Page 44 of Evan

He was about to hang up after the second ring, when she answered.

“Evan?”

Her sweet melodious voice had him going weak with need.

“Are you okay?”

No recriminations, no angry accusations, just an inquiry as to his wellbeing. He could not believe she was real.

“I’ll have to get back to you on that.” His voice was gruff, emotions swelling his throat. “I am sorry for calling so late.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

A glance at the clock showed that it was way past midnight.

“Were you praying?”

“Trying to,” she admitted candidly, “I am happy to hear from you.”

“I behaved like a jerk.”

“Want me to validate that?” Her voice was teasing, and he felt the tension dissolving. The knots on his shoulders were untying and for the first time in two weeks, he felt relaxed and contented.

“No!” He smiled. “I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.”

“I don’t know what to do Cassandra. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want you to hurt me either.”

“That’s why I had to stay away from you. But it’s not working. I want so much to be with you that I am finding it extremely difficult to justify staying away.”

“Then don’t.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

He had to smile at her simple response. “Regrettably, I am going to have to do just that. You are smart enough to realize that we cannot be in the same vicinity and not want to touch. You must also be aware of the fact that I want to do much more than that. For now, I am going to suggest that we just talk.”

“Talk?”

He laughed wryly. “If anyone would have told me that I would be saying that to a beautiful woman, especially one I am so fiercely attracted to, I would have laughed at them.” His levity faded as he continued. “But for now, until I sort things out inside my head, it’s the way it has to be.”

“How will it work?” Even the sound of her melodious voice had him going weak.

Taking a deep fortifying breath, he tried to compose himself. During the moments of self-analysis, he had come up with the solution. He wanted to be in communication with her. Her voice alone had the distinct power to soothe his frazzled nerves. The last thing he wanted was to compromise her integrity and be a detriment to her religious beliefs.

He had to respect that, and he suspected that God, and yes, he had a healthy fear of invoking the wrath of a Supreme Being! Aside from that, he wants what’s best for her. In order to do all of that, he was willing to make the sacrifice and compromise.

He would talk for now. He could tell her things he could not tell anyone else, and he was over the shock and wonder of it or he was trying to understand why this petite female he had just metand who was not from his society, has such a powerful hold over him.

“I will call you every chance I get. I hope you don’t mind being bored when I start discussing business.” His voice had a teasing inflection to it.

“You want to talk business with me?”

He laughed at the skeptical note in her voice. “Among other things. What will you talk to me about?”

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