Page 14 of All Because of You

Evan stiffened. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. How much longer do we need to ice this?”

“I didn’t say anything about my dad.”

Not now he hadn’t, but in those letters? He’d talked more than once about his desire to make his impossible-to-please father proud of him. But she couldn’t exactly tell him she remembered that.

“No, yeah, I know. It’s just . . . I mean, we all know your dad can be . . . like, he’s sometimes . . .” Oh, goodness.

Evan nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

“Sorry.” Her face flamed. “So, what have you been up to since high school?”

Evan took her change of subject in stride, and they talked for a while about the last ten years, keeping it mostly surface level.

At a lull in the conversation, Evan lifted the half-melted bag of ice from her palm and prodded the skin around the lure. “Do you feel that?”

She shook her head, staring at it. Amazing how she’d almost forgotten about the hook despite the fact it laid buried in her skin. But even so, it had to come out.

The thought made her queasy.

“I’m going to remove this, if that’s OK.”

She nodded, her eyes not leaving her hand.

“Hey.”

Madison glanced up at him. A line seemed to draw them together, invisible but taut.

He offered her a smile. “Relax. Just keep looking at me.”

This time, she obliged.

And in ten seconds flat, he squeezed her fingers. “All done.”

Just like he’d said it would, the hook had slid right out. “My hero.”

She’d meant it jokingly, a way to break the tension. But the way his eyes widened slightly at her words—how he leaned in just a little—made her think maybe, just maybe, she’d unintentionally reeled him closer.

Only fifteen more minutes and his workweek would officially end. And for the first time in a long time, he had somewhere he wanted to be.

“Dude.”

Evan glanced over at Alex, whose normally serious eyes were bright with amusement. “What?”

“I just said your name, like, five times. Is that budget report really all that interesting, or do you have more pleasant things on your mind?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Evan grabbed a small rubber basketball off his desk then lobbed it toward the small hoop on the back of their office door. It hit the bottom of the net before rolling toward Alex’s desk.

Alex picked up the ball and tossed it back to Evan. “So, your distraction has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact I saw your truck outside the hardware store late last night?”

Evan shot the ball again. This time, it swooshed through the net. “I’m just helping out a new friend.” And, yeah, trying to add another win in his column so the board would look at him for a promotion—especially now that Denise’s job had been posted.

“I’d heard Madison Price had come back to town.” Straightening his glasses, Alex lifted his eyebrows. “But are you sure she’s just a friend?”

“Of course, man. Nothing else going on.” Although Evan had to admit the thought had crossed his mind. The girl was gorgeous and she made sweatpants look good, but there was more to it—something he couldn’t explain, something that drew him to her. Once the ice between them had thawed last night—literally and figuratively—he hadn’t wanted to leave.

And it had nothing to do with a promotion.

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