“We don’t discuss it, remember?” Evie laid the dress out on the bed and smoothed her hand over the soft fabric.
“You don’t discuss it. I do because the past doesn’t define who you are, no matter what you think.” Quinn put her hands on her hips and faced Evie. “Now I’d love to lend you a gold dress that would look gorgeous with your skin tone. It drapes down the back and both arms are bare.” She went back to the subject at hand.
Evie shook her head. “A married woman hired me to catch her husband cheating and it turned out he was my fiancé. A man I hadn’t pegged as dangerous and I should have. I’d say that shows a decided lack in judgment on my part when I prided myself on being a smart chick.” And that was just one of the reasons she’d left her job. She couldn’t face people giving her that sympathetic look or questioning her skills because she hadn’t seen what was right in front of her.
“You’re still a smart chick. John was a slick bastard. He conned his wife as well as you and she’s an investment banker. I don’t think she’s stupid. Do you? What about the other women who’ve been duped by pathetic men? Who’s at fault?”
“I hear you, but it isn’t the same thing. I need my instincts, and if I can’t trust those, then I have issues I need to work through. And this is a reminder of my mistakes.” She held out her arm with the angry red scar running along her forearm.
“I don’t want it exposed for me to see every day or be asked about it and have to explain the knife wound.” Because John, once he’d been caught, had been so angry, he hadn’t hesitated to hurt her.
Tears formed in Quinn’s eyes and she pulled Evie into a hug, something she still wasn’t used to, even though Quinn had always been a hugger. Her brothers were more the shoulder-slapping types unless they were scared for her well-being, but they always had her back. Always. And they’d have gone after John if she hadn’t insisted she didn’t want them to end up behind bars.
“Okay, fine. I’m not going to give up trying to convince you that you’re the strong, kick-ass woman you always were, but wear that dress. When he gets a look at you, Damon is going to swallow his tongue. Now let’s see the shoes.”
A couple of hours later, Quinn had gone home to see Austin and Jenny, her adorable little baby, and change for tonight.
Evie stood in front of the mirror once more and she didn’t recognize herself. It had been a long time since she’d dressed up for any reason or gone all out for any occasion.
She’d put self-tanner on her legs, arms, chest, and face, because she never had the time to relax and lie in the sun. Her face was completely made up, including wearing false eyelashes, her lips were plump, and her brown eyes wide.
The dress accentuated her curves while the designer red-soled heels hurt her damned feet. Though she had to admit she liked the Chanel purse she owned for times when she had to look a certain way. And tonight? She appeared every inch the pro football player’s girlfriend. Damon Prescott wasn’t going to know what hit him.
* * *
Given his concussion symptoms, Damon couldn’t drink alcohol. It was hard enough to hold up his head, but he understood the need to be at the bar. If he wanted to discover who had set him up, he had to put a plan in motion, and testing Evie and their chemistry was a start.
He occupied a table at Allstars. On one side of Damon, Austin and Quinn were cuddled close together. Bri sat next to her friend Macy Walker, and beside her was Damon’s brother Jaxon, who never missed a chance to go out and party, even if the night was a mellow one.
Behind them but at a nearby table, close enough to share conversation if they wanted to, were other guys from his team, Devon White, his running back, and James Slater, his wide receiver.
Marnie, the cocktail waitress, an auburn-haired, stunning woman, knew most of them by name and took drink orders, fawning over Damon and his injury.
Beside him, Austin shifted in his seat so many times Damon grew agitated. “Bro, what the fuck? You’re annoying as hell.” Damon elbowed Austin in the arm.
Quinn grinned. “Your brother took Marnie home the night he found Jenny on his doorstep.”
Damon tipped his neck back and burst out laughing, immediately regretting the motion when his head began to pound. “I have to admit that was worth the pain.”
Austin shot him a dirty look, but Quinn merely cuddled up closer to Austin and continued to smile.
“At least you’re not the jealous type,” Damon said to the pretty woman with dark hair and green eyes, who seemed custom-made for Austin.
Not that they hadn’t had their issues. Between Quinn not wanting kids, Austin being handed a baby by another woman, and Quinn being his brother’s assistant, they’d overcome a lot in a short time.
“That’s only because Marnie’s keeping her distance from your brother.” Quinn’s gaze traveled across the room to where Marnie filled drinks by the bar.
“And that’s because you’re wrapped around me, staking your claim. Besides, I only have eyes for you.” Austin leaned over and pressed a kiss against her lips.
“You two are making me want to barf.” Bri picked up her bottle of Blue Moon and took a long sip.
“Amen.” Jaxon lifted his drink in agreement.
Macy, an attractive woman with long blonde hair, followed suit.
“So Macy, you feel the same way? No commitment for you?” Jaxon asked, his eyes glittering with interest in the attractive woman who was their sister’s good friend.
She shook her head. “I’d never have the time.”
Jaxon nudged her arm. “There’s always time for fun.”
“Says the man who helps keep social media active?” She fluttered her lashes at him and refocused on Bri. Obviously, she had Jaxon pegged.
And his brother, not used to being dismissed, frowned, causing Damon to chuckle.
Jaxon shot him the finger and Damon laughed harder. Macy had moxie and he liked her. Bri and Macy had met recently at an exercise class and become friends. From the little Damon knew, Macy had her hands full with the stepsister she was raising. Her life was complicated and Bri tried to get Macy out to have fun whenever she could. And if she knocked Jaxon down a peg, even better.
Damon turned from his amusement for the night and glanced at the entrance to the bar. A couple stood at the hostess stand, where they were led to an empty table. He watched them be seated, waiting for Evie, growing annoyed that she couldn’t make it on time like everyone else.
From behind him, James let out a low whistle. “Now she’s fucking hot.”
Damon turned to look. A brunette, her hair hanging in long, spiral curls, stood at the hostess stand, looking down. A short black dress with one sleeve clung to a rocking body. Her legs were long, her heels high, and if his head weren’t still throbbing, he could imagine them wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her, hard and deep.
She lifted her head and immediately met his gaze. He found himself looking at a bombshell with pouty bright red lips, cat-like liner around her brown eyes, and a knowing smirk on that familiar mouth. “Holy shit.”
“I think this is what they call Damon eating his words,” Austin said, sounding amused.
“You didn’t think she could do it, did you?” Quinn met his gaze, judgment in her expression, and she was right.