She was so happy she wouldn’t have told him no if she were on fire. “After.”
They arrived at Rose’s fifteen minutes early, partially because Evie had been so anxious to leave, and partially because her outfit was driving Drake crazy.
As soon as he’d seen the short, tight black dress made of some shiny, stretchy material that clung to her perfect figure, he’d lost control of himself and begun to push her back into the bedroom. Though he was wearing a suit and he knew she’d likely kill him, he’d still managed to muss her carefully coiffed hair before she fought him off, so she’d ended up leaving it down. Fine by him; he liked it down anyway.
Given the amount of extra time she had, Evie decided to check herself one more time in the mirror, assuming Drake couldn’t mess her up in a public setting. He could find ways, he promised her. She laughed and told him she was going to the Ladies’ Room, and stepped away, leaving him to wait by the door alone.
Almost as soon as the door closed behind her, the restaurant door opened, and he glanced that way. A group of women, striking blondes all four, walked in, talking and laughing. Each was dressed to impress, and impress they did, in short skirts and tight shirts. Drake’s eyes went quickly over them, and then moved on. They just weren’t Evie.
Unsurprisingly, they were waiting for their table, too, and came to stand near him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one look him over, then gesture to the others. Fighting a smirk- while not interested, he still had his pride- he let them look, but didn’t return the gaze.
“Hi,” the one in blue said as they all turned toward him.
“Hello,” he returned.
They saw this as the go-ahead to converge on him, forming a semi-circle in front of him: Blue, green, pink, red. “Are you here alone?” Blue, the one he thought of as the leader, asked.
“Ah, no.”
“Too bad,” Green said, her eyes raking over him.
Yeah, no. But he smiled, and let his gaze move over them all with the perfect mix of curiosity and disinterest, a look he’d mastered years ago. Might as well pass time, he thought. “So, what brings you ladies out tonight?”
A few minutes later, Evie came out of the restroom. She’d been longer than she’d planned since she’d fixed both her makeup and hair, wanting to look perfect for dinner. She hoped Drake hadn’t minded waiting alone for so long.
She heard a riot of female laughter, and when she saw where it was coming from, she realized she needn’t have worried about Drake. He was surrounded by the laughing hussies, blondes every one, and was having the time of his life flirting with them. While she watched, one of them- the slut in blue- reached over and brushed her hand over his bicep.
Evie wanted to storm over and remove the appendage from the woman’s arm and shove it down her pretty throat. But since that wasn’t her way, she made her way quietly to the door and stepped outside without so much as glancing at Drake.
Seething, she paced for a moment, unable to believe that this had happened to her again. First Becky the Breastful, and now the Four Tramps. She thought about leaving, then remembered Drake had brought his car and had the keys. Fighting tears, she pulled out her cell to call a cab.
Still talking to the four women who’d approached him, Drake saw Evie slip out the restaurant door. Frowning, he quickly excused himself, wondering what the hell she was doing. Their reservation was in less than five minutes…
He walked out the door to find her standing near the curb, talking on the phone. “Babe, what are you doing? It’s almost time to sit down.”
“I’m calling a cab,” she said icily.
Say what? “Why?”
“I saw you in there with those women.” Hurt sliced out at him from the eyes he loved so much, and most of the frost had left her voice when she spoke again. “I thought you’d changed.”
He hated that his former life caused her any kind of pain, especially now. “I have. You know that. That-” He pointed into the restaurant- “Was nothing.” He laughed, trying to show her it was all a misunderstanding. “One of them got a promotion, and we were just talking-”
“For now,” she interrupted.
His patience was wearing thin. While he knew he’d screwed up before, her holding it over him was starting to get old. “Really, Evie? What was I gonna do? Take them all home with you there and have an orgy? Come on…”
She gave him a look that said he wasn’t helping himself.
Taking a calming breath, he said, “They’re all blondes. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
“Yeah. That you’ve been screwing with me.”
“Screwing you. Not screwing with you,” he bit out.
She gasped. “If you’re trying to convince me of your innocence, you’re doing a really bad job of it.”
He knew she was right, and it annoyed him. “Well, come on, Evie. Be realistic. Even at my worst I’ve never taken a woman out and left with someone else. I wouldn’t have then, and I sure as hell wouldn’t now.”
“Why not now?” she asked, exaggerating the last word as he had.
He moved closer, looking her in the eye. He could see the hurt, the insecurity, and the need for him to tell her ‘Why not now’.
“Don’t you know?” he asked softly, taking her upper arms in his hands.
“Know what?”
“That I love you,” he said quietly, sincerely.
Her eyes widened in surprise. It took her a few moments to speak. When the words came, they were full of wonder. “You love me?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile, his tone making it clear that she should have known this already. “I even told them-” He jerked his head toward the building- “that we were engaged, just to be extra sure I didn’t do anything stupid.”
“Oh, Drake,” she moaned apologetically, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, baby. Don’t worry about it anymore.” He stroked her back as he held her. He was fully aware that she hadn’t said the words back to him, but he knew she likely still had doubts. He had forever to make her see she loved him, too. “Come back inside. I’ll show you.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back in, and the hostess showed them right to their table. As they moved through the restaurant, they passed the table where the four blondes were now seated, looking over their menus.
He paused. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet Evelyn. Evie, this is Dana, Raquel, Meredith, and Claire.”
All four of them began spouting congratulations for their engagement and commenting on how happy Evie looked. Evie was so happy from Drake’s declaration that she felt like she was glowing with joy, and she couldn’t stop smiling. After thanking them all profusely, they followed the hostess to their own table, and were seated.
“Do you want to get a bottle of champagne?” he asked after glancing at the menu.
She made a face. “Ugh, no. I hate champagne, and wine. I much prefer my alcohol from a bottle.”
There were stars in his eyes when she looked up at him. “I love it when chicks don’t drink from a glass.”
She blushed. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t, then, huh?”
His eyes said it was more than a good thing, and that he wanted to take her home right away. Though she felt her body reacting, she only smiled at him and lifted her menu once more.
When they got home, Drake danced her into the house. Admittedly, she was a little tipsy from the beers she’d had with her steak, but not so much that she couldn’t think perfectly straight.
After closing the door to the garage, he followed her into her room with a sigh. “I’m moving up here for the rest of our vacation. It’s a pain to go downstairs when I want something.”
It seemed perfectly logical that he do so. “Okay.” She began undressing, unzipping her dress before stepping out of it to drape it over the back of the chair in the corner.
His jacket fell beside it, then his shirt, then the slacks he’d worn. Almost as one, they went into
the bathroom, mostly naked but for underwear, and brushed their teeth in the double sinks, then stripped to get into bed. It was so wonderfully domestic that neither was in a hurry to break the spell.
“Drake?”
“Hm?”
She turned toward him, wanting to see his face. “Say it again.”
He grinned and turned to face her. “I love you, Evelyn.”
She smiled, then realized suddenly when she’d seen that look in his eye before, which she’d recognized earlier but hadn’t been able to place. “You were serious that day.”
“What day?”
“That day we had pancakes, and you said you fell in love with me after I decided to have chocolate chips.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess so.”
“You fell in love with me over chocolate chips?”
He grinned. “Yeah. And I can’t imagine a better way than something so simple and real.”
She sighed. He’d just given her the perfect answer, and a great reason to admit something. “I love you, too.”
He looked surprised, happily so, by her admission. He grabbed her and pulled her close, holding her tight in his arms. Over her head, his eyes dropped closed as a dizzy feeling of happiness swept through him.
Chapter Eight
They spent the entire next day out on the boat, wanting to enjoy the last day of their vacation. They were leaving the following afternoon, heading home as they both had to work on Monday. Drake could only be glad they lived ten minutes from each other, else he’d probably never see her. And he loved her, and she loved him, so he wanted to see her all the time.
He grinned, steering the boat around the lake toward the dock for the night. She loved him. Evelyn King loved him. It totally blew his mind.
“What are you smiling at?” she asked softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind.
“Thinking about you.”
“The highest of compliments. What about me?”
“I love you.”
She grinned. “Even better.”
“And you love me.”
“I do,” she said in his ear, then nipped at his earlobe.
He lifted a finger so she could see it. “Hold on. Let me dock this beast. Then you can nip all you like.”
She chuckled but backed away, then went to the side gate to jump off the pontoon and dock it. When the boat was attached and all of their stuff on land, she started to go up the stairs to the house. Drake grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.
“Let’s go for a swim.”
“In the dark?”
“Sure. We won’t go far, barely past the dock.”
“Alright, I guess.”
He pulled off his shirt, she her shorts, and they stepped into the cool calf-deep water together. He held her hand as he moved deeper, taking her out farther than she thought they’d go.
“I think this is far enough,” she said when the water was waist-deep.
He considered, and agreed. “You’re probably right.” He sat, pulling her down with him so she was on his lap and only their heads were above water.
A second later, she lifted wide eyes to his. “You planned this, didn’t you?” she asked, wiggling her butt against his erection.
He grinned and nodded. “Sure did.”
“Drake, I don’t know if I can…”
“Shh. Just focus on me. Nothing else.”
So she did. She kept her mouth to his while her hands massaged his hard shoulders, his firm chest, his rippling stomach and steely thighs. He made it easy to think of only him, kissing her softly as his hands moved gently over her beneath the water. Her breasts, her stomach, her thighs, back up to repeat the path. Slowly he stoked her fever until she wished he would take her over just to ease her growing ache. “Drake…”
Though she couldn’t see his actions, she could tell by his movements that he was releasing himself. Seconds later, he touched her femininity, swiping her bikini bottoms aside. His manhood pressed against her opening, but he didn’t push inside. He held her suspended just over him by gripping her waist.
“You’re on birth control, right?”
They’d discussed this before, as a ‘just in case’ thing with the condoms. But it didn’t hurt to reiterate. “Yes.”
He met he gaze squarely. “I don’t want to get up and get out for a condom. Bit of a mood killer. You okay with that?”
She thought she’d be okay with it even if she wasn’t on the Pill, but mostly because she was completely gone with lust. She nodded.
He grinned, more than the condom-free sex making him happy. Her trust meant everything. “Great.” Then he cupped her hips and held her steady to thrust upward into her.
She cried out, her head falling back, so he kissed and licked her neck when she began rocking against him. She had all the moves, he thought as she drove him slowly insane. And she used them. Rotating, rocking, bouncing, clenching… Every movement specifically designed to spike his temperature so he was delusional with need. She knew exactly how to make him crazy, pushing him from a gentle lover to an eager one who couldn’t control himself.
Holding her tight against his chest, he flexed inside her, making her moan and shake. That’s what he wanted, he realized. Her just as crazy and eager as he was. Reaching between them, he slipped his hand beneath her bikini bottoms and touched her clit.
She jerked in his arms, panted his name, slid her hips against his and ground down. He grit his teeth, too damn close to climax for comfort when she hadn’t come yet. So he circled around her button, rubbing and stroking until she was a bundle of jumping nerves in his arms.
“Oh, Drake,” she gasped, and moaned as she came apart. Manipulated beyond restraint by her body’s loving hug, he was instantly breathless and dizzily spinning over the edge.
Emotion swamped him as he crushed her against him in his passion. “I love you,” he ground out. “I love you, I love you.”
She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, and he held her gaze boldly as he spilled inside her. Suddenly she gasped harshly and viced around him again, her eyes fluttering closed as yet another orgasm shot through her. He groaned at the intensity of feeling her closing forcefully all around him.
Nearly a minute later, he kissed her bare shoulder when she collapsed forward onto him, and said her name just because he liked the sound of it. “Evelyn.”
“Hm?…”
He smiled against her skin. “Nothing. I just wanted to say it.”
She sat up and smiled sleepily. “Drake.” It rolled off her tongue like a sinful promise. “Yeah, I see the appeal.”
He chuckled, and then tapped her backside. “Time to go in, I think. We need to shower. I have sand in places I don’t want to think about.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Me, too. Let’s go.”
The final morning of their vacation dawned too soon. Not knowing when they’d be able to see each other after they went home- though he knew he wanted to- Drake decided to spend as much of it as possible making love to her.
He woke her by spreading her soft thighs and sliding deep inside her, and she graced him with a beautiful, sleepy smile before moaning in pleasure. They loved slowly, building to a peaking crescendo over a long, long time.
When they climbed out of her bed, they took a shower together. He pinned her to the wall between the jets and pierced her flesh with his own, bringing her to a screaming orgasm with expert speed.
When they came down and she could hold herself up, she reached for the shampoo and sighed. “I’m gonna miss this.”
“Me, too.” He took the shampoo from her, used it himself while she rinsed hers out. They switched spots so he could do the same. “Let’s stay here a few days longer,” he said as he took the soap from her.
She laughed. “We had a great time, and I’d like to. But we have to return to our real lives.” She gave him a serious look, one he recognized from before they were lovers and the likes which put fear in his heart. “Playtime’s over.” She tu
rned away from him to rinse her body.
A jolt of painful shock went through him. Playtime’s over? He stood there blindly as she finished and got out of the shower, leaving him alone.
She’d said she loved him, right? He hadn’t imagined that, he was sure. So how could she be done with him?
Simple, he reasoned. He was the guy you screwed on vacation, the guy you had a ‘great time’ with. Not the guy you married and made a life with. And he’d been a fool to think otherwise.
Taking a breath to reign himself in, he swallowed the knot in his throat- the one threatening to choke him- and manned up. If she wanted to be done, then he would respect her wishes. With one more forlorn sigh, he buried the pain and finished his shower.
They moved through the cottage together, one room at a time, checking for anything they might have left behind and stowing it. By the time they made it outside to the boat, Evie could see a definite change in Drake. He wasn’t behaving like his usual, upbeat self, and though he responded when she tried to make conversation, his answers were short and often terse. She wasn’t exactly sure what had happened between their shower lovemaking and now, but she could only assume he wasn’t ready to leave yet.
Neither was she, truth be told. She wouldn’t mind staying here forever, where reality took a backseat to fantasy and they could spend all their time in bed if they wanted. They’d certainly done plenty of that, she thought with a grin. But it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t see each other back home.
They ate lunch together, both planning to leave shortly after. Still he said little, and she found herself carrying most of the conversation until she just gave up. If he wanted to be surly and pout on their last day of vacation, she’d let him. He’d come out of it eventually.
After lunch, they went through the cottage again, separately this time, cleaning any messes and fetching bedding for the wash. Once it was started, Evie looked around and saw the place was as spotless as it had been when they’d arrived, then went to sit beside Drake on the sofa.
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