by Parker, Ali
Matthew blinked.
Evangeline put a hand on my shoulder. “Owen, would you mind running to the bar and topping off my wine for me? I need to wet my lips after that speech.”
I got to my feet and re-buttoned my jacket. “Of course. Anything for you gentlemen?” I looked around the table.
All three of the men stared daggers at me.
“Suit yourselves.” I shrugged before turning my back on them and weaving through the tables to make my way to the bar.
I didn’t mind being dismissed by Evangeline. Like Matthew said, she had class, and she knew how to handle clowns like him in her sleep.
I just wished I could have hung back to watch her in action.
Chapter 16
Evangeline
I crossed one leg over the other and studied Matthew as he slapped on the same charming smile he’d worn the night we went out for drinks.
“I was listening to your speech,” he said, abandoning the rigid way he’d been sitting when Owen was still at the table. He rolled his shoulders ever so slightly and leaned away from the table, assuming a more comfortable position and pulling his drink off the table with him.
“Yes. It sure looked like you were. Owen too.”
“I tried to tell him we could talk later.”
I almost rolled my eyes at him. Almost. Instead, I maintained a neutral expression and turned toward the two men on the other side of the table. I was fairly certain they were the Wright brothers, wealthy, shallow, easy to look at, but impossible to have an intelligent conversation with.
I gave them the politest smile I could manage. “Would you two excuse us for a minute? I need to speak to Matthew about something private.”
The two brothers looked at each other and then at Matthew.
As if they were asking permission.
As if my asking for a private moment meant nothing to them unless Matthew gave them the go ahead.
How insufferable.
Matthew nodded at them. “Go on, then.”
The two men stood up and wandered off through the crowd as more and more tables started having their meals delivered to them. I took note of the fact that they headed in the same direction as Owen.
Then I set my attention to the task at hand and turned my chair toward Matthew.
“I should have been more honest with you when you called me the other day, Matthew.”
He studied me calmly and didn’t say a word.
So I continued. “When you asked me out for drinks, I told you it wasn’t a good time. But that wasn’t the truth. The truth is, I’ve known Owen for a very long time. And he’s special to me. We have a lot of history, and our run-in with him the other day kind of… rekindled an old spark we used to have.”
“He’s a middle-class nobody,” Matthew said, his voice tainted with disbelief.
I sat up straighter. “That is only how you see him. It’s not who he is.”
“He’s the guy who wants to get in the bed of the most beautiful woman in New York City,” Matthew said. “You have to open your eyes, Evangeline. Men like him are dangerous. He’s a shark. He’ll do whatever it takes to get you on your back and—”
“Excuse me?”
Matthew froze. Then he bowed his head. “I’m sorry. I crossed a line. I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
“But you did mean to say it?”
He licked his lips. “I don’t want you getting in over your head with someone who is going to hurt you. Someone who doesn’t see you for who you are. Someone who only wants something from you.”
“And you?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “You don’t want something from me?”
“Just your time,” Matthew said.
I laughed softly. “You know, had you not said all that other shit leading up to this, that might have been a good line.”
“Eva—”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted this to go. I had a good time with you. And something might have happened between us had I not run into Owen. But I did. And I care about him. And nothing is going to change that. Least of all a selfish warning from a guy I hardly know who seems to think he has Owen all figured out after knowing him for less than half an hour.” I got to my feet and smoothed out the skirt of my dress. “And for the record, Owen and I already had sex. And he’s still around. And he’s behaving himself better than you and your dynamic duo of meatheads.”
Matthew stood up beside me. “Evangeline, please. Hear me out. I never wanted to offend you. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“You know what I’m getting really tired of?”
He stared blankly at me.
I laughed without humor. “I’m sick of men telling me that they want me to be safe. It’s all bullshit. All they want is for me to conform to their idea of what I should be. How I should talk. Who I should spend my time with. What my opinions should be. Owen doesn’t make me feel like that. Owen takes me for who I am. Unlike you.”
“I never intended—”
“I’m glad we had this conversation, Matthew. Now I have no regrets blowing you off. Have a good rest of your night.”
I turned on my heel and headed toward the bar. Thankfully, Matthew didn’t get up to follow me. I wove through the crowd, leaning from side to side to try to steal a glance at the bar where I suspected Owen was still in line.
I couldn’t see him or the Wright brothers.
Anxiety blossomed in my chest, and I moved quicker, apologizing as I shouldered my way through tight throngs of people chatting and between chairs that were pressed up tightly against each other.
I was within thirty or so feet of the bar when a man with a receding white hairline cut me off and held out his hand.
“Miss Snow!” he said excitedly, grabbing my hand and shaking it vigorously. “Great speech, my dear. Your father better watch his back. He has competition in his own daughter.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Galway. I appreciate that, and I’m glad you enjoyed my speech. I was very nervous.”
“You didn’t look it. Not one bit.” Mr. Galway patted the back of my hand. He and my father had been friends for nearly four decades, and I had memories of stealing caramel candies out of his pockets whenever he came to visit my father at the manor in Chicago. As I got older, I started to suspect he was intentionally leaving his jacket at the door with his pockets weighed down with caramels specifically for me to steal away to my bedroom to savor over the duration of the day.
“How have you been?” I asked, trying to make my search for Owen out of the corner of my eye as subtle as possible.
“Oh, excellent, my dear. Excellent! I bought a new property in Belize. My goodness. I have never seen such a beautiful place before. Have you been?”
“Not yet. But I do hope to visit one day.”
“Well, consider yourself more than welcome at my property. You just let me know if you ever want to go, and I will arrange for you to have the whole place to yourself.”
I smiled. “Your generosity has always been exceptional, Mr. Galway.”
“You deserve it, my dear. You’re one of the good ones.” He paused and peered around suspiciously. “Now, I suspect you should go find that man you arrived with. He had the Wright brothers on his heels when I saw him over at the bar a couple of minutes ago. And those two? Well, I can confidently tell you that they are not some of the good ones.”
I gave him a one-armed hug. “Thank you, Mr. Galway. I hope to see you soon. Take care.”
I left my father’s old friend behind and moved toward the bar once more. Other people tried to pull me aside to talk to me, but none of them had a special place in my heart like Mr. Galway did, so I politely excused myself and explained I was in a rush.
Some understood. Others seemed genuinely put off and turned to talk behind my back to those in their company.
I didn’t give a damn.
When I spotted Owen turning away from the bar with a glass of white wine in his hand, relief washed over me.
I hurried up to him, plucked the wine from his hands, and tossed it back in three massive gulps.
His eyes widened a bit. “Slow down there, boozy. What’s the rush?”
“I want to get out of here.”
He looked over the top of my head back to our table. “Did something happen?”
I shook my head. “Nothing worth worrying about. I just don’t want to be here right now.”
I wasn’t sure what words had been exchanged between Owen and Matthew while I was giving my speech, but I didn’t see a point in telling Owen the shit Matthew was saying to me. It served no purpose. And none of it was true.
Owen frowned. “You’re sure? You look upset.”
“I’m sure. I just want to spend the rest of the night with you. Just you.”
Owen’s green eyes fixed on me. He looked like there was something he wanted to say. But he held his tongue, nodded, and pointed at my glass. “You don’t have to finish that just because you made me stand in line to get it so you could put Matthew in his place.”
I laughed and shook my head at him. “Nothing gets by you, does it?”
He shrugged. “Some things.”
I lifted the wine to my lips and drained the rest of the glass. Then I set it down on the tray of a passing waiter and dabbed my lips with the back of my hand. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Owen offered me his arm.
We left the ballroom under the same relentless stares from the guests that we’d received when we arrived. They were easy to ignore as we hurried down the steps and crossed the sidewalk to stand on the edge of the curb.
I peered both ways down the street, looking for my limo. “There he is,” I said. “Let me just call him and tell him to come around for us.”
I fished my phone out of my clutch and called the driver while Owen stood close to my side and wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned into him, glad to be in his company and not leaving the event with a man like Matthew.
Chapter 17
Owen
“He’s such a pompous dick,” Evangeline said, scowling out the window of the limo as we pulled away from the curb. “An arrogant, entitled, nosy, man-splaining dick.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” I said as I shrugged out of my jacket and relished in the freedom of not having something so restricting on. I unbuttoned the cuffs of my dark blue shirt and rolled the sleeves up to my elbows.
Evangeline was still glaring out the window. “You’d have to do a lot to get on my bad side, Owen. But Matthew? Screw that guy.”
I chuckled. “He’s just behaving the way he knows how to.”
“That’s not an excuse,” she snapped, spinning around to face me. Then she bit her bottom lip and slumped back in the seat. “Sorry. It’s not your fault. I’m just pissed off.”
“Fair.”
“I saw this night going differently.”
“Me too. But I’m still happy with this outcome. I mean, it checked off all my expectation boxes.”
“How do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, for starters, I got to see you in a dress like this, and that alone made everything worth it.”
She rewarded me with a smile.
I kept going. “And I got to see you in action, which was pretty cool. You were just as badass and smooth as I thought you’d be. And the icing on the cake? You told Matthew off and swept me off my feet and whisked me away in a limo. I mean, what more can a guy ask for?”
She bubbled over with laughter. “Stop it.”
“I’m being serious. I’ve never felt like a princess before. It was kind of kinky.”
“Kinky?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah. I liked it. I especially liked the part where you pounded back your glass of wine like it was a shot of whiskey. It made me tingly all over.”
“Really? That’s what turns you on?”
“Oh, God no,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve been turned on since you walked up my driveway. Everything else was just a bonus.”
Evangeline sighed. “Well, I’m glad one of us had a good night.”
“You didn’t enjoy yourself at all?”
She shrugged. “No. Not really. I usually don’t. It’s just a bunch of people soaking in as much information as they can in a short amount of time so they can go and spread the gossip to those who weren’t able to attend. Or they’re snapping pictures for their social media feeds or complaining about the food or the decor. It’s just so artificial.”
“At least it’s people who have plenty of money to give, coming together to help a good cause, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. True. Very true. I guess I just wished they didn’t need such a lavish affair in order to justify spending their money.”
“Everyone likes a party, right?”
“Right.”
Evangeline rested her hands in her lap and her head against the seat rest. “I’m sorry, Owen.”
“For what?”
“For Matthew and how he treated you. I should have expected someone to pull something like that. I could have warned you.”
“Angel, I can take care of myself. You don’t have to protect me.”
A smile curled the corner of her mouth. “I thought you liked being the damsel for a change?”
I shrugged. “I lied.”
She laughed.
“In all honesty though, you don’t need to worry about me,” I said. “I can handle whatever bullshit guys like Matthew want to dish out. Hell, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching him squirm like a worm in a puddle.”
“Charming.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I’m glad you were there with me. It could have been worse.” She sighed. “A lot worse.”
“Yeah. We could have stayed and had dinner.”
Her eyes widened. “I completely forgot we never ate.”
I chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. I’m pulling your leg.”
Evangeline slid off the back seat to sit on the longer seat along the side of the limo. She made her way up to the front where she pressed the button to roll down the black partition between us and the driver. “Sir? Hi. Would you mind taking a bit of a detour so we could grab some food?”
“Where would you like to go, Ms. Snow?”
She looked back at me for suggestions.
“I’m up for anything,” I said.
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Is there a burger takeout place nearby?”
“I’ll pull into the first one I see, Miss.”
Satisfied, Evangeline rolled the partition back up and slid along the seat to come and sit beside me once more. She gave me a bright smile. “It’s not a three-course gourmet meal, but it will do.”
“Fries, burgers, and a sundae after? Sounds like three courses to me.”
“The eternal optimist,” she said softly.
The limo slowed down and took a right turn. Then, within a couple of minutes, we were driving over the lip in a sidewalk and pulling into a burger joint parking lot. The driver parked, and we spilled out of the back seat. We paused to ask if the driver wanted anything, but he told us he was fine and shooed us along to go inside and order.
We got a couple of stares from teenagers hanging out in the restaurant area while we ordered our meals at the counter. Once we had our burgers and fries and sundaes in hand, we went out to the parking lot, sat down on the curb like we used to do when we were young and in love, and unpacked the bags.
Evangeline took her first bite of her burger and nodded with satisfaction. “Oh my God. Yes. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was.”
I filled the cardboard lid of my burger box with ketchup and dipped a couple of fries in it. “You look good eating a burger, Angel.”
She rolled her eyes at me and licked sauce from the corner of her mouth. “Come on, Owen. You think I look good doing everything.”
“That’s true.”
I unwrapped my burger and dug in. I hadn’t quite realized
how hungry I was either. I’d been too distracted by the fancy ballroom and the douche bags who’d tried to pry me out of Evangeline’s life.
They were going to have to try harder than that to get me to stay away from her.
A lot harder.
“So how often do you do events like this?” I asked.
“Once a month at the very least. Sometimes more.”
“Damn.”
“I know. It gets old pretty quick. If it wasn’t for Clear Ocean, I would have thrown in the towel by now. But I believe in my father’s vision, and I’ve seen the difference he’s made with this campaign, and I’m proud to be part of it. Even if that means I have to spend a night or two a month kissing rich people’s asses.”
I snorted. “I didn’t see any ass kissing tonight.”
“We left early. Believe me. The last two hours are always the worst part. And the time in the evening where I get hit on the most. Which is always great fun.” She popped a fry in her mouth and shook her head. “Men.”
“Not all of us though, right? There are some diamonds in the rough.”
“Did you just call yourself a diamond?” she asked with a sly smile.
“Maybe.”
She giggled. “Yes. You’re one of the good ones, Owen. Now eat up. Our poor driver looks bored out of his mind.”
She was right. The driver had his head resting against his window, and his eyes were closed. If we put off going home any longer, he’d fall asleep, and we’d have to wake him up. Which would be awkward as hell.
We finished eating, collected our garbage, and dropped it in the can near the door of the restaurant before hurrying back to the limo and piling in. The driver roused from his near slumber, started the limo up, and pulled out of the parking lot, striking out in the direction of Evangeline’s apartment building.
She leaned over and tugged the hem of her dress up, exposing her ankles and shins so she could undo the straps of her heels that wrapped around her ankles. Then she slid her feet out and let out a sigh of relief. “The best part of the night.”
“I have a couple of ideas of things we could do that might feel better.”