Page 26 of Dare To Tempt (Dare Nation 2)
She shook her head. “The fact that he found a way into my apartment and I didn’t know it shook me up. I don’t like it.” And though she wanted to believe she could handle and take care of herself, thus far John had been clever enough not to get caught, but Evie had every intention of having the last laugh.
In the meantime, while she calmed down and pulled herself and some ideas together, she didn’t mind going back to Damon’s, where she’d feel safe.
* * *
Damon rushed Evie out of the bar and back to his car, not bothering to stop by the table on the way out. Holding back his emotions at her being grabbed, threatened, and in some ways violated by her ex wasn’t easy, but she needed support, not an explosion of anger on his part. Despite her calm demeanor, he knew she was rattled, and he refused to make it harder on her by showing he was pissed off, too.
He closed her in and climbed into his side of the vehicle. As he drove them home, Evie leaned back against the leather and wriggled her butt into the seat.
“Comfortable?” he asked, grinning at her movements and glad she was managing to relax.
“In these plush seats? You know I am. Although your lap was pretty good, too,” she said coyly.
“Be careful how far you push me or I might let you feel how much I liked you there,” he warned her, well aware she was deflecting the conversation before he could ask her how she was feeling. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t reply honestly. “Do you want to talk about tonight?”
She shook her head, which he caught from the corner of his eye as he drove.
“I’m going to have to go through it again in the morning with Mack. I’d rather not talk about it now.” She curled into herself and he regretted asking.
“So, what did you make of the guys at the table tonight?” He changed the charged subject.
She visibly relaxed, leaning against the door. “They’re fun. Most of them have no stake in whether you play. In fact, they obviously want you in so the team can win. Not that they’d say as much in front of Greg Emerson.”
He had the same impression. He gripped the leather steering wheel tighter in his hand.
“I went into meeting him assuming he’d be capable of undermining you. But you’re right. He’s like a dog that follows you around, doesn’t want to piss you off, and at the same time, of course he wants his chance to prove himself.” Evie summed up her perception of his backup quarterback with much the same take as Damon had of the guy.
She glanced out at the road as he drove. “I’d never rule out anyone without proof, but my gut says you’re right. It’s not him.”
Damon nodded and turned off his exit. “So, you’re okay staying with me tonight?” She hadn’t argued when or after he’d said as much to her brother, and Damon hadn’t brought up the subject since.
“As long as you know I can take care of myself. I just think it’s smarter, knowing that John’s found ways into my place I couldn’t have foreseen.”
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “If there’s one thing I’m certain of, you’re a fighter and you can handle anything that’s thrown at you,” he said, meaning it.
He pulled into the driveway and parked in his garage, exiting, coming around to help her out, and shutting the door behind her.
She turned, leaning against it. “Thank you for believing in me.”
Reaching over, he tucked her hair behind her ear. “There’s no saying a woman can’t hold her own against a man. You’re a private investigator, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “And I have to admit it’s a fun job sometimes.”
“Like when you sat in my lap?” He stepped in close, boxing her in between his body and the car.
She grinned. “It had its moments.”
He knew he’d enjoyed it. “Want to know what I thought about the whole time you were sitting on me?”
She slid her tongue over her lips and he followed the movement, suppressing a groan. “What?”
“This.” He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers, the taste of her consuming him as he pressed his hard body against her softer one.
She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck as he slid his hands into her hair and plunged his tongue into her mouth. Eager, too, she reciprocated, her tongue tangling with his, their needs an equal match as desire ramped up between them. Her hips began to grind against his, and he thrust his aching cock into the vee of her hips, over and over again. It was fast and hard and he lost all sense of time and place.
He had no idea how long they stood, making out like horny teenagers, nor did he care until the automatic light in the garage flicked off, leaving them in total darkness.
