Sins from Her Past (Scandalous) (8 page)

Evelyn’s eyes darted down to the concrete as she drew wet circles with her fingers. “I’ll call Rick’s assistant and see if she can handle that. She’d have all the contacts anyway.”

“I think he was even planning on some fireworks or something after the party,” Dylan said. “He’s having it at their home here in Pebble Cove. He wanted to keep it low-key and simple. It’s not a campaign ploy.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stay long,” Evelyn told him. “So no fireworks for me.”

Not stay long? At the birthday party for the man who’d taken her in after her parents’ deaths and funded her college?

What was going on with her lately? There were aspects that just weren’t like Evelyn at all. She loved her family, but now she was acting odd about attending a family party. Between that and the fear he’d witnessed during vulnerable times, something was definitely wrong. If the answer was obvious, then he was missing the point, but he sure as hell was not going to stop until he learned what secret she kept so closely guarded.

“If you’re worried, we can make sure we’re in town,” he told her. “I wouldn’t ever think of making work come before family.”

Evelyn eyed him before turning her gaze to Dylan. “What are you getting him?”

“Seriously?” Dylan barked a laugh. “What can we buy a state senator that he doesn’t already have or that he couldn’t buy himself?”

Evelyn shrugged, pushed off the edge of the pool and lazily floated on her back. “I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

Vin slid his shirt over his head and kicked off his flip-flops. “Hey, Dylan, you remember that time Evelyn was swimming in the pool when she thought we weren’t going to be around?”

“Yeah, I do.” Dylan smiled, hoisted himself onto the side of the pool and came to stand next to Vin. “Funny memory.”

“Oh no.” Evelyn jerked her feet beneath her and tried to make her way through the water toward the shallow end. “That was so not funny.”

Dylan nudged Vin and that’s all it took before they both jumped in, right toward Evelyn and yelled, “Cannonball!”

Evelyn shielded her face and when the dueling tidal waves settled, she was laughing, wiping her eyes. But when she focused, instead of seeing Dylan and Vin, her eyes came in contact with Alan who stood on the side of the pool wearing trunks and a tank and a cocky grin on his face. Chills slid through her.

“Looks like I’m missing all the fun,” he said, his gaze roaming over her bare shoulders before moving on to the guys in the pool. “Sorry I’m so late.”

Evelyn moved toward the steps, calculating how far her cover-up or towel was from the pool. She needed a shield because there was no way in hell she’d be caught in her suit with Alan here. She’d purposely waited to see if he was going to show and had felt safe when an hour had passed without him. Obviously she wasn’t safe.

Her towel was closer, so she grabbed it from the lounge chair and wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled it together at her breasts before moving to the other side to grab her cover-up.

“What took you so long, man?” Vin asked. “There’s food in the kitchen, but the steak might be a little cold by now.”

Alan shrugged and tugged his tank off, slinging it to the side. “I’m okay. I had to go in to the office and I grabbed something before I went because I didn’t know how long I’d be.”

While the men chatted, Evelyn put on her cover-up and tried to swallow hard while breathing deeply. The sight of Alan’s bare chest made her stomach roll, though most women would probably be turned on by all those chiseled abs and perfectly cut pecs. She knew the monster that lurked beneath.

“I’m going to head out,” she told them as she slid into her flip-flops. “Vin, I’ll see you Monday.”

“What are you going for?” he asked, hoisting himself up on the edge of the pool and coming to his feet.

He was going to try to stop her, but she just couldn’t stay. For years she’d tried to keep her distance from Alan.

She scheduled visits to see Rick when he was in his main home in Atlanta, not his Pebble Cove residence. She purposely only visited Pebble Cove when she knew Alan would be out of town.

For years she’d dodged her living, breathing nightmare.

But right now, with her nightmares still fresh and the chemistry she and Vin had recently discovered, she couldn’t be here.

Evelyn smiled as Vin moved closer. “I just have some things I’d like to work on. Surely you understand working in the off-hours?”

His brows drew together. “Everything all right?” he whispered, his back to the pool.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, even though she wanted him to wrap his big, strong arms around her. “Just got some ideas and I’d like to sketch some things before I forget. I still have to convince you how wonderful this exotic theme will be.”

“If you’re sure.” He studied her another minute as if waiting for her to say more. “I’ll walk you out.”

“No, no. I’m fine. I’ll see you when you pick me up Monday.”

Before he could further explore her wacky change of demeanor, she glanced over his shoulder and waved. “Bye, guys. See you later.”

“Don’t leave, Evie,” Dylan pleaded. “We need to discuss this party for Rick.”

“Yeah, Evie, don’t leave.” Alan’s eyes locked on hers, one brow raised as if he knew the exact reason she was practically sprinting out the door. But he didn’t utter a word.

“Go ahead,” she told her brother. “Just call me with the details and I’ll do anything I can to help.”

And that was true. She’d do anything in the world for Rick Carter. He wasn’t just a state senator to her, he was the man who became her sanctuary, her rock, her everything. And she knew he would be completely crushed if he had any idea the kind of man his son had become. She just couldn’t be the one to crush him.

“I’ll call you later,” Dylan told her. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” She looked back to Vin. “Thanks for everything.”

He grabbed her arm before she could turn away. “Call me if you need anything.”

Glancing from his firm grip to his eyes, she swallowed. “I won’t.”

She knew he wasn’t talking about work or friendship, and as much as she did need comfort and stability, she couldn’t ask him for it. Though she’d give anything if he’d be the one who helped her through this. But if he did, how could they face each other? How on earth would “friends with benefits” work for them—that is, if she was able to actually be intimate?

And if she ever was able to be intimate, could she ever venture into love? The one and only time she’d ever thought she had stronger feelings for someone, her innocent vision of love had been shattered and now she had no clear picture of what it should even be.

Evie made her way to her car. She didn’t care that she was running away. Her therapist had told her to do what felt comfortable, what felt right, and walking away from Alan’s damning stare was certainly the right thing to do.

She needed to be able to think more clearly and she certainly couldn’t do that here. Vin needed to be the forefront of her mind because she couldn’t afford to keep looking back. Her future would be the only thing that would keep her from going crazy, keep her smiling and keep her from curling up in a ball and letting the bad guy win.

Chapter Seven

The plane lurched into the air and Evelyn’s eyes drifted to the seat directly in front of her as Vin white-knuckled the chair. Since the seats were facing each other, she knew she wasn’t imagining things. Last time they’d flown to and from Italy, he’d sat beside her and she had thought she’d imagined his fear. But no. He was utterly and one hundred percent terrified.

She never would’ve believed big, hunky Vincent Hawk would be afraid of anything. Interesting.

She kept her eyes on his, silently willing him to look at her. When he kept his gaze on the window, Evelyn took a deep breath, slid off her sandal, extended her leg and allowed her bare foot to roam up the inside of his designer jeans.

He jerked toward her and while his knuckles were still ghostly white, his eyes held something much, much warmer.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Good question. All she’d thought about was distracting him, which had worked, but now what? God, this was so not like her.

“You seemed tense.” She eased her foot back out and slid back into her sandal, suddenly feeling really silly. “You okay?”

Hopefully, now that they were starting to level out a little more, he could relax. If not, well, she didn’t know what else to do to distract him. She had her limits.

“Fine,” he replied with a devilish grin. “Just thinking about the site. I’m anxious to get there and see the progress.”

“How far are they on the building now?”

“I’m hoping to be open by Christmas, but that’s if everything goes according to plan and weather cooperates.”

Evelyn nodded. “That would be a nice time to open and advertise specials for New Year’s Eve and even for Valentine’s Day.”

Vin glanced out the window once again and sighed. “I want to offer a special honeymoon package for when we initially open. That’s the crowd I think this will bring in.”

“You’re catering more toward couples?”

He nodded. “So many of my resorts are geared toward families and I love that. Family is always important, but I also think the bond between a couple is just as important and it’s good for people to be able to get away, escape reality and just concentrate on being in love.”

Evelyn swallowed, watching him from across the narrow aisle. “You’re a romantic,” she murmured. “Who knew?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not.”

“You are too.” She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. “First you tell me you want a child and now you’re focusing your resort on couples. Don’t worry, Vin, I won’t tell anyone you’re getting soft in your old age.”

“I’m not soft or old,” he said between gritted teeth. “I’m homing in on a market that is scarce and in demand.”

Evelyn crossed her legs and laughed. “Seriously, don’t try to defend yourself. Your secret is out. But it’s safe with me. If you want to talk about the profit, that’s fine. I know deep down how you feel.”

Vin rolled his eyes. “You’re reading too much into this.”

“Have you seen
An Affair to Remember
?”

He jerked back. “Yeah…why?”

“What about
Casablanca
?”

He rolled his eyes. “What does this have to do with anything?”

Even though she knew the answer, she quirked her brow. “Just answer the question.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it too.”

Evelyn raised her hands, palms out. “I rest my case. You’re a hopeless romantic.”

The ding in the cockpit indicated they could remove their seat belts, but Evelyn didn’t want to go anywhere. She was quite content with this line of questioning.

“All right then,” Vin retorted. “Have you seen
Rocky
?”

“Yes.”

“Then does that make you a boxing fan?”

Evelyn stared at him, but couldn’t keep the laughter from bubbling up and exploding out. “Are you seriously going to compare the two? Fine. I’ll confess I like boxing. Happy now?”

A corner of Vin’s mouth quirked, but he unfastened his seat belt and came to his feet. “No, because I’m still not a romantic.”

Looking up at him, Evelyn couldn’t help but keep her smile pasted on her face because they both knew she was right. “You were stating your case on wanting a wife and a baby the other day, right?”

Vin rested his hands on his narrow hips and shrugged. “A wife and a baby don’t equal romance.”

Evelyn came to her feet too, but with the seats not too far apart, they now stood mere inches apart and nearly eye to eye.

“I know you, Vin.”

She tried not to stare too long into those dark, mesmerizing eyes, but if her gaze traveled down to those full lips surrounded by a few days’ worth of stubble, she’d remember how much she’d enjoyed his mouth on hers, how much pleasure she’d taken from him and how much she wished she didn’t want to do it again.

“I know you’ll want someone you actually care about to share that life with. You may have been a playboy, or at least let the public believe that, but I know the real you and if you are this passionate about a family, then you’re looking for love.”

He didn’t stop his eyes from drifting to her mouth. “Are you applying for the position, Evelyn?”

His quick reply, combined with that sultry gaze, had her wishing for things that were most likely impossible for her.

If only having a family was that simple. If only her past didn’t damn her and keep her from seeking the happiness she knew she deserved. None of what had happened was her fault, but what had she done to stop two years of living a nightmare? She wouldn’t even know how to love or how to accept such a strong emotion.

“I’m holding out for love,” she told him, as if she knew what she was talking about. “I’d rather wait until I know for sure.”

Yeah, she’d hold out all right. Like until she quit having nightmares about sex and when she thought she could actually get naked with a man and let him touch her, make love to her.