Chapter 29
EVAN
What the hell had come over me? I’d become a possessive, feral caveman. The nerve of that guy to ask her to leave when I was standing right there.
“Where are we going?” Chloe asked.
As I led her through the crowd of people inside Drew’s house, I looked back to make sure my daughter was still outside with her grandmother and not witnessing me basically kidnap Chloe. I tugged her down the hall and into Drew and Maura’s bedroom at the far end of the first level.
I shut the door behind us and locked it, the sounds of the party now muffled in the distance.
Chloe’s chest heaved as she looked up at me, her back against the door.
I moved closer and caged her against it with both my arms. She should’ve been scared after the way I’d acted, but there wasn’t an ounce of fear in her eyes—only something that looked an awful lot like excitement and desire.
I must’ve had the same look tenfold. Ravenous, I leaned in and took her mouth with mine.
She let out the sexiest moan, and I felt the vibration of it deep in the back of my throat.
Running my fingers through her long hair, I shoved my tongue not so gently into her mouth to taste her again like I’d been dying to.
Chloe whimpered. She opened wider for me, and I kissed her harder, more addicted by the second.
My dick grew rigid as I pressed my chest against her soft breasts that had been taunting me from the moment she decided to put on that fucking nurse costume.
“You’re driving me insane,” I muttered over her lips before forcing myself away.
“I’m driving you insane?” She panted.
“Yes.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“First you tease me with that titty show earlier this month, causing me to go off the deep end and pull you into your closet. Then you squirt in my face, and it’s all I fucking think about every day.
And now tonight, you do the one thing you knew would mess with my head most, dress up like a nurse.
Then on top of everything, you taunt me by talking to that guy—”
“Don’t put this on me. You’re the one who’s lost control, both times.”
“How did you expect me to react? It’s like a game to you.”
“That’s what we’re good at, though, right? Playing games with each other but never actually biting the bullet. Well, the truth is, Evan, I’m too old for games.” She put her hands on my chest and pushed. “You’d better go out there. Effie might need you.”
She fucking pushed me. Then she turned, opened the door, and walked away, leaving me alone to deal with this painfully hard dick. I had to hole up in this room for several minutes before it finally went down to baseline. How had things gone from scorching hot to cold so fast?
On my way out, my ex-mother-in-law stopped me. “There you are, Evan.”
Great. “Hey, Lydia,” I said as I searched the room for Chloe. I could see her in the corner again, talking to that jackass dressed as Thor.
“Chloe’s very nice,” she said.
“She is…” I took off my hat and ran a hand through my hair.
“Anything going on there?”
Still out of breath, I deflected. “Where’s my daughter?”
“She’s with Maura. They’re doing another round of the potato sack race.” Lydia tilted her head. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“No. Nothing’s going on.” I swallowed. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just saw her storm away from that room, looking messier than she did earlier. And then you came out a few minutes later all discombobulated.”
Shit.
Lydia was wonderful, but she was the last person I needed knowing about anything happening between Chloe and me.
“It’s complicated, Lydia.”
“Can I offer some advice?”
“Pretty sure you’re gonna give it to me no matter what I say.”
“I’ve seen the women you’ve dated since the end of your marriage to my daughter. It’s evident you have a type. And that type is all wrong.”
“What type is that, exactly?”
“Women who don’t want anything to do with your daughter…
so you don’t have to worry about someone abandoning her all over again.
Women you don’t have to let into your heart.
You stay away from anyone who might be worth it, anyone Effie might bond with, to ensure that you’re both safe.
Chloe seems different from the others. There’s history there, and depth. She scares you.”
That was an understatement. Instead of admitting it, though, I just let Lydia talk. She was the only mother figure I had, and I did always respect her advice. I walked over to the buffet, and she followed. I reached for a glass and served myself some spiked punch.
“Don’t let what my daughter did keep you from true love,” she added.
“Love. Aren’t we jumping ahead a bit here?” I took a sip.
“When was your last meaningful relationship, Evan?”
The first deep emotional connection I’d ever had with anyone—female or male—was with Chloe.
It wasn’t even a physical relationship, but it was deeper than anything I’d experienced since.
We’d made each other better people. In the vein of continuing to want great things for her, I’d thought that meant removing myself from her life.
That felt like too much to admit to Lydia in the middle of a Halloween party, so I just said, “It was a very long time ago.”
“As much as you don’t want anyone to hurt Effie, you’re also setting an example for her, you know.
She needs to learn that it’s okay to take chances in life.
If her dad never allows himself to let love in, never risks getting his heart broken, she won’t get to see what it’s like for two people to truly love each other.
Don’t be afraid to take risks,” Lydia said.
“We get so busy sometimes that we forget this is the only life we have—the only chance we get. Don’t let your life pass you by while you’re busy protecting everyone from getting hurt. ”
Her advice hit me right in the chest. “I hear you.”
She gestured over to the corner of the room where Chloe was talking to Brendan. “From the looks of things, you don’t have a lot of time before she gives up on you.”
“Chloe doesn’t live here,” I rushed to say. “She’s leaving. You do realize that?”
“Plans change, Evan. Don’t be so rigid.”
In my heart, I knew Lydia was right. But old habits die hard. When you’ve spent a good chunk of your life trying to protect people, it was hard to suddenly not care about hurting them. Still, after I’d dragged Chloe into that bedroom earlier, she and I had unfinished business tonight.
Business we needed to be alone for. Business that couldn’t wait. Business that couldn’t be handled around an eight-year-old.
“Can Effie sleep over at your house tonight?”
She smirked. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Wipe that look off your face. I just want to talk to Chloe in peace.”
“Like you and she were doing lots of talking in Drew’s bedroom.”
“With all due respect, Lydia, shut it.”
She laughed.
My daughter ran over, thankfully saving me from any further taunting from her grandmother.
“Daddy, I came in second in the potato sack race!”
“That’s amazing, baby. What did you win?”
“Twenty dollars! Now I have extra money for the book fair!”
“Nice!” I glanced over at Lydia, who was still smirking. “I have more good news.”
“What?”
“How would you like to spend the night at Grandma’s?”
She jumped for joy. “Really?”
Effie loved sleepovers at Lydia’s. She didn’t get to have them all that often since Lydia lived half of the year down in Florida. But she happened to be home in the colder months now because of a couple of weddings she needed to attend.
Lydia smiled. “I’ll make you those apple muffins you love for breakfast. How does that sound?”
“Yum!” Effie turned to me. “Do we have to go home and get my pajamas?”
“I have everything you need, honey,” Lydia said. “You can sleep in one of Grandma’s T-shirts, and your dad can bring you some clothes to change into when he comes to get you tomorrow.”
“Yay!” Effie squealed.
Sleepovers, in general, were rare for my daughter.
I didn’t trust any of her friends’ parents, so I never allowed her to stay overnight at anyone else’s house.
Home, Drew’s house, or Lydia’s were the only places she ever slept.
This was a win-win, since she’d have the chance to bond with her grandmother, and I’d be alone with Chloe at night for the first time since she’d arrived.
It was a rare opportunity. The only question: what was I going to do with it?