Page 15 of Engaging Evelyn (Blissful Bets)

There was no doubt in his mind that Evelyn had been marked by a werewolf. How had he missed it earlier when they were having sex? It had been there, right above her left breast, and he hadn’t even noticed it. If the bond wouldn’t have been in her blood, he would have never thought to check her body.

So the question was who had marked Evelyn for his mate and then left her, never removing the mark. It was like he was holding on to her, just in case he changed his mind. It was cruel. She’d never be able to get over him with that mark in place.

He’d have to tell Taylor. Maybe Taylor would change his mind about getting even if he knew that it wasn’t her fault she couldn’t be more emotional.

Brandon closed his eyes and felt the heat of her blood warming him. She had been so rich, so sweet that he hadn’t wanted to ever stop. The slowing of her heart had made him look up to check on her, and before he knew it, she was gone, passed out. Fear like nothing he had ever felt before twisted his stomach, but he knew she wouldn’t have been harmed from the small amount he had taken.

After checking her pulse, he had known she was going to be fine. But what had happened had something to do with her mark. It had shut her down, mentally putting her into some kind of hibernation mode. Did the person who placed the mark on her know what Brandon had done? Without a doubt. When it came to the invasion of fangs, the bond was like an alarm system, notifying the wolf that he needed to protect his mate.

Brandon got up from the bed and prepared to get dressed and ready. If he was going to place a bet, he’d bet the wolf would be coming, and soon. There was no way he was going to miss who this lucky man was. Probably one of her lovers, and he couldn’t wait to see which one that might be.

* * * *

The sound of “Margaritaville” had Evelyn blinking her eyes. The first thing that ran through her mind was she must be late for work. The clock on the nightstand said it was nine o’clock.

“Fuck!” She sprang from the bed, grabbing her phone from the clutch that was still resting on the floor where she had dropped it. The moment everything came flooding back, she realized that Melissa wasn’t calling to see why she wasn’t at the office.

“This better be damn good.” Evelyn groaned, falling back to the bed. The racing of her heart was already providing all the lullaby she needed to get back to dreamland where she belonged. The cloudiness in her mind was still a bit disorienting.

“You should have never left last night. We had a blast.”

Evelyn laughed. It was a pitiful sound from the raw throat now plaguing her. Too much screaming, she presumed.

“Damn, that sucks to be you, but my night was beyond spectacular…I think,” she said, her words breaking at the end.

“You fucked Brandon, didn’t you?” Melissa gasped.

Evelyn laughed again, feeling her voice lose sound about halfway through. “Yes, I think I did. Too bad it won’t happen again. He was amazing from what I remember, but I don’t need to tell him that. I’m sure the whole resort heard me screaming his name.”

“You lucky bitch. I really need to find someone like that. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone, would you?”

Annoyed by the scratchy feeling, Evelyn tried clearing her throat, but that only seemed to make it worse. “I’ll find you someone. Who did Julie end up going home with last night?”

“Oh my God, you’re never going to guess. Do you remember that guy you did the bet on,

Bill?”

Evelyn froze. “Yes, I remember. She went home with Bill last night? I thought she was bet to do that one guy she thought was cute.”

“Yeah, I bet her. I couldn’t resist. I wanted to see if she had as much luck as you did. He’s one lucky bastard, the only one who’s ever fucked all of us. She wasn’t really into the other guy so much. She liked Bill a lot more.”

The smile that slid across Evelyn’s face couldn’t be helped. She had been so close to seeing him there. If Brandon hadn’t shown up, then she probably would have stayed long enough to see him. Maybe she would have been the one to leave with him. It didn’t bother her, though. If she had to pick one, it would have been Brandon, even though she couldn’t remember all of their “lovemaking.” And that was a damn shame.

“Yeah, you’re right about that. What about Sarah? Did she leave with her bet?” “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Melissa said quietly.

“This has got to be good. Tell me,” Evelyn said, sitting up in the bed. Her voice was barely a whisper.

“No one. She left with absolutely no one. Can you fucking believe that? It shocked my panties clear off.”

Evelyn laughed, falling back to the bed. “Yeah, well, it’s hard to believe. You don’t think she’ll be upset with the whole Brandon thing, do you?”

“She’ll get over it. You know she doesn’t stay fixated for long.”

“Yeah, I hope not. Well, as you can hear my voice, it is about gone. I’m going back to bed. I’ll call you later if I can speak.”

“Yeah yeah, quit sucking dick. I think it’s more a case of cock-initis. I’ll get you a dose of penis-illin to make it go away.”

“You bitch.” Evelyn laughed. “Bye,” she said and hung up.

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