Meant For Her (8 page)

Chapter 14

It was after one o’clock when she got home from the shoot. Leo was as excited as usual to see her, so she sat with him for a few minutes to give him a proper greeting. She never got tired of having a friend who acted like his entire day had been made just because she came home.

She knew he was ready for his afternoon walk, but she wanted to check on Beck first. She had gotten Evan’s cell number before she met with his moving company in case there were any issues, so she tried calling it now. When it rolled to voicemail, she clicked off and decided she’d stop over instead.

Her T-shirt and shorts had gotten dirty while she was rolling around on the ground at the studio, so she changed into a knee-length teal sundress and matching sandals. Since it was approaching the hottest part of the day, she gathered her hair into a short braid to get it off her neck.

Considering herself ready, she told Leo she’d be right back and headed down the hall. She knocked on Evan’s door. The dogs started barking, so they weren’t out at the vet or on a walk. When a minute passed and Evan didn’t answer the door, she figured he’d gone out. Pulling out her key, she snuck just inside the threshold and closed the door behind her. She knelt to say hi to a giddy Miller, then turned her attention to Beck.

Evan had moved Beck’s bed into the family room, probably so he could be out where Evan was during the day. The dog was still in the bed, but his tail was going crazy.

“You poor thing,” she said, hurrying over to him. “Did you go to the doctor today, big guy?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Gasping, she jumped to her feet. Evan stood in the doorway to his room wearing nothing but a towel. He’d been in the shower and must not have heard her knock.

Oh, he was so delectable.

“Well, it would seem I’m making a very strong case for my termination as property manager.”

He just stared at her. She couldn’t read much in his dark blue eyes, but imagined he was pretty pissed over the invasion of privacy. She could hardly blame him. Hell, he should probably press charges.

If he did, she’d go to jail clapping in celebration just for getting the chance to see him like this.

“I’m sorry, Evan. I wanted to check on Beck. You didn’t answer your phone or the door, so—”

“So you let yourself in?”

Wincing, she realized that he must think she was crazy. How would she feel if some guy she barely knew was entering her apartment whenever he felt like it? Sure, she’d sensed the connection with him right away and knew what it meant, but most people weren’t like her. She really hadn’t been using her best judgment when it came to dealing with Evan and her feelings for him, she silently acknowledged.

“I’m sorry. I promise I won’t do it again.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. It was all she could do to keep her eyes on his face. She’d already seen the black tattoo on the inside of his left forearm that read
Strength
, but she hadn’t seen his others yet. Across his pecs was a longer tattoo, some sentence or phrase that she couldn’t read from where she stood. He had another one on his right bicep, high enough to be covered by a sleeve whenever he wore a shirt.

She wanted to run up to him and touch and examine every inch of his tanned skin, especially where his spectacular abs disappeared into a V where his towel cut him off. If she didn’t already look like a whacked out, creepy stalker, that would be sure to do the trick.

After a long moment, he said, “It’s not broken.”

Relief flooded through her, both because he apparently wasn’t filing charges and because Beck’s paw was only sprained. She went back down to her knees to pet him some more.

“I’m so glad to hear it. Did Dr. Paulk give you the anti-inflammatories?”

Evan made a face. “Yeah. When I tried to give one to Beck, he puked on me.”

She made a sound of sympathy and kissed the top of Beck’s head. “Poor thing. You’re not feeling well at all, are you, big guy?”

“You know,
I’m
the one who got puked on,” Evan grumbled.

That was way too good a segue to pass up. Getting to her feet, she slowly walked over to him. His eyebrow lifted.

“Poor, Evan,” she said, her eyes on his as she stopped in front of him. “You’ve had a rough couple of days, haven’t you, big guy?”

“You petted Beck,” he reminded her.

Smiling, she reached out and placed her palms on his chest. As she ran her hands over his hard muscles, she read his chest tattoo
.

Play as if you’ll live forever
.

“An oversight I’m happy to remedy,” she murmured, meeting his gaze as her right hand lowered to his abdomen. “How rough have you had it these past couple of days, Evan?”

He grabbed her hand when it reached the waistband of his towel. She hadn’t had any intention of going beneath it…this time. But it pleased her to look down and see the results of her touch on his body.

Figuring he wanted her to stop teasing him, she stepped away. He yanked her back against him and brought his mouth down on hers.

All sense of teasing was gone like a snap. Desire raged between them. The kiss was hot, open-mouthed, carnal. She buried her fingers in the hair at the base of his neck, barely aware when he reached down to lift her so that her legs wrapped around his waist. She just knew how happy she was to have even easier access to his fabulous mouth.

She met the thrust of his tongue with hers, mimicking the mating that they both clearly wanted. Soft moans and growls filled the room, none of them from the dogs. They backed against a wall. His lower body pressed hard against hers, the towel and her clothing suddenly unbearable barriers.

When she reached for the towel, he stopped her, breaking off the kiss. The sound of their ragged breathing blended with her pulse racing in her ears.

“Mother of God,” he panted, bracing himself against the wall. “I could take you right here.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

“It’d be over in two minutes.”

She grinned. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’ve gotten me that worked up, and it’s been that long.” He lowered her to the ground, his gaze on her mouth. “I don’t want it to be like this.”

“But you do want it.”

“I should think that’s rather obvious.”

Patting him on the chest, she said, “All right, Evan. I think we both know where we stand on this. What do you think about a walk in the park with the dogs instead?”

He cast a considering glance at Beck.

“I’ll take care of it,” she said. “You get dressed, I’ll step out to give us both a minute to cool off, and then we’ll walk the dogs.”

In answer, he kissed her again. Despite what he’d said, this one was just as hot as the first. He even managed to lower the top of her dress to expose her bra. She got a couple of fingers beneath the towel before he broke it off again.

“I’m a sadist,” he said choppily as he pulled away from her. “Or a masochist. Or whatever the hell you call the idiots who like to torture themselves.”

She smiled, righted her dress, and walked out without responding, knowing he’d lose his control entirely if she didn’t. Her smile was still in place when she returned ten minutes later with the item she’d gone to find. Evan waited in his apartment with Miller and Leo—it pleased her ridiculously to see that he’d gone to pick up her dog—wearing their leashes, standing beside a pathetic-looking Beck.

Evan gave her a long look as she walked in. The look told her that the time apart hadn’t done much to calm the fire that had been lit between them.

That was just fine with her.

His gaze shifted to behind her as she got all the way in. His brow lifted.

“A wagon?”

“Yep. It belongs to Kenny Goldberg in 2-C. His mom said we were welcome to use it as long as we need it.”

Without a word, he bent down and lifted Beck, carrying him over to the wagon. The dog seemed to understand what they were doing, as he didn’t try to escape. His tail thumped joyfully against the side of the wagon, though.

“Thank you, Sierra.”

“You’re welcome, Evan.”

They made their way down the elevator and through the lobby. She greeted Deborah, the manager on duty that day, and introduced Evan before they headed to the park.

She realized she’d forgotten her sunglasses and camera bag as soon as they stepped out into the brilliant sunshine. Not willing to keep Evan waiting, she shrugged it off and prayed she didn’t see anything she’d regret not capturing.

“Did Dr. Paulk say how long he thought Beck’s sprain would take to recover?” she asked.

“At least three weeks,” Evan said. “And that’s if he cooperates and doesn’t try to jump around on it before then. I guess the drugs can make him feel better than he actually is, so he’ll want to be active even when he shouldn’t.”

She considered this as they entered the park. Evan had Leo and Miller on their leashes, so she pulled the wagon. Glancing back at Beck, whose body was shivering with the desire to play, she knew they’d have a battle on their hands.

“You’ll have to cage him when you’re not there,” she said.

“Yeah. I hate it, though.”

They didn’t speak again for a few minutes. When they reached a shady spot, she lifted Beck and set him down so he could relieve himself. It hurt her heart to see him wanting to play with Leo and Miller and not being able to. After he’d done his business, she found a spot to sit and pulled him into her lap, hoping it helped.

She felt Evan’s gaze on her like a caress. She’d been steadily checking him out since they left the apartment building, so she appreciated the return gesture. The memory of his kiss had seared itself into her memory.

As they continued around the park before returning to their apartments, Evan said, “I’m going to look like a dumbass tugging this bright red wagon when I walk them later.”

She laughed. “Haven’t you looked around? This is one of the least strange things you’ve probably seen around here.”

He seemed to give that some thought. “Maybe. Sure would look less like a dumbass, though, if you were toting the wagon instead.”

“You think so?”

“I could maybe even take you to dinner somewhere for bailing me out.”

“I suppose I could be convinced. But since we’d have to cage poor Beck if we left, why don’t I just make us something to eat?”

“I’m supposed to be repaying you, remember?”

“Takeout, then? Maybe followed by some necking on the sofa?”

“I think we have ourselves a deal.”

Chapter 15

Evan regretted his dinner invitation as soon as he was alone in his apartment. Why the hell had he invited Sierra over? Getting involved with her was not an option, no matter how hot she was. He didn’t want to get involved with anyone.

But she’d taken care of Beck. The least he could do was buy her dinner.

Despite his reservations over the date, he found himself checking the clock every two minutes as six-thirty rolled around. He knew Sierra was just on the other side of his kitchen wall getting ready to come over with Leo. It really wasn’t a big deal, he told himself for the hundredth time.

It
couldn’t
be a big deal.

Since they were staying in, he hadn’t felt any need to dress up. His T-shirt and board shorts were the same clothes he’d worn on their walk. If Sierra’s scent still clung to his T-shirt from when she’d kissed him after the walk, what of it? He would have changed if he’d wanted to.

Okay, fine. He was man enough to admit it. She smelled damn good and he liked having her scent on him.

Their kissing session earlier had run through his head all afternoon. He’d been walking around partially aroused for most of the day. After going so long without feeling this kind of desire for anything or anyone, he actually didn’t mind the discomfort and inconvenience of it.

Hell, it made him feel alive.

The knock on his door had him once again considering the wisdom of this dinner. He wasn’t too happy about the way his heart picked up in speed thinking about the woman on the other side.

You can control yourself
, he thought.
No one said this has to go any further than friendship
.

Yeah, right, asshole
.

Miller and Beck barked like they thought zombies were attacking. Issuing a shrill whistle, he nipped that in the bud. He opened the door and Leo shot inside.

“Guess he’s a little excited,” Sierra said.

She’d changed, he realized. She now wore an off-the-shoulder ivory top that revealed just the right amount of sun-kissed skin, paired with a knee-length, electric blue skirt. Whatever she’d done to her hair had it curling down to her shoulders, except the part she had pulled back with a blue floral barrette. When he looked down at her sandaled feet, he noticed that her toenails were now blue, too.

Damn, she’d gone through a lot of effort, he realized. She was even wearing makeup, which made him want to attack her lips.

Yeah, this was definitely a terrible idea.

“I’m a little excited, too,” she prompted when he just stood there.

Her dimples teased him, and he realized he wanted to kiss more than her lips. Stepping back, he waved her inside.

“Sorry. You’re already distracting me.”

“Am I? Well, that’s nice.”

He watched as she walked over to the kitchen. She’d brought something, he realized as she set a small basket on the counter.

“What’s that?”

“Just a few pre-dinner snacks.”

Should he have thought to offer something? Damn, he was really off his game.

But he wasn’t playing any games, he reminded himself. Especially with her.

“I thought we could have some cheese and crackers, nothing much,” she continued, walking over to his cabinet and pulling down a platter.

“It’s scary that you know your way around my place so well,” he said.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” she said as she pulled out a container of mixed nuts, a small bunch of red grapes, and a blue bag of something he couldn’t identify. “I had the thought earlier that I’ve been acting much too comfortable when it comes to your personal space. You probably think I’m a creepy stalker chick.”

“Let’s just say I’m glad you haven’t said you’re my biggest fan.”

She laughed and set aside the empty basket. “I’m sorry to say that the honor of that title belongs to my grandma. I’ll warn you now that she’ll want to meet you if given the chance. I’ll try to convince her not to ask you to autograph her cleavage, though.”

The suggestion that he’d be meeting her family made him go still. Seriously…what the hell had he been thinking, inviting her over here?

Reaching into the fridge, she said, “I’m not saying she’ll want us to get married and start a family next week, Dorsey. You can relax.”

She surfaced with two beers, one of which she handed to him. He could tell by the impish look in her eye that she was enjoying his discomfort.

She opened her beer and lifted it. “To your first stellar two weeks playing for Atlanta.”

He also opened his bottle and took a sip. “I didn’t think you followed baseball.”

She put a slice of cheddar on a Ritz and said, “As I mentioned, my grandma is a huge fan. I’ve followed Atlanta just so I can have something to chat with her about. Now, I also watch so I can see you play. Your butt looks amazing in those uniform pants, by the way.”

The look in her eyes made him think she wanted to do things to him that would have him holed up in bed for a week. His entire body responded to that idea. He had to shift to get more comfortable.

Desperate for a subject change, he reached for the blue bag to see what it was. “Ghirardelli Dark Chocolates with Sea Salt Caramel?”

“That’s sex in a bag, I’m warning you,” she said around a grape.

Intrigued, he opened it and pulled one out. The chocolate was contained in a shiny blue and gold wrapper, which he proceeded to remove. Not wanting to make a mess with the gooey caramel, he put the whole thing in his mouth and started chewing.

The flavors blended together like bliss on his tongue. He issued a low groan of approval that had Sierra nodding.

“Told you.”

He didn’t say anything. He just grabbed another one and unwrapped it.

She laughed and closed the bag. “You remember that whole, ‘Your butt looks amazing in those uniform pants’ comment? Well, it will no longer apply if you keep eating these.”

He was too busy savoring the candy to respond.

“So, what did you have in mind for dinner?” she asked, picking up another cracker with some cheese.

An image of the two of them naked in his bed sprang to mind. He took a sip of his beer to try and get rid of the thought, but it didn’t work.

“I don’t really know what’s around here yet, but I found this menu,” he said, holding it up. “It was stuffed in my mailbox.”

She took it from him and read the front. “Thai food, huh? I’ve never heard of this place, but it sounds interesting. I’m always up for new things. Why don’t we get something ordered?”

They agreed on the satay chicken, steamed dumplings, and pineapple shrimp curry. When they were finished snacking and Sierra put the remaining cheese and grapes in the fridge, they moved out onto the balcony. As usual, the air was steeped in humidity. Since he only had one chair, he leaned against the railing and let Sierra sit.

“So, what is this project you said you were working on after the walk?” he asked.

“It’s something for my photography class.”

“Oh. You’re in school?”

“Just for this class. It’s at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. That’s where I met my boss a few years ago.”

He frowned. “I thought your boss was your aunt.”

“She’s one of my bosses. I help her out with property management stuff so that I can afford to live here. But I make my living with my photography.”

“Oh.”

How hadn’t he known that? He guessed his efforts to keep her at a distance had turned him into something of a self-centered ass.

“Um, thanks for the pictures of Miller and Beck, by the way. They’re very good.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, Evan. I’m glad you like them.”

Silence fell between them. He wondered if she was thinking about their earlier kiss. He sure as hell was.

Think about something else
, he ordered himself.
Any damn thing
.

“Have you taken any college classes?” he asked at last.

“No, just a lot of photography courses. I’m leaving the whole college experience to my older sister, Lane. She’s going to med school to become a pediatrician.”

“Wow. A doctor in the family.”

“Yeah. Our parents are thrilled.”

“How do they feel about you and the photography?”

“They’re happy that I’m happy. It’s all they ever wanted for their kids.”

How many times had he heard that? More than he could count.

Sierra reached out to touch his hand. “Who are you thinking about right now?” she asked in a soft voice.

“My mother.”

It surprised him that he said it so readily. He never talked about her. Not with anyone.

She squeezed his hand in a gesture of comfort. He held her gaze, remembering her words at Cole and Everly’s wedding. She had single-handedly managed to convince him to make the change in his life that brought him to Atlanta, the place he and his mother had always dreamed he’d play.

But he considered this a stepping stone, not a destination. He wasn’t ready to invest so much of himself in a place—never mind a person. He wasn’t willing to form that attachment. Not when he knew what it meant to lose it.

“Do you have any other family?” she asked.

Fortunately, his phone buzzed, signaling the arrival of their dinner. He had no desire to have that conversation with her, and might just have said something rude to avoid it.

Walking to the door, he said, “Let’s go be adventurous and eat some Thai food.”

“Sure,” she said, allowing him to give her a hand as she rose. “I like adventure.”

Her mystical eyes felt like they penetrated every barrier inside him. He read from her expression that she’d sensed his reluctance, and he somehow knew that she wouldn’t ask about his family again that evening.

For once, he was glad she saw right through him.