Chapter 14 Evan
EVAN
The cycling finished with a climb into the villa’s parking area. By the time they reached the parking zone and dismounted their bikes, almost everyone was tired, hot, and sweaty. They all waved goodbye to each other and headed off in separate directions.
Evan and Mia trekked upstairs to take turns showering. While Mia was in the shower, Evan grabbed his laptop and got to work. She came back out, wearing a sundress with her hair wrapped in a towel, and gave him a stern look.
“Really?”
“This is important,” he gestured to the laptop. “And there are no family activities until dinner.”
Shrugging, Mia grabbed a book and went out onto the balcony.
Evan glanced at her every now and then as she read, her hair draped over the back of the chair, and her feet up on the railing.
He was conscious of each of her movements, from a flick of her hair to changing the cross of her legs to using a single finger to turn the pages.
It was distracting enough to make work very difficult, but Evan couldn’t exactly ask her to leave because she was distracting.
Finally, dinnertime arrived, and they headed downstairs to eat.
Once again, dinner took place at the long tables in the front.
This time, it was pizza, which everyone devoured hungrily.
The cyclists each took a few extra slices.
Dinner was accompanied by wine, but Mia, laughing, said she’d be having water for the rest of the trip to avoid further questions about wine.
Afterward, the whole family gathered in the villa’s spacious sitting room.
Someone had found a huge whiteboard and markers.
Perhaps this villa also hosts corporate retreats, Evan thought, which immediately made him wonder if he should bring the Reign board here.
They all found seats on the sofas and chairs in front of the whiteboard.
“Do you know how to play charades?” Evan asked Mia quietly.
“Of course.” She smiled.
“Good, because it’s the Hirst family game of choice. I doubt anyone even likes it much anymore, but we play it at every gathering.”
“Someone should suggest another game,” Mia said.
“I doubt anyone knows one,” Evan replied quietly. He winked at her, and she chuckled.
“Boys versus girls?” Ellen suggested, standing up in the front of the room. Everyone nodded, so Evan and Mia said goodbye to each other and found seats on opposite sides of the room.
“I’ll go first,” Luka volunteered, hopping to his feet and striding across the room. He took a paper from a hat, read it, and nodded. Then he put his hands by his ears and gave a strange jump.
“Kangaroo!” one of Evan’s cousins called.
“Casablanca?” Evan suggested. Luka switched to miming, giving something away, but it only increased the confusion. Eventually, another cousin managed to guess that he was miming “Easter bunny,” and the boys’ team got the point. A few rounds later, everyone seemed to be tiring of the game.
“Would you like to try a different game?” Mia asked.
“What do you have in mind, darling?” Ellen asked.
“It’s called Truth and Lies,” Mia explained. “The rules are very simple. One person makes a statement, and the others need to guess if it’s the truth or a lie.”
“It doesn’t sound very exciting,” Ellen said hesitantly, but Arthur put a hand on her arm.
“Let’s give it a try. Mia, will you show us how it’s done?”
“Of course.” Mia paused to think. “Okay. Here’s one: I didn’t try soda until I was thirteen years old.”
“That’s a lie,” Luka said.
“No, I think it’s the truth,” Sarah countered. “Some families don’t give their kids much soda.”
“What a terrible childhood, though,” one of the cousins put in. “I say, lie.”
Evan listened to their guesses and watched as Mia’s eyes twinkled with enjoyment. Finally, everyone had put in their ideas, and she made a drum roll against her legs.
“The answer is... true! My family didn’t approve of sugary beverages, so I had my first sip of soda when I was thirteen at a friend’s birthday party. Who wants to go next?”
“Evan should,” Luka said. Evan stifled a sigh and nodded.
“All right, all right.” He looked around at the assembled family members. “I once forgot to eat for two straight days because I was working.”
“True!” Almost everyone chorused in unison.
“It’s a lie!” Evan shot back. He grinned. “I’m not as bad as you all think.” Though in truth, Evan had gone more than a day without eating because he was so caught up in a project, though never two days in a row. And he always stopped to drink coffee.
“That was a good one,” Mia said approvingly. “Luka, would you like to try?”
“Okay. Hmm... I never knew true love until I met Sarah.”
This statement was met by groans from almost everyone, even as they called out that it was true.
“Yes, it’s true,” Luka confirmed. He leaned over to kiss Sarah, who grinned.
“Is this you being more romantic?” she asked.
“You know it.”
Mia expertly guided the family through several more rounds of the game, gently bringing the more hesitant members into the fun.
Evan watched her in awe. She’d turned a staid game of charades into something much more fun and, in doing so, created a memory that he knew would stick with everyone in the family.
“I only learned to ride a bike when I was in my twenties,” Ellen said on her turn.
Evan raised his eyebrows; that couldn’t be true.
But moments later, his mother said, “It’s true!
I was always scared as a child, and I never had cause to learn.
I only learned after I met Arthur. He wanted to go cycling through France on vacation, and I couldn’t let him down. ”
“Even I didn’t know that.” Arthur put his arm around his wife. “That’s so sweet. Thanks for learning. That was a great trip.”
“It was very rainy,” Ellen countered with a grin. Everyone chuckled.
A few more rounds of the game later, people began to yawn, and the party broke up. Evan and Mia headed up to their room, where Mia pulled her hair back into a bun and put on a sweatshirt.
“Balcony?” she asked Evan, grinning as a strand of hair escaped from her bun to frame her face. “Or do you have work to do?”
Evan knew what he should say. He did have work to do, and he was getting dangerously close to Mia by now anyway. But he found himself smiling back at her.
“Balcony.”
“Excellent.” They went outside, taking the same seats as yesterday and leaning back in them. Overhead, the stars winked at them, and Mia began to hum. Evan tilted his head.
“I think I know that one.”
“You should.” She winked at him. “It was one of the songs we danced to at the Napa Valley wedding.”
“I do remember!” Evan nodded. “‘On This Starry Night.’ You said it was one of your favorites.”
“And you said you didn’t care for it,” Mia added.
“It’s growing on me now, I think,” Evan said. He leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head. “Sing it for me.”
Mia laughed. “No way! I’m a terrible singer. You’ll just laugh at me.”
“I won’t,” Evan promised, but she still shook her head, tucking her hair back. “Okay, okay, fine.” Evan laughed. “At least tell me why you like it so much.”
“Honestly, I love the words,” Mia said. “It reminds me of a night like tonight, when we can see thousands of stars, I think, and dozens of constellations. Nights like this always make me think of the universe and my place in it. And it’s a love story.
I’m kind of a sucker for love stories.” She smiled, but Evan’s mouth felt suddenly dry.
Here was a woman who actually liked romance, pretending to date a guy who didn’t even believe in it.
It was a good thing they weren’t really together, although he was having to remind himself of that very often now.
“I do like looking at the stars,” he said, catching on that part of what she’d said.
“The lyrics talk about how ‘the stars wink down at me, telling stories of old, as the night closes in, so dark and so cold. I think of you and the warmth of your arms, lifting me away from all that harms. Now you’re as far as a star in the sky, I’ll never reach you unless I learn to fly.
’” She didn’t exactly sing, but the words had a melody to them, and they reached into Evan’s heart.
“That’s sad.”
“I know, but it’s beautiful, too.” She tilted her head back. “Just like the stars.”
Just like you, Evan thought but didn’t say. Mia was truly extraordinary. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she showed a new side of herself, and he got to know her all over again. She was like a puzzle that was forever unfolding.
“Oh!” She sat up straight, breaking his reverie. “I know exactly what we need!”
“What?” Evan asked, already grinning. Mia got up and went inside.
Evan turned in his chair so that he could watch as she rummaged in her suitcase.
She pulled something out before heading back outside.
Evan grinned as she broke off a piece of chocolate and handed it to him, sitting back in her chair.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, taking it from her and popping it into his mouth. Their fingertips brushed, and Evan tried to ignore the warmth that spread up his arm.
“I brought it with me.” Mia winked. “I’m always prepared.”
“What else did you bring?” Evan asked.
“Let’s see... mostly chocolate and clothes.” Mia giggled. “I guess I’m not prepared for everything. Just chocolate- and wardrobe-based emergencies.”
“Well, those are the most common emergencies anyone might face,” Evan replied, mock-serious, and Mia giggled harder. “Can I have another piece?”
“Sure.” She passed him one. “Do you know what happened the one time I forgot to pack an emergency chocolate stash?”
“What happened?” Evan asked. He’d asked for more chocolate partially because it was good, and partially in hopes of their fingers brushing again. They did, and warmth spread up his arm.
“I went to the wrong wedding,” Mia said, making wide eyes. “So, it’s important to be prepared.”
“Definitely.” Evan agreed. “Although one could argue that going to the wrong wedding eventually brought you to Italy.”
“True.” Mia made the wide eyes again. “Forgetting the chocolate may have been a good thing. I could throw this off the balcony now...” She held the chocolate bar over the edge threateningly, and Evan grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
“No, let’s eat it. Since it’s here already.”
“Okay, okay.” She chuckled. “Fair enough.”
Evan was still holding her hand, and he was deeply aware of the curve of her wrist beneath his palm.
Their eyes met, and he realized again how very close they were.
It would be so easy to lean in and kiss her, just once, on those soft pink lips.
He remembered as though it were yesterday how it had felt to kiss her.
To hold her. To feel as if the world was standing still for the two of them.
He couldn’t. Quickly, Evan released her hand and sat back in his chair, trying to slow the beating of his heart.
Mia was magnetic. From the moment he’d seen her at the first wedding, he’d wanted to kiss her.
He’d wanted to find out who she was. He’d wanted to be close to her.
Yet now that he knew more about her, now that they’d stayed up late a few nights talking, now that he’d seen her with his family. .. he wanted more.
He wanted something real.
He couldn’t have it, though. Evan had given his whole life to Reign.
Ever since college, he’d dedicated almost every waking moment to his company.
As Mia had said earlier, if thinking about work was the same as working, he worked all the time.
Not a single day had gone by in the past few years when he hadn’t thought about Reign and what was best for it.
Evan couldn’t allow himself to feel something real for Mia, because that would mean turning his back on the company he’d spent his whole life building.
After all, love, marriage, kids — they all destroyed careers.
“Are you okay?” Mia’s brow furrowed. “You look very serious all of a sudden. I wasn’t really going to throw the chocolate off the balcony.”
“I know.” He flashed her a quick smile. “I’m feeling tired. I think I’d better turn in.”
“Of course.” Mia nodded, though something like hurt flickered across her lovely features. “More chocolate for me.” She broke off another square and popped it into her mouth.
Evan hesitated. He didn’t really want to sleep, but he shouldn’t stay here on this balcony with Mia under the starlight any longer, either.
So, he made himself get up and head inside to lie in the bed they shared.
He was restless for a long time, and he was still awake when Mia slipped into bed beside him on her side of the pillow wall.
She smelled like jasmine. The mattress dipped under her slim frame, and each time she rolled over to get more comfortable, Evan felt it.
It was a long time before he managed to fall asleep.