Irresistible in Love

by Bella Andre

  Shoving away the painful memories, he dialed. “Theresa, it’s Evan.”

  “Evan.” She sounded surprised to hear from him. “It’s so nice of you to call.”

  “How are you doing today?” he asked politely, even though it felt like his tie was strangling him. He’d phoned because it was the right thing to do. It didn’t mean he was going to start calling her Mom.

  “I’m fine,” she replied.

  His catchphrase. He suddenly knew who he’d learned it from as memories hit him. All those times he’d rushed to his mother after his father had gone off on her. I’m fine, Evan. She’d repeated those words to him a hundred times. Don’t worry, I’m fine.

  “Just getting ready for work, Evan.”

  “Any problems yesterday?”

  “No problems,” she said in a low voice. And when she added, “It was lovely seeing you the other day,” he thought he understood the nervousness in her tone. She was still afraid of rejection. And why wouldn’t she be after what she’d done?

  Still, he wanted her to know, “I’m glad you’re doing okay.” They were words that wouldn’t get anyone’s hopes up, but hopefully wouldn’t do any more harm either. “I better let you finish getting ready.” They’d exhausted any other conversation. At least, he had. “Is Tony there? I’d like a word with him.”

  “I’ll get him.” She called her other son’s name, then said, “Evan?”

  He tensed at whatever she might be about to add. “Yes?”

  “Thank you for talking to me. On Sunday, I mean. And for calling today.”

  “You’re welcome.” His voice was stilted, his emotions deliberately blotted flat.

  “Here’s Tony.”

  Relief washed through him like fresh spring rain. Tony he could handle. “Just checking in, Tony. I figured you would have called if Greg showed up.”

  “Not a peep.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He paused, before asking, “She didn’t try to call him?”

  “No. Mom made a promise, and she keeps her promises.”

  Right. He knew just how well she kept promises. But revealing his story to Paige had made him realize he had to at least give his mother credit for trying to protect him, while she’d been there, from his father’s abuse. It was her leaving without him that he couldn’t forget. Or forgive.

  “But since I have to get back to San Francisco this morning…” Tony’s words already had a question in them. “Could you call her again sometime? I think she’ll do better if you, me, and Kelsey are all checking in with her. Letting her know we’re all available if anything happens.”

  Evan’s knee-jerk no clenched tight in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to protect himself at all costs.

  But honestly, a few phone calls wouldn’t hurt him. They wouldn’t mean he’d forgiven Theresa. Wouldn’t mean he wanted her to be his mom again. But it was the right thing to do.

  “I’ll call.”

  “Thanks, bro.”

  Bro. The label took him by surprise. Especially how much he liked the sound of it coming from a man who was his biological brother.

  Hanging up, he held the phone on his lap a moment, staring out at the buildings flashing by along Highway 101. He had a brother and a sister. Regardless of how it had come to be, there was something amazing about that. He suddenly had the urge to call Kelsey. Just to check in and see how she was doing.

  If Paige were here, she’d push him to do it. To step outside his comfort zone one more time by reaching out to his sister. Because Paige was all about connection, family, loyalty, love. Which was amazing, considering the way her sister always treated her.

  But if Paige had actually been here with him, he knew what he’d be unable to stop himself from doing. And it wouldn’t be making another phone call. He’d tell Mortimer to take them back to his house.

  And then he’d finish what they’d started on the library couch the other night. It wouldn’t end with a kiss this time. Not even close.

  Mortimer pulled up in front of Sebastian’s building, and Evan struggled to corral his focus. Sexy, forbidden daydreams about Paige couldn’t be tolerated, especially during a business meeting with his fellow Mavericks.

  The Maverick Group made their headquarters on Sebastian’s twenty-ninth floor. Though each of them had their own enterprises, they came together for joint ventures, including real estate and other investment opportunities. Cal Danniger, as their business manager, handled daily operations on many of those ventures, but the five Mavericks made all the higher-level decisions as a group.

  After telling Mortimer he’d walk to his own headquarters on Market Street when the meeting was done, Evan entered the lobby, passing Charlie’s magnificent sculpture, Chariot Race.

  Charlie Ballard was an extreme talent, her medium being metal. The sculpture of four racing horses dragging a broken chariot dominated Sebastian’s lobby. It had become a tourist attraction all on its own, with people coming to admire the work of art, especially at noon when sunlight poured through the glass ceiling into the lobby, turning the metal into a blaze of glory. It was no wonder Sebastian had fallen for her.

  Damned if Evan didn’t think of Paige. Again.

  And damned if he couldn’t avoid the truth another second.

  Because when Paige had been straddling him in his library, her arms and legs around him, her mouth pressed to his—all he could do, think, feel was her.

  And in that moment, he’d never wanted anyone more.

  Not even his wife.

  Nine years ago, he’d been blinded by Whitney’s seemingly brilliant charms. But holding Paige in his arms, kissing her, tasting her—he swore he’d felt their hearts touch.

  And he’d never in his life experienced any emotion so powerful, so strong, so true.

  Paige was his sister-in-law. One of his best friends. Too good, too sweet, to be dragged any deeper into the vortex his life had become. She was untouchable.

  But, God help him, he wanted her anyway.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Welcome back,” Daniel said as Evan entered the conference room and took a seat at the table.

  “Glad to see your seat filled again,” Sebastian said with a smile. As a media mogul and self-help guru, he was beloved to millions of people around the world. Despite that, the guy was humble. He took neither his looks nor his fortune for granted. And he thanked his lucky stars for his fiancée, Charlie.

  Matt leaned back in his chair. “Things haven’t been the same without you.” Like Sebastian—and unlike Daniel in his flannel shirt—Matt wore an impeccable suit. As head of a robotics conglomerate, he video conferenced with Japanese and Chinese colleagues regularly, and formality and proper attire were akin to respect.

  Only Will wasn’t here, as he and Harper were in Hawaii for their honeymoon. Evan hoped they were having a great time in the sand and sun—they both deserved it.

  Looking at his friends, he realized how damn good it was to be home. “I have to admit I actually missed your ugly mugs.”

  The Mavericks had been together for twenty-five years, brothers without sharing blood. They fought for one another, stood up for one another. They were the men they’d become because of one another. Evan would do anything for these guys, and they had his back in return.

  In the squalid Chicago neighborhood of their youth, they’d been on the cusp of manhood when they’d sworn a pact to get the hell out. And they had all succeeded. Evan with his investments. Daniel with his hands and craftsman’s tools. Matt had employed his inventive mind. Sebastian had tapped into the perfect combination of charisma and empathy. And Will had turned his innate ability to recognize what people truly desired into an import-export empire.

  Evan couldn’t have done it without them. Or without Susan and Bob. Alone, he would still be in the old neighborhood, breathing the dirty air, cowering from the ghost of his father.

  The Mavericks had saved him.

  He felt doubly guilty for having gone dark on them the last month. He hadn’t
turned to the people who mattered to him most. He wouldn’t allow himself to make that mistake again. Not even when keeping everything locked away inside seemed to be the far easier route.

  In these meetings, they normally jumped right into a discussion of any business ventures with top priority. But Evan’s life had been anything but normal lately.

  “I’ve got an announcement.” He steeled himself to say the M-word. “My mother’s returned.” He paused to let that sink in before hitting them with the rest of the shocking news. “Along with a brother and sister I never knew about.”

  The jaws of each and every Maverick dropped.

  “This has got to be a joke,” Matt said. “You’re trying to screw with us, right?”

  “I wish I was.”

  “Your mom?” Daniel asked, his eyebrows rising almost to his hairline.

  “The one who ran away?” Sebastian added with a glower.

  “Yeah. Theresa.”

  “What about these two siblings you mentioned?” Daniel threw off his jacket as though the room and the conversation had suddenly gotten too hot. Which it most definitely had.

  “They’re twenty-five years old. Twins.”

  They all stared at him, barely blinking, obviously trying to take in what he was telling them.

  “Did you even know she was pregnant when she left?” Matt looked dumbfounded.

  “That was why she ran. She found out she was having two more babies.” Evan hadn’t been able to forget the way she’d said it at his house: I was so scared. Two more children for him to hurt.

  Three pairs of penetrating eyes homed in on him as they digested the shocking news.

  “Are you sure they are who they say they are?” Daniel sounded as suspicious as Evan had initially felt.

  “Tony looks like me at that age, and Kelsey isn’t far off, just with longer hair and a heck of a lot prettier face. And their mother is definitely her.” It still felt way too raw to call her his mom.

  “What the hell do they want?” Matt asked.

  Matt had been through something similar when Ari’s long-lost brother, Gideon, had shown up. So far, Gideon hadn’t appeared to want anything from either Matt or the other Mavericks. Although, given that he’d made contracting and home improvement his trade after getting out of the Army, it had made sense for him to take a job working for Daniel’s company, Top-Notch DIY.

  “They’ve said they’re not after my money.”

  “Do you believe them?” Daniel wasn’t generally as cynical as the rest of them, but he obviously didn’t like the sound of three of Evan’s relatives showing up out of the blue.

  Evan didn’t feel ready to jump in wholeheartedly either. “Paige thinks I should.”

  Their collective gazes settled on him like laser pointers. “Paige met them?” Sebastian asked.

  Evan worked the hardest he ever had to school his expression into something normal. A countenance that wouldn’t give away the two scandalously sexy kisses he and Paige had shared. Or the fact that he was fighting what might prove to be a losing battle against wanting even more from her. So much more.

  “She came by the house after returning from Chicago.”

  “Probably wanting to check on you,” Daniel mused.

  Evan hoped he could get by with a nod. Because the truth was a million times more complicated. “She met the three of them. Liked them.” Steering them away from Paige before they caught wind of anything, he quickly boiled the story down to the main points. Why Theresa left, how she got to Modesto, the TV show they’d seen him on, Tony and Kelsey wanting him to keep an eye on Theresa’s abusive boyfriend. “She claims she’s not going back to him.”

  “You want us to drive over to Modesto and take care of the guy, just in case she’s tempted to go back?” Daniel rolled up his sleeves as if he was ready to go right now.

  “We’ll make sure he never comes back.” Sebastian cracked his knuckles.

  “Business can wait,” Matt said, obviously in agreement with the others.

  The Mavericks were always ready to jump in with their fists when it was required to protect one of the others. But this was Evan’s problem. His brother and sister had come to him for help. And while he’d been the one who needed defending when he was a kid, now he was a defender of the weak.

  And he realized he wanted to take on the guy. Not just for Theresa and for Kelsey and Tony. But for himself.

  It was long past time to face down a few of his own demons—with men who bullied his mother sitting right at the top of the list.

  “I’ve got it covered. I’ll be taking a trip over there this afternoon.” The Collins Group could go one more day without him.

  He actually felt his blood heating, his ire rising, his muscles bunching for the fight. He’d never been a warrior like Will, but he suddenly itched for a shot at Greg.

  It wasn’t a shot at his father—but it was as close as he was going to get, so he’d take it.

  Daniel looked at him pointedly. “Have you told Mom?”

  Evan’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t called Susan, despite having all of yesterday to think about it. Any way he looked at it, allowing Theresa back into his life felt disloyal to everything Susan was to him. Yes, he knew that his foster mother would tell him that was absolute bull, but his insides were all tied up in knots right now.

  Knots that were also tangled up with Paige. He’d touched her, kissed her, and now he couldn’t get beyond the guilt of how badly he wanted to strip off the rest of her clothes, drag her beneath him, and take every ounce of pleasure she was willing to give.

  What if he called Susan and she somehow figured out his emotions with her X-ray mom vision? What would he possibly say then?

  But no matter how twisted up he felt inside, he owed her that call. “I’ll take care of this guy in Modesto, then I’m on it.”

  * * *

  After lunch, when Evan’s meeting with the Mavericks ended, he picked up the car he kept at his headquarters, ready to head for Modesto. By the time he was passing over Highway 680 in Pleasanton, he had a ferocious need to hear Paige’s voice. It would be wiser to keep his distance—given that every time he got close to her, his need for her only amplified—but the thought of never talking with Paige again, never laughing with her, never seeing her beautiful toffee-colored eyes, made his chest and his gut twist up tight.

  But she beat him to the call. Just seeing her name on the screen in his car made his heart beat harder. Faster.

  “Evan,” she said once he picked up the call. “Thank you so much for the flowers. They’re beautiful, and they smell so good.”

  The flowers weren’t nearly enough to thank her for all she’d done on Sunday—for the support and comfort she always gave him—but he was glad she was enjoying them. His hands relaxed on the wheel, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t been able to loosen up until the moment he heard her voice. “I’m the one who needs to say thank you to you again.”

  “Nonsense. It’s what family does—be there for each other.”

  Hearing her talk of being family churned him up all over again. Because kissing her, needing her this badly, definitely wasn’t the way he should treat his family.

  “Peonies are my favorites. How did you know?”

  Because I’ve never been able to stop noticing you.

  But he couldn’t admit that to her. Couldn’t even fully admit it to himself.

  “I’m glad you like them,” was all he let himself say. To further throw her off the scent, he divulged, “I’m driving out to Modesto to see Theresa’s boyfriend.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  He sure as hell was crazy. And not just because he was going to battle with some guy who was abusing the birth mother he’d sworn he didn’t even want anymore.

  But also because he couldn’t stop falling harder for Paige with each smile, each kind word. Each kiss.

  “I thought you wanted me to get involved.”

  “I want you to get to know your family better. Not confron
t some creep.”

  “I can handle him.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “Thanks for worrying about me.”

  “Evan,” she said softly, her voice filling the car. Filling all of him, whether he wanted her to or not. “Promise me you won’t lose it.”

  Couldn’t she see? He’d already lost it. He couldn’t stop wanting her again. Wanting her now. No matter how certain he was that it would end badly.

  “I won’t do anything I can get arrested for,” he promised.

  “Good.” But she didn’t hang up. Unlike him, she wasn’t someone who avoided the difficult conversations. “After you do this for Theresa, we need to talk. About what happened between us in the library.”

  “Yes,” he said as visions of her gorgeous eyes, lush mouth, and silky skin landed one after the other, until he was damn near ready to turn the car around and drive straight to her. “We do need to talk.” If only he could figure out how to discuss it without wanting more of her.

  “Be careful, Evan.”

  “I’m always careful.” Except with Paige, when he kept throwing caution off the highest skyscraper.

  “Call me tonight and let me know how it goes.”

  Evan knew that if he called—when he called—he’d have no more excuses to avoid examining what was happening between them. Which meant he had until tonight to get his baser urges fully under control.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’ve got a patient now.”

  He wanted her to stay on the line, wanted to tell her that her voice centered him. That she made him feel like everything would be okay. And that somehow, in the very same breath, he was terrified by how much he was starting to need her.

  Instead, he ended with, “I’ll call you.”

  The GPS led him to Greg’s front door. He’d imagined he’d have to worry about the Tesla getting stripped while it was parked, but the neighborhood was middle class, with kids riding bikes on the tree-lined street and the houses neatly kept. Even the car in the driveway wasn’t the beater he’d expected.