Gabriel hesitated, his eyes flickering away for a moment before meeting Evie's gaze again. "Not yet. I wanted to solidify the plans before approaching anyone. But I assure you, I'll handle any discussions with utmost sensitivity."
Evie's stomach clenched. Nothing stayed the same. Life moved on. Progress happened.
Was it just her who got left behind?
“Don’t be so maudlin,” Posy chided, shaking her head. “You aren’t being left behind. You just took over the bakery, for goodness’ sake.”
Shit, she’d said that out loud?
Both Posy and Gabe shot her concerned looks. "Evie, maybe we should call it a night. You've had quite a bit to drink."
"I'm fine, it’s just been a shitty week," Evie insisted, waving off her friend's concern. But as she shifted in her seat, the room tilted alarmingly. Maybe Posy had a point.
“Ah… I’m gonna ask Mike to walk you home,” Posy disagreed, pulling out her phone to call her fiancé.
“Let me,” Gabe interjected, stopping Posy from making the call. “I’m going the same way after all.”
“Thank you, that would make me feel better.”
Her friend sighed. “Tonight was supposed to cheer her up, not make her worse.”
“I’m right here, you know!” Evie’s tone was indignant as they talked about her like she wasn’t there.
“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” Gabe reassured Posy, like Evie hadn’t said a word.
“Come on, sunshine.” He cupped her elbow, but she still wobbled as she stood.
It wasn’t far. Frostvale wasn’t much more than two intersecting streets with a few smaller ones leading off of those. The hotel sat at the apex of the main drag, where all the best bars and shops were situated, and her parents’ house was right alongside it, so Gabe wasn’t doing anything special by walking her home.
Evie kept having to remind herself of that, because somehow it felt like a lot more.
Probably her admittedly alcoholic haze.
Evie dropped her keys twice while Gabe waited patiently beside her to make sure she got in safely. In the end, he picked them up off the ground the second time and opened the door himself.
The house was quiet, her parents had taken advantage of not having to be there for Ollie while she opened the bakery at stupid o’clock, and had gone to visit her mother’s sister, out of state, to deliver their Christmas gifts in person.
Evie sighed at how much she’d turned their lives upside down. She knew they didn’t mind. It had been their choice, just like the insistence she move in with them had been. It’s what family was for, they told her, and she knew they meant it, but it didn’t lessen the guilt. Damn, she really shouldn’t have drunk. It hadn’t cheered her up at all.
“Are you okay?” Gabe asked, obviously picking up on her mood. She looked up at him and her heart lurched. He was sohandsome. His dark hair and beard were meticulously trimmed, but his green eyes, which sparked with intriguing shards of gold even behind his sexy glasses, somehow stopped him from appearing too austere. And he was happy to live in Frostvale. Had chosen it. Why couldn’t she have fallen for him instead of Adrian? Maybe she would have if she’d met him first.
She sighed and attempted to turn far too quickly, stumbling in the process.
“Whoa!” Gabe was fast, steadying her and pulling her to his hard chest. God, he felt good. All spicy warmth and hard muscle. When was the last time she’d felt that?
Oh yeah! With stupid, sexy Shepherd who had ghosted her.
Evie smoothed her hands over his pecs. She couldn’t help it; her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.
“Evie…”
Gabe’s rumbling voice was deep and seductive, and his full lips looked so soft and inviting.
Later, she would think about how the alcohol clouded her judgment. How she had totally misread the situation.
Later, it would be too late to stall the mortification, but right now, in this moment, it all seemed so clear.
Beer-goggles clear.
