“Or she can think and speak for herself and stay home,” Evie said to them both, her eyes flashing with annoyance. And damned if her defiance wasn’t a turn-on.
“I think it’s time for you both to leave. Damon, I’ll keep working on your situation. Mack, I love you. Please dig into whether you can prove it was John who sent the package.” She pushed her brother toward the door, and Damon understood he had no choice but to follow.
But if she thought he’d go home and pretend today hadn’t happened, she was wrong. He’d be checking on her soon and often.
* * *
Evie shuffled the men out of her apartment, closed up and flipped the locks behind them, leaning against the door with a groan. Damn these men who thought they knew best. Yes, she understood their concern, but she wished they’d trust her to protect herself. The only reason John had gotten the best of her last time was because she’d been coming home from a party for a friend, wearing a dress without her gun, her guard down.
And though he’d frightened her today, once she gathered her wits, she trusted herself. She had to or she would lose all sense of her own identity. Ever since he’d attacked her, she’d questioned herself and her judgment. She couldn’t let him get to her again or drive her out of her home.
Instead of focusing on her fear, she turned her attention to Damon’s case and figuring out who had framed him. Luckily for him, she’d recently wrapped up two cases when Bri had approached her with Damon’s, and she could give him her full focus.
She opened her notepad, turned on her laptop, and began looking further into his backup quarterback, Gregory Emerson. She researched him as far back as she could, trying to get a feel for the type of person he was. A check with the police department revealed he didn’t have a record. True to what Damon had said, he appeared to be a great guy, a smile always on his face, no skeletons that she could find at a surface glance.
Before she turned to her computer guy to see what else he could dig up, she wanted to make sure she was looking in the right direction. Which meant she needed to look into Damon’s trainer as well.
Before she could go down that rabbit hole on her laptop, her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hi!” Quinn’s voice provided a welcome distraction. “Are we going to yoga class tonight?”
Evie winced. “I forgot.” But relaxing and going for a latte with her friend after the snake incident was exactly what she needed. “But yes, let’s go. Coffee shop after?”
“You know it.”
She let out a relieved breath. Not only did she have a lot to tell her friend, she knew she’d feel better after getting Quinn’s take on everything that was going on in Evie’s life.
She didn’t know what scared her more, John’s resurgence, Damon’s insistence that she stay with him, or the part inside her that had wanted to accept his offer. But she had her gun, she knew better than to walk around unaware, and she’d taken self-defense classes since the incident with her ex. She was as prepared as she could be and she intended to live her life.
A little while later, Evie met up with Quinn at Downward Dog, a yoga studio in downtown Miami. She caught up with her friend, who dressed similarly in leggings and a sport bra with an oversized tank top and dropped armholes. At times like this, she couldn’t cover her scar and just did her best not to look at it, but she couldn’t help feeling exposed and vulnerable with the reminder of her judgment lapse there for everyone to see.
They both carried their own mats, and after hugging hello, they headed inside to wait for the instructor. Not a lot of people had shown up yet for class, and they had their pick of space.
“So, how’s it going with Damon’s case? Did you two meet up and talk?” Quinn asked as she rolled her red mat onto the floor.
Evie did the same with her purple one. “I have ideas but nothing concrete.”
“Are you two getting along?”
She lowered herself to the mat and glanced at Quinn, who sat cross-legged on the floor. “We are.” All she could envision was the look on his face when he said he just wanted her to be safe.
“Hey, what aren’t you telling me?” Quinn asked.
“Nothing.” Evie shook her head to clear her mind, which she’d have to do soon anyway when class started.
Quinn narrowed her gaze. “Then what’s with that dreamy expression on your face, hmm?”
“I’m just thinking, that’s all.” She lengthened her legs out in front of her and bent forward, stretching her muscles.
“Thinking about a dark-haired, indigo-eyed, sexy athlete?”
“Just because you fell for Austin, don’t put those fairy-tale dreams on me. I’m just fine on my own.” A glance at the scar on her arm reminded her of that fact, even if the tingle in her lower regions contradicted her. Every time she looked at Damon, her body came alive. Not that she’d admit as much to her best friend, who just happened to be his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
“Okay, ladies, let’s get started.” Nadia, their instructor, walked into the room, and for the next hour, between Downward Dog and Shavasana, Evie forgot everything and managed to relax and put everything out of her mind.
Until she and Quinn sat down at their favorite coffee shop, their lattes in hand. She’d asked for decaf because the last thing she needed was to be hopped up and awake all night. It was just past dinnertime and she planned to reheat something later at home.
“What’s going on? For someone so outgoing, you’ve been quiet. You know you can talk to me, right?” Quinn leaned in, her green eyes focused on Evie’s face.
She bit the inside of her cheek, despite knowing she was going to tell her best friend everything. She just didn’t find it easy, and Quinn knew her well enough to wait her out.
Wrapping her hand around the warm cup, she stared at the white cover and finally decided she was ready to explain. “John found me today. He sent a gift.”
“Dammit.” Quinn looked at her with worried eyes. “Tell me what happened?”
Evie reiterated the entire story, including Mack’s idolization of Damon and, more reluctantly, Damon’s offer for her to stay with him.
“No kidding? Damon the bachelor wants you to move in?” Quinn grinned. “I love it.”
“It’s not like that. He was worried about my safety.” And Evie would keep telling herself that because to think otherwise was dangerous.
“Right. And he could have offered to pay for you to stay at a hotel and he didn’t. Damon doesn’t bring women home, which tells me he’s invested,” Quinn said, looking proud of her conclusions.
“After one night of play dating?” Evie let out a noise of disbelief. “He was being … chivalrous.”
Quinn’s smile grew wider. “Another word I wouldn’t have associated with Damon.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“Back to the flowers, you’re sure it’s John?” Quinn asked.
Running her hand over the smooth wooden table, Evie thought about the afternoon. “Mack didn’t find a card with the flowers and the flowers were in a plain white box. I wanted to dig, but he insisted it was his job.”
“As your brother or as a detective?” Quinn raised an eyebrow.