The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs #3)(13)
Every Sinclair home on the Peninsula had a guest home, but some were bigger than others. Evan’s was relatively small. Maybe Jared had rightly guessed that Evan would never have friends visiting here. That was a depressing thought.
“Dammit!” The curse was followed by a collision with Evan’s back that nearly took him to the ground on the slick sidewalk. He quickly regained his footing, and then swung around to see a guilty-looking Randi Tyler right in front of him.
Evan’s cock hardened instantly, and his entire body tensed, a reaction he had anytime he saw Randi—an automatic, carnal response that completely annoyed him at the moment.
He glared at her as she informed him contritely, “I spilled most of my coffee on the back of your coat. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t speak as he observed her flushed cheeks and her breathless state. Her dark hair was loosely held to the back of her head by a hair clip that Evan was secretly itching to remove. Even though she had apologized, there was no fear in her beautiful hazel eyes as she met his pointed stare directly. She looked sorry, but she wasn’t afraid of him like most people usually were. She never had been.
“It’s one of my favorite coats,” he muttered huskily, not knowing what else to say. It was indeed one of his favorites, but it didn’t matter if it was stained. He had another one just like it in his closet.
Evan saw a flash of irritation in her beautiful eyes, their color so vibrant in the dim light that they reminded him of a rich milk chocolate. Her eyes changed from deep brown to a greenish tint in different lighting, but the ring and flecks within the iris remained exactly the same. No matter what color they appeared to be, they were always frustratingly gorgeous, just like the rest of her. Framed by long, velvety black lashes the same color as her hair, her gaze was nearly mesmerizing him.
“If the stain doesn’t come out, I’ll pay for it,” she told him, sounding annoyed as her chin rose stubbornly.
He highly doubted her teacher’s salary was going to cover one very expensive custom coat. “It’s just coffee.” He shrugged, but he was feeling far from nonchalant. Randi made him edgy and out of sorts. He could be charming when he had to be for fundraising or business, but he couldn’t seem to find the right words to say to a woman like her—maybe because he’d never met anyone quite like her before.
Evan nearly flinched as she licked a smudge of chocolate from her lips and held up a gooey chocolate pastry she was holding with a napkin underneath the bottom. He continued to stare at her intently as he watched her eyes close and her tongue lap up the remaining sweetness from her plump, succulent lips before retreating back into her mouth.
“I’m afraid I smudged chocolate on it, too,” she informed him solemnly, her eyes open again.
“Not a problem,” he told her in a clipped voice, knowing he’d probably let her stain every item of clothing he owned if he could just sit and watch her eat the rest of what looked like a slightly dented éclair.
One thing he’d noticed about Randi in the past was when she ate, she looked like she was having an almost orgasmic experience. She wasn’t shy, and she dug into food like she thoroughly enjoyed every bite. The pleasure she found in food showed on her face and her expressions. Evan found that odd, but fascinating.
“Hold my coffee,” she insisted as she hastily shoved the cup she was holding into his empty hand. “I have napkins.” She dug into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a wad of disposable paper, moving behind him to swipe at the stain on his coat. “What are you doing out here in the common population? I thought you despised anything that took you away from your business.”
“I slum it with the commoners occasionally,” Evan shot back sarcastically, automatically. Her snide comment had triggered his defenses. He glanced down at her coffee, noting that it had a double helping of whipped cream, and it looked anything but nonfat.
Throwing the napkins in a nearby trash can, Randi stood in front of him once more, her eyes shooting daggers at him. Strangely, he preferred her anger to her indifference. He had no idea why.
She took her coffee back and proceeded to take an enormous bite of her éclair as though daring him to say something about her eating junk. “Send me a bill,” she told him, her gaze challenging him.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” he told her in a sedate voice, with a calmness he wasn’t really feeling. “Maybe you could just be more careful in the future.”
“Me?” Her expression turned to one of astonishment. “I wasn’t the one who stopped right outside the door. The place is busy. You could have kept moving when you knew that people were coming in and out.”
Evan looked behind him, realizing he had actually stopped right outside the door. “You could have watched where you were going,” he argued, annoyed that she had a point. They’d moved away from the constant traffic to and from the coffee shop, but his abrupt stop might have caused her to run into him if she’d been in motion. Not that he’d admit he might be partly to blame. People watched the people in front of them where he came from, which was mostly large cities. If they were in traffic, the car in the rear would have the responsibility of stopping before it crashed into the back of the car in front. It should work the same way with people.
Randi finished her sweet treat and wiped her fingers with another napkin before depositing it into the trash, ignoring him. Finally, she replied, “I’m sorry. I’m human. I make mistakes.”