Seduction: Book 4 (Strong Young Women Series) (2 page)

Two

It was two days later when Ana said goodbye to her mum and Matt who were tak
ing Gabe’s jet back to Dallas. It had been interesting to see her mum finally give in to Gabe’s insistent refusal to have them fly coach. She rolled her eyes when he said it, as if it was a foreign thing.

She had spent a lot of time with Matt who had been staying with her and Gabe at Gabe’s penthouse. They had even visited her new office and she had shown him around and
introduced him to Tom, the teenage hacker boy she was mentoring. He had had to help in other departments during her absence, but she promised to give him some work to do so he could start learning some of their work.

Her mum had opted to stay with Kelly’s mum at Rafe’s apartment, so she hadn’t spent that much time w
ith her, except when she had come over to visit with Kelly. Jes had visited and Ana had introduced her to her mum. She had left them for a few minutes where Jes had given her a brief rundown of some Mother of the Bride tips.

It was going to be interesting on how they were going to pull this long distance with her family and close friends and relatives being in Dallas while organizing all this in New York. And also wanting the venue to be in New York. Suddenly Ana didn’t fault those that did quick getaways to Vegas to be married. It was sounding more and more like a good idea. But Ana knew that it wasn’t for her, as much of a good idea as it sounded.

She wanted the planned wedding with all the trimmings involved. It didn’t have to be expensive, but it had to be something that took months to plan and then people showed up and had a good time. And most of all, the marriage lasted.

A few months back, she would never have pegged Gabe as a possible partner for her. Today, she couldn’t think she could go more than a day without him in her life.

“Hey Kels. How’s it going?” Ana asked taking the seat next to her friend.

“I’ll pay you any amount of money if you can get my mum to get back to work.”

Ana laughed. “That bad eh?” She remembered when she had been out of the hospital and her mother had fussed over her too.

“I’m almost twenty five, and you’d think I w
as still a toddler. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death, but jeez?”

“You’re an only child, so this really knocked them hard.”

“I know. It kind of sounds like I’m not grateful they came, huh?”

She shook her head. “Not really, I bet they are overdoing it a little too, but you also need to give them a break.” Ana hugged her friend. “Just hold on until Sunday when they
leave. Besides, I think Eva is planning on taking your mum somewhere on Saturday. Your dad is meeting some colleagues, so that gives us all day to ourselves,” she said. “Any requests?”

“I wouldn’t mind spending all day by the pool, weather permitting,” Kelly requested.

“We could spend the morning by the pool, before it gets too hot.”

“Why don’t you invite Jes over and we can
have a brainstorming session during the afternoon.” Kelly held her hands together as if praying. “Please, I already know what dress I want to wear as the maid of honor. And I saw some nice dresses online I wanted to show you.”

“Are you sure about this Kelly? I don’t want you to end up being stressed with everything.
As the maid of honor, you have quite a lot to do too.”

Kelly waved away her concerns. “Please what can be stressful about planning a wedding that has no budget. We can even decide to have it in space and Gabe wouldn’t bat an eyelash.”

Ana rolled her eyes, then started laughing as Kelly made signs of a rocket shooting into the sky. “He doesn’t realize what a mistake it is to give women unlimited funds. Who does that?”

“And for a wedding too? A girl’s best dream.”

“I’m not even sure what is a reasonable amount to spend. I guess that will be a good question to ask Jes. What the average people spend when they hire her.”

“I’m not trying to bankrupt your fiance. But whatever you decide for the wedding, I want the best for the bachelorette. I have no problems in covering the cost of the actual party, but I’m thinking we go big,” she said and waved her hand in front of her face. “An out of town party. We obviously get to use the jet and go somewhere, I don’t care. Las Vegas, Dallas, South Carolina. Oh, oh, how about Hawaii?”

“What are you girls discussing?” Evelyn came and sat down in the opposite seat to Kelly and Ana. She helped herself to the Pringles chips and cheese cubes on the table.

“Bachelorette ideas. Kelly wants an out of town event.”

“Please say there will be strippers?” Evelyn pleaded.

“I’m not sure Gabe would agree to that,” Ana said biting her lower lip.

“Why would he be privy to our party? Magic Mike, hello Ana,” Evelyn said and waved her hand in front of Ana’s eyes. “Didn’t you see the movie?” She turned to Kelly. “Please tell me you agree with me? It will be lots of fun.” She grabbed Ana’s hand and squeezed. “You need this because after that you won’t be able to ever look at another man again, let alone touch him.”

Kelly snorted. “As if she can look at anyone besides Gabe right now.”

“I know. Isn’t it a shame?”

“Evelyn,” Ana called. “How many men have you looked at since you’ve been with Mitch?”

“She means, looked at, as wanting to jump their bones, not admire in passing or an attraction to a new client,” Kelly clarified.

“Arg! Dang.”  She hissed and glared at them both. “None, I guess.”

Ana and Kelly laughed at her.

“But it’s only temporary. And it’s only because I haven’t accepted any jobs this week. No offense or complaints, but I’ve been pretty much spending most of the time here. Who know
s who will catch my eye by next week.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Ana told her.

“I’d love to know how it goes. I’m willing to put a little wager that you won’t be looking at another man again for as long as Mitch is alive,” Kelly said.

Evelyn gave her the evil eye. “Whose side are you on Kelly?”

“Yours,” Ana answered for Kelly. “It’s just the signs are there. I went through the same denial process like you’re going through. Little did I know that I had already met the love of my life in Gabe. Kelly too in Rafe. And now you in Mitch.”

“She’s right Evelyn.”

“Can we go back to the wedding and bachelorette stuff? Just because you guys are in love and now you think everybody should be too?” She looked at her two new friends who were smiling in her direction. Seriously? Did everyone have to be sappy? “So how about a spa visit tomorrow? Kelly do you think your body can take the tender loving care’s hands of your Swedish hunk, Aiden?”

Evelyn winked at Kelly and they all started laughing. Yes, those guys surely did have some amazing hands.

Kelly frowned. “Maybe not that yet, but how about a facial, manicure and pedicure, shampoo and conditioner? I feel like I really would love some kind of pampering, but I don’t think my body is ready to take deep massages as yet.”

Ana looked at her nails. “Manicure and pedicure sounds like a plan to me. It’s summer and it would be nice to wear sandals without feeling the need to hide your toenails.”

“I don’t think Rafe would want you to spend that long away from home, so maybe the hair thing is out.”

She nodded. “You’re right. But the facial sounds reasonable enough, right?”

“I know Gabe will probably be hyperventilating too, so why don’t we see how things go and then we can decide?” Ana suggested. She looked to both Kelly and Evelyn who nodded in agreement.

“Now that we are all in agreement with tomorrow and Saturday’s activities, how about you teach me poker or blackjack, whichever is easier?” Evelyn asked. “I need us to win big on the next game we play against the boys.”

“I’m not sure if I can say that one is easier over the other,” Kelly told her.

“Yes, it depends on the player.” Evelyn gave her a blank look. “
Let me see if I can explain this right,” she said thinking of how to explain herself. “You could find the game of poker easy enough, but if you don’t have a poker face, then you could end up losing because your opponents will be able to read you like a an open book.”

“Blackjack then?”

“We’ll show you both, then you can decide which you prefer, or better at,” Ana suggested. “If you can count cards, then you can easily win at blackjack.” She grinned at Evelyn’s gaped mouth.

∞∞∞∞

Evelyn thought about ignoring Mitch’s text. Dressing up for dinner? She really wasn’t in the mood. But getting into an argument about it wasn’t something she wanted either. If she was going to go AWOL over the weekend, then it was most likely for the best that she showed up.

It seemed the man didn’t understand what she had meant when she told him she didn’t want to be bossed around. Besides he had already convinced her to stay with him over the last few days. His reasoning had been so that she was close to Kelly and could come and go much quicker, but Evelyn knew he had taken advantage of the situation and quickly moved
her clothes before Evelyn could think twice and decide otherwise.

When she had surrendered her keys to him, she hadn’t been aware he would move all her clothes. Evelyn had been surprised to see her whole closet literally transported from her little house in Jersey, to his New York penthouse.

She could have just moved her wardrobe from Gabe’s apartment. Which would have been easier and more effective. Probably not as effective from his point of view since he wanted her permanently in his penthouse.

She walked into his master b
athroom and left the water running in the tub, then walked out to find a dress to wear. There was enough time to soak herself, so she intended on making use of the huge tub.

Manuel had res-designed her bathroom when she had bought her house, but without enough space, there was only so much the tub and shower could take in space
, without overtaking her bedroom. She had wanted a shower separate from the tub, and so had opted for a small regular sized tub just so she could have a walk in shower.

But now she was getting to enjoy an oversized tub that could seat four to six people easily. In her mind, it was almost like a toddler pool.
Evelyn knew her brother Gabe was wealthy, but what she hadn’t known was how much money could be made in the security business. Clearly Mitch wasn’t doing bad at all.

She dressed in a leopard print dress she hadn’t had the chance to wear as yet. She critiqued herself in the mirror and realized the dress did suit her. She hadn’t been so sure when she
had bought it, but because it had been on sale, she had taken it. Her red hot heels complemented her outfit and she found a little clutch purse to carry her phone, cash and driver’s license.

Jack and Chuck drove her to the restaurant Mitch had booked. Evelyn was surprised to find it empty and wondered it they were lost. A smiling host came to greet her at the door and she followed him to the center of the room where a table had been set for two people. All the other tables and chairs were not in sight. Evelyn did a 360 in surprise, and confirmed that all the furniture had really been removed.

Mitch saw her, the minute she entered through the wide door. She was a vision and he was afraid that if he blinked she would disappear and it would be just a dream or fantasy of his making. He wanted to take her home. If he didn’t think she needed sustenance, he would have left and locked her away in his bedroom until the following morning.

“Evelyn,” he said and swallowed. “Baby, you look beautiful.” He came over to her and grazed her cheek with his lips. He nodded to the host, and pulled
a chair for her to take a seat. After he made sure she was comfortable he moved to her left and took his seat. He poured her a glass from the wine he had already approved when he had arrived, barely ten minutes before her.

Evelyn took a sip and found she liked it. “This is great,” she said lifting her glass for a second taste. Evelyn had a great paying job, and knew she might afford the bottle, but that didn’t mean she was going to buy it. There were a good number of cheap wines that tasted great too.
Maybe not as great as this one, but hey great wine was great wine. But if someone else was buying, oh, who was she to say no.

Mitch smiled. I’m glad you like it. It’s one of my favorites.

Hmmmm. The man had a list of favorite wines?

“I took the liberty of ordering ahead. I hope you don’t mind?” he asked when he spied their waiter bringing their first course.

Evelyn shrugged. She wasn’t really fussy over food, generally. Working in New York City, she ate different types of foods from different countries. She loved most of what she usually ate or sampled. However, she had learnt that sometimes it wasn’t a good idea to ask what she was eating until well after.

She looked at her plate of oysters and wondered if she had heard somewhere that oysters were considered an aphrodisiac. Her memory was faulty at the moment, but she could swear she had.

“Do you ever shorten your name?” he asked her. “Not that I don’t like your full name, but I’d have thought most people would call you Eve.”

“Some did try to call me that, but it was a problem whenever someone called me in the presence of my mum. At times you couldn’t tell if they said Eve or Eva, so it was easier to just go by my full name,” she told him. “And after that if anyone called me Eve, I’d just tell them to use my full name instead.” She shrugged as if to say no biggie.