He kissed her neck one more time, this time nibbling at the silky skin before disengaging himself from her and heading to his bedroom. Okay, so the talk would have to come after dinner, but the fact that she’d cooked for him said something. She wasn’t fighting, and apparently she hadn’t had a change of heart.
He’d fully expected Justice to call him and bitch and moan about playing babysitter today, but to his surprise, all Justice had said after he’d dropped Evangeline back at Drake’s apartment was, “You’ve got a good one, Drake. Don’t fuck it up.”
He frowned. He’d already seen Maddox’s reaction to her, as well as Thane’s. And now Justice had evidently fallen victim to her charm as well. He wasn’t at all certain he liked the impact she was having on his men. She’d have them all eating out of her hand, and he had a suspicion that if Evangeline did get cold feet and bail, one or all three of the men would make a play for her.
Likehellthat was going to happen.
After changing into a pair of comfortable jeans and a T-shirt, he returned to the kitchen to find Evangeline arranging the plates on the dining room table. When she heard him, she turned, a grimace on her lips.
“I wasn’t certain of your preference in wine, so I bought red and white.”
“I like both, so I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said.
She opened a bottle and poured two glasses, then stood nervously, watching him as if unsure what to do next.
“Sit,” he said. “We don’t want the food to get cold.”
He pulled back the chair for her and she slid into it, and then he took the one across from her so he could watch her and see into her eyes. He hadn’t even paid attention to what she’d been cooking, but now that he examined the artfully arranged plate before him, he realized she’d blackened a fish fillet with a sauce drizzled over it. There was a baked potato and two side dishes he didn’t recognize. But it looked—and smelled—good.
The presentation was worthy of any restaurant he frequented. He was accustomed to fine dining, an indulgence he didn’t deny himself now that he had the means to do so. Growing up dirt-poor and always hungry had a way of carving a man’s soul. He’d made a vow on his mother’s grave when he was eleven years old that her life would not be his. That he would do and have more. And above all, he’d sworn he’d never be hungry again.
While he was miserly with his fortune when it came to business matters, causing his partners to poke fun at his tight purse strings, he had no qualms about indulging in personal luxuries, fine dining being uppermost. So he knew a professional presentation when he saw one. And Evangeline’s dish looked every bit as skillful and masterful as those served in his favorite and most exclusive restaurants. It remained to be seen whether the taste matched the appearance, but so far he wasimpressed. His angel was full of surprises, it would seem. Suddenly he was eager to ferret out her secrets, what made her tick, what lay beneath the veil of sweet innocence and a shine that was impossible to go unnoticed by any living, breathing person within a hundred yards of her.
She fiddled with her fork, peeking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. He dug into the fish and took a bite and then halted. He chewed and then quickly took another bite, not believing what he’d just experienced.
Now motivated to taste the other offerings, he forked into the two unknown sides and then leaned back with a groan. She looked apprehensive, and he noticed she hadn’t taken a single bite of her own meal.
“This is amazing, Evangeline. It tastes magnificent.Youcooked this? Are you sure you haven’t pulled one over on me and ordered in?” he teased.
Her face colored but her eyes shone with delight at his compliment, and she ducked her head self-consciously, then nodded.
“I love to cook,” she said softly. Then she lifted her head so their gazes met and her cheeks went pink all over again. “I’m pretty good at it, actually. I did all the cooking when I lived back home, and I cook for my roommates to save money so we don’t eat out all the time. When I was young, I would go to the library and check out cookbooks and copy the recipes. We couldn’t afford cable or satellite television, so I couldn’t watch cooking channels, so I learned by trial and error. It’s amazing the wonderful-tasting meals you can make with inexpensive ingredients. The secret is in the seasoning. Eating out was a luxury we couldn’t afford. Not even fast food, and, well, when I got better at cooking, to be honest, I much preferred my own cooking over greasy takeout food.”
He barely managed to stifle the frown forming. When had Evangeline ever had time to live her own life? To have a life of her own, for that matter? From the bits and pieces he’d been able to put together, she’d sacrificed everything for her family, even leaving home so she could makemore money, but lived in squalor in order to support her parents. And he still had no idea why her parents couldn’t do for themselves. She’d told him her father had been injured on the job and workman’s comp found a way out of paying, but what was the mother’s story? It made him angry that a beautiful young girl on the cusp of womanhood had put everything on hold to work herself to the bone, setting aside her own wants and desires for others. But then it also made her special. Head and shoulders above others for her sheer generosity and selflessness.
“How old were you when you started teaching yourself to cook?” he asked, already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Nine,” she said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Mom helped as much as she could, but it was more important for her to be with Dad, so I took over the kitchen, and they pretended not to notice when smoke filled the kitchen and I ran through the house opening all the doors and windows,” she finished with a laugh.
But Drake wasn’t laughing. He was furious.Nine.She’d been nine years old when she’d assumed the role of primary caregiver for her adult parents. He had to put his hands down below the table so she didn’t see the tight fists that formed. And her attitude said it all. She didn’t see anything abnormal about a mere child being forced into adulthood and taking on a mountain of responsibility. Never having a childhood. Much like himself, though their circumstances were vastly different. She, at least, had food to eat and she hadn’t voiced a single complaint about the way her parents treated her. In fact, every time she spoke of her family, her face softened and her eyes went warm with love.
But it didn’t change the fact that she’d been cheated of things most children took for granted. Did she ever plan to live her own life? To do something solely for herself?
Hell yes. He would see to that. He couldn’t change the past for either of them, but he could damn sure change Evangeline’s future, and her days of putting her own needs aside for the people she loved were over. Hecouldn’t make her many promises, but he could at least make her that one. Never again would she be in servitude, willingly or not, to others.
They continued to eat in silence as he pondered the puzzle that was Evangeline Hawthorn. And more and more, he came to the realization that she was unlike any other woman he’d ever known, and he wasn’t sure what to do with that. Or with her. He was finding himself in a predicament he’d never before experienced.
He handled all the women he’d taken up with, no matter how short of a time it was, with practiced ease. Never missing a step. He performed by rote and his efforts were greatly appreciated and met with delight.
For the first time in his life, he felt doubt over how to handle a woman. The irony wasn’t lost on him. It was obvious that he couldn’t employ the usual strategy with Evangeline because she wasn’t like any of his past women. It might have annoyed another man, but it filled Drake with an eagerness he hadn’t ever felt.
She was perhaps going to be his greatest challenge, and he thrived on challenges. He would have to figure out just how to handle her. What pleased her. Because the last thing he wanted to do was insult her or damage her pride. And pride was something she had in abundance. He admired and respected that because he understood pride all too well.
His thoughts drifted to his earlier acknowledgment that he hadn’t already set a time limit on his relationship—yes,relationship, a word he’d never before used when referring to time he spent with a woman—with Evangeline. Because one thing he knew for sure. It would take more than a few days, weeks or even months to fully learn everything there was to know about his angel. And he looked forward to every moment.
Realizing his plate was completely cleaned, he leaned back in his chair and settled his gaze on what was his.
“That was wonderful, Evangeline. You were wrong when you said you were pretty good at cooking, though.”
