Leo (A Sign of Love Novel)(23)

"Maurice?" I say, and now my face is all scrunched up because I am just plain confused. "He's a really protective guy."

"Like the guy last night who practically melted me with the angry lasers coming out of his eyes after he thought I disrespected you in public?" Jake asks, again gently.

"Landon?" I say. "He's one of my best friends, he - "

"Evie, I think you're failing to grasp what I'm saying to you and so I'm going to spell it out for you here, baby."

Baby? Did he just call me baby?

"You say 'please' and 'thank you' to everyone, Evie. You almost bumped into a cocker spaniel being walked by his owner and when you ducked around him, you said, 'excuse me.' You said 'excuse me' to a dog, Evie. And I bet you didn't even think twice about that. And that's because your manners are so deeply ingrained in you, that that is second nature. And given what I know about your past, I'm gonna guess that no one f*cking taught you that. That that is just all Evie."

I'm speechless, staring at him stunned because I am just literally at a loss for words.

"What I know about you, is that people who are lucky enough to have your trust and your friendship, it is clear that they would have your back to within an inch of their life and that is because you give them you, and they know that when they have you, they have a f*ck of a lot.

"And, Evie, when you walk away from people, even strangers, you gotta know that their eyes follow you. And I'll tell you why because I've felt it myself. It's because they don't want to see the light that is Evie, the light that is you, walking away from them. They want to see it coming towards them and staying with them."

"Uh, - " I start.

"So maybe I don't know what your favorite meal is, maybe I don't even know your birthday. But what I do know is beautiful, and Evie, what I do know lets me know that I want to know more."

He stops now and we stare into each other's eyes in the middle of the sidewalk, at a public bus stop, and for all I know, we are both standing on the moon.

"Um, Jake," I say.

"What, Evie?"

"I missed my bus. I'm gonna need a ride."

He looks at me for a minute and then his gorgeous face breaks into a big grin.

Oh, wow.

We don't say another word as he leads me to his car. He opens the passenger door and deposits me inside his car.

Jake walks around and slides into his seat, all smooth grace.

We pull out and Jake looks over at me and says, "I want you to listen to me about last night."

I bite the inside of my cheek, realize I'm doing it, stop and glance nervously over at him as he continues.

"Gwen's father is the CFO of my father's company. And when I say 'my father's company,' I really mean to say 'my company,' because that's what it is now, but that's a transition my brain is still working on."

He's silent for a second and then, "Anyway, I've known Gwen and her father for a long time and over the years Gwen and I have spent some time together here and there, although I always made it clear to her that I wasn't interested in anything more than what we had, and what we had was very little. Gwen made it clear that she was interested in more, and Gwen was raised to believe that she is entitled to what she wants and that eventually, if she whines enough, she'll get it.

"When I moved here, I tried to be a friend to her because, despite the fact that Gwen is a superficial bitch, I treated her disrespectfully over the years and in part that was because a side benefit of screwing Gwen was screwing my father, who was embarrassed at my treatment of a colleague's daughter." He is silent for a second, frowning slightly and I wonder what he's thinking but I remain quiet.

"I had arranged the event last night with Gwen months ago and I couldn't get out of it. It's a cause that is important to me and I didn't think it was any real skin off my teeth to bring Gwen as I'd planned. Three seconds in and I realized that I was mistaken on that front and that was even before I saw you there."

I don't want to feel satisfaction at this but I do. God, I do. But then I frown.

"Gwen made it sound like things were very current with you," I say, staring straight ahead.

"That's because Gwen saw the way I looked at you, she saw your beauty, and Gwen did what she thought would work to keep you away from me.

"I know that Gwen made you feel less-than because that is what Gwen does best, but, Evie, you could be wearing a gunny sack, rolling around in mud, and you would have more class in your little pinky than Gwen has in her whole designer-clad body. And Gwen knows that. And she hates that. And that is why she went out of her way to make you feel that way.

"It was killing me not to bust into that kitchen and pin you down and explain the situation to you, but you were working and I wasn't gonna make things worse for you."

I think back to what it felt like after Gwen walked out of that bathroom, how humiliated I was. I think about how Jake had made me proud of how hard I work to take care of myself but in that moment, I felt full of shame not only for what I did, but for who I was. And that searing shame is the same feeling that I lived with for most of my childhood. Then I look down at my Hilton uniform and my well worn shoes and I look around the luxurious inside of Jake’s car.