I sighed into her hair.
“That kind of a day, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Want a French martini?”
“I have no idea what that is, but yes, please.”
Evie snorted. “You got it.”
I let her go and led her into the apartment.
She kicked off her shoes and headed straight into my kitchen.
“Rowan is building a house deeper into his territory,” she said as she dug through the cabinets searching for liquor.
I kept my cabinets thoroughly stocked with just about everything. Now that Evie’s mom had cornered the market on magical booze, all I needed was the extra fixings to come up with delicious concoctions.
“Oh?” I asked as I plopped down onto my couch and tugged Ethan’s gloves off. I examined them and almost smiled when I realized they were women’s gloves. Cashmere lined, leather outer. I put one of them to my nose and only smelled myself and Ethan.
He’d bought these especially for me.
Ethan always made it hard to stay mad at him.
“Yep.” Evie crowed with delight when she found the Chambord. “He wants you to pop by the house and give him some feedback.”
I set my gloves down and turned to her. “Why would he want me to do that?”
Evie made a tutting sound as she poured an overly generous amount of Cliona’s special vodka into a rocks glass. “Don’t play dumb. You know why.”
My heart softened. “Evie.”
“You got any pineapple juice?”
“Fridge. Glass jar. Fresh squeezed, you deviant little weirdo.”
A maniacal grin appeared on my friend’s face. She loved coming over here because I had all the things she’d forget to buy. I don’t think she realized I only bought them for her. So far there’d been no purchase she hadn’t used. Every once in a while, I’d come into a handful of money on the counter or something random—like a bundle of pineapples.
While Evie bent over the bottles like a mad scientist, she spoke. “You know I want you close. We have a ton of land. If youwant the house and you don’t want a freebie, you can set up a payment plan with Rowan. With a hefty family discount.”
She added a shot glass of Chambord to each glass, frowned, then turned to dig in the fridge again, letting out a shout of delight when she found the jar of cherries.
“Even better,” she said, a sly look sliding over her face, “the house is on the border to Ethan’s lands. Just in case things progress on that front.”
I stared at her. Not only was she deviant, she wasdevious.
“I’m dating your dad.”
Evie grimaced. “I’m well aware,” she said dryly. “And even though I make this face, it’s only because it’s my dad, and I don’t want to think about what the rest of that means. Buuuuuut,” she drawled, “even an idiot can see there’s something brewing between you and Ethan.”
I sighed. “You almost finished with that drink?”
Evie snorted and topped it off with the cherries. She handed me one and sat beside me, scooting over to lounge against the couch arm. “Now. Let’s talk this out. You want the house or no?” Her eyes narrowed. “And don’t say no.”
I took a sip of the drink and almost moaned. “Holy gods. What is in this thing?”
“Vodka, pineapple juice, Chambord, and a touch of cherry juice.” She sipped and did a little wiggle. “It’s my new favorite thing. Rowan has a pastry chef he’s trying out, and she showed me how to make one.”
