“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to be as polite and calm as he acted. “Am I interrupting something? Getting ready to go out with your bros?”
He frowned. “Ah, no. Hold on.” He went into his office and returned with a stack of papers and her thumb drive, which she’d forgotten to take with her last time. “It’s all there. I also listed a few things I think you could do to save yourselves more money in the long run.”
“Oh, um, thanks.”
She looked him over, missing him when she’d done her best to ignore how he made her feel.
“What’s this about me going somewhere with my ‘bros’?”
“Something Daniel said.” She frowned. Her brother hadn’t mentioned the soccer tryouts, but he didn’t seem depressed, so she didn’t think he’d been booted from the team. Then again, he hadn’t announced he’d made it either. She wanted to know but also didn’t want to stir up bad feelings. He’d tell her what was going on when he wanted her to know.
“How is he?” Evan crossed his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge.
She swallowed and forced herself not to look below his eyes. “He’s good. He’s been practicing hard for soccer. But you and Will helped him out this week, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. It was a lot of fun.” Evan smiled, his gray eyes bright. Inviting. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed the sport until Will dragged me onto the team. And helping out Daniel and his guys was great. I can’t thank you enough for starting it all.”
“Oh, well, sure.” She studied him, looked around, and realized he had a fresh bouquet of pink tulips on the dining table. “Who are the flowers from?”
He blinked. “You think someone sent me flowers?”
“Well, that or you bought them for yourself.” Not something she’d attribute to a guy like Evan, who had such a cold, white-and-chrome kind of bachelor pad. “Did you?”
“No, I didn’t buy them for myself.” He smiled.
Annoyed he seemed to like her jealousy, she put her hands on her hips then straightened, pulling back on her hostility. The man hadn’t done anything to earn it. Not really. That she knew of.
God, I am better than this.She cleared her throat and offered in a polite voice, “Oh. Right. Well, thanks for the files.”
“So you don’t want anything to drink? Or eat?”
“Eat?”
“You know. Dinner. I ordered some food from Pecado Bueno because I didn’t want to cook. Want some?”
She frowned. “I thought you didn’t like Mexican food.”
He shrugged. “It’s not all bad. I like some places.” He glanced away for a moment. “Here. Give me those.” He took the files from her and sat her down at the table, right in front of those beautiful tulips.
“I like your flowers.”
He grinned and returned with two plates. One full of a taco platter she normally ordered when she went there, the other with egg rolls and rice noodles on it.
“Oh, I usually order myself more than one thing, in case I change my mind.”
She saw the flush on his cheeks and marveled that she’d been such an idiot. “You got me Mexican food. And the flowers.”You did my taxes. You treat me like you really care for me.Her nerves fluttered.
“Do you like them?” He tried to pretend like it was no big deal.
“Evan, did you lure me over here to feed me?”
“Maybe.” He winked. “And maybe I just wanted to see you again. You know, since you’ve been too busy to see, talk, or breathe my same air all week.” He lifted a brow.
She sighed. “I like you so much it scares me. Happy?”
“Actually, yeah.” He took a big bite of his egg roll. “Eat. You look too skinny.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” She dug into her plate but could only get a few bites before she had to tell him. “I’m sorry. So sorry I didn’t talk to you. I was just nervous and weirded out.”
