Leo's Chance(48)

"Well, I had some help from a saleswoman. But I did give her the color scheme I wanted, and I looked at the clothes you left here for your size."

"Peacock blue, huh?" she raises an eyebrow.

I shrug, grinning. "I like the color. Just don't ask me to take you anywhere near the zoo."

She laughs and I head into the bathroom to start her bath.

I make her some pasta as she’s getting ready and when she emerges from the bedroom, I almost start drooling on myself. Holy shit, she’s gorgeous. I’ve seen her body in nothing at all and I know it’s perfect, but that dress highlights her best assets, her perky tits, flat stomach and firm little ass, without showing too much skin. "You’re stunning." I’m not sure if I want to take you out in public in that. I momentarily regret not picking up that black, oversized sweater that I passed on the way to the eveningwear department.

"Thank you. I have a personal shopper who's well acquainted with my figure." She raises her eyebrows, but smiles.

Once she’s sitting down eating, I decide to unveil the t-shirt I had made at a mall kiosk I passed when I was buying her laptop, just purely to make her laugh. I take off my long sleeved pullover and nonchalantly turn toward her so she can see written across the front in bold, black print, World's Greatest.

She almost chokes on the bite she's chewing, and brings her napkin up to her mouth, fighting back laughter.

"What?" I ask, innocently.

She points at my shirt. "World's Greatest what?"

"Oh, this?" I point at my shirt. "It's all inclusive. World's Greatest Guy, World's Greatest Lover, World's Greatest Cook. You name it, I'm the greatest."

"Ah. Well, I do appreciate your confidence. But you know, you've left yourself wide open now for your critics to test you." She raises an eyebrow.

"I only care about one critic. And I'm looking forward to being tested. The more testing, the better. Lots of testing would be good." I wink.

"You're completely ridiculous, you do realize that, right?" she says, shaking her head, but grinning.

I laugh. "Finish up. I'm going to go change while you're eating and then we'll get going."

"You're not going to wear your World's Greatest shirt to the club?" she yells after me.

"You don't really want me to advertise all over town, do you?" I call back. I can hear her laughing as I open my closet door.

I change in to some dressier clothes, and ten minutes later, we’re headed downtown.

**********

I take Evie to a club called Igby’s that’s relatively new and I’ve heard has an amazing interior that was completely gutted and re-done to resemble a New York City loft.

After we’ve gotten a drink, she mentions her friend Landon, the guy who was shooting death glares at me over the Gwen incident at the autism benefit. I know he’s someone important to Evie, and I’d like the opportunity to make a better impression, so I suggest that she ask him to meet us here. She looks hesitant for a minute, but then agrees and about an hour later, he and his friend, Jeff, join us.

I buy a round of drinks and we all squeeze into the small table. I don’t mind that Evie practically has to sit on my lap. I welcome the excuse to be as close to her as possible, especially in public. I’ve already caught several men staring at her for a beat longer than I’m comfortable with, and I want to make it crystal clear that she’s here with me.

Landon leans toward me and asks, "So, Jake, you’re from Cincinnati?"

I pause for a second, discombobulated, but then I realize that Evie probably hasn’t had a chance to tell him too much about me, and he’s just asking a simple question. So instead of saying, yeah, I grew up in Northside just like Evie. I say, "No, actually, San Diego."

"California? Really? I love San Diego. I’ve been there twice. I stayed in Pacific Beach with a friend of mine. Where did you live?"

"La Jolla." I take a drink of my water, chewing a piece of ice.

From a run-down foster home in Northside, Cincinnati to a mansion on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. And each was a different sort of hell.

He stares for a minute. Obviously he knows the area. He whistles. "Nice part of town. What brings you here?"

"My father’s company has an office here. I started running things about six months ago."

Landon nods, raising his eyebrows and glancing at Evie.

Jeff says, "You must miss the sunshine."

I look at Evie. "Plenty of sunshine here too." I smile at her.

"Cheesy," she laughs, but pulls my face toward her and gives me a quick kiss on the lips.

We look at each other grinning for a minute, and when I look over at Landon and Jeff, they’re both looking back and forth between the two of us, huge smiles on their faces.

I pull Evie against my side and look toward the guys. "So, Landon, Evie tells me you’re in school at U.C. What are you studying?"

"I’m getting my business degree," Landon says.

I nod. "Cool. When do you graduate?"

"Still a couple years away. I’m on the slow track," he says, smiling and taking a drink.

I nod again, smiling too. "What about you, Jeff? What do you do?"

"I’m an engineer," Jeff says.