“I did make the wedding cake, though,” Susan was saying, and Evan realized he’d totally zoned out. “It’s a princess cake, with that fondant icing you roll on. But don’t tell Will and Harper anything. It’s a surprise.” Her eyes were shining. She was so happy with all her family around her.
Doing his damnedest to shove away his dark thoughts and return fully to the present, he zipped his lips. “Mum’s the word. It’s going to be great.”
The doorbell rang, and all heads in the living room turned. As Bob crossed to the front hall to answer, Susan rose from the table. “Oh good, Paige must be here.”
Evan’s heart started to pound hard and fast as Paige stepped inside. The other Mavericks closed around her with hugs and kisses on the cheek. He watched like he was wrapped in a fog, like his limbs couldn’t move.
Thanksgiving had been momentous for more than just the unveiling of Whitney’s lies. Other things had been revealed that weekend. Things that had made his guilt skyrocket.
He hadn’t had a clue about Whitney’s lies the day he’d looked at Paige in her gorgeous peacock-blue dress and thought, I married the wrong sister.
It was crazy. He’d told himself repeatedly that it was just his frustrations with his marriage that had been talking. Paige was not only his sister-in-law, she was also the girl next door. She was sweet. Gentle. A nice girl. He had no business thinking that way about her.
Yet even now, as he tried to reason with himself, the sight of her stole his breath. For the flight, she’d worn jeans and a soft sweater that fit all her curves. Curves that made his heart beat faster.
When she’d texted him while he was away, he hadn’t answered her. It was only now that he finally admitted to himself the real reasons why he’d been avoiding her.
Because of the way he’d reacted when he’d seen her in the formfitting Cleopatra costume at the Halloween party.
Because of the desire he’d felt for her over the past month, no matter how hard he tried to push it away and pretend it wasn’t there.
Because of the dreams he’d had about her in the dark of the night when he couldn’t control his thoughts.
Evan was still sitting in the dining room, reeling, when Paige headed in his direction. Standing with an awkwardness he hadn’t felt since he was in his early teens, he counted every one of her steps as she approached, then held his breath as she rose on her toes to hug him.
Her body was full and lush against his, her scent surrounding him. Her hair brushed his cheek, her breath teased his ear, her heat singed him. And he was damned for noticing, for feeling. Damned for his thoughts.
Damned for his desire for the one woman he could never have.
Chapter Three
Evan’s hands remained on her waist as Paige stepped back to look up into his eyes. She’d missed him so much this past month—especially his smile, which had never failed to shine a bright light into even her darkest corner.
He was thinner now, his face a little pale, the circles beneath his hazel eyes darker. She wondered when she’d see his smile again—there wasn’t even a hint of it in the flat line of his beautiful mouth.
She wanted to put her hand to his face and smooth away the lines across his forehead. But she wouldn’t. Because while she felt terrible for what he’d endured in his marriage to her sister, Paige was also furious with him for running out on his family.
“Paige, I’m so glad the whole family is here now that you’ve arrived. You must be starving after your flight,” Susan said. She was always looking out for everyone. “We have plenty of food laid out.”
“Thank you, it all looks delicious.” Paige smiled her appreciation. She wished she hadn’t missed the wedding rehearsal, but the holidays were a difficult time for many of her therapy clients, full of bad memories, loneliness, feeling apart rather than together—so she’d driven straight from her last appointment to the airport.
Truthfully, she’d also been unable to fully push away the worry that, with Whitney out of the picture now, Paige didn’t really have a place in the group anymore. But Susan had quickly dispelled that worry with her comment about everyone in the family being here now that Paige had arrived. And of course the other Mavericks had welcomed her with open arms. It was only Evan whose thoughts, whose emotions, whose response to his soon-to-be ex-wife’s sister, remained a mystery.
“Evan, since you haven’t finished eating yet,” Susan continued as she took Paige’s coat, “why don’t you help Paige fill up her plate at the buffet, and then the two of you can catch up?”
Susan spoke in a light voice with a smile, but they both knew it was an order rather than a suggestion. Clearly, she could see they had plenty to hash out tonight—friends who were also linked by a sister and a wife who had hurt them both—and she wasn’t going to let either of them escape doing just that.
As Evan moved into the dining room with Paige, a wary shadow filled his eyes. He damn well should be wary of her, considering that he hadn’t responded to any of her texts, emails, or phone calls during the past month. What’s more, she’d bet money that no one here had confronted Evan about his behavior.
Susan, Bob, and the Mavericks had continually told her they thought it best to give him room, to let things settle. But as far as Paige was concerned, all that had accomplished was enabling Evan to go deeper into hiding with every passing week. If not for tomorrow’s wedding, he’d probably still be thousands of miles away.