What Happens in Vegas... Page 12

  Nick’s other eyebrow joined the first at his hairline, and the shock on his face made her feel much better. Like herself again. She might be Evie Rocco now, but she was still Evangeline Harrison, damn it, and it was high time she remembered that. “Well? Are you going to make me regret this?”

  “Me? It was your idea.”

  “Yes, you keep reminding me of that, thank you. But no one forced you to the altar at gunpoint. Why is that, Nick? You’ve made it very clear that this wasn’t your idea, and that you don’t think it was a very good choice, yet you agreed pretty quickly.” Oh, she was really getting warmed up now. “Why, Nick? Was it the money? My family’s connections? Planning on expanding to Dallas and figured you could get your foot in the door?”

  She was goading him, trying to force him to react, hoping he’d drop a bit of that shield and answer her with some honesty. Nick’s face reddened in anger and his jaw locked, but he didn’t take the bait quite the way she hoped. His voice was dangerously quiet and mocking as he said, “It had nothing to do with your money, Evie. It was all about you.”

  Her heart jumped in her chest, an involuntary reaction to his words before the tone fully registered and squashed the feeling.

  “I know your type, Evie. Vegas is full of women just like you—rich, beautiful…” He sneered the word, killing the compliment as he stalked toward her. “But spoiled and out only for a good time. Their children make great accessories—until they don’t anymore, and then they’re an inconvenience. I won’t let that happen to my child.”

  She held her ground as he got closer and his voice grew even more mocking. “It’s very simple, Evie. Marrying you gave me legal rights to my child—rights I couldn’t be guaranteed as easily otherwise. You aren’t the only one able to make plans, Evie. Marrying you won’t be a mistake—at least not for me. You might come to regret it, but I assure you I won’t, because I’m getting exactly what I wanted out of this.”

  His words punched her stomach like hard fists, and she wanted to curl into a ball to protect herself—and the baby, too—from such ugliness. She didn’t doubt the truth of the words; she pushed and goaded to get the truth out of him and now she had it.

  In her anger, she’d made a tactical error: she couldn’t handle Nick the way she handled Will, and she shouldn’t have tried. Will loved her and acted only in her best interest—however misguided he was about that interest. Nick didn’t like her, had his own interests to protect, and she’d just backed herself into a very bad corner.

  Oh, yes, she’d made a huge mistake. And now she couldn’t find her tongue to say anything at all.

  Nick looked her up and down with hot eyes before shaking his head and walking out the door. The sound of the slamming door echoed through her apartment like a gunshot.

  Her knees began to wobble and she found a chair before they gave out entirely. At least she now had a reason for why Nick didn’t like her—even if she didn’t quite understand why or how or when he’d made such dramatic judgments about her character.

  When would she learn to watch her mouth? Just a few minutes ago they were talking about movies, and she’d been so hopeful. But now…

  What was she going to do now?

  Chapter Nine

  A TWENTY-MINUTE WALK AROUND Evie’s neighborhood helped cool his temper, but now he felt exactly like the bastard Evie accused him of being. For someone Evie had called the strong, silent type, he sure had a big mouth.

  He knew he lacked patience, but he’d always managed to keep a lid on his temper—even when his patience was pushed to its limits. It was a point of pride with him as well as a business philosophy. Anger led people to say and do stupid things, and hotheads rarely prevailed.

  So where was his trademark silence and self-control when it came to Evie? One toss of her hair and he wanted to bend her over the nearest table. Then she’d grin at him and make him laugh. But that determined and stubborn lift of her chin made him want to strangle her.

  Tease to tempt to temper with unbelievable speed and zero warning. He’d learned quickly she was capable of those extremes, but finding those extremes in himself? Good Lord. Dealing with Evie was like driving a fast car with no breaks around sharp curves while wearing a blindfold.

  No wonder he was losing his mind. There just wasn’t another explanation for any of this. Something had to give before they either killed each other or…

  Or what?

  He and Evie could draw up legal agreements all day long, but those weren’t going to be much use in the day-to-day trenches. How was he supposed to create a decent home for his child when he and Evie kept snapping each other’s heads off?

  And Evie was getting more complicated with each passing minute. Accidentally pregnant or not, Evie had looked rather shocked—and offended—when he matter-of-factly informed her he didn’t expect her to be much of a mother. That reaction had been real; Evie wasn’t that good of an actress. It was such an honest look, he’d almost felt bad for saying it in the first place.

  He shouldn’t. There was too much riding on this bet.

  But he did. It was absolutely infuriating.

  To make matters worse, none of this did a damn thing to damp the fire that burned in his veins for her. It was insult to injury, salt in the wound, to want a woman that much even as she tore through his life like a flash flood.

  Even now—not half an hour after he’d stormed out of her apartment—he wanted nothing more than to drag her into her bedroom and bury himself in her for the foreseeable future.

  What he needed was to get Evie out of his system. Eventually, he’d get enough of her and the drugging, addictive effect she had on him.

  Maybe then, he’d be able to think straight again.

  Otherwise, this was never going to work. For any of them.

  She simply couldn’t go on like this. The stress was tearing her apart—and it couldn’t be good for the baby, either. She and Nick had to come to some kind of real understanding, or else she simply wouldn’t make it a month—much less a year—without killing him or driving herself insane.

  She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

  Work the problem, Evie. One step at a time. Right now, the problem looked insurmountable and complex, but that was because Nick was at the middle. Work the bits you can, then. Start at the edges.

  Where had he gone? Her keys were still on the table, so he didn’t have access to a vehicle…

  That’s not your problem. He’s an adult. He’d come back when he was ready, and hopefully, he would be calmer then. She needed to use this time to get her head together, to formulate a plan. She’d be able to function better if she had some solid ground under her feet. She’d been running on instinct for days now simply trying to mitigate the damages—no wonder she was half-crazy.

  Right. Time to make a plan, then.

  She dug a legal pad and a pen out of the drawer and pulled a chair up to the table. She tapped the pen against the paper as she tried to focus, but those smudged handprints kept drawing her eyes like a magnet. Muttering a curse, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a dust rag from under the sink and went to work removing the evidence.

  It was torture, and it stirred up images she needed not to think about if she was going to be able to think straight at all. Her body wasn’t getting the message, though. Her pelvic muscles contracted, sending a ripple up through her body until it reached her jaw and made her swallow hard.

  Work the problem, damn it. Sex wasn’t the problem. Well, not one she could really address at the moment. Focus.

  She drew columns, labeled them and started orderly numbered lists of what she needed to do, what she needed to pack. The lists grew, the numbers moving into double digits, but she pressed on, not letting the length of the list panic her. She even added a couple of things to the list that she could cross off already—like telling Uncle Marcus—just to make herself feel as if she’d accomplished something.

  Evie ran her finger over the last item in the list. Nick. In
reality, he was number one, but she’d refused to think about it until she had everything else down on paper, simply because he was the most complicated and the most likely to overwhelm her if she thought about it too much.

  Oddly, though, it didn’t overwhelm her. She traced over his name, and a strange serenity settled on her shoulders. She did it again, and the feeling intensified.

  This was ridiculous. He was the source of all her problems. He had just shouted at her and stormed out of her apartment. He didn’t even like her, so why on earth was his entry on the list making her feel…

  Better?

  No, not really better. He brain stuttered and scrambled and butterflies battered her insides when she thought of him. Her heart beat faster and arousal heated her skin. That didn’t fall under the category of “better.” But there was no mistaking that odd feeling of serenity.

  That had to be a good sign for the future. Either that, or she was a glutton for punishment and cracked in the head. She drummed the pen on the table. Maybe?

  It made no sense at all. Nick was the center of the storm: everything unsettling and destructive in her life swirled around him.

  The eye of the hurricane is the calmest.

  She scrubbed her finger over the shiny surface of the table, leaving a smudge. With just a touch, Nick certainly let loose a hurricane inside her. The first time, the intensity had both excited and scared her.

  Now she craved that feeling—and that explained a lot.

  What it didn’t explain was why when Nick touched her, she felt as if she was in the eye of the storm at the same time. The only time these days she felt as if her life wasn’t spinning completely out of control, threatening to destroy everything and everyone she loved, was when Nick held her.

  Evie jumped to her feet at that disturbing thought and began to pace. She had lost her mind this time. If not for Nick, her life wouldn’t be spinning out of control in the first damn place.

  It’s the hormones. Something biological was causing that feeling. Residual caveman instinct to connect her to the father of the child she carried. Genetic programming from her evolutionary ancestors.

  Because if it wasn’t…Oh, dear Lord, she was in big trouble.

  Two hours later, Evie’s doorman waved him past the desk and straight to the elevator. Nick had to respect a building that ran with that much efficiency and attention to its residents that they already knew who he was.

  He tried the handle of Evie’s door before he knocked, and he was surprised to have it open easily under his hand. Either living in a limited-access building had Evie’s guard down or else she’d left it unlocked in anticipation of his return. If it was the former, she’d have to break that habit once she moved to Vegas; his neighborhood might be gated, but it was isolated and a tempting target for burglars. If it was the latter…

  That was a good sign, right?

  Evie was on the couch, her laptop open and a phone pressed to her ear. From the sound of it, she was speaking to someone at her office, tying up loose ends and making arrangements for business to go on without her. She looked up as he closed the door, and ended the call quickly.

  Three large suitcases sat next to the door.

  With a careful—if slightly forced—pleasantness, Evie said, “You’re back.”

  Good. Evie had cooled down as well and wasn’t going to immediately reopen hostilities with an opening shot. He carefully kept his voice level, as well. “Yeah. I spent some time at that Internet café two blocks from here taking care of some business back home.”

  “Oh. You’re welcome to do that here, too. Use the computer…whatever.”

  He indicated the phone and laptop. “Is that what you were doing? Taking care of business?”

  She closed the computer and set it on the coffee table. “Yep. It’s all taken care of.”

  “That was easy.”

  “Well, Will’s been slow to hand over much responsibility to me. It’s not that he doesn’t trust me, he just still sees me as his little sister and…” She stopped and shrugged. “Most of my job could be done by a well-trained monkey. My assistant is pretty sharp and could easily handle everything, so she just landed a nice promotion. I’ll keep a few fingers in a couple of projects while I’m gone and finish up a few things long-distance, but otherwise, I’m now free to do whatever.”

  An odd smile crossed her face as she spoke. Evie didn’t seem upset to be leaving her job at all. Then she nodded at the suitcases. “And I’m pretty much packed, so we can leave whenever you’re ready.”

  This was much quicker than expected. Either Evie was very well-organized or else she was leaving a lot undone. Why the big hurry to leave? “That’s all you’re taking?”

  “I know. It’s weird to me, too. I think I took more than that on my last vacation. I’m not normally what you’d call a light packer.”

  Guilt nagged at him—a new, unusual feeling—that he had implied she shouldn’t, or couldn’t, bring much with her. “You can bring anything you want with you, Evie. I have plenty of room.”

  “I know,” she quickly interrupted, “and I started to pack all kinds of stuff. Then I realized I didn’t know what I would need. I don’t even need a lot of clothes, because I’ll be outgrowing these soon anyway.” She rubbed a hand over her still-flat abdomen. “Sabine or Gwen can mail me anything I decide I do need, and, in reality, I’m not going to be gone all that long. No sense dragging everything I own to Las Vegas only to move it all back in another year.”

  Evie sounded upbeat about the move—and the move back. That bothered him more than he liked. He had no doubt her attitude would change, but for the moment, she sounded downright chipper, not something he’d expected to return to after the way he’d left earlier.

  “Hey, Evie…”

  “Look, Nick,” she said at the same time. She stopped and clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

  “Ladies first.”

  “Okay.” She stood and circled the couch, ending up standing right in front of him. Then Evie set her shoulders and lifted her chin, and he braced himself for another volley. “I’m sorry.”

  The apology caught him off guard, but Evie didn’t seem to notice as she hurried ahead.

  “For a lot of things, but primarily for earlier. Well, my attitude has pretty much sucked recently, and I’ve taken it all out on you. And I am sorry for that.” He opened his mouth, but Evie held up a hand. “I really need to say all of this before you respond. You’re holding up your end of the bargain admirably, and I can’t thank you enough for how you’ve acted around my family. I’ll sleep a lot better and worry a lot less now that I know they’re satisfied. Now, I’d really like for us to come to another agreement. One where we don’t snipe and yell at each other.”

  That was quite a speech. She’d been thinking while he was gone. “I think that sounds like an excellent plan.”

  He didn’t realize how forced her pleasantness had been until her shoulders sagged and she laughed. A genuine laugh this time; the one he didn’t hear very often. “Thank goodness. I know you might not believe this, but most people say I’m pretty easy to get along with.”

  Her voice was both earnest and lighthearted at the same time—a combination only Evie could ever manage. “Is that so?”

  “Yes, it is,” she responded primly. “My only explanation is that this situation has put me under a lot of stress, and I’m learning that I don’t handle stress all that well.”

  Regardless of her light tone, she’d swallowed a lot of her pride to make that speech; it was only fair that he do the same. “It’s been stressful for me, too, and I’m learning a similar lesson.”

  “Oh, good, we’re both growing as people then. Gwen talks about building and showing character through adversity. I think I’ve been building a whole cast of characters.” Her mouth twisted. “Not all of them are shining stars of the show, though.”

  Evie’s charm; he’d forgotten how captivating she could be when she turned on the charm like
that. “So now what?”

  She took a deep breath, and he waited. “Well—and I know this sounds really strange, considering—I’d like us to be friends.”

  “Friends?” He nearly choked on the word. They may not have been very friendly lately, but they’d passed “friends” eight orgasms ago.

  “I think it will be much easier as we go forward. We’re going to be together for a very long time—um, I mean, the baby will always connect us, and it will be much easier for everyone if we’re on good terms.”

  “I agree.”

  “Good.” She blew out her breath and leaned her hips against the couch. “Wow. That was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. But I feel a whole lot better. Now, what were you going to say?”

  “Something similar, actually.” He was rewarded for his honesty by the look of surprise that sent Evie’s eyebrows arching upward. “We certainly couldn’t go on as we were.”

  “I’m so glad we got that sorted out.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs and pushed to her feet. “And now, I’m suddenly very hungry. What about you? There’s a wonderful Lebanese place not far—”

  “There’s one more thing we need to discuss, Evie.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She resumed her earlier position, and braced her hands on the top of the couch. “What?”

  “This.” It was all the warning she got before he closed the distance between them and captured her mouth. Her gasp of surprise pulled air from his lungs. Then Evie melted into his embrace, her lips molding against his as her tongue slid greedily over his. Her hands roamed restlessly over his back before coming to rest at his waist, her thumbs hooking under the waistband of his jeans.

  He’d meant the kiss as a simple demonstration—a reference for the point he was about to make—but desire soon took over, and he deepened the kiss as his hands slid up around her neck and into the mass of her hair.

  He broke the kiss before he lost all control and hauled her into the bedroom, pressing his forehead against hers as he listened to her short, panting breaths.