Evan this and Evan that. She couldn’t believe she’d been worried her boyfriend might not take to her brother. Sometimes she wondered who Evan liked better.
Then she’d feel terrible because she knew she was at fault for not being closer to him. She didn’t mean to, but she kept pushing him away. She hadn’t given him a key to her house, though he knew where the spare one lay, under the mat out back.
He saw Lila and Rachel in the evenings and practiced with Will and the Legal Eagles. And he’d invited Smith over once, this past weekend, and they’d had a blast playing horseshoes, of all things. The giant had left after giving her a kiss on the lips Evan hadn’t liked. At all. But it still warmed her that Evan cared so much.
And shouldn’t.
Because he deserved so much more than what she’d been giving him.
Sometimes she wished he’d never told her how much he loved her.
And yet, he hadn’t said it since. Just that one night, but she knew he still felt it.
One week to the day since Evan had first slept over, she sat in her basement, staring morosely at a concept for the new recycling facility job Rachel had landed, thanks to a connection Will had to someone Evan had introduced him to. Evan again. God. He kept making her life so much better, so why did she feel so much dread?
“You going to stare us into a new template or what?” Lila asked, chomping on some gum. She had her hair up in a complicated twist and looked like a goddess. Kenzie wanted to smack her for being so happy and together. Lila and Hector were a hot thing, so now Kenzie had to see Evan laughing it up over at Lila’s house, hanging with his buddy and Kenzie’s best friend…when he wasn’t chilling with Will.
God, Evan was taking over her life! Her friends, her job, her brother.
“Ack.” She got up from her desk and started pacing laps, her brainstorming pattern a clutter-free circle on the floor so she could think around creative blockages.
Lila looked as if she meant to say something more, but Rachel shook her head, and Lila returned her attention to her computer.
Five minutes of internal swearing, some sweat, and much walking, and Kenzie still had no idea how to handle Evan. She wanted so badly to love and trust him. But something still held her back, and she feared a buried sense of intuition was telling her he wasn’t as good as he appeared to be.
He sure wasn’t perfect. For all that he could be romantic or sexy or thoughtful, he left the toilet seat up, which drove her nuts. He hated Mexican food, and Taco Tuesday was a home staple. And he had a habit of pausing before he spoke to her, as if weighing every word. Which totally pissed her off. He should feel free to speak his mind, for fuck’s sake.
She came back to her desk and plonked in the seat.
The entire room remained silent. A glance at the clock showed it had reached two thirty. God. This day sucked so much ass. The last time she’d looked, the clock had read two twenty-six.
It was Rachel who broke the silence. “We got the Talon account.”
Kenzie started and answered before she could think to prevaricate. “No, we didn’t.”
“We did.” Rachel was somber, concerned. “Kayla called me earlier today, told me what happened and how sorry she was. Her brother is taking a short break and apparently had a mental breakdown shortly before meeting with you.”
“That’s the story they’re sticking to,” Lila said dryly. “I want to know why you didn’t tell us.”
“I’m confused. How do you know any of this? Okay, he put his hand on my knee. I moved it back. He apologized for being thoughtless. We didn’t get the account. End of story.”
“Apparently not, because Kayla heard about what happened from Evan then she heard it from her beat-up brother. She’s so sorry and furious with Rob because she’s all woman power, blah, blah, blah,” Lila said. “I still want to beat the shit out of him for coming on to you, but I guess Evan handled that.” She gave a lethal grin. “Good man.”
“Hold on. How did Evan know?”
Rachel answered, “I don’t know, exactly. Somehow Evan got Rob to tell him the whole truth. Then he beat the crap out of him for it.”
Great. Now Evan would land in huge trouble with the wealthy Talons. “God. It was just a hand on a knee.” At Rachel’s raised brow, she flushed. “Okay, it made me uncomfortable. But they’re rich, and they have the money to hire lawyers who will say it never happened.” And would sue Evan’s sexy butt for all he had. Her anxiety spiked.
“But it did, and it has happened before, apparently.” Rachel frowned. “You should have told us.”
“I was going to.” Kenzie felt miserable. “I’m sorry. I know we need the money, and I was so sure we’d get the account. I had everything Rob passed on from Kayla. We nailed it.”
“She thought so too.” Rachel nodded. “Which is why she gave us the account.”
“But I still don’t understand why Evan got involved.” Kenzie wanted to know, her blood pressure rising at thoughts of Evan once again interfering where he had no business being.
Lila answered, “I heard him talking to Hector about it. He saw Rob in town and asked about the job. Rob made up some bullshit excuse that Evan saw right through. And when Evan called him on it, Rob trash-talked you before admitting what he’d done. I guess that pissed Evan off because Kayla said she wasn’t sorry about what Evan had done to Rob and not to worry about it.”
