Page 16 of Engaging Evelyn (Blissful Bets)

The phone clinked against the nightstand, and Evelyn curled into a ball, hugging the robe closer around her. Who was she kidding? There was no way she was going to be able to fall back to sleep. The shower sounded very good about now.

Her legs felt like rubber, and the aches covering her body were shocking. Oh well, the price one pays for passion is well worth the pounding, she thought as she grabbed the belt of the robe.

Halfway to the restroom a knock shook her front door. The pounding of her heart was enough to make her pass out. There was no way a heart could beat so hard without eventually stopping. That knock sounded angry, like something one would see on COPS before they busted a door down.

Evelyn ran to the door and swung it open, afraid the neighbors would start coming out if it happened again. One look into his face and she fainted, again.

Male voices echoed in the distance. Her heavy eyes flew open, and she bolted to her feet. Big mistake. She rocked back, but she caught herself before she fell. Stephen—he was the one at her door.

“I told you she was fine. Now do you think you can leave?” Stephen barked.

Evelyn turned around to see Brandon not a foot behind her. “Evelyn, are you all right? Who the hell is this guy, anyway? He’s not the one you were going to see last night, is he?” Brandon asked, looking at Stephen with disgust.

Like something was pushing on her chest, her breath came out uneven. The room felt like it was tilting. “Brandon, it’s fine. No, he’s not the one I was going to see. This is the other one I told you about last night. This is Stephen. Stephen, this is Brandon. Now, you both are properly introduced. Don’t say I didn’t do a good deed for the day.” Evelyn cleared her throat, trying to get a grip on her voice.

She left both of them there in the middle of the living room while she put on a pot of coffee and got her thoughts into focus. This wasn’t going to be good. Something deep in her gut told her not to let Brandon leave. She couldn’t be alone with Stephen. If he tried anything, not that he would, but if he did, she was done for. Fuck, she needed some caffeine.

“Evey, tell him he can leave. I really need to talk to you.”

Evelyn peered around the kitchen and looked toward Stephen. He looked the same: blond hair; big blue eyes; and a body to mold herself against. Intrigued, she looked back and forth between the two men. Brandon was actually better-looking than Stephen, but not by much.

“Brandon’s not going anywhere, Stephen. He knows everything anyway, so go ahead and say what you need to say and then you can go.” It came out more of a whisper than anything. She had to salvage what little sound she had left.

Cockily, Brandon sat down on the couch and gave Evelyn a reassuring smile. Trying not to be too noticeable, she smiled and looked toward the man who had torn her heart to shreds. What in the hell could he possibly want after all this time?

“Evey…”

“Don’t call me that anymore. You lost that right when you broke things off. Plus, I never really liked being called that to begin with.” It was a lie. She loved that he had given her that name. But at the moment, she couldn’t stomach it. It made things worse. The need to go to him was almost uncontrollable. Damn, she’d missed him, and she hated it. What was it about him that kept her holding on?

“Evelyn, I’m sorry,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “There’s something we need to talk about. I…miss you. I’ve been alone for the last two months trying to figure out a way to get you to forgive me. I’ve screwed up really bad. Things are not what they seem.

“I’d do anything to change the past. We can leave for Vegas right now and get married. I knew you never wanted a big wedding; I’m sorry I pushed the issue before.”

Evelyn was shocked into stillness. Had she just heard what she thought she had? As much as she had prayed to someday hear those words, something didn’t sit well. Her head swung in the direction of Brandon, who was sitting ramrod straight on the leather couch. He looked as tense as she felt.

“You don’t have to tell me anything right now. Just know that I want you back. You’ll never know how much regret I have for breaking things off. I love you, Evey. Things were complicated then. Please say you’ll at least forgive me.”

A tear spilled down her cheek, and she had never hated herself more. Weakness was something she didn’t like to show, especially to Stephen. She didn’t like giving him the satisfaction of knowing that he had damaged her as much as he had.

“Evelyn, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I know I shouldn’t have said anything about marriage yet, but just seeing you again, it slipped out. For so long, I’ve thought of this moment and, fuck, I’ve missed you beyond words.”

Stephen pulled her tightly into his arms. Repulsed, she pushed away when her cheek rubbed against the hardness of his chest. She hated how the closeness affected her. His smell, his touch, it was everything that she had been longing for. It was the whole reason she gave her body so freely to men. She had longed to find a piece of Stephen in them.

Even though she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and cry a river, something still felt off. “Stephen, I think you should go. I can’t think right now.”

The moment he took a step back, a pain stabbed into her chest. This, Evelyn was used to. She didn’t so much as flinch. How had the pain become so familiar that she could completely keep her composure and mask any sign?

“All right, I’m leaving. Just so you know… I really do still love you. You know how to get in touch with me. Call dispatch if you want me to come back over so we can talk. I’ll be at work in two hours. I really hope you call.”

With her eyes, Evelyn followed him out the door. It took all of ten seconds before she fell to her knees and let the tears come. What in the hell had just happened? Why now, after all of this time?

Chapter 9

Brandon’s hand rubbed her back, and eventually he lifted her and set her in his lap as he sat on the couch. “Evelyn, are you all right? Do you need me to get you anything?”

Her eyes felt swollen; her throat was on fire. Not to mention her wavy hair was knotted to shit. There was no denying that she was a complete and utter mess. All of that didn’t matter. She was more messed up on the inside than the outside. Now that she would bet on.

“Coffee,” she managed to say before hiccups took over.

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