CHAPTER SIX

 

MAX

I leave her on the rug in the foyer to go find wineglasses. The bottle she brought with her is unbroken. It just rolled off into the corner behind one of my sister’s weird statues she’s always finding on her travels. On my way back I pluck a tulip from the vase on the table and snatch the cream angora blanket from the back of the couch where Barclay has fallen asleep.

“For you.” I hold out the flower. Uncertain. Other than that one time I stole flowers from the neighbor’s yard to give to Deanna, I’ve never given a girl flowers before. I don’t usually bother with romanticized notions. I’ve certainly never felt the urge to do so, but Evie deserves more than I can manage so this will have to do for now.

Holding her clothes bundled to her chest, she eyes it warily before taking it from me. “Thank you.”

Sitting down on the rug beside her, I cover us both with the blanket. She’s managed to get back into her underwear, but that only means I’ll get to strip her out of them again. I fill the glasses with the wine she brought while I run through things to say, but nothing sounds quite right in my head.

“Kelly said she’s worried you’ll get—”

“So how about filming—”

“She’s worried I’ll get what?”

“Fired.” She exhales the word. “If we look like we’re canoodling.”

“Fired? Not a chance.” I grin, but it falls flat as I consider the source. I doubt Kelly would have told Evie that I could get fired, but she must have said something for Evie to be concerned. “What did she say to you?”

“Well, she said that I could be sued for breach of contract for behaving inappropriately with you. Which means that you can be too, right?”

“Our contracts aren’t the same.” What’s one more small white lie? Just so she doesn’t have to worry about me. “She said that? That you could be sued?” I need to call Deanna and find out how serious this is.

“Yes. And that my employer might take issue with it since he’s been working to clean up his image for a while now.”

“Who’s your employer? Tiger Woods?”

“Close.” She presses her lips together. “Garrett Frost.”

“Oh. Same thing.” Both of them are golfing legends. Both of them have been in the media because of their relationships with women.

“He’s cleaned up his image and it’s really important to his career that he’s not associated with any sort of scandal. So we can’t be friendly. You can’t flirt with me anymore.”

“That’s probably for the best,” I say, trying to work out who was at filming that would have filled in my sister. One of the film crew no doubt. Not Kelly. She might not always agree with my decisions, but she’s always had my back. But why hasn’t Deanna harassed me herself?

“Which is why this was good,” Evie says, dropping the blanket and climbing to her feet so she can finish dressing. “Now that we’ve had sex it should be all out of our system, right?”

“What?” I tune back in. Deanna can wait when Evie is talking to me.

“We’ve done the dirty deed. You’ll lose interest now. We can both go back to normal.”

Maybe that’s how it usually works, but not this time. Far from it. In fact it’s almost the complete opposite. More like she’s only just whetted my interest, and I want to spend a lifetime learning more. “Evie, I don’t think that’s how—”

“Look, that’s all I wanted.” She drops her feet into each boot and zips them up. “A good time with a very, very bad man. And a date with a nice guy to this ridiculous party I have to attend on Valentine’s Day. I don’t have time for anything else anyway.”

“Are you scared?” I am. I’ve never spent this much time on one girl before. It’s always been a matter of circumstance or necessity, but with Evie I don’t want to be anywhere else and that terrifies the shit out of me.

“Scared?” She has one foot in the air as she notches the zip tag under the knitted rim of her boot, drops it to the floor, and straightens up. “Of what?”

“The fact you actually do like me, and that you don’t want me to get bored with you.” I get to my feet and go to her. “Because it isn’t going to happen.”

She shrugs into her jacket. “Let’s not make this into anything. I had fun tonight. And tomorrow we’ll be able to work together without all this pent up sexual frustration.”

“Speak for yourself,” I tell her, dropping the blanket to grab my pants and put them on.

“I am.” She shoves her beanie back on her head, carefully tucking her tangled hair behind her ears. “Tomorrow we’ll concentrate on finding me the right date for Valentine’s, and you’ll stop trying to woo me. It’s the logical solution.”

“Yeah,” I agree as I walk her to the door. I need to call Deanna and find out how serious she is with this threat to sue. Would her boss really fire her over something like this? Opening the door, I hold it for Evie while she passes me.

“Evie?”

“Yes, Max?”

She turns one last time, and I don’t hesitate to curl my hand around her neck. “Valentine’s Day is only two weeks away.”

“Just another reason we can get through this without getting close.” She smiles, but the wistful curve of her lip doesn’t light her eyes. 

“Okay.” I press my lips to her forehead. Not sure how to proceed. I’ve never been in this situation before. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” She steps out of reach and out the door onto the porch, before turning around and hurrying down the steps. “Bye, Max.”

I drink her bottle of wine while sitting on the rug on the rug in the foyer, staring at the orange tulip Evie left behind. Can’t say I know what else to do. This frustration at my sister is new. My inability to talk Evie into spending more time with me is disappointing. She’s so certain I’m that guy, the one who only has one night stands and never commits to anything. The playboy. The boy in general. Immature and full of himself. Worse, she’s partly correct. She’s nailed me with who I used to be, who I was before her. Was that only a few short weeks ago? I can’t argue that I’m no longer that guy because I met her. The idea is preposterous, and yet...

Barclay lumbers into the room at some point while I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling. He plops himself down beside my head and licks the side of my face.

“She’s scared of me.” I grip his collar and rub my head against his. “Not scared that I’m dangerous.”

He lets out a long breath that makes his sides heave and rolls onto his back, all four paws up in the air.

“Yeah, we’re about as dangerous as each other, aren’t we? I meant she’s scared of getting close to anyone. Don’t you think?”

“Ruf.”

“I have no idea what that means, Barclay.” I climb to my feet. “Come on, we better call Dee. I’ve got a few choice words for her.”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to call.” Dee sounds a lot more relaxed than I expected. “Oh that’s purrrfect, Leo. Right there. That’s the spot.”

“I hope you’re getting a massage and I’m not listening to you and your cabana boy get it on, Dee.” 

“Some of us are more decorous than that, brother. We don’t try to get it on in the middle of taping while there are investors about.”

“There were investors? I didn’t see anyone.”

“Nelson Kane was ice skating with his daughter. To say he wasn’t impressed with where you’re taking our marketing dollars would be an understatement. And what were you thinking, pretending to be a dog walker for the show anyway? My brother as a dog walker? Thank God I can work from anywhere in the world since it seems you can’t.”

“Have you tried Antarctica?”

“I mean it, Maxwell. This thing you have for my neighbour. Your little obsession. It needs to stop. Go out and hook up with some co-ed or whatever you need to do to forget about her.”

“Evie.”

“What?”

“Her name’s Evie, Dee.”

“It doesn’t matter. Get back in the office tomorrow. This campaign is testing really well with beta audiences. Please don’t mess this up for us. The last thing I want to do is file suit against her for breach of contract.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I snap.

“If you push my hand I’ll have no choice. Our investors are more important than your need to sleep with anything that walks. This girl is only interesting to you because you can’t have...” The line fills with static and cuts off what she’s saying.

“I fucked her on your rug in the foyer. You know the one you brought home from your trip to Turkey after you made your first hundred grand? Yes, that one. I had your neighbor naked and screaming on your favorite rug and I am still not over her.”

“Sorry, what was that? You were breaking up. Did you say something about a rug?”

“Barclay fucked up your rug. He must have eaten something that didn’t agree with him. Doggy vomit all over it.”

“The one in the foyer?”

“That’s the one. I’m going to see if I can get a cleaner to come over here. Hate to cut and run, Dee, but it’s a bit of an emergency.”

“Maybe you should take Barclay to the vet. Look after my baby.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” I scratch the big mutt behind the ear. “He’s growing on me.”

“Okay, I better go too. Just don’t mess this up, Maxwell. Stay away from the girl for her sake as well as your own. The last thing we need is some girl ruining Puppy Love because you’ve slighted her.”

“Talk soon.” I hang up on her. Kelly could have warned me my sister was on the warpath instead of threatening Evie. No wonder she doesn’t want anything more to do with me. Damn it.

***

I cover the length of my office for the sixth time in ten minutes. Outside the windows, snow is turning everything white. Avoiding Evie should be easy. But burying myself in work all morning hasn’t kept her out of my head. Trying to kid myself that last night was enough is impossible.

Kelly is probably downstairs in the lobby right now, waiting to take Evie to the next location. An actual dog walker will be waiting with her doggy date.

There’s a tap on my office door and I growl, “Come in.”

“We have a slight problem.” Kelly steps inside and shuts the door behind her.

“What would that be?” I busy myself with straightening the stapler on my desk, since I’m still annoyed at her for not warning me about Deanna’s ultimatum.  

“The guy we hired this morning to fill in as dog walker got hit by a car on his way here.”

“Was he hurt?”

“A couple broken bones. He’ll be out of commission for a few weeks.”

“Does he have family? Anyone to take care of him? Perhaps we should hire him some help for a couple weeks.”

“I will get right on that. We’re also in need of a dog walker.”

I pause at the mischievous glint in my assistant’s eyes. “What are you suggesting?”

“You might want to hurry up if we’re to stay on schedule.”

“You do realize my sister will not be happy.”

“Right now, you’re my concern. And the show,” Kelly says. “Besides, we don’t really have a choice.”

I straighten my shirt collar and cuffs, my shoulders pulled back. I’m suddenly lighter than I have been since Evie left last night. Picking up the company jacket I used the last time, I shrug into it. “I heard what you said to Evie, you know. You warned her to stay away from me.”

“Absolutely.” She checks her tablet. “And I would do it again.”

“Because I’m a terrible human being, right? One who only uses women for pleasure?”

“No.” She glances up at me, holding my gaze. “I think she might actually be able to hold her own.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, but she might also cost you more than you’re bargaining on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, walking out of my office ahead of her. “And I’m not sure I care.”

Kelly hurries a few feet behind me. “You might if this doesn’t end well.”

“I’ll behave,” I tell her while we ride the elevator. “During taping. There are two weeks left. I’m not going to cause her problems with Deanna. I have some ability to control the things that happen around me, even if my sister doesn’t believe so.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she says as she steps into the lobby.

Evie is standing right inside the front doors and I’m supposed to be at the meeting point with the dogs, so I don’t question Kelly. “I’ll go straight down to the parking garage and get the dogs.”

“Great. We’ll meet you there,” she says as I step back and the doors close.