evan Collier you are a fool,” she hissed. “But I can fit you into my busy schedule, okay.”
He laughed and so did the news crew, which surprised him because he’d already forgotten they were there. Scarlet hauled him to his feet and they kissed again. She had just agreed to be his wife in front of a whole news crew and who knew how many viewers which meant that she couldn’t back down, she was his. He couldn’t stop grinning.
Ways in the Guardian: A Menage Romance Book Collection Page 69
