Chapter 12
twelve
. . .
“What have you done with Heath?”
A full day had now passed since Evan had seen Lennox in the flesh. When he’d returned from the beach on breakdown day, the only sign of his hubby was a cup in the sink and six more built into a tower on the island, with the bath towel elephant housekeeping had left on the bed balanced on top.
He’d taken that as a pretty obvious sign Lennox’s state of mind hadn’t improved, and resisted checking in on him. The grumbling and shuffling he heard from behind the door provided satisfactory enough signs of life.
The scowl on Isabella’s face suggested she wouldn’t be so easily appeased.
“I haven’t done a thing. I swear.”
“Then why isn’t he down here with you?”
“He doesn’t drink.”
He wiggled the pina colada cup and smiled through an excessive slurp that went instantly to his head, burning punishment for acting flippant.
“Evan, you have five seconds…”
“Maybe he’s exhausted. You think of that?”
He leaned heavily on the subtext, and the flush across her cheeks confirmed she’d had no problem picking up what he’d put down. She was almost as fun to tease as Lennox, though he knew without question she’d beat his ass if he took it too far.
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re not the first to say so.”
“And I won’t be the last. Now, be serious and tell me what’s going on. The two of you were acting very strangely at dinner, and now he’s nowhere to be seen. I’m not above driving down there and pounding on the door, you know.”
He didn’t doubt it in the least. He also didn’t know how to explain his husband was apparently going through some things. Since they were actually strangers, he didn’t know what those things were or how long they’d take to process, and it wasn’t his business to ask.
“I promise he’s fine. Just a little hungover from traveling and the heat.”
“You said that yesterday.”
He had? Shit. For someone refusing to leave the house, Lennox was proving difficult to keep track of.
“He’ll be at dinner tonight, I swear.”
“He’d better be.”
The implied or else clinging to that statement put a little pep in his step as he slid into the cart and made his way back to the villa for a little hubby heart-to-heart.
Lennox was free to be a recluse if that was what he wanted, but Evan wasn’t taking the blame if he accidentally fell into the ocean and disappeared. He could tell Isabella in person that he hated fun and beauty and wanted to mope in the house for two weeks.
“You live,” he announced upon finding Lennox sunning himself in one of the vanilla-cushioned teak lounge chairs on the patio.
A humph was the reply. He didn’t even look up from his book.
“You can do that on the beach, you know.”
“No.”
“No, really. They have the same chairs down there and everything.”
That got him to at least look up, and Evan could feel the searing glare through the dark lenses of his sunglasses.
“What do you want?”
“An alibi.”
Up went the eyebrow, and he swore the corner of Lennox’s mouth twitched upward just the slightest bit. The guy might dislike him, but he thought he was funny, so his taste wasn’t all bad. Though his swim trunks suggested otherwise.
“C’mon, man. You’ve been here three days and haven’t even seen the beach.”
Lennox glanced behind him. “There’s one right down there, and I’ve seen it plenty.”
There was a small pile of shells and rocks on the table next to him to corroborate the story, and gave credence to Evan’s concern he’d get sucked out into the sea never to be heard from again. The tide down there was gnarly.
Evan tried a different approach. Maybe he was an animal lover. “Did you know they have donkeys?”
“Saw them on the website.”
Okay, maybe not.
“The pina coladas are outstanding.”
“I. Don’t. Drink.”
Evan swallowed a frustrated growl and leaned onto his knees to better see the stubborn ass’s face. “That’s one of the easiest drinks to mock. I’m sure they can do it without booze.”
“And I’m sure you’re quite the expert in mocking,” Lennox drawled, bringing his book up to cover his face.
Evan felt his jaw twitch as his teeth ground together. “The fuck is your problem, seriously?”
Lennox tossed the book aside and leaned forward. “My problem? You’re the one all hell-bent on getting me to leave the suite. And why is that? You hoping to lure another unsuspecting woman into your clutches?”
“Into my—” Evan ran a hand over his face. “Okay, for real. No one talks like that.”
“You want to know my problem? It’s you. You and this incessant needling. I’ll spend my vacation exactly how I want to, and it’s none of your damn business.”
Evan leaned on the edge of the lounger and met Lennox’s glare. “Says the guy taking every opportunity to butt into mine.”
“It’s impossible to avoid your business, since you throw it in every pretty face you see.”
“I’m trying to make the best of this situation, but you seem intent on making it as miserable as possible for both of us.
You want to skulk around and sulk the entire time you’re here?
Great! Have at it! But figure out a way to do it without dragging me down with you, because this is a rare break from reality for me, and I plan to enjoy it. ”
Lennox scoffed. “Oh, that’s rich coming from the guy whose idea of enjoyment is toying with everyone around him.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough.”
Evan felt his eye twitch and worried a blood vessel might pop in his brain. “We met two fucking days ago. You don’t know shit.”
Lennox dropped his feet to either side of the lounger and stood, pushing his sunglasses off his face and taking a step closer.
Okay, fine. Maybe he was 5’11. Prick.
“Weren’t you talking about first impressions the other night? I got all I needed from yours.”
Evan narrowed his eyes to keep them from rolling out of his head. What sort of bullshit karma was it that the one time he dared to go off-script, he ended up saddled with the only witness who had an opinion about it?
“Hannah was a willing participant in that first impression.”
“God only knows why.”
“Maybe because I’m a really nice guy to people who don’t go out of their way to piss me off.”
“You might want to consult a dictionary, because it doesn’t define nice as using someone and then tossing them in the trash.”
Jesus. This again. “What. The fuck. Do you want from me?”
Lennox threw up his hands and shouted, “Nothing! Not a goddamn thing! You’re the one getting up in my face and trying to make this something. All I want is to be left alone.”
“Fine.” Evan reeled in his temper, frustrated he’d let it off-leash in the first place. Who the hell was this guy to judge him, and why was he letting it affect him? “You want to be alone? No problem. Enjoy. May you bask in solitude for the rest of your miserable fucking life.”
Lennox winced, and Evan felt a quick flash of remorse, but pushed it off before it could take root. Nice Evan was done with this shit. He shouldn’t have even bothered trying to reach out, and he was just as angry at himself for wasting the effort.
Fuck this guy and his necromantic bullshit. Trying to change the opinion of someone who’d already made up their mind was an old, old habit. One he’d shaken far too long ago for it to be rearing its head now.
“By the way,” he said, meeting Lennox’s stony gaze. “Isabella’s been asking about you. Whole family has. I’m gonna tell them I murdered you and I’ve been feeding your parts to the fish.”
“Why isn’t he here?”
Evan put down the plate he was filling from the overflowing charcuterie board and casually checked the table for something besides a cheese knife that he could use to defend himself.
“I swear I told him you were going to murder me if he didn’t show. I think he’s testing both of us.”
The set of Isabella’s jaw hardened as her tongue ran across her teeth beneath her lovely, full lips. “I know someone is testing me.”
A cheer went up, and Evan blew out a heavy breath at seeing Lennox entering with Nate and Olivia.
“We picked up a hitchhiker,” Nate joked with his wide grin.
Isabella gave him a sharp look, then hurried over to Lennox and crooned, “Heath!” while giving his arms a squeeze. “I was worried. Why have you been hiding?”
Lennox turned a little pink and smiled. “Just needed some quiet time.”
She hooked her arm through his to lead him over to where she was sitting with an assortment of cousins, if Evan recalled the family tree correctly.
No one had cheered when he’d shown up. In fact, they hardly paid him any mind.
It stung, but whatever. He was one of them, after all.
Just another fish in an endless, identical school.
“Oh, a Harvard man. Chose Yale, myself,” Nate had ribbed him during the first evening’s chat. “What firm did you say you were with?”
He hadn’t, but Nate had recognized the name when he did. It wasn’t a law powerhouse, but DeSilva and Seaver were enough of a name that someone like actual CEO Nate Spencer would hear of them from his Manhattan ivory tower.
Lennox was shiny and new to them, an outlier from the type of crowd Evan guessed typically frequented the island. An angelfish among carp.
He shook his head and wondered what was in the resort’s water to have him comparing himself to strangers and then fucking philosophizing about it. Whatever it was, it better be temporary. All this introspection and empathy were bad for his career.
“You sail?” Nate asked, joining him on the terrace to watch the boats bobbing in the turquoise waters.
“I know bow from stern,” he said, glancing at the older man, who eyed the water with a soft gaze. Evan’s disinterest in regattas was another of the many failings on his father’s lengthy list.
“I used to compete in the days when my back didn’t have so many opinions about my hobbies,” Nate chuckled, then sighed. “Getting old is a real bitch sometimes.”