“Oh. Well, she did a great job in decorating. I love it here. Definitely not a bachelor death pad any longer.”
Evan stopped and looked at her for a long moment.
“What?” Juliet finally asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Get over here and let’s cook dinner.”
CHAPTER TEN
All through the evening, as they cooked, ate and washed dishes, Evan tried to touch Juliet as much as he could. He stayed as close to her as possible, invading her space, even bumping her leg with his under the kitchen island as they ate dinner together.
She often shied away or flinched, and while something in Evan’s soul shattered each time he saw those little reflexive reactions, he never brought it up. Talking about them wouldn’t do any good.
It was time to change Juliet’s basic muscle memory. Words weren’t going to get her any more comfortable with being around him. Only being around him would do that.
Not that it was any hardship for Evan, being this close to Juliet. If he’d had his way he would’ve been this close to Juliet long before now. And would still be long after the case closed.
Yeah, this was forced intimacy rushed along for the sake of working undercover together. But Evan didn’t mind at all. As a matter of fact, the closeness, the flirtation, just having her around felt totally right to him.
And her scent. Something about the smell of her hair—not fancy, just clean and fresh—made Evan want to keep her with him for about the next fifty years.
When she had commented on the decor and furniture changes he’d made in his house, Evan had come to an abrupt realization. All of it had been for her. Not consciously. He’d never once thought oh, Juliet will like this while he’d worked with Kimberly, picking out colors and furniture a year ago.
But now, having Juliet here, seeing how much she genuinely liked what he’d done with the place, he realized it had all been for her. He had wanted her to have a place where she felt comfortable. Where she felt safe.
His subconscious hadn’t had any grander plans than that. He hadn’t been thinking she might move in and live here. He’d just wanted it to be a place where she could visit, and not think of it as a bachelor death pad.
He hadn’t been sure when she might ever come here. He’d just wanted to have it ready whenever she finally did.
Now they were sitting side by side on the couch in his newly decorated living room, looking over files from the case. Juliet reached for another folder, then kicked one shoe off and tucked her foot beneath her when she sat back down. That caused her to slide a little closer to him. But she didn’t move away, almost didn’t seem to notice the proximity.
Evan smiled to himself. Maybe there was hope for this plan, after all.
“I’ve been studying Cady and everything we know about him for the past two days,” she said. “He’s a slippery bastard—has his fingers into everything. But honestly, I’m not sure his son, Christopher, isn’t going to be more of a problem.”
“Christopher? I don’t know much about him. He’s in his early twenties, right?”
“Yes, and is just starting to become an important part of his father’s business.”
“Why now?”
“We’re not exactly sure. Intel suggests that he’s been back in Vince’s organization for only the last year.”
“Where was he before that?” Evan asked.
Juliet reached forward and threw the very thin file Omega had on Christopher Cady onto the table. When she sat back, she moved farther away from Evan, leaning on the arm of the couch. “No one knows. We can’t get any official word or record. But evidently, he hasn’t been living in his parents’ house since he was seventeen.”
“But he’s involved with his dad now?”
“Yes, for sure. Although he wasn’t at the warehouse today.”
“Hmm.” Evan reached over and gently clasped the foot Juliet had tucked under her, drawing it onto his lap. He didn’t want to give her a chance to begin withdrawing.
She looked at him sharply, then down at her foot, but didn’t move away. “Word is that Christopher was in Europe. Cady has family over there. But nobody knows why he was living there instead of here.”
Her eyelids began to close almost automatically when Evan started rubbing her foot through her thin sock. He found a knot of tension in the arch and applied pressure there with his thumb. She let out a soft little moan.
“What are you doing?” Juliet asked. But Evan noticed she didn’t pull her foot away.
“Just trying to get some of the tension out of your system, so you can think clearly. It’s been a pretty stressful day for you.”
“But—”
“No buts, Jules. Just relax. And hand me your other foot while you’re at it.”
Evan just kept rubbing her instep as Juliet thought it through. He could almost see the emotions play out on her face: pleasure, confusion, even consternation. But no real fear. Eventually, the pleasure won out. She kicked off her other shoe and stretched that foot out, too, then leaned back into the arm of the couch as he worked his magic. Her eyes drifted shut.
“It’s okay to go to sleep. Like I said, you’ve had a hard day.”
“No, I’m not going to sleep. But I’ll just rest here for a little while,” Juliet murmured.
Evan loved how she burrowed back into the cushions just a little. He kept firmly rubbing her feet and ankles, easing tension out as best he could.
Slowly, her legs became heavier in his hands as she let go of more and more of her control. Despite her protests she was falling asleep. Good, she needed it. It was late; they’d both had an exhausting day. Plus they had even more to do over the next forty-eight hours, including scoping out as much as they could of the Cady residence before going there for the auction.
Evan debated about whether to carry Juliet upstairs to his
