Thank fuck. As long as I don’t get struck by lightning, I’ll be inside my girl tomorrow night.
34
EVIE
I’m trying to pretend they’re not looking, but it’s impossible.
Colton’s looking sexy as hell, in full lumberjack mode, as per my request. I should focus on him. His eyes are all on me. I know it. He’s not the problem.
They are.
Or maybe it’s fairer to say I am.
“Evie, where do you keep going, baby?” He reaches for my other hand, rubbing my knuckles. “Don’t say it’s nothing, because we both know that’s not true.”
I blink back tears, not because I don’t want him to see it, but because I don’t want them to.
“I’m struggling.”
“I can see that. What’s happening? Is it me? Am I just too handsome? Are you having trouble keeping your hands off me? Totally understandable.” He says it with a straight face. The twinkle in his eyes is impossible to hide.
“I really love you, you know that?” The twinkle winks out, leaving those brown eyes clear, and focused on me.
“I know. I see it. And I’ll never get tired of it. Ever.” He pulls my hands to his mouth, kissing both palms before resting them on his cheeks. “Tell me what’s happening in your head?”
It’s involuntary, I swear, but I look across the restaurant to the table of giggling women. Colt turns, trying to figure out what I’m looking at. I tighten my hands on his face, pulling him back to face me. “Please don’t look.”
“What?” he asks, eyes peeled wide. “Is there a bee?”
Despite my self-consciousness, a snort tumbles out. “No. Why are you so freaked out by bees and hamsters? They’re tiny, and you are not.” My breath catches as he gives me a look that Mia’s been giving me lately. The ‘duh’ look. The one that says I’m completely clueless. Stinker picked it up from Colt.
“Uh, because bees have dagger butts, and hamsters are basically four-legged tarantulas. They are vermin, Evie.”
“Who hurt you? How did you become this damaged, animal-hating man?”
His face reddens. “Shut up. Nothing happened. Nevermind. Let’s talk about you.”
“Oh, my god. Now you have to tell me.” Guaranteed, there’s a story there.
“There’s nothing to tell,” he says with a wink. His face hardens. “What is happening in your head, Evie? Things were great tonight, and suddenly it’s like you’re not here.”
Pulling my hands back, I sit back in my chair. Colt frowns and grabs one, tucking it between his. I love that he wants that tangible connection with me.
“I overheard some women in the bathroom. They said some stuff that I let get to me.”
“What stuff?”
The glint in his eye tells me he’s not planning to let me get away with a non-answer. “I overheard them talking about why the sexy lumberjack was here with someone like me. The best that they could come up with was we’re work friends, or maybe I’m your sister.”
His lips press into a line. “Someone like you?”
“Yeah. They figured, since I’m bigger, we must be related. They don’t understand why a man as fit as you would be with a fat woman.”
Colt’s mouth drops open. “Are you telling me women actually say shit like that in real life? Seriously? I thought that was only in the movies.”
“You haven’t spent much time with women, have you? They’re over there right now, still confused, even more now since they saw you kissing my hands. They’re realizing we’re actually on a date, and it’s just not computing.”
I let out a groan, frustrated with myself. “I hate that I’m even letting this get to me. I knew I was going to have to face it at some point. I just somehow wasn’t prepared for it tonight. I told you I never used to care what anyone thought of me. Not even my parents. I’m just having a moment.”
