When he slowly spun his niece around in circles, she giggled. “Sit tight, squirt, while I help Evangeline, okay?”
“Is she your girlfriend?” Sammy asked.
“How do you know about those things?”
“A boy at my school asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend.”
“What did you tell him, Sammy?” Sin pulled Evangeline’s cell phone and the spare laptop from his credenza and handed her both.
The little one shook her head. “I told him no and thank you because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
As Evangeline smiled, she and Sin exchanged glances. “Maybe I should ask Evangeline if she wants to be my girlfriend.”
Again, the child giggled while she tried to spin herself around, but managed to go nowhere. And Evangeline’s heart banged against her chest. Heat flamed her cheeks, but no way in hell would she look in his direction. Not this time.
Sin eased into the chair beside her. “Hey.”
She dragged her gaze to his and he looked completely unfazed and in total control. Oh, of course. He was playing around, for the child’s sake.
Now, her cheeks burned for a completely different reason. I’m such an idiot.
He leaned close. “Can Sammy stay with you for a few? I need to talk to Dakota.” Despite her embarrassment, she was desperate to feel his soft lips on hers. Her gaze roamed hungrily over his face before resting in his eyes.
“Absolutely.” She shut the laptop and stood. “Sammy, I’d love to see Miss Lady again.” She walked over to the child. “Will you stay with me while your Uncle Lalla talks to your daddy?”
“Uh-huh. Spin me.”
She slowly turned the chair. “We girls will be here, spinning away.”
“Back in a sec.” A few strides and he was out the door.
“Why don’t you and Miss Lady sit at the big table with me, Sammy?”
“Okay.” The child climbed off the chair.
They sat beside each other and Evangeline asked about her doll. After the child talked about all her dollies, and the tea parties they had together, she blurted out, “My mommy died.”
Whoa. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’m not sad. I don’t remember her, but Daddy has a picture of her.”
“So, it’s just you and your dad?”
“And Mrs. Morris.”
“Does she help take care of you?”
“Uh-huh. She’s nice. We bake cookies and she teaches me things when I’m not in school.”
Evangeline peered down at the small child and her heart ached. Now she understood why Dakota was so overprotective of her. The child talked about big-girl school, which Evangeline deduced was daycare.
While listening to Sammy talk about Miss Lady’s outfits, she felt someone watching her. She checked the door and, like earlier, her heart jumped into her throat. Sin’s strapping physique filled the doorway and his penetrating eyes scored a direct hit to her libido. Like every other time, she couldn’t look away.
“Hey, Sammy, your daddy’s ready to head home.”
“Noooo!” Tears filled her eyes. “I want to stay with E-Leen!”
“Hey, Sammy, I have an idea,” Evangeline said. “Why don’t I come over one day and we can have a tea party together?”
She shuddered in a sobbing breath. “Really?”
“Maybe Uncle Lalla will drive me to your house.”
Sammy yawned. “Okay.”
Sin picked her up.
“Bye E-Leen.” As she snuggled close, her eyelids fluttered closed.
Dakota appeared in the doorway. Though he was just as gorgeous, especially with that mussed head of hair, Evangeline’s heart didn’t flip like it did for Sin. “There’s my sleepy girl.”
After Sin passed the child to her dad, Dakota waved goodbye, and they left.
Sinclair needed to clear the air. He wasn’t comfortable talking about his feelings, but he needed Evan to know the truth. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.”
As he pulled out a chair at his conference table and eased down beside her, his phone rang. He ignored it.
“You should get that.”
Dammit. He answered, “Develin.”
“Sinclair, it’s Winona Applegate. I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“Not at all. What can I do for you, Senator?”
“Bethany will talk to your contact. How’s tomorrow evening, nine o’clock?”
“Ms. Worthington is with me. Let me confirm the time.” He muted the call. “Bethany Applegate is willing to talk with you, tomorrow, nine P.M.”
Her eyes brightened. “That’s great.”
He tapped the mute button. “Senator, we’ll see you tomorrow.” After thanking her, he hung up.
“Thank you for setting that up for me.” She flipped open the laptop and logged in. “How was your ride?”
Was she distracted or maybe avoiding the obvious? This conversation was too important to force. “What’s got you working so late?”
“I got Joey’s last name—the pastoral counselor who’s latched on to my sister. I’m curious to see if he pops up in any of the databases.”
“He won’t if he doesn’t have a record or he uses an alias.”
“I’ve gotta start somewhere, right?” She opened a people-search database and typed in his name. Then, she repeated that with four more databases used by law enforcement. She added name variations like Joseph Thomason and Thomason Joseph. As the software searched for hits, she slid her gaze to his. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Us.”
She stilled. “Last night was a one-off. We were in a kink club and we played together.” She shook her head. “That can’t happen again.”
While pausing to digest her words, he pushed up the sleeves of his black sweater and tugged down the quarter-zip. Her eyes tracked his every action.
“I want to be around you every fucking moment. I want to make all your problems go away. I want to kiss you, to be inside you.” He leaned back in the chair. “I miss you when we’re not together and I can’t focus on anything but being with you when we are.”
Chaotic energy whirled around them while they stared into each other’s eyes.
“All I want to do is—” She pursed her lips.
“The same thing I want to do to you, Evan.”
“This is not how I work a case or get things done. I’m all about control, until I get within three feet of you, and then I have none. Until I can get a handle on myself, I’ve got to go this alone.”
And on those words, she left.
Walking away wouldn’t change how they felt, but he understood her rationale. She couldn’t control her actions or her feelings, so she was resorting to distance. That’s not gonna work, either.
He pulled a spare Glock from his safe before throwing on his jacket and gloves. With helmet in hand, he strode out.
Once outside, he mounted his bike, pulled on his helmet, and took off. The frigid night air did nothing to cool the heat coursing through him. He wanted her, but more than that, he wanted her to admit her feelings. Shutting him out and hiding behind her tough exterior wasn’t doing either of them any good.