Burn Out (22 page)

“Glad to hear it,”
he said, though he didn’t sound sincere. “Things are going great at Southlake.
Couldn’t be happier.”

“Wonderful.” An
awkward silence fell between them before one of her favorite songs came on.

Jeff grinned. “I
know how much you like this song. You wanna dance?”

Deciding it was
better than sitting there in silence, she said, “Sure. Why not?”

***

Evan was exhausted
after traveling to and from L.A. in one day. His meeting lasted less than an
hour once he laid out the repercussions of the hothead trying to renege on
their iron-clad contract. It would cost the musician millions of dollars to get
out of their deal, and Evan knew he didn’t really want out. He just wanted to
feel like he still mattered to their label. Artists, both male and female,
could be prima donnas, and it was Evan’s job to smooth their ruffled feathers.

He went to Erika’s
clinic intending to pick Skipper up and head home. He planned on calling Erika
on the way to apologize for the way they’d left things that afternoon, but when
her part-time employee told him she was at Jimmy’s, he couldn’t resist the urge
to stop by and see her.

According to
Tracey, Erika was boarding Chloe for the night as well and both of their dogs
were down for the count. Erika’s plans for her dog made Evan question what she
was up to at Jimmy’s. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but after their
disagreement, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d decided to cut loose just to
put him and their problems out of her mind for a while.

He entered the
bar, feeling decidedly out of place in his expensive suit. Most of the other
men wore faded jeans, scuffed cowboy boots, and baseball caps. Evan spotted his
brother-in-law behind the bar and made his way over.

“Hey,” J.T. said,
looking up at him. “What’re you doin’ here? I thought you were out of town.”

“I managed to wrap
things up sooner than I thought. I heard Erika was plannin’ on comin’ here
tonight. You seen her around?” Evan could tell by J.T.’s hesitation he wouldn’t
be pleased with his response.

“She’s, uh,
dancin’, I think.”

Evan scanned the
dance floor before his eyes fell on Erika. She was locked down with… “Son of a
bitch,” he muttered.

“Take it easy,”
J.T. said, grabbing his shoulder before he could walk away. “She didn’t come
here with him. The girls have a table over there,” he said, pointing to their
empty booth. “They must be in the restroom or somethin’.”

Evan didn’t care
whether Erika had come with him or not. The fact remained she was with him now
and looking way too close for Evan’s comfort. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

“I don’t want any
trouble!” J.T. shouted.

Evan raised his
hand to let his brother-in-law know that he heard him, but all of his attention
was fixed on the couple in the middle of the dance floor. Evan’s blood started
to boil when he saw Jeff’s hand dip lower… to the swell of her bottom.

“Get lost,” he
growled in Jeff’s ear as he moved in on them.

Erika jumped back,
a gasp escaping her lips. “What are you doing here? I thought you were away on
business.”

“Obviously, I’m
back.” He glared at Jeff. “And not a moment too soon.”

Jeff smirked.
“Still as insecure as ever, I see. Man, when are you gonna accept the fact that
Erika’s too damn good to waste her time waitin’ on you to come to your senses?”

Erika placed her
hand on Jeff’s chest and it took everything in Evan not to send him to his
knees. He’d never wanted to pulverize someone as much as he did that man. “If
you’re as smart as you claim, you’d realize you’re not gonna walk out of here,
you’ll be leavin’ on a stretcher, if you don’t get the hell out of my face
right now.” Clenching his hands at his sides, Evan counted to ten, assuming
that was enough time for the stupidest of men to make the right decision when
his physical well-being hung in the balance.

“Please,” Erika
said quietly. “Just go, Jeff. I don’t want to cause a scene.”

“Fine, I’ll go.
For your sake.” He leaned in to kiss Erika on the cheek when Evan grabbed his
shoulder from behind.

“This is your last
goddamn warnin’. Get the hell out of here right now or you’ll be chokin’ on your
teeth in about thirty seconds.” Evan waited for his nemesis to heed his warning
before he pulled Erika into his arms.

“Was that really
necessary?” she asked, looking upset by Evan’s aggression.

“I come in here
and find you locked down with the loser who got between us the first time.
Yeah, I’d say it was necessary.” He was trying to control his temper. The last
thing he wanted was to argue with her again, but from now on, he intended to
protect their relationship at all costs.

She ran a hand
over his jaw, prompting him to look at her. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

He pulled her
closer, relishing the feel of her soft curves. “I missed you, baby. I’m sorry
about this afternoon.”

“It was my fault,”
she said, resting her head on his chest. “Why did you leave without telling me
you were going? Were you that angry with me?”

“No,” he said,
running his hand up and down her back. “I just wanted to give you a little time
to cool off, that’s all.”

“It worked,” she
said, tipping her head back. “Right now, I’m…” She licked her lips, her eyes
heavy with lust and an unmistakable invitation. “Hotter than hell.”

He grinned as his
body responded to her offer. “Let’s go back to my place and see what we can do
about that.”

The following
morning, Erika tiptoed downstairs while Evan was in the shower, intent on
making him breakfast before he went to work.

She loved cooking
and often tried to surprise him with his favorite meal when they lived
together, but he usually got home too late for dinner and couldn’t take time in
the morning to indulge in a leisurely breakfast. She didn’t want to admit it,
even to herself, but she knew she was testing his claim that he had in fact
changed.

Erika was setting
the ham and cheese omelets on the table when Evan rounded the corner into the
kitchen.

His face lit up
when he saw the spread on the table. “What’s all this?” He glanced at his
watch. “Don’t you have to be at the clinic soon?”

“I called in,” she
said, pouring two mugs of strong black coffee. “Elise said she could handle my
first few appointments.” She smiled when he looked at her intently. “What?”

He bent to kiss
her cheek before sliding into the chair at the head of the table. “Nothin’,
it’s nice to see you so relaxed.” He set the napkin on his lap and winked at
her. “I’d like to think I had something to do with that.”

She blushed when
she thought about the night they’d shared. Evan was insatiable, proving to her
time and again that her satisfaction was his first priority. “If I were any
more relaxed, I wouldn’t have been able to haul my butt out of that bed this
morning.”

He laughed. “Then
I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this amazing breakfast.” He gestured to the
toast, fruit, and juice she’d set out. “Thanks for this, by the way. You didn’t
have to go to so much trouble. I usually just grab a bagel on my way out the
door.”

Biting her lip,
she started to question whether she’d overstepped. “Um, I hope I’m not keeping
you from an important meeting or anything. If you have to go, I’ll understand.”

“Are you kiddin’?”
he asked, smiling. “And miss out on all this? Not a chance.” He dug in to his
breakfast. They were both nearly finished by the time he said, “I’m sorry I
didn’t appreciate all the little things you used to do for me.”

Surprised by the
comment, she looked up to see him watching her. Wiping her mouth with the paper
napkin, she took a sip of juice to clear the lump in her throat. All she’d ever
wanted when they were together was for him to acknowledge her. “You were busy.
I get that.”

“That’s no
excuse,” he said, reaching for her hand. “You used to do stuff like this for me
all the time and I didn’t appreciate it until you were gone.” He sighed,
withdrawing his hand as he shifted to face her. “That’s when I realized how
hard you’d been tryin’ to get my attention.”

Erika didn’t want
to re-visit that time. She wasn’t proud of the lengths she’d gone to just to
make him notice her. “We both made mistakes.”

“I don’t want to
repeat those mistakes,” he said, reaching for her hand. “We have a chance to
start over, to get things right this time. I want to make sure nothin’ and no
one gets in the way of that, baby.”

“I feel like we’re
stronger now,” she said, smiling as she squeezed his hand. “We’re different
people than we were a year ago, and I think we’ve changed for the right
reasons. We didn’t do it just to save a failing relationship or to make each
other happy…” She couldn’t read his reaction when he lowered his head, refusing
to meet her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. “Did I say something to upset
you?”

“No, it’s just
that I don’t wanna screw this up.”

“How could you? As
long as we’re honest with each other and we vow to make each other a priority,
I think we’ll be fine.” When he didn’t respond right away, she began to get
nervous. “Don’t you? You’re not having second thoughts about this… about us…
are you?”

He grabbed her
wrist, pulling her forward until she was settled on his lap. “I can’t promise
I’ll never make another mistake,” he said, burying his face in her hair. “But I
can promise you that I’ll always put you first.”

She sensed he
wanted to say more, but he was afraid. Framing his face with her hands, she
forced him to look her in the eye. “You know you can tell me anything, right?
This can’t work if we’re not honest with each other, Ev. We need to be able to
communicate, to share our fears…”

“You wanna know
what I’m afraid of?” he asked, turning his mouth into her palm. “Losin’ you all
over again. I don’t think I could handle that.”

It was humbling to
see her man, who was always in control, admit he was as vulnerable as she was
when it came to the fragile bonds reconnecting them. Sensing that he needed her
reassurance now, she leaned in to wrap her arms around his neck. “I love you.
That’s never gonna change.”

“I pray to God
you’re right about that,” he said, holding her tight.

***

Evan thought about
his conversation with Erika all the way in to work that morning. It was the
perfect opportunity to come clean with her. He should have told her she was the
reason he’d turned his life upside down, because he wanted another chance with
her, but the words got stuck in his throat when she started to talk about
honesty and their motivation for making changes.

He was so afraid
that if he told her the truth, that he’d done this for her, she would consider
it a temporary change and she would refuse to take another chance on him. He
couldn’t risk that, so he’d said nothing. Now his conscience pressed him about
starting over with a clean state. He wanted a relationship built on trust and
honesty, not lies and deception. Erika deserved that.

“There he is,” Dom
said, poking his head in the door. “You got a minute, big shot?”

“Hey,” Evan said,
getting up to come around the desk. “They’ll let anybody in here, won’t they?”
He shook his best friend’s hand, pulling him in to a back slapping hug.

“I waited until
your gatekeeper went to the restroom, then I snuck in.”

Evan laughed as he
gestured to the guest chair across from his desk. “Take a load off. Tell me how
married life’s treatin’ ya.”

“Couldn’t be
better,” Dom said, grinning. He sat down across from Evan, scrutinizing him
carefully. “Why do I get the feelin’ you can’t say the same?”

“Just got a lot
goin’ on, man.” The last thing Evan wanted was to bring his friend down. “Busy
with work, the benefit…”

“Yeah, I heard about
that. You guys are supportin’ Erika’s charity. How’d that happen?”

Evan shifted in
his seat. He’d never been able to lie to Dominic. The man always saw right
through him. “It’s a good cause. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“Yeah…” He
narrowed his eyes when Evan didn’t supply more information. “But your brother
told me you made the change at the last minute. He said you even made a huge
out of pocket donation to the other charity to compensate for the donations
they’d be missin’ out on at the benefit.”

“My brother has a
big mouth,” Evan muttered. A sick feeling of dread came over him. “You didn’t
mention any of this to Lena, did you?”

“No, I was just
talkin’ to Ryan about it a few minutes ago. I ran into him in the hall and he
invited me into his office for a coffee.”

“Whatever you do,
don’t say anything to Lena about the benefit, man.”

“What the hell are
you up to?” Dom asked, crossing his arms. “And why do I get the feelin’ I’m not
gonna like it?”