“My beautiful Reese was only ten when her father met his untimely death…”
I’m taken aback for a moment, having imagined Reese as no more than a toddler. She’d said that her memory of him was vague at best.
“Aren't you going?” Isabella inquires under her breath. There are undertones of worry, but my cousin’s primary interest is to boss me.
“Yes.”
Her eyebrow rises, waiting for me to make a move. After one of my great-aunts gets up to welcome Lolita into the family with open arms, I make my way to the inside. I grab the first server I see, and ask about Reese providing a quick description.
Then I start toward the upstairs bathroom. She must not have wanted to be bothered by the hustle and bustle.
My heart slams in my fucking chest. I stop a few feet away from the closed bathroom door. There are at least twenty lavatories on this level. But this bathroom is the first one off the stairs. And this just so happens to be the very bathroom I cried like a baby in when I overheard my father get the call about mom losing her battle to cancer. He’d been standing in his office, house phone clutched to his ear.
“This can’t be. My wife, she’s… she can’t be… The procedure had to have worked. The best doctors in America, in Spain, in… She’s dead.” Knuckles white, and for a big man, his knees damn near caved in as he sought the desk chair behind him.
I’d dashed up the stairs, to this very first bathroom. Over twenty years later, I haven’t gone into it since.
Taking a deep breath, my knuckles wrap softly on the door.
“Yes?” Her voice has a tone of questioning.
“Reese. Open up.”
“Evan? No. Go away.”
“Let me in, Reese's Pieces.”
“Hey, that's my nickname. You don't get to call me that.”
My knuckles continue to tap against the door. “C’mon, Reese. You're upset.”
“So?”
This next comment will get a rise out of her, probably not the emotion I’m looking for, but I say, “Reese, let big brother make you feel better...”
The door opens. Only when we’re fucking am I allowed to mention our current relationship.
My eyes connect with hers, and stay there. Shit, I’d never been so undone than the moment I learned of my mother’s death. And now, desiring the woman before me has me almost in the same state of unraveling. She doesn’t notice, either, because her eyes narrow. She ushers me in and shuts the door, swiftly yet quietly. As soon as the door closes, Reese’s wrath returns.
“Feel better? Evan, you want to make me feel better? Our family is supposed to be bonding. But why do I have the distinct notion your version of making your stepsister feel better is by boning her in the fucking bathroom! You’re such a disgusting prick!”
And all I wanted to do was get her to open the door. Nope, I jump the fuck into my emotions too. There’ll be no asking why she lied about her age when her dad died, or what the hell she’s keeping from me. None of that matters, because deep down, I’ve gotta heart and it’s so far gone over her.
“Yes, I want to fuck you, Reese. My eyes have never seen a sight quite like you, you’re fucking extraordinary. The thought of Grayson or any other man but me touching you has damn near killed me. And I can’t go out like that! Do you know how close I am to setting aside logic and protocol,” my voice takes on a deadly tone. “All because you’ve made me go through a feeling I never experienced before. I l—”
“You’re jealous? Sheesh, Evan, how can you be jealous?” Reese presses her palms into my chest just as frustrated as I am. “Why am I such a weakling? I shouldn't have even opened the door."
She sucks in a gulp of air, trying to keep her eyes on everything but me. "We can’t be together, Evan. Don't you understand?”
“Says the woman who’s always on the run. But I know the harder I fall for you, the quicker you run which must account for something. Reese, you’ve got me wide open, baby. Every time I’m near you, I want to lick every inch of your body until you orgasm so hard that you can’t think to run, hell, you can’t think of your own goddamn name, Reese. I’m in love with you.”
My fucking heart sinks when Reese shakes her head in silence.
Fresh tears brim at her eyes. As they begin to cascade down her cheeks, I reach over to wipe them away. But Reese turns her head. Now she’s leaning on the marble counter, the very counter I sat beneath, bawling about the end of a childhood-era. I’d prayed to God; why He’d taken away such a powerful love. No answer was to be had.
A similar sinking feeling reaches out for me. I stand before Reese, “You love me too. Saying the words doesn’t mean shit unless you feel it, and trust me, those gorgeous eyes of yours show it all!” Since she won’t look at me any longer, just keeps her gaze tracked to the ground, I grab her wrist. I gage her heartbeat allowing my thumb to continually graze an infinity sign over that soft patch of flesh again. This helps Reese’s heartbeat decrease. This helps her stop the urge to run.
My words whisper over the warm, golden skin at her shoulder, “Look, I’ll make it easy on you, Reese. There’s shit you haven’t told me about your family,” her heart rate rises, but I continue to rub it into submission. “That’s okay. We’ll get to that over time. See, because, I’m not letting you get away from me. I swear to you, once you’re ready to give me your heart, I will be devoted to loving you. I have the feeling, in another life, before you allowed insecurities to rule, I would’ve had your heart already. I'm sure that the big ringer for you, what is scaring you to the bone, is knowing full well that after I steal your heart it will never be returned. I’m a patient man, Reese. We’ll get to that.” Reese’s chin is held high as my hand clamps along her throat. My mouth
