Reunited with the Lassiter Bride

“If he steps out of line,” growled Chance.

“Stop it,” she ordered. “You guys like Evan. You’ve always liked Evan.” She straightened the silverware in front of her, telling herself it was vital to keep the honesty flowing. “There were times when you liked him better than you liked me.”

“Never,” said Dylan.

“It’s fine,” she assured them again. “It’s going to be just fine.” Her voice went softer. “But, thank you. Thank you for caring, and thank you for supporting me.”

Dylan raised his glass, and they all followed suit. “This is long overdue. To J.D.”

“To J.D.,” they echoed.

“To Dad,” Angelica whispered, her heart beginning to heal as she took a first sip.

Three (#u5bbec544-ef78-58f7-8f75-9c8faf8379c0)

“Why are you even still here?” Evan asked Deke as they slowed to a walk on the beach pathway north of the Santa Monica Pier.

“I’m helping,” Deke answered through labored breaths. He angled his way through the colorful afternoon crowd of tourists, buskers and rollerbladers, going toward the slushy kiosk. They’d ended their jog a couple of blocks from Evan’s building.

“You’re not helping at all.” Evan followed along without complaint because he was incredibly thirsty.

“I got a hot lead this morning.”

“I got a hot lead this morning. You just answered my phone.”

“I provided excellent service. Two large lemon mangos,” Deke said to the kiosk clerk.

“How do you know I want lemon mango?”

“You want something else?”

“I don’t care.” As long as it was cold and wet, Evan would be happy.

Deke handed a twenty to the clerk. “Then why are you griping?”

“I want a little control over my life.”

“You want a little control over Angelica Lassiter.”

“Say what?” How had Angie gotten into the conversation?

“You’re sexually frustrated, and you’re taking it out on me.”

The clerk smirked as he handed Deke his change.

“I’m not sexually frustrated,” Evan said in a loud voice, as much for the clerk’s benefit as anything else. His lack of a sex life was purely by choice.

“You want Angelica. You can’t have her. So you’re pissy.”

“Hey, I kissed her. Just last night. And she kissed me back.”

The clerk had turned away to operate the slushy machine, which was chugging out the lemon mango, so Evan couldn’t tell if he’d heard the brag.

“The hell you say,” said Deke.

“I say.”

“Where’d you kiss her?”

“Conrad Norville’s.”

“Is that above or below the waist?”

“Ha, ha.”

“So, what does that mean?” Deke asked, going serious again.

Evan shrugged, already regretting having shared the information. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

It meant nothing. He was a fool to have mentioned it. He’d all but forced that kiss on Angie. Her return kiss had been reflexive, an obvious result of shock and surprise. It might have been fantastic, but she hadn’t meant it. Afterward, she’d been nothing but annoyed.

The clerk slid the slushy drinks across the counter, and they each took one.

“When are you seeing her again?” asked Deke as they turned away.

“In an hour. The Emerald Wave faxed Matt and Kayla’s plans for the wedding so we could pick up the ball. We’ll need to contact the florist, the bakery, the musicians. And we need to check out a new caterer.”

“Does Matt know about the fire?”

“He does now. I finally got a text from him this morning. But it looks like they’ll be a couple more days getting back.” Evan plopped down on a bench facing the ocean and took a long, satisfying drink.

Deke sat down next to him. “You’re not meeting her at Lassiter Media, are you?”

“Good grief, no,” said Evan. The Lassiter Media building was the last place on earth he wanted to be.

“You want company?”

Evan’s first reaction was to grin. “You think I need protection from Angie?”

“More like she needs protection from you.”

“It’s all under control.”

Evan had everything in perspective. He just needed to keep his emotional reaction to Angie separate from his intellectual understanding of the situation. And he could do that.

Her lack of trust in him had destroyed any chance they had as a couple. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t attractive. She was just as gorgeous and sexy as she’d ever been. And the fact that he could picture her naked in such vivid and astonishing detail was to be completely expected.

But he could handle it. He had no choice but to handle it.