Chapter 7
Evan could not believe what had happened the night before. He woke up and reached over for Jessica, only to find emptiness and cold sheets where she had been cuddled up against him just a few hours before. Sleeping with her had given him a fantastic sense of peace; he had slept like a baby, unperturbed by the usual worries that swirled through his mind at night. But he had thought she felt the same, and he felt a bit stung to find that she had slipped off without letting him make her breakfast with French press coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
“Why did I do that?” he asked his reflection in the mirror as he splashed water on his face to wake himself up. The sex the night before had left him a bit groggy now. How he wished that Jessica had stayed, so that he could’ve stayed in bed holding her, sleeping in. His Christmas shopping was done; there was no reason to head out into the Black Friday madness. He also didn’t have work till Monday, and had let all of his employees have a four-day weekend as well. So he had no pressing responsibilities. He fantasized about just lying in bed with her all day, running his fingers through her silky brown hair.
Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and return to reason. Maybe it was better that she had left. Not only had he failed to accomplish any of his goals last night, but he had ended up in bed with her. That was not part of the plan! She was apparently dangerous, so why did he find himself slipping deeper and deeper in love with her?
Evan was not the playboy that Jessica seemed to think he was. He had only been in two serious relationships in his twenty-nine years on Earth. The first, his high school sweetheart Carla, was the love of his life, or so he thought. He’d planned to marry her. But halfway through college, she got into a fight with Linda and left him, saying that his mother was insane and she couldn’t do it any longer. Then, just when he had given up on love, he met the lovely Mona Andrews in his final year of business school. She was getting her MBA too. She was chiseled, smart, and a cutthroat businesswoman who put logic ahead of feelings. Really, she was just like Linda, which is probably why they imploded shortly after he’d proposed to her. She and Linda had always butted heads and Mona’s interest in Davis Enterprises led to his mother doing all sorts of manipulative things, even leaving an earring in Evan’s bedroom to make it look like he was cheating. Linda would never admit to doing that, but Evan recognized the earring, and besides, he had not had any women in his room besides Mona so he knew it had to be his mother who’d planted it there.
Now he was falling for Jessica, and his mother had filled his head with poison about her already. His mother was dooming them before they even began. But could he count on this relationship turning into anything? Or was Jessica just a temptress, bent on stealing his money and also his heart in the process? What could come of this relationship, where she was constantly deceitful and only interested in him for what she could con out of him?
He just didn’t understand. But he did know that he loved her. And he didn’t want this to end.
He hesitated before calling her. “Hello?” she answered after the third ring.
“You disappeared on me.”
“Did I? I didn’t know you wanted me to stay.” There was some noise in the background. “Hey, can I call you back? I’m at the orphanage right now.”
“Why didn’t you go last night?” Evan asked. “I would always be there to have Thanksgiving.”
“I did,” she said hastily. “But I’ll call you back.”
“Okay. Talk to you later, gorgeous.” Rebuffed, he hung up. He was perplexed. What was she doing? Why was she keeping up this charade? And how should he get to the bottom of the truth?
That afternoon, Evan finished playing squash with one of his gym buddies when he heard his phone going off. It was his mother.
“Fancy seeing you at my party last night,” she said crisply as soon as he answered.
“Sorry, Mother, but you know how I hate those big parties. Thanksgiving should be….”
“Family, yes, I know. But since your father has left us, we haven’t had much family, have we?”
“But you’ve always had those parties, even before he died.”
“Hush. Now I want to know what you are doing about the Jessica Collins situation.”
“I have it handled,” Evan groaned. He didn’t want to talk about this now. His mom was not going to boot yet another woman he cared about out of his life.
“If by handling it, you mean sleeping with her, I don’t think that’s a good way to handle the problem, Evan.”
“What… How–” Evan was stumped.
“Your doorman reports everything to me,” she replied, a haughty note of satisfaction in her voice. “Are you surprised, dear? All he requires is a little tip and a wink.”
“I’m going to fire him,” Evan declared. He would not actually do that, not without first making sure the doorman had another job, but he was miffed.
“No, dear, he’s only doing his job.”
“His job is to spy on me for you?” Evan demanded.
“No, he’s looking out for you. I wanted to make sure that hussy wasn’t going over there. I have been proud of you, Evan, for keeping it in your pants thus far. But last night you apparently lapsed in judgement. Did you forget that this girl is a criminal, like her mother, trying to scam you? We’ve worked too hard to build this company just to give millions away to this hussy.”
“Stop calling her that,” Evan snapped. “And stop worrying about it. I’m the CEO. This is my company now.”
“It’s our company. Never forget that. I helped build it. I brought you into this world. You wouldn’t have any of this if it weren’t for me.”
“You’re right. Because I’m not cut out for the CEO position. You should have given it to someone else. Someone who wouldn’t let you run the show,” Evan replied resentfully. Then he hung up. He was so disgusted with his mother.
His squash partner, Tony, was sitting across from him on a bench in the steamy locker room. He peered at Evan, shocked. Evan was normally so cool and collected. He had never seen Evan mad. “Wow, man. You all right?”
“Fine,” Evan sighed.
“Was that your mother, or what?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“You really just need to tell her what’s up. Put her in her place. You did good.” Tony clapped him on the back and grinned. “Good job.”
“Thanks.” Evan slid his phone back into his bag, just as it started to ring. He looked at it excitedly, praying to see Jessica’s name instead of his mother’s. And sure enough, it was her.
“Hey, baby,” he answered, not sure if he could call her baby yet.
“Hey,” she replied. Her voice sounded like music to his ears, especially after hearing his mother’s grating complaining. “What are you doing?”
“At the gym. Would you like to meet me for dinner later?”
“Sure,” she chirped.
“I’ll take you to a nice place,” he told her. “You’ll love it.”
“Okay,” she said cheerfully. “Sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine.” Evan hung up, feeling so much better. He had been in a funk all day, wondering where he stood with Jessica and if she was mad at him. His main worry was that she thought he was just another playboy CEO, snorting cocaine and screwing women left and right. She had no idea how pure he tried to be. At least the squash had distracted him. Now he was thrilled for dinner.
“Got you a new babe?” Tony asked.
Evan nodded. He couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face.
Tony laughed and playfully whacked his arm. “She must be pretty special. I haven’t seen you light up like that since the night you met Mona.”
Evan was still grinning, even at the painful reference to his lost love Mona. “Yeah, she’s pretty great. I like her a lot. The problem is….”
“What?” Tony urged him.
“I don’t know how to say it. We work together.”
“Uh-oh. You know that’s never good.” Tony widened his eyes. He had been involved with his secretary a few years ago, and was still dealing with the repercussions after their relationship had dissolved and she had hit his company with a sexual harassment lawsuit. “Be careful with that one.”
“Yeah, it’s weird. You know I never do this.”
“You never do,” Tony agreed.
“So why am I doing it now?” Evan sighed. He couldn’t divulge all that was going on with Jessica. It was so much more complicated than the fact that she worked with him.
“Well, what is your relationship with this chick at work? What does she do for you?”
Evan smirked for a moment. Then he straightened his face. “She’s working with me on building an orphanage.”
“An orphanage?” Tony looked incredulous.
“It’s for tax breaks and whatnot. None of that matters. The important thing is, she doesn’t work for Davis Enterprises.”
“Okay, so that’s a bit of a plus. But what if the deal falls through? What if you break up and then she gets psycho?”
Evan bit his lip as he tried to imagine Jessica going psycho. There was definitely a crazy element to her, but not a psychotic one. More like a good crazy, a quiet thirst for life and love, a stony will to survive and get what she came for. Yet there was so little that he knew about her. Things could go extremely sour in a matter of moments in this situation. “I trust her,” he declared finally. He was surprised at the firmness with which he made the statement. After all, this woman was a con artist who was trying to infiltrate his family’s company and steal millions of dollars!
“You trust her, huh? And how long have you known her?” Tony inquired.
“A little less than a month.”
Tony burst out laughing. “Yeah, well, I trusted Victoria and I had known her for five months. Just be careful, pal. I want you to be happy, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I know. My mother is already determined to ruin it for me.”
“Don’t let her get her meddling paws into this one, Evan. This one is all you. You should be cautious, sure, but don’t let that dampen your fire, if you know what I mean. If you like this girl, then try it out. See what happens.” Tony slapped his towel over his shoulder. “I better get back.”
“Are you going to work today?” Evan asked.
“Yeah, unfortunately. I got a contract to draw up.”
“Take the weekend off, Tony. You work too hard.”
Tony grinned. “We CEOs are committed to the grind. Work is all I have to get away from those crazy women at my house right now. The whole family is there. I can’t even go to the bathroom without someone telling me I’m doing it wrong.”
“Okay, then,” Evan laughed. But honestly, he could identify.
Evan called Jessica later to see where he should have his driver pick her up. “I’ll meet you at your house,” she told him. She sounded a bit breathless.
When she arrived at five, there was a cut on her cheek, just starting to scab over. “What happened?” Evan asked, trying to touch it.
She pulled away and laughed nervously. “Sorry. I know I don’t look my best. I fell and cut my cheek on the sidewalk.”
“What? You fell?”
Jessica raised her leg to show him her deadly stiletto heels. He realized that she was wearing something amazingly sexy under her long trench coat, though he couldn’t see it. Her creamy calf looked so firm and curvaceous as the split in her coat fell open around it.
“Wow. Be careful, hun. Does it hurt?” He placed a hand on the small of her back as he guided her out to the car, which was waiting in front of his building. The doorman nodded at them and Evan wanted to make a smartass comment like, Tell my mother I said hello, but he refrained in order to avoid creating questions with Jessica. He sensed that Jessica hated his mother, and there was no wonder why. After all, it was his mother’s jealousy that ended Jessica’s mother’s career with Davis Enterprises.
“Not particularly,” Jessica told him. “Just a surface scratch.” She giggled slightly when Evan held the door open for her and swept her trench coat tails sexily around her knees as she slid into the backseat.
Evan felt his heart hammer as he slid in next to her. He wanted to be all over her, but he had to be a gentleman.
“Where are we going?” she asked. She removed a compact from her clutch and began to touch up her lipstick.
Evan smiled. That gesture was so simple. The violation of etiquette would have given his mother a heart attack. But he liked it, because it showed how rough around the edges Jessica was. She was real. Maybe she was a liar and an imposter, but she betrayed her true self here and there, and Evan loved every glimpse he got into the real Jessica and her background.
“Some place you will love,” he assured her.
She looked at him for a moment, and her eyes lingered on his. At that moment, he caught another rare glimpse into her soul. Her eyes seemed to be begging him, “Please be real. Please love me. Don’t hurt me because I have been hurt too often.” As if on reflex, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.
“Isn’t this against your principles?” she laughed. “Dating someone at work.”
“Yes, it is,” he admitted slowly.
“It is against mine, too,” she replied.
“I don’t know why we’re doing this. It could go so wrong. But I want to try it all the same. What do you think?” Evan asked her. He was tense as he waited for her answer.
Jessica was silent for several seconds. Then she said, “What do you mean, try it? What do you want to try?”
“Us.”
“You mean like being together? As a couple?” Jessica pulled away to look him in the eye.
“Yes.” Evan hesitated, seeing the panic starting to infuse Jessica’s face. “If that scares you, don’t worry. We can take it slow. But I want to get to know you. The real you.”
Jessica looked even more terrified. But then she demurely smiled, putting her mask back on, and said, “I don’t know about a serious relationship. I have never really been in one.”
“What? Why? You’re so beautiful. I’m sure you’ve had many men try to be with you.”
“Sure. But I didn’t want any of them. I like being on my own.”
“And why is that?” Cautiously, Evan touched a tendril of her curled hair, wrapping it around his index finger.
“Because alone is safer. And I don’t think you would like the real me.”
“Why not? I like what I’ve seen so far.”
She laughed shyly, but refused to look him in the eye. “You haven’t seen very much of me honestly. There is a lot you don’t know about me.”
“Well, I’d like to know it all. I want to find out everything about you.”
She laughed shyly again and shook her head, using her hair to cover her blush. “Trust me, you really don’t.”
“What could be so shameful about you? Are you a closet serial killer? Do you run orphanage scams for a living?” Evan felt her tense up momentarily, but then she slipped her mask back on expertly.
“Of course not,” she laughed. “Are you crazy?”
“I don’t know,” he chuckled. “It has been suggested. My mother thinks I am.”
“Well, perhaps you are. You must be, to want to get to know me.”
“Don’t be scared. You can show me things and tell me things about yourself when you feel comfortable. Just know that I’m not seeing anyone else and I’m a very patient man.”
Jessica finally met his eyes, then leaned against his shoulder and let him hold her for the rest of the ride to the restaurant.
“Is that an okay?” Evan finally asked as they pulled up to the place.
She didn’t respond.
“I have an idea. My family has a house in Mount Charleston. How about we go up for a weekend? We can relax in the hot springs and have breakfast in bed and even go skiing. And you can tell me what you want to tell me, and I can tell you what you want to know. I am transparent to you, Lisa. I just want you to be the same way with me, but at a rate that you’re comfortable with.”
Jessica paused, then nodded. “A weekend away would be nice. I’ve been working far too much.”
“I agree. So let’s do it this weekend. A nice little weekend getaway, just the two of us.”
Jessica grinned when she saw that they were at the Top of the World. “You know, I’ve lived in Vegas my whole life and I have never been to this place.”
“My father used to take me here when I was a little boy,” Evan told her as they entered the place. “He had his own reserved table and could come whenever he pleased. And now I got that table.”
Jessica appeared to be in awe of the panoramic view as their waiter seated them. She gasped as she looked over the dazzling lights and towers of Las Vegas. Candles glowed in red vases on the table which was scattered with rose petals at Evan’s request, illuminating her face in the most romantic flickering red light. The waiter removed her coat and revealed her skintight wine-red dress with a sheath of sheer lace barely hiding her petite but perky décolletage. Evan smiled at her across the table, trying his hardest not to ogle her excellent, tight body. She just looked stunning, and the light in her eyes made her look like a little girl who had just barely transformed into a young woman.
Jessica caught him staring at her and blushed again. It was becoming apparent how shy she was, despite her sexy and bold façade. That mask was slipping off, inch by inch. Evan couldn’t wait until she finally told him that she was Jessica Collins, and not the orphanage director that she posed to be. He wanted to get to know the real Jessica Collins because there was nothing to Lisa Allen, and he loved what he was glimpsing just beneath the surface of that sham.
“Shall I bring out the wine list?” the waiter proposed.
Evan urged Jessica to answer. She looked confused for a moment, then composed herself and ordered the finest white in an authoritative tone, trying to pretend like she knew wines. Evan settled back in his seat, prepared for a wonderful night getting to know Jessica Collins.