In the Stars_The Friessens

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “So that’s why you were bringing up other jobs. You know, Evie, if you need something…” He stopped, and maybe he knew not to say any more from the horror on her face. Before he could start again, she kicked up the mare into a trot, moving around Danny to the open field.

  “Evie, wait!” he called out, spurring his horse to a canter to catch up to her. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’m just saying I can loan you money until you figure out something else—or let me help you find something else!” Then he reached for her reins to pull her horse to a stop.

  She couldn’t remember ever being so angry, so she jumped off and started walking, digging into each step, hearing him swear behind her. She glanced back to see he’d abandoned both horses and was now coming after her. She didn’t know why, but she started running.

  He was on her, his arms around her waist, lifting her, pulling her against him and all his hardness, which had her wanting to lean into him, but feeling that only made her angry, so she fought his arms, pounding at him.

  “Let me go, Danny!” she yelled and kicked her legs in the air, but damn, he was strong.

  “Stop it, Evie! Seriously, I’m just trying to help.”

  He set her down, and she whipped around, breathing hard, still feeling his hands around her. She was angry at how he was making her feel, so she shoved him with both her hands, but he was like a damn rock. She did it again, and this time he grabbed her arms, and she fought with everything she had against him. Then she was in his arms, and he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back, wanting him closer, tasting him as if she couldn’t get enough of him.

  Her hands were twisted in his shirt, and his hands were yanking at hers, pulling it free from her jeans as he held her close to him. The roughness, the depth of the kiss, she needed to have more. Then she was on the ground on the grass, and he was on top of her, pressing into her as her legs wrapped around him.

  He stopped, and he just took in her face. Then he was standing, and she didn’t miss the bulge in his jeans, the size of him. It was almost embarrassing that she wanted him so much. At the same time, he turned to the side as if trying to pull himself together. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He didn’t look at her, and all she wanted to do was shut her eyes and curl up somewhere and hide.

  “Takes two, Danny. I shouldn’t have hit you.” She was shaking inside from want, need. She didn’t know it, but she’d never dared to think of her and Danny as anything but friends.

  He held out his hand, and she grasped it, letting him pull her up, but she kept her distance, and so did he, even though she wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him. She stared at the ground and fought like all hell to pull herself back together.

  “You’re stubborn,” he added, and she took in the mischief that stared back at her.

  “Look who’s calling who what. Take a long look in the mirror, cowboy. Pretty sure you invented the term.”

  He nodded and glanced away. What was he thinking? She’d give anything to know, but they were in uncharted territory. Was that kiss something he’d wanted? She wanted to ask, needed to know.

  “I just need to say one thing,” he said. “If you need anything, any money, help, anything, I want you to promise me you’ll let me help.”

  There it was, the spell broken. She had no intention of sharing any of her pathetic life, nor the fact that she was so broke that if something didn’t change, that last twenty dollars that had just gone into her gas tank would have her walking in a matter of days.

  She patted his chest as she walked past him. “Let’s go for a ride,” she said, and as she glanced back after mounting the mare that had been happily grazing, she sensed a distance with Danny that hadn’t been there before.

  Chapter 8

  Danny and Evie had the quietest ride back to the ranch. For the first time in his life, he’d followed behind her, seeing how she sat in the saddle, stiff and straight—seeing her as a woman. Why had he never seen her this way? He must have, on some level, he realized as he remembered kissing her as he had, taking her to the ground, where he’d had to fight against his intense desire to strip her naked and bury himself in her in the tall grass, where he could taste every inch of her, his friend, whom he’d known since they were kids. How he’d been able to pull back, he’d never know, and he was embarrassed still at how he’d behaved, like a caveman. She had every right to be furious with him. It wasn’t lost on him how she’d responded to each kiss, though, as he’d tasted her deeply. She’d pulled him closer and yanked at his shirt as if she couldn’t get close enough.

  After unsaddling the horses and brushing them down, he noted her unwillingness to burden him with her problems, but then, he wasn’t about to share what he was feeling about Charlie, either. Charlie was sexy and hot and fun, but she didn’t drive him to the madness he was feeling now.

  “Later, Danny,” Evie called out, the first thing she’d said since that kiss. She was walking toward her truck, and the door squealed as she opened it and climbed in.

  He was already moving her way and was at her truck when she closed the door, his hand on the open window. She was looking straight ahead, not at him, and he didn’t know how to break the tension that rippled between them.

  “We should talk about what happened,” he said, not that he wanted to. He was about as good at sharing as she was, which meant their communication totally sucked.

  She looked his way and leaned back in the bench seat. “About what, exactly?”

  Was she kidding? He leveled a heavy gaze her way and noticed her blush, not something he’d ever seen her do. “About what happened up in that field. I kissed you, you kissed me.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face. He didn’t reach out to touch her even though that was all he wanted to do. “We’re seriously going to have this conversation? I thought you’d ignore it and let me just drive away with at least my dignity intact—or partially.” She still wasn’t looking his way, and he didn’t have a clue what she was thinking. Maybe she regretted the whole thing.

  “Evie, look at me. We’ve been friends for too long to let this happen. What kind of guy do you think I am?”

  She slapped the steering wheel, and he took in the flash in her eyes, the fire spitting his way. “I don’t know, Danny. Maybe not even twenty-four hours ago, you were kissing another girl, and you seemed to love having her hanging off your arm, but then you had some disagreement and all of a sudden you’re grabbing me and kissing me?”

  She stopped talking, and he had to step back, because it was like a slap in the face. She was right. He wasn’t being fair to anyone. She started her truck and gave it gas as it sputtered and threatened to stall, the engine loud, the muffler shot.

  “Evie, wait…”

  “No, Danny, stop.” She cut him off. “This is too much, and the only thing I want to do is go home. Let me leave at least with some dignity. I’m not the girl you can play with and have fun with and kiss and screw and then walk away. We’re not strangers. We’ve known each other forever, and you’re, what, dating someone else? I’m not made to be okay with that and then for us to remain friends. You know whoever came up with the term ‘friends with benefits’ wasn’t talking about us!”

  She shoved her truck in reverse, backing up, and he let her go. He watched her drive away, noting her burnt-out tail light. He wanted to get in his Bronco and go after her, pull her over and fix it for her, but it wouldn’t be welcome, not right now.

  “Something going on here?”

  He turned to see his dad walking his way, and his mom, too, both dressed in faded jeans and T-shirts. It looked as if they were about to saddle some horses and go for a ride. He could tell by their expressions they’d likely heard everything.

  “Evie seemed kind of upset,” his mom added, and his dad was staring at him with a look that said yup, they’d heard it all.

  “It’s fine,” he said, but his parents were both staring at the dust in the distance
from Evie’s truck.

  “Someone needs to tell Evie her tail light is burned out,” Diana said. “That’s a ticket she’s not going to want to get.”

  “Not sure that truck is even safe to be on the road anymore, Danny,” His dad added.

  “I was going to go after her just now…” he started and took in the intensity staring back at him from his parents. They were patient, and his dad wasn’t one to add his two cents often, but he couldn’t figure out why his mom wasn’t all over this, especially after hearing what Evie had said.

  “You know, Danny, we’ve raised you well,” His dad said. “You clear on your feelings for Charlie and Evie? You’ve been close friends with Evie, growing up together, and you’re, what, confused all of a sudden about your feelings and how she fits?” He tossed an uneasy look to Diana, who was still staring in the distance where Evie had gone. She didn’t say anything.

  “Charlie and I aren’t serious,” he said. Boy, that was lame, and he shut his eyes for a second, giving his head a shake, resting his hands on his hips. He couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. If he wasn’t clear on his feelings, then Evie was right.

  “So you kissed Evie, who is probably close to down and out, from what you said the other night, and what, Danny?” his mom said. “You want her to have fun and fool around with you? That’s like saying you have no respect for her. Seriously, don’t you know that Evie has had feelings for you for like forever?”

  Danny could see how bothered she was, but he also knew she was wrong. “Mom, Evie is my buddy. She doesn’t have feelings like that. I would’ve known.” His cell phone beeped, and he reached in his pocket to pull it out. It was a text from Charlie: Can we talk? He pocketed his phone.

  Maybe his parents knew, as his mom was now giving him that look she had when he’d done something wrong as a child. His dad said nothing.

  “Danny, you need to get real clear on what you want,” Diana said. “Toying around with two girls, one of them a close friend you supposedly care about, isn’t the way to handle things. You need to sit down with Evie and talk to her. You owe her that. You’ve been friends for too long to toss away that relationship. There are some lines you don’t cross unless you’re clear on your intentions. I know you’re not thoughtless, but one sure-fire way to hurt her is to do exactly what you’ve done.”

  Now he really felt like crap. His cell phone beeped again, and he knew it was likely Charlie. If anything, she was persistent. He ignored it. “Okay, fine, I’ll talk to her,” he snapped and took in his parents’ faces.

  His dad was shaking his head. “Yeah, you should, but only after you figure out what you want. Is this thing with Charlie serious?” His dad asked.

  Danny took in the way his mom was staring at him. He knew she didn’t really care for Charlie. His dad…he didn’t know what to think. He shrugged, and his mom just lifted her hands.

  “Maybe you should have a word with your son,” she said, then walked away back to the house.

  “What’s that about?” Danny said.

  “Oh, you know, this thing with you and Charlie. I think your mom has secretly had this hope that you and Evie would find your way together one day. I guess you need to figure out who it is you want.” His dad rubbed his head. “Some of the things you said about Charlie yesterday and her letting things slip about Evie’s dad left us both kind of unsettled. To have your privacy invaded like that… If Charlie’s dad is talking to her about one client’s business, who else is he talking about? It can’t be isolated, and I’m not comfortable keeping any business in a place where someone has loose lips. Charlie may be a looker, flashy and fun, but is that the kind of girl you want to have a life with?”

  Was his dad kidding? He was just starting his life. He had law school to look forward to and had no intention of settling down right now with a wife. No! He was single and planned to stay that way. Marriage was something for after he finished law school and the grueling hours. He hadn’t planned anything that far ahead.

  “Dad, I’m like twenty-one. I’m not getting married. I’m just having fun, nothing serious,” he said again, wondering why he was feeling as if everyone needed him to decide on something.

  “I never said you had to get married tomorrow, and I hope you don’t, but at the same time, girls like Charlie are made for certain people. I just don’t think you’re one of them. Your uncle Brad made that mistake once, settling on flash and looks and not much else, and she was walking trouble, too—not that I know Charlie! But blowing in here in a fancy car a kid her age has no business driving, an overpriced sports car that her father bought her, that she didn’t earn… You get serious with a girl like that, she comes with certain expectations.” His dad was shaking his head and rested his hand on his shoulder. “And Evie, well, you already know what we think of her. You know that girl well, so maybe you should think about what you’re doing and how Evie falls into all of that.”

  Then his dad was walking away back to the house, and his phone dinged again. He pulled it out, seeing new texts.

  I’m sorry was the last one from Charlie, and before that, Please call me.

  Chapter 9

  What was he doing? Listening to Charlie apologize for how she’d acted the night before made him feel like crap because of how he was feeling toward not just her but also Evie, his good friend. He’d crossed a line, and there was something to be said about time and the ability to look back on what he’d done.

  Charlie was like a drug, and she made him feel good. She was the type he was drawn to, the heat, the sex, just wanting to feel all her softness, and she wanted him. She had more depth than he’d originally thought, including compassion. That was something he’d not expected.

  Then there was Evie, and he could barely stand to think about how he’d grabbed her and pawed at her. She’d touched him in a way he’d never experienced before. He understood her on a level he’d never understood anyone else, and coming from a place where they were good friends, they could talk about anything and had shared just about everything. She was the one person he could count on to always be in his corner. She was the polar opposite of Charlie, and the thought of hurting her was absolutely killing him.

  He saw the car pull in, the red Mustang, from where he was upstairs in his loft, rinsing out a bowl after having just downed cereal for dinner. She was as stylish as ever in jeans and a simple short T-shirt that showed her amazing bust even from his window. She was looking around, a woman who didn’t take no for an answer—but then, he hadn’t responded to her texts with a call or anything.

  “Hello, Danny?”

  He could hear her footsteps on the concrete of the barn. “Up here,” he called out, looking over the railing and seeing her looking up at him. Her long dark hair was brushed straight. She gave him a tight smile.

  “You’re ignoring me,” she said, standing there, looking up at him, and then she started up the wooden steps as if she had every right.

  He said nothing, because the fact was that he didn’t know what to say, and seeing her now, walking up the stairs, the attraction was still there. What was wrong with him? Her hand was on the railing as she stepped into the loft, taking in the space: his unmade bed, a sofa and a flat screen in the corner, and his small kitchenette. What was she thinking? She wasn’t the kind of girl he could see fitting into a place like this.

  “You know, you live up to your nickname well. I can understand now why everyone calls you Mr. Mysterious. The way you’re looking at me and saying nothing, it could give a girl a complex or crush all my remaining self-esteem. Say something, please. Did you get my texts?”

  Danny glanced to the side, over to the small round table where his cell phone was sitting. “I did,” he said, and he wanted to add, Sorry I didn’t get back to you, sorry I’m such an asshole, and sorry I kissed Evie and I don’t know what to say to either of you. He could see how she was on edge even though she hid it well.

  “You’re still mad, I can tell,” she said. “I’m sorry I pushed, Danny. I
t’s one of my flaws when I care about someone, and I have such strong feelings for you. I think I’m in love with you, or falling hard for you, and I want only the best for you. Mentioning you as I did to my dad and his friend, Hank Billows, talking about you, your drive, your compassion, the focus you have to be the best you can be, well…”

  Danny was stuck on the falling in love part and the name Hank Billows. He knew it well. Who didn’t in the legal world? He was one of those top names, like Alan Dershowitz or Barry Scheck. He realized Charlie was still talking. “You’re telling me your dad’s friend is the Hank Billows?” he said, interrupting. He didn’t want to talk about her feelings for him, as that only added to his discomfort. She was moving way too fast, which reminded him of what his dad had said earlier.

  Charlie paused, and then a smile touched her lips as she walked closer. “Yes, the very same. Now do you see why I was pushing so hard? For him to take interest in you says a lot, but I promise I won’t mention it again, and I won’t push the fact that he still has so many connections back in Chicago that one phone call would have you working there this summer. I won’t mention it again. You just continue on with doing things your way.”

  He said nothing, thinking of the cases Hank had argued. He’d set precedents that were still being studied. He was a top mind in the field and a man Danny seriously wouldn’t have minded sitting down to talk with. Then there was Charlie here, now. He could reach out right now and touch her, she was so close, but he kept his hands where they were, one on the rail, the other on his hip.