smugly, whisking back into the kitchen.
Brooke followed
her like a shadow and watched Evy dump the empty trays into a large sink with
an industrial sprayer mounted above it. “I think there’s something you should
see.”
Evy started rinsing
the trays off. “And what’s that?”
“Come and see.”
Evy looked over
her shoulder and stopped the sprayer. “See what?”
Brooke nodded
toward the office and started walking. Evy sighed and followed, drying her hands
on her apron. Brooke took a seat in the chair behind the desk and flipped on a computer
monitor as Evy came around and sat on the desk’s edge. Brooke shot her a sardonic
look and hit play. The monitor blinked to life, jerking a grainy image into
focus.
Evy inhaled
sharply, the blood rushing to her head turning her face beet red. “Oh my God!”
Brooke turned
back to the screen just in time to see Dean yank Evy’s head back by her
ponytail.
Evy watched in
horror, her hands over her mouth. “Turn it off!” she said, watching their lips
mingle with a passion on the screen that still gave her the goose bumps. The
grainy color video sucked her in, taking her back to last night with its
regalia of flickering lights and mind numbing explosions. Her insides turned to
mush and she tried to look away but couldn’t as Dean cradled her cheek and
inhaled her in. It was euphoric and made her wet between the legs. She wanted
him and wanted him now. The way he looked into her eyes when they pulled apart
tugged at her heart.
Brooke pointed
to the screen. “Is that a boner?”
“No!” Evy
snapped, reaching over and shutting off the monitor.
Brooke leaned
back in the chair and interlocked her fingers behind her head. “Thought you
said you didn’t kiss him.”
Evy pointed to
the screen. “That is an invasion of my privacy!”
“Why didn’t you
let him go all the way?”
Evy stormed out
of the office in a huff with Brooke hot on her heels. “We just met.”
Brooke threw her
arms out. “Hey, at least you let him get a little boob.”
“Brooke,” Evy
groaned.
“Evy, that was
the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It was like a movie.”
Evy grabbed the
sprayer but didn’t squeeze the handle, staring down at the dirty trays in the
sink through faraway eyes. “It was a mistake.”
“Excuse me?” Brooke
gasped. “How can that be a mistake?”
She pointed to the scene of the crime. “I haven’t seen that much passion since
I drank an entire bottle of wine by myself and watched Dear John !”
Evy exhaled
slowly and squeezed the sprayer, blasting frosting and crumbs from the yellow trays
with steaming hot water. “He’s a player, Brooke. You should’ve seen the girls falling
all over him last night,” she said, placing the trays into a plastic green rack.
“I bet he’s slept with half the women in this town.”
Brooke threw her
hands out in frustration. “Exactly! Which
means he’s good in bed! ”
Evy rolled her
eyes and slid the green rack into a silver dishwasher, pulled the roll-top door
down and pressed a green button on its side, igniting a loud hum inside as the
machine began its soaking cycle. “It’s not a good time. I need to stay focused
on this place.”
Brooke stepped
closer and took her sister’s hand, their eyes meeting. “Honey, listen, you are
more than capable of handling two things at one time.”
“I know I am,
but I just don’t…”
“Evy, sweetie, you
can’t go around thinking everyone is a jerk-off like Richie because they’re not.
Trust me.” Evy opened her mouth to protest but Brooke pressed a finger to her
lips. “Richie was your high school sweetheart who never grew up. He was like Peter
Pan with a little tiny peter. You said it yourself.”
Evy frowned and tried
to pull her hand back.
Brooke tightened
her grip. “Now is the time to start taking some chances. Sugars is doing
awesome and, let’s face it, you’re not getting any younger.”
“Thanks.”
“Listen, you
can’t go around letting
T. A. Barron
Kris Calvert
Victoria Grefer
Sarah Monette
Tinnean
Louis Auchincloss
Nikki Wild
Nicola Claire
Dean Gloster
S. E. Smith