Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
EVIE
“That’s it, I’m done with men,” Evie ranted the following evening when her best friend insisted on taking her to a local bar for a drink after Evie had all but begged Posy to cover her ‘Santa’s Helper’ responsibilities for the weekend.
The thought of playing the happy elf to Asher’s Santa after the way things had gone down at dinner after Shepherd’s appearance was just too much.
She’d already had to endure Victoria Stirling’s snide remarks that morning in the shop, when she’d basically told Evie she was punching above her weight.
The nasty bitch was lucky she hadn’t punched her!
Evie took another swig of the second double shot of neat Fireball she’d ordered since she had no parental responsibilities and relished the burn as it slid down her throat. The sweet, spicy whisky had hit the spot, and she could already feel a pleasant warmth spreading through her limbs.
"You don't mean that," Posy said, giving her a sympathetic pat on the arm. "You're just having a rough patch."
“No!” Evie disagreed, pointing at Posy with her glass.
“A ‘rough patch’ only applies if you’re actually in a relationship, which I am not.
I’m too damn old for this kind of adolescent posturing.
If they want to behave like schoolboys, they can do it on their own time.
I don’t need that crap. I was married to Adrian and indulged somebody else’s opinion for too many years not to respect myself and how other men treat me now I’m single. ”
Posy opened her mouth to say more, but before she could get a word out, a familiar voice cut through the din of the bar.
"Mind if I join you ladies?"
The pair of them looked up to see Gabe standing beside their table, a warm smile on his face.
Evie’s stomach did a little flip that had nothing to do with the alcohol.
Why did he have to look so good in that fitted Henley, which showcased his chest and was almost as delicious as when he donned his suit, tie, and spectacles?
Didn’t she just say she was done with men?
Stupid libido.
And what was it about a man who wore glasses? Hot damn!
"Sure, pull up a chair," Posy chirped before Evie could object, so she threw her friend a pointed glare and ordered another drink instead, switching to a decadent cocktail since Gabe insisted on buying.
“So, what are we celebrating this evening?”
“Being single and spectacular,” Evie slurred slightly as she saluted him with her glass.
“I’ll drink to that,” Gabe responded, toasting the two of them with his undoubtedly fancy wine.
"So, what brings you out tonight, Gabe?" Posy asked, her voice chipper. "Business or pleasure?"
Gabe’s lips quirked up in that infuriatingly charming half-smile of his. "A bit of both, actually. I was meeting with some potential investors and saw you ladies as I was leaving."
“Investors?” Posy was always curious. Probably came from having Marigold and Iris as family.
Gabe nodded, thoughtfully. “I’ve been considering an expansion to the hotel. Trying to work out how to do that.”
Evie narrowed her eyes at him… well, she tried to anyway. In the end, she suspected it was more of a one-eyed grimace, since her focus was a bit fuzzy.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, her voice laced with suspicion. The hotel was built on slightly elevated ground at the apex of the main street. An old, elegant building, it sat like a throne looking over the town, backed by beautiful evergreen woods, which added to its presence.
What concerned Evie more was that her parents’ home, where she was currently staying, was right next door. Detached, but equally grand, the hotel and the building that had belonged to her grandmother were like two bookends.
Her childhood home was the mirror image of the hotel, two halves of one whole, and Evie felt a frisson of unease. Her parents often complained about how the old, sprawling residence always needed work, cost a fortune to heat, and was way too big for the two of them. Would they consider selling?
Had Gabe approached them?
No, surely her mother would have mentioned it. Her parents knew how much she loved that place. It was her one constant in a life that had changed far too much over the past year.
“I’m considering the option of building cabins in the woods.” Gabe spoke to both of them, but his eyes held hers.
Evie looked away and pressed her lips together, not sure how she felt about that. As a business owner, she understood the need to expand and stay lucrative, but on a purely personal note, she couldn’t help but wonder how being surrounded by cabins would affect her parents’ home. Her home right now.
He must have sensed her unease, even through her half-pickled brain, because he leaned forward, his green eyes distracting her almost as much as the alcohol.
"Change can be good, Evie. It brings new opportunities, new life to a place.
Expanding the hotel will bring in more tourists; all our businesses rely on those. "
"I suppose," Evie conceded, not wanting to argue. She traced the rim of her glass with her finger. Yes, everything changed, didn’t it? She could attest to that.
She cleared her throat. "Have you, um, talked to any of the neighbors about this? Like my parents, maybe?" There weren’t really any other neighbors it would impact the same way.
Gabriel hesitated, his eyes flickering away for a moment before meeting Evie's gaze again. "Not yet. I wanted to solidify the plans before approaching anyone. But I assure you, I'll handle any discussions with utmost sensitivity."
Evie's stomach clenched. Nothing stayed the same. Life moved on. Progress happened.
Was it just her who got left behind?
“Don’t be so maudlin,” Posy chided, shaking her head. “You aren’t being left behind. You just took over the bakery, for goodness’ sake.”
Shit, she’d said that out loud?
Both Posy and Gabe shot her concerned looks. "Evie, maybe we should call it a night. You've had quite a bit to drink."
"I'm fine, it’s just been a shitty week," Evie insisted, waving off her friend's concern. But as she shifted in her seat, the room tilted alarmingly. Maybe Posy had a point.
“Ah… I’m gonna ask Mike to walk you home,” Posy disagreed, pulling out her phone to call her fiancé.
“Let me,” Gabe interjected, stopping Posy from making the call. “I’m going the same way after all.”
“Thank you, that would make me feel better.”
Her friend sighed. “Tonight was supposed to cheer her up, not make her worse.”
“I’m right here, you know!” Evie’s tone was indignant as they talked about her like she wasn’t there.
“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” Gabe reassured Posy, like Evie hadn’t said a word.
“Come on, sunshine.” He cupped her elbow, but she still wobbled as she stood.
It wasn’t far. Frostvale wasn’t much more than two intersecting streets with a few smaller ones leading off of those.
The hotel sat at the apex of the main drag, where all the best bars and shops were situated, and her parents’ house was right alongside it, so Gabe wasn’t doing anything special by walking her home.
Evie kept having to remind herself of that, because somehow it felt like a lot more.
Probably her admittedly alcoholic haze.
Evie dropped her keys twice while Gabe waited patiently beside her to make sure she got in safely. In the end, he picked them up off the ground the second time and opened the door himself.
The house was quiet, her parents had taken advantage of not having to be there for Ollie while she opened the bakery at stupid o’clock, and had gone to visit her mother’s sister, out of state, to deliver their Christmas gifts in person.
Evie sighed at how much she’d turned their lives upside down.
She knew they didn’t mind. It had been their choice, just like the insistence she move in with them had been.
It’s what family was for, they told her, and she knew they meant it, but it didn’t lessen the guilt.
Damn, she really shouldn’t have drunk. It hadn’t cheered her up at all.
“Are you okay?” Gabe asked, obviously picking up on her mood.
She looked up at him and her heart lurched.
He was so handsome. His dark hair and beard were meticulously trimmed, but his green eyes, which sparked with intriguing shards of gold even behind his sexy glasses, somehow stopped him from appearing too austere.
And he was happy to live in Frostvale. Had chosen it.
Why couldn’t she have fallen for him instead of Adrian?
Maybe she would have if she’d met him first.
She sighed and attempted to turn far too quickly, stumbling in the process.
“Whoa!” Gabe was fast, steadying her and pulling her to his hard chest. God, he felt good. All spicy warmth and hard muscle. When was the last time she’d felt that?
Oh yeah! With stupid, sexy Shepherd who had ghosted her.
Evie smoothed her hands over his pecs. She couldn’t help it; her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.
“Evie…”
Gabe’s rumbling voice was deep and seductive, and his full lips looked so soft and inviting.
Later, she would think about how the alcohol clouded her judgment. How she had totally misread the situation.
Later, it would be too late to stall the mortification, but right now, in this moment, it all seemed so clear.
Beer-goggles clear.
Grabbing Gabe’s face, she pulled him down and laid her lips on his.
Yum. They were just as succulent as she imagined.
Gabe groaned out her name against her lips.
“Damn it, Evie. I need to get you tucked up in bed.”
“Mmm… now that sounds like my kind of proposition,” she purred, angling her lips towards his once again.
He turned his head.
“Evie… that’s not what I meant. This isn’t right. We can’t…”
His hands were so gentle it took Evie a while for her alcohol-fueled brain to realize he was pushing her away. But when it did, when his words hit, it was like she’d been doused in cold water.
The fog she’d been swimming in evaporated, and all that was left was humiliation.
She’d just thrown herself at a man, and he’d rejected her, too.
Fuck her life!