Evelyn
Later that day, we all went to the gallery. Nathan wanted to show it off to his parents and Carter, and none of us minded. When we arrived, the light to the gallery was on, and Nathan raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“I’m guessing Jesse is still here,” Nathan noted.
“Your business partner?”
Nathan nodded. “Come on.”
We all stepped out of the car as Nathan unlocked the door to the gallery. He held the door open for all of us while we walked inside. I smiled, feeling like even this place was home. It was so…Nathan. Everything about it screamed it was his place of comfort.
“Let me see if Jesse is in the office,” Nathan said once we were inside.
I nodded, waving him off while I began analyzing the paintings. My heart swelled with pure joy when I realized that I hoped to share more of these moments for the rest of my life with Nathan…only with him.
“I’m so proud of him,” I heard Deborah say next to me. Her eyes glistened with tears as she stared at the painting in front of us, the one I had been looking at before he snuck up behind me.
“I am too,” I said, interlocking arms with her.
The woman smiled, placing a hand on my cheek. “He sent me a picture of this painting after he finished it. I knew it was you as soon as I saw it.”
Blushing, I shrugged, leaning my head on her shoulder. I felt comfortable with her.
“I was worried for the longest time about him, you know? I wasn’t sure if he’d get his head on straight, especially when I realized he was staying married to Hannah, until you came along and he started talking about you. I knew then he would be just fine.”
“How did you know?”
She laughed softly. “A mom always knows.” Deborah pulled away, giving me a pointed stare. “I hope to see a ring on that finger soon.”
“We’ve been back together for three seconds,” I shrieked.
Nathan’s voice—no, laughter—interrupted Deborah’s attempt to speak.
Followed by more laughter.
A woman’s laughter.
Nathan approached us with a woman at his side. She was tall, slender, with curves in all the right places, her reddish hair up in a ponytail. Her smile was bright, too fucking friendly for my taste. Her blue eyes sparkled as she gently placed her hand on Nathan’s arm while they spoke about something.
She looked familiar.
I felt Deborah tense next to me, and both Carter and Frank had a look of dread on their faces.
“Ooh, don’t forget I need to show you that other painting I finished,” she spoke. Her voice was so damn chirpy I instantly hated it.
Nathan nodded, his gaze falling on me. “Listen, Jesse, I want you to meet my family.”
The woman smiled, and she stepped forward, stretching out her hand towards Deborah, who hesitantly took it.
“I’m Jesse Mitchell. You must be Nathan’s mother, Deborah, right?”
“Right.” Deborah smiled, though it seemed like a grimace.
Carter and Frank went on to introduce themselves while Nathan approached me, his arm traveling around my waist.
“This is Evelyn,” Nathan said proudly.
“Ah,” Jesse said with a smile, one that was as fake as her breasts. “So you are the world-famous Evelyn Carson.” She stretched out her hand, and I took it just out of politeness. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
I tried, I really did try, to suppress the level of pettiness that was about to leave my lips. “I can’t say the same about you,” I stated.
Deborah snorted next to me while Carter and Frank stepped back, as if dreading whatever fight was about to ensue. Nathan gripped my waist tighter, but there was an amused glint in his eyes.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Jesse short for something?”
Unfazed, Jesse replied, “Jessica.”
“Of course,” I said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Is it?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her response surprised me.
“Oh…kay…” Nathan said, dragging out the word. He squeezed my hand gently, glancing back towards the office. “Let me check out the painting Jessica needs to show me, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Nathan leaned down, cupped my cheek in his hand, and kissed me to reassure me. “I’ll be back,” he whispered before pressing a final kiss on my cheek.
Ironically, that bit of PDA was enough to do away with the uncertain feeling that had settled in my chest.
Nathan turned around and followed behind an apprehensive Jessica. Part of me felt I’d been too harsh without knowing the woman; he could befriend women and I wouldn’t mind. I never did.
But the way Jesse looked at him spoke volumes.
“I don’t like her,” I heard Deborah say next to me. I turned to face her, and once again she repeated the words from earlier to me. “A mom always knows.”
Not even five minutes later, Nathan walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and lowering his lips to my ear. “We have a little conversation pending, now don’t we?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Feigning innocence, I looked at the painting in front of us.
“You’re jealous,” he whispered.
“So what if I am?”
I felt him grin against my skin. “We do need to talk, though.”
“Fine,” I muttered. “Tell me about this painting.”
As much as I wanted to hear, I was also enjoying the feel of his lips tenderly kissing my skin.
“Do you see the colors?” he asked, running a hand down my arm.
“Mm, yeah.”
“Shades of red,” he teased, his voice low in my ear. I swallowed, forcing the thoughts that flooded my mind away. “Passion…anger…lust. Kind of what you’re feeling right now.”
Thankful that everyone was at the other side of the gallery, I let out a soft gasp when he bit down gently on my neck. “I like a jealous woman,” he whispered.
Unable to hide the smile on my face, I closed my eyes, reveling in the soft words he whispered only for my ears.
Words I was sure if his parents heard they would faint.
The chirpy voice I learned to dislike in just a short amount of time broke the moment. “Sorry to interrupt,” Jesse’s voice came from behind us.
I rolled my eyes, but Nathan didn’t turn around. He couldn’t because of the bulge in his pants.
“Yeah?” Nathan said, clearing his throat, as if that would make the bulge disappear. I pressed back against him, and his grip on my waist tightened as we turned around together, with me in front of him so his friend Jesse dearest wouldn’t see what was happening.
Jesse tilted her head to the side in question at the smug smile on my face. “I’m heading out. Just wanted to let you know.”
I pushed back against Nathan, and he tensed. “Okay, Jesse. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Everything okay?” Jesse asked with narrowed eyes.
“Just fine,” Nathan replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you, Jessica,” I said with a smile.
“Good night.” Jesse turned around and walked away, but I didn’t miss the glance she threw back at us. Something in her eyes I recognized then, though I couldn’t quite place it right that moment.
“You tease. If we weren’t staying at my parents’ tonight, I’d teach you a lesson.”
“I can be quiet,” I whispered.
Ready for the challenge, Nathan’s voice echoed through the gallery. “All right, family, time to go!”
***
I tried desperately to sleep that night, and though Nathan was next to me, I found it impossible. There was a familiarity in Jesse, and my mind struggled to place her, only for a little bit. Soon, I started making memory of her, of the time in which Nathan broke up with me unexpectedly.
The night we’d had sex in that bar.
A woman had been flirting with him. A woman with red hair.
My eyes flew open.
Naked and sore, I gasped for air and stared up at the ceiling.
Suddenly, everything began to make sense. I turned around, taking in Nathan’s peaceful expression as he laid next to me. And as much as I loved him, all I felt was anger.
“You bastard,” I shrieked, shoving him with my hand.
Startled, Nathan’s eyes opened as I straddled him on the bed, my naked body on top of his. “What the—”
“Jessica is the woman at the club, isn’t she?”
Nathan gave me a confused look before picking up his phone and checking the time.
“It’s barely 2 a.m., baby. Are you sure we can’t do this in a few hours?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“No,” I hissed. “You didn’t think to tell me that your business partner is not only a woman, but the woman who came onto you the day we fucked in a club?”
Nathan pressed his lips together. At first, I thought it was out of anger, but when I took his image in, I realized he was suppressing his laughter.
“What the hell is so funny?” I shoved his chest, and Nathan shook his head, groaning softly when I shifted on top of him.
I was arguing with him and the man had a boner.
“It’s hard to focus when you’re naked on top of me,” he muttered.
I jumped off the bed, wincing when my legs contacted the floor. I was so sore. Nathan gave me a knowing smirk. I put on his shirt, buttoning just a few buttons and taking in his intense gaze on me. It darkened.
If he wanted to ever see me undressed ever again, I expected answers then and there. I sat on a chair at the other side of the room with my arms crossed over my chest.
“Really, babe?” he asked, running a hand over his face. I raised an eyebrow, and finally, he sat up. “Yes, it’s the girl from the club but—”
“But what?” I hissed, standing up. “You didn’t think to tell me that your business partner was the woman that had come onto you that night? Did you talk to her after we fucked in that restroom or what?”
Nathan grimaced.
“Oh my God. You did!”
I covered my mouth in shock and disgust. I’d left so overwhelmed that night, and he spent it talking up some chick at the club.
“It’s not like that, Evie.” He ran a hand over his face, complaining about how we should have stayed at my place.
Maybe we should have.
I would have been able to kick him out then.
“You left that night. You were pissed and rightly so. After you left, she figured it out, I guess.” Nathan shrugged, a tight smile forming on his face. “We talked, she gave me her number, and that’s it. I never called her.”
I scoffed. “Are you sure? Because otherwise you wouldn’t have had this business deal with her.”
“Yeah, so remember the couple of dates I went on? The double date thing with Thomas and his wife?”
My eyes widened. “You’re fucking kidding me, Nathan.”
He gave me an ashamed look. “Turns out she’s one of the friends his wife told him about.”
I groaned, running my hands through my hair. “Let me get this straight. Jesse flirts with you at the club. You follow me to the restroom, and we do…stuff. I leave, and you talk to her. She gives you her number. You don’t call her. I leave Pennsylvania. You start dating, and it turns out that in a blind double date, she is the date.”
Nathan gave me a slow nod. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
I glared at him, biting on my lip. “It seems like destiny keeps pushing you two together. I think I’m in the way, to be honest.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows, and then he laughed.
The man had the nerve to laugh at me.
“Baby, you’re being irrational. It didn’t work out, and now we’re just friends. Art is the only thing we have in common,” he said as he approached me.
“Yeah. Just friends. Very friendly friends. Friends that are very friendly when other friends aren’t around. Friends that f—”
“Okay, Evie,” Nathan said, stopping me by cupping my face in his hands. “Shut up and listen to me. Nothing happened between us.” He took my hands in his, placing a kiss on each of them. “I didn’t sleep with her, okay? I know that’s what you’re wondering. I didn’t. Never even considered it. Hm?”
“I am being irrational, aren’t I?” I whispered, searching his face for any annoyance. I didn’t find any.
Nathan didn’t seem frustrated by my outburst or the way I had reacted. In fact, he remained the same patient man I always knew and caressed my cheek softly. “I need you to trust me, Evie. If we want this to work, you need to trust me like I trust you, okay?”
I nodded slowly, but still felt uneasy. As much as I trusted him, I didn’t trust her. Something about her didn’t sit right with me.
The way she looked at him was too flirty. I knew what I saw.
“You’re not comfortable with her, are you?” Nathan knowingly asked.
“No,” I said quietly. “But I’m being stupid.”
“You’re not stupid, Evie. It’s okay. Get to know her, and if there’s something she does, we’ll see what we can do. I just don’t want you thinking I’m hiding stuff from you.”
“But you didn’t tell me sooner,” I mumbled.
“We weren’t exactly preoccupied with talking earlier, Evelyn.” His charming smile was contagious, and I found myself grinning back at him at the memory of everything he’d done to me earlier. He pulled me back into his arms in bed, kissing my head. “Do I have to worry about being slapped while I sleep again?”
I grinned, placing a kiss on his chest. “Just don’t cheat on me in my dreams and you’ll be fine.”