No matter how she worded it, she could imagine the look on his face. It was almost a foregone conclusion that he was going to stroke out when he thought she was inviting herself to stay the night. Of course, she wasn’t thinking she would spend the night in his bed. She figured the girls could build blanket forts in the upstairs game room, and Becs could sleep in Sophia’s room.
Hey, Evan. Mind if I camp out in your daughter’s bed this weekend? I’d like to help with the party.
God, she sounded like a moron.
Becs cleared her throat when she saw Evan coming toward his desk.
It was now or never.
“Hey, Evan.”
Before he fully turned toward her, his cell phone rang. Because he was always worried that something had happened to Sophia, he went to his desk and squinted at the screen.
He held up one finger, signaling he needed a minute.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
Becs did her best not to eavesdrop. Or to look at him. Neither was easy for her. First of all, they were in the same room, so she couldn’t very well tune out his conversation when no one else was around. Not without putting in her earbuds, but then she risked him leaving before she realized he was finished. And two, she really liked looking at Evan. Over the past couple of months, she’d noticed a few changes. When he first started working with the task force, he was one of those guys who seemed to blend with the background. With his light brown hair and dark brown eyes, he looked like a lot of guys one might see on a daily basis. At six feet tall, he’d been a little overweight, although he’d looked even bigger than he was because he wore suits that were too large for him.
She knew for a fact he’d started spending time at the gym. He’d lost twenty-two pounds, or so she had heard him telling his mother. And now that the weight was gone, so were the suits, which was a good thing. They would’ve swallowed him whole. She got the feeling Slade had worn off on him because Evan’s wardrobe had shifted from cheap suits to jeans and casual shirts that were cut to accentuate his muscular physique.
The interesting thing was it hadn’t been his physical changes that had drawn her to him. Becs had liked Evan just the way he was before he’d undergone the physical transformation. This version of him … well, he was hot. That’s what he was.
“All right, Mom. I’ll ask her, but I can’t imagine she’d say yes.” He paused for a moment before saying, “Yep. I’ll be home by five. Tell Sophia to relax. Her birthday weekend’ll start when it starts.”
Evan disconnected the call and tucked his phone in his pocket before grabbing his wallet and keys.
“Was that Kaye?” Becs asked, aiming for casual.
“Yeah. She’s got it in her head that I should ask you if you’d like to hang out this weekend to help with the party.”
“Hang out?”
His gaze shifted to the floor. “Stay the night or whatever.”
God, he was cute.
“I’m more than happy to help,” she said.
“You’ve probably got plans.”
“Nope,” she blurted a little too quickly. “I mean, you know. There’s the grocery store. But I can do that anytime.”
Evan met her gaze again. He nodded. “It’s up to you.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll hang out this weekend.”
For a brief moment, they stared at each other, and Becs felt the heat building somewhere deep in her soul. She knew she needed to ignore it, but by God, she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do so.
Chapter Three
Reese stood at the grill, in chargeof the food for the night’s festivities, while everyone else chatted and chilled. They’d been having these Friday night cookouts at the house for most of the summer. It hadn’t been intentional, but Reese enjoyed how the team came together outside the office as much as in it. It allowed them to socialize and talk about something other than work. It had become routine at some point, something Reese looked forward to at the end of a busy week.
“You need any help?”
“I’m good for now,” Reese told Baz as he rolled the line of sausage links on the grill. “I’ve got JJ’s burger almost done.”
“Has anyone else noticed how much we spoil her?”
