He smiled indulgently at her. “I was only gone for a day, babe.”
“It was one day too long,” she said crossly.
He grinned. “Your parents are nice.”
The swift change in conversation made her pause and then she returned his grin, her cheeks widening until they nearly cracked.
“You like them.”
“Yes,” he said seriously. “They are good people.”
Remembering that it was doubtful Drake had had much experience with good people, she regarded him with the same seriousness.
“They’re the best kind of people,” she said huskily. “I’d do anything in the world for them.”
“They’re very lucky then.”
She reached up and lay her palm over his bristled, unshaven cheek.
“I’d do anything for you as well, Drake. I hope you never forget that.”
He captured her hand and dragged it over his lips so he kissed the inside of it.
“Oh you’ve proved that, Angel. Over and over. I doubt I’lleverforget it.”
He followed his statement with a slight wince and a sigh.
“Is something wrong?” she asked anxiously, her earlier euphoria dissipating as she took in Drake’s grim expression.
Drake stared at Evangeline, hating what he was about to do. Deceive her. Or rather lie by omission. Make something appear as something else altogether. When he’d promised himself he’d never lie to her or hurt her. And if he didn’t handle this just right, not only would he be lying to her, but he could also hurt her if she misconstrued his reasons.
Knowing that the longer he remained silent and the longer he dragged this out, the worse it would appear, and that it could explode in his face, he kissed her and allowed sincere regret to show. He pulled her down onto the couch so they were seated next to each other.
“I know tomorrow night is our night to eat in with you cooking, but I have a very important business meeting here. I’ll be entertaining my associates in our home. Unfortunately it’s unavoidable, and I promised you that I wouldn’t miss our dinners in unless absolutely necessary. This is one of the rare times when it’s absolutely necessary to meet where we can be assured quiet and privacy.”
Her brow furrowed in puzzlement as she processed his vague statement, and he didn’t miss the disappointment in her eyes nor her attempts to mask her reaction by quickly regaining her composure.
“I understand,” she said, only the slightest tremble in her voice to reveal her emotion. “Maybe we can have a do-over later in the week.”
Damn but he hated what came next. How to ensure she wasn’t present during his meeting without it being obvious he didn’t want her there? He’d broken one of his promises—avow—he’d made to himself, something unthinkable, by lying to Evangeline. He would not, underanycircumstances, break the other promise he’d made that she never be touched by the alternate shadowy life he led.
“I know you didn’t go out last night, so I thought perhaps you’d want to go out on the town tomorrow night. You name it and I’ll make it happen, Angel. Whatever you’d like to do. Quite frankly the meeting will be boring as hell, and I don’t ever expect you to have to suffer strangers and awkwardness in your own home. And you damn sure as hell won’t be expected to please six arrogant bastards who will all be dick-sizing one another during negotiations.”
He didn’t have to fake the pissed-off, inconvenienced act for Evangeline, because he was both. If so much wasn’t riding on this goddamn deal, he’d tell every one of them to go fuck themselves. He never openedhis personal residence to anything business related. This was his only sanctuary. And now it was Evangeline’s, and it pissed him off that he had to, in a nutshell, kick his angel out of her own home for the evening and play nice with men he wouldn’t ever want within a mile of his woman.
She bit into her bottom lip, hesitating, obviously immersed in thought. He wished to hell he could read her right now. Ninety-nine percent of the time, she was utterly transparent, her eyes a window to her soul, but this was the one percent of the time when he had no clue what she was thinking or feeling.
He had to hold back her name and the question that would most assuredly be in his voice if he uttered it. Because he knew he would sound uncertain, and he had to play this just right. It was simply a business meeting, and he was offering her the city on a silver platter for the night. He didn’t need to sound like he had a reason to be worried about what she was thinking.
“Tomorrow night is the girls’ night off,” she said softly. “I’d like... I need to see them. We haven’t spoken. Not since the night Steph came over here. I—we’ve—let it go on too long. I need to talk to them. I tried to call them while you were out of town. I thought we could grab something to eat, catch up. But I never heard back from them.”
Drake’s lips thinned slightly. Damn it. He wasn’t keen on a reunion with her girlfriends. Not if there was the possibility of them filling her head with a bunch of shit. But at the same time, it offered him the perfect out. She would be happy and he would effectively keep her separate from his business.
“You should go, then,” he said gently.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t mind?”
He pulled her further into the crook of his arm so she was nestled firmly against him.
