“Good.”
“Fine.”
“So, you never told us how you two met.” It was one of the cousins. Patty? Peggy? Evan couldn’t remember, and it didn’t matter, because the entire table was staring at them. It was showtime.
“Charity auction,” Lennox deadpanned, his scowl really selling the romance.
“Oh? Which one?”
Evan watched the color drain from his pookie’s face, and he let him flounder for almost a minute before bailing him out. He was lucky that Isabella in a bikini gave him something to live for.
“Maggie’s Miracles.”
A titter went through the crowd as Patsy or Pauline clasped her hands together and smiled. “Oh, I love that gala! It’s meticulously run and raises so much money every year.”
“100% of the profits go toward the research,” Evan added, wondering if he’d just sold a few extra tickets for this year. He’d put it on his father’s tab.
“I can’t believe we haven’t run into one another. I almost never miss that one.”
“I’m not usually much of a schmoozer.”
Not when it came to black-tie affairs, anyway. That was his father’s playground, and he preferred to be anywhere that asshole wasn’t.
Another of the women, who’d squinted at him for several moments, snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Wait a minute. Are you one of Charlie’s boys?”
Evan nodded, fighting to keep the cringe from taking over his face. He’d wondered if any of them would put two and two together. Not that he knew everyone operating in his parents’ circle, but many of the faces here were vaguely familiar. He could see them now trying to figure out exactlywhichof Charlie’s boys, and he hoped the vacation would be long over before they figured it out.
“Enough of Evan’s family tree,” Olivia interrupted, patting him on the arm. “I want to hear the romantic details.”
The table hushed, and all eyes turned back to them. Helooked at Lennox, who crossed his arms and looked back with amused interest. A lot of help he would be.
“C’mon, look at me. He couldn’t resist.”
There was a prolonged groan. He wouldn’t be getting out of this one easily.
“I was actually there with someone else,” Lennox said quietly.
“Oooh, a love triangle!”
“We need another bottle of wine!”
Heath wrung his hands in his lap, avoiding everyone’s gaze. “I’d thought that person was the one, but turns out I was wrong.”
The women all cooed and clicked their tongues. With eyes darkened to a stormy grey, Lennox looked truly miserable. Inexplicably, it stirred something within him. Prodded him to reach over and grab his hand, because it felt authentic. It was what he would do if they were really together.
“His loss was my gain.”
Lennox, the world’s worst actor, could not have looked more horrified. Eyes wide, his hand stiffened in Evan’s, making the gesture feel as intensely awkward as it looked.
“Oh my God, this is too much.”
“Look at them! Ah, young love.”
“I love love.”
“So you stole him away?”
It was Isabella asking, her mouth curved into a soft smile. He’d forgotten she was there. Well, shit. There went any future flirting with her.
