Vulnerable [Suncoast Society] (Suncoast Society #29)(20)

He suspected “Mark” and others she’d gone out with a couple of times were more for show than anything. To kid herself that she was out there and trying. Or hell, maybe she thought she’d try to make Leo jealous.

Eva was selective, choosey.

Not in a bad way, but Eva wasn’t the kind to randomly pick up a guy and take him home, either.

Especially not with Laurel there.

Look at how easily she’d dumped Mark over a comment.

Okay, admittedly the guy sounded like a jerk, but wasn’t she deliberately setting herself up for failure by going out with a guy like that in the first place?

Giving herself every reason to stop trying?

It was difficult for him to step back and let go, to not point all this out to her. During their marriage Eva had frequently looked to him for counsel and advice. With his dominant personality, it was easy for him to step in and “fix” things for her.

As the counselor had reminded him, he’d given up that ability the day he decided he needed to move out and file for divorce. Being her friend wasn’t going to be an option for now because it would be too easy for him to step back into that “fixer” role with her, as well as making it harder for her to become independent without him to rely on. So that couldn’t happen anymore. Not until Eva had moved on and found a goodly chunk of healing herself first.

Then, maybe, they could be “friends.”

Leo had hopes that, maybe one day, he and whoever he settled down with, and Eva and her future man, could have family dinners with Laurel, no tensions, able to discuss their jobs and lives with no jealousy or animosity.

Pie-in-the-sky hopes, sure, but a guy could dream, right?

Especially when it seemed maybe he was on his way down the right path, the painful life course correction finally bearing fruit.

Eh, no pun intended.

He spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few minor repairs and chores around the house that needed to be done, giving Eva fewer excuses for calling him later.

The fact that she hadn’t told him about them—things that before she never would have hesitated to mention—meant that he’d derailed her plans to hold them in reserve.

And the look of defeat on her face when he asked her for more of those kinds of tasks only proved to him how right he’d been.

If he let her, she would drag out things like that, carefully spacing them. A lingering stay one night when dropping Laurel off or picking her up to do something. Calling him on a weekend to come over and fix something else. Or could he get something down from the attic—or put something up there for her?

Forever.

He got it, but it wasn’t healthy. Not for her, not for Laurel, and not for him.

By the time he’d grabbed his shower and changed, he sensed Eva wanting to speak up, ask him again to stay, but he cut her off at the pass with an end-run by using Laurel.

Scooping her up into his arms, he gave her a hug and a kiss. “You have fun with Mommy tonight, okay? Girls-only night. Right?”

Laurel nodded with a smile. “Right. No boys allowed. Right, Mommy?”

Eva’s smile looked forced. “Right. No boys allowed.”

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, he gathered his things. At least he was dressed casually, not in slacks or a dress shirt that might have clued Eva in that the evening was about more than just friends getting together to hang out.

“Thanks for doing my laundry. You didn’t have to do that, but I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

He had his bag slung over his shoulder and the basket of clean laundry in his arms already, so the perfect excuse to get out of there without a hug.

It wasn’t until he was in the car and backing out of the driveway that he finally let the audible sigh of relief escape him. Eva hadn’t even stepped out onto the porch to watch him drive away like she usually did.

As he headed toward Sigalo’s, he tried to focus on the night ahead of him.

On Jesse.

And on what the future might have in store for him.





Chapter Eight


Jesse was already waiting at Sigalo’s when Keith arrived alone.

“Noel still sick?”

“She insisted she was okay, but she bolted for the toilet earlier today. I’d rather make her wait a few more days.”

“Bet she’s not happy about that.”

He smiled. “No, she’s not. She got mouthy with me about it and earned a couple of strokes added to the mental tally I’m keeping for later on when I can spank her ass again.”

Jesse nervously glanced around. “You think he’ll show up?”

“He’s a man of his word, from what I know of him.” He turned to Jesse. “Keep in mind, I only know the business side of him. Just because I know him, it doesn’t mean I’m intimately familiar with him. You still need to use common sense. My overall impression of him is he’s a good guy, but who knows how people are in private.”

“Got it.”

“I wish Tilly was going to be here tonight. We’ll have to settle for June and Eliza. Oh, there’s Scrye and June now.”

Tilly was the group’s default bullshit detector. If someone couldn’t pass muster with her, they usually didn’t get too close to the “inner circle” of the Suncoast Society munch group. Sure, most people could come to the munches and coffee times, but the core group of trusted people who were invited to the private house parties, that was different.