“Oh yeah. Ross treats us like we’re clients. You treat us like we’re people. Inviting us into your home. Providing a home-cooked meal. Letting us jam with your boys. It’s awesome. Thanks.”
Kurt was a smooth fucker. Under normal circumstances, I appreciated his skill but not now. Not with Eva. I’d have to have a chat with him about that later.
Eva blinked again. “Oh, well, sure. We’re glad to have you.”
Kurt smiled and held out his hand. “Will you join us? We were just going to chill and watch a movie.”
She bit her lip, looking as if she was as likely to flee as she was to accept. I was utterly fascinated.
“I guess I could, just for a little while.”
Much to my annoyance, Eva put her hand in his. My irritation soon turned to appreciation, however, when Kurt gave me a sly wink and led Eva over to a seat on the sofa between us. My wingman had my back after all.
“Never met a woman who could say no to classic Hugh Jackman.” Kurt grinned, settling beside her and offering her a bowl of popcorn.
I saw very little of the movie. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I was more interested in watching Eva. Also, every time Kate Beckinsale appeared on the screen, I envisioned Eva in that laced-up corset top and high-heeled boots.
For her part, Eva remained quiet. Every now and then, I felt her glancing my way and offered a smile, but she didn’t return any of them.
I wished I could figure out what she was thinking. She didn’t seem to be angry that we’d invaded her home, though I wouldn’t blame her if she were. She was a smart woman. I was sure she’d surmised by now that it had been my idea to ditch the eager-beaver kid and show up at her place, though I had expected her to be there at the time and, quite honestly, to send us on our merry way.
I’d caught the slight widening of her eyes earlier when Kurt thanked her for inviting us into her home. He knew as well as I did that we had not been invited, but she was too gracious to argue the point.
And too smart of a businesswoman to correct him.
On the other hand, she didn’t seem particularly happy with our presence either. I thought she was tolerating us more than anything. Wisely picking her battles.
The thing was, I liked battling her. She was proving to be a worthy opponent and a delightful challenge. She might have won in her office earlier, but I was claiming this night as a victory for me. I couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.
As the movie progressed, Eva eventually began to drift off. Halfway through, her eyes closed, and her features relaxed. Before long, I felt the soft weight of her body leaning against me. I ignored Kurt’s knowing grin and shifted to accommodate her, feeling a wholly irrational sense of contentment.
~ * ~
Eva
I squeezed my eyes shut against the sudden brightness.
“Jesus, Mom,” Brian muttered. “Better check your arm, dude. She drools.”
Hearing my son’s words jolted me into wakefulness, and I sat up abruptly. Horrified by the realization that I’d just fallen asleep on Jace Logan, I checked his arm for a wet spot. Thankfully, there wasn’t one, but when I looked into Jace’s twinkling eyes, I found yet another reason to wish a gaping hole would open up and suck me away.
I felt the heat rush into my face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Jace said easily.
“We should be going. Sorry we stayed so long, Eva,” Kurt said. “It’s not easy to leave such hospitality, though I expect we’ve overstayed our welcome.”
My son Tommy sent a martyred look in my direction. “You didn’t. She always falls asleep like that.”
“She’s earned it. She went above and beyond for us today.” Kurt turned back to me. “Thank you again for a wonderful evening.”
In an old-fashioned gesture, Kurt lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it before taking it upon himself to pick up the now-empty bowls and follow the boys toward the kitchen.
“Yes, thank you, Eva, for not kicking us out on our uninvited asses,” Jace said with a rueful smile. “And I owe you an apology. You are a good sport and a kind and gracious woman, not to mention one hell of a cook.” Not to be outdone by the likes of his lead guitarist, he lifted my other hand and kissed it, allowing his lips to linger longer than Kurt’s had. “I hope we didn’t put you out too much.”
“You didn’t.” I reclaimed my hand, wondering at the slow burn that hovered there after Jace lifted his lips. There were other parts of me clamoring for that same burn, but I refused to acknowledge them. They had no business wanting anything. “And I have to thank you too, for being so nice to Brian and Tommy. They idolize you.”
“It was our pleasure,” Jace responded, seeming sincere. “I can’t remember when we had so much fun actually. Like Kurt said, we don’t usually get the chance to just hang out like ordinary people, you know?”
Yes, I knew.
I walked him to the door where Kurt was waiting with the boys and then wished them a good night. Long after the rental sedan pulled away, my hand still tingled.
~ * ~
Jace
It came to me later that night. I was lying in my penthouse suite, drifting in and out of sleep with images of Eva on my mind. Eva, in her understated pencil skirt and heels at the office. Eva, glistening with sweat in her workout clothes. Eva, soft and relaxed against my arm.
And then I remembered.
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my phone, excitedly tapping the keys. It couldn’t be, and yet I was sure it was. I held my breath as the search engine did its thing.
Please find it. Please let there be a video, a picture, anything.
I sucked in a breath as the results filled the screen. I clicked on the first one, my heart beating furiously at the grainy images of a concert I’d attended twenty years ago.
No wonder Eva was so damn familiar! Her image was engraved in the very fiber of my psyche, had been from the moment I saw the fierce woman up onstage with a voice that reached into the depths of my soul, grabbed it, and squeezed. The tiny creature in a black corset and leather, right out of my wildest fantasies, with the raven tattoo spreading its wings between her shoulder blades.
Eva was my dark angel. The woman who had changed my life forever. The original inspiration for Dark Wing.
And she had no idea.
Chapter 4
Dear Ida,
I’m a single mom with a great career and no room for a man in my life. There’s this guy who’s been openly flirting with me. He’s sex on a stick and he knows it. I know mixing business with pleasure is a bad idea, but there’s no harm in fantasizing, is there? – Celibate and Horny
* * *
Dear C&H,
There’s always room for a good O, whether at your own hand or his. Don’t be so quick to write off the possibilities of interoffice hanky-panky.
~ * ~
Eva
I was feeling anything but rested the next morning, which was why I’d asked Cassie to supersize my coffee and make it extra strong when I got to the office.
Jace and Kurt, it seemed, had been officially declared The Sickest Guys Ever by my sons, which apparently went way beyond cool or awesome.
The fact that my hormones agreed wholeheartedly—but for completely different reasons—had kept me up half the night, tossing and turning.