times, in fact. Wes’s gut did a slow barrel roll, and he struggled to keep the guilt from his face as Dan went on.
“You know how much my mother loves you, so I have to warn you…”
Dan shifted uncomfortably on the couch.
Wes narrowed his eyes warily. “Warn me about what?”
“Mom mentioned trying to set the two of you up.” Dan let out a sharp bark of laughter. “I told her it would be a complete waste of time.”
Wes covered a cough with his hand. “How do you figure that?” he said in a conversational tone, though his blood was picking up speed in his veins.
Dan’s eyebrows sought to become one with the roof. “You’re kidding, right?”
“People said Sara and I were perfect for each other,” Wes said, and his gaze drifted across the room. No need for him to elaborate on how that had worked out.
Months had passed after his divorce before he’d finally realized that perfect on paper didn’t necessarily translate into perfect in real life. And while he and Evie might not be an obvious match, even he had to admit that somehow they just…worked. After his father’s embezzlement scam, Wes had buried a part of himself, a wildness that Evie coaxed out of hiding. She’d seen what no one else had. As if she knew how important the reckless side was in making him feel whole.
Dan tipped his head curiously. “So what are you trying to say, Wes?”
Wes heard Dan’s parents heading back toward the living room, their voices drifting up the hall. He couldn’t stomach the question in Dan’s eyes or the overt suggestions Evie’s mother would make about him and Evie. Not in front of Dan, the friend who was beginning to see right through his facade.
His cellular rang, and Wes looked at the incoming number. “It’s the office,” he said as he stood. “I’ll take this in the kitchen.”
…
Palms damp, surprising given the chill, Evie gripped the steering wheel of her budget rental car, moving slowly through traffic in the post-blizzard cleanup. After hours of driving aimlessly, she’d finally worked up the wherewithal to head for her parents’ house. She hated returning this way—in need. Her life a royal mess. And every mile closer to her childhood home ratcheted up the tension in her body.
She longed to be back in bed with Wes, warm and secure, wrapped in his arms.
But when the sun had peeked through the heavy hotel curtain, reality had hit. And the woman who had boldly seduced Wes Campbell and then turned to total putty in his powerful hands, that woman had studied the handsome, sleeping form, realizing she had made her homecoming that much more complicated.
Way to go, Evie.
Grabbing her bags and sneaking out of the penthouse had felt cowardly. But how did a woman behave after relentlessly seducing a guy who’d resisted until the bitter end? Granted, when he’d given in to her efforts, his overdeveloped sense of honor finally collapsing like a soggy house of cards, he’d thrown in the towel with a heart-stopping force. Unleashing a Wes she’d hardly recognized. Yet she sensed the man who’d emerged was as honest a glimpse as the one who’d told her not to drink too much and then had kept watch over her sleeping body.
Her heart clenched at the memories.
So where did they go from here? Outside of a single night of pure, unadulterated lust, he didn’t want to be with her. She wasn’t his kind of girlfriend. But she couldn’t imagine going back to the uneasily contentious relationship that they’d had before. Wes was coming to her parents’ party tonight, and she longed for him in ways she wouldn’t have thought possible in a short twenty-four-hour time span.
She gritted her teeth as she turned her car onto her parents’ street.
The huge gates at the driveway loomed closer—a lot like the rest of her life—and Evie touched the brakes, slowing the car to a crawl. Heart thumping, she considered turning around and delaying the inevitable. She dreaded enduring her poor mother’s
“You know how much my mother loves you, so I have to warn you…”
Dan shifted uncomfortably on the couch.
Wes narrowed his eyes warily. “Warn me about what?”
“Mom mentioned trying to set the two of you up.” Dan let out a sharp bark of laughter. “I told her it would be a complete waste of time.”
Wes covered a cough with his hand. “How do you figure that?” he said in a conversational tone, though his blood was picking up speed in his veins.
Dan’s eyebrows sought to become one with the roof. “You’re kidding, right?”
“People said Sara and I were perfect for each other,” Wes said, and his gaze drifted across the room. No need for him to elaborate on how that had worked out.
Months had passed after his divorce before he’d finally realized that perfect on paper didn’t necessarily translate into perfect in real life. And while he and Evie might not be an obvious match, even he had to admit that somehow they just…worked. After his father’s embezzlement scam, Wes had buried a part of himself, a wildness that Evie coaxed out of hiding. She’d seen what no one else had. As if she knew how important the reckless side was in making him feel whole.
Dan tipped his head curiously. “So what are you trying to say, Wes?”
Wes heard Dan’s parents heading back toward the living room, their voices drifting up the hall. He couldn’t stomach the question in Dan’s eyes or the overt suggestions Evie’s mother would make about him and Evie. Not in front of Dan, the friend who was beginning to see right through his facade.
His cellular rang, and Wes looked at the incoming number. “It’s the office,” he said as he stood. “I’ll take this in the kitchen.”
…
Palms damp, surprising given the chill, Evie gripped the steering wheel of her budget rental car, moving slowly through traffic in the post-blizzard cleanup. After hours of driving aimlessly, she’d finally worked up the wherewithal to head for her parents’ house. She hated returning this way—in need. Her life a royal mess. And every mile closer to her childhood home ratcheted up the tension in her body.
She longed to be back in bed with Wes, warm and secure, wrapped in his arms.
But when the sun had peeked through the heavy hotel curtain, reality had hit. And the woman who had boldly seduced Wes Campbell and then turned to total putty in his powerful hands, that woman had studied the handsome, sleeping form, realizing she had made her homecoming that much more complicated.
Way to go, Evie.
Grabbing her bags and sneaking out of the penthouse had felt cowardly. But how did a woman behave after relentlessly seducing a guy who’d resisted until the bitter end? Granted, when he’d given in to her efforts, his overdeveloped sense of honor finally collapsing like a soggy house of cards, he’d thrown in the towel with a heart-stopping force. Unleashing a Wes she’d hardly recognized. Yet she sensed the man who’d emerged was as honest a glimpse as the one who’d told her not to drink too much and then had kept watch over her sleeping body.
Her heart clenched at the memories.
So where did they go from here? Outside of a single night of pure, unadulterated lust, he didn’t want to be with her. She wasn’t his kind of girlfriend. But she couldn’t imagine going back to the uneasily contentious relationship that they’d had before. Wes was coming to her parents’ party tonight, and she longed for him in ways she wouldn’t have thought possible in a short twenty-four-hour time span.
She gritted her teeth as she turned her car onto her parents’ street.
The huge gates at the driveway loomed closer—a lot like the rest of her life—and Evie touched the brakes, slowing the car to a crawl. Heart thumping, she considered turning around and delaying the inevitable. She dreaded enduring her poor mother’s
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