Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(65)

“Oh?” She blinks, wide-eyed and confused.

“What about Wee Oscars? For a meal.”

Eva observes our interaction.

Tabby turns her head slowly in Eva’s direction. “You’re like a bad smell, Eva. You keep showing up. Why are you still here? And why are you dressed as if you’re about to hit the center stage of a hippie festival?”

Eva’s eyebrows dip and she squeezes her eyes closed as if in pain.

Ewan has done enough name-calling toward that girl to last a lifetime. No way will I allow Tabby to verbally abuse her too.

“Tabby! That is enough. You know what? Fuck this.” I stalk toward her. “I didn’t want to do this here, but you’ve left me no other option. Me and you. Over. We have been for four months. Not that we were anything much to begin with. You are not my girlfriend. Please stop telling everyone that. I am not marrying you. I would never marry someone so rude, so out of touch with reality or entitled. You have never worked a hard day in your life, Tabby. Don’t you ever, and I mean this ever, speak to Eva like that again. In fact, don’t even so much as look at her.”

Did the music get turned down?

I look up. At least thirty sets of eyes are all on me with Lincoln at the forefront of the crowd, staring at me in a what the fuck way.

Shit.

“Or anyone else, for that matter. Your manners need addressing. As does your attitude.”

“Right. Seems like you’ve made up your mind.” Tabby looks around. She’s loving the attention. Then she drops a bombshell. “Your son was a better fuck than you, anyway.”

A wave of gasps and soft laughter breaks out.

“Buuurn,” I hear someone say.

Lincoln steps forward urgently. “I never slept with her. No way. She’s seventeen years older than me. She’s lying.”

I eye Tabby, who’s wearing a smug face.

“I swear on YaYa’s life, Dad. I never slept with her. She’s deranged.”

He’s telling the truth. No way would he ever swear on his grandmother's life. He’s a sucker for the truth, and the bond he has with my mother is extremely special. She’s been more like his mother than a grandmother.

Tabby lets out a maniacal laugh and then says, “Ha, gotcha.”

Fucking.

Crazy.

Bitch.

“I think you just showed your true colors, Tabby.” Lincoln flares his nostrils. “Thank goodness my dad isn’t marrying you. You’d make a shitty stepmom. What a horrific thing to say.” With that, he weaves around Tabby’s stoic frame and disappears into the crowd.

Low whispers trickle everywhere.

Why would she say that?

That’s a low blow.

No way is that hunk of a man bad in bed. Look at him.

Imagine saying you’d slept with his son. What a terrible lie to tell.

“See you around, Tabby. Preferably not.” I turn my back on her.

“I’m still on the Castleview Business Circle. I’ll see you then,” she shouts out to me.

Superb.

I make my way toward Shane and Corey through the thick sea of nightclubbers. On my arrival Corey hands me a whisky.

“You need that. Lucky escape.” Corey’s green eyes glow. “What the fuck happened to Tabby? Since when did she become so fucking unhinged?”

I tilt my head up and scan the room for Eva.

“I stopped seeing her four months ago. She’s been obsessively calling me, texting me. Turning up at the hotel at random times. I told her we are nothing more than friends anymore, but she’s been oddly persistent.” I shudder.

“You’re wise to move on. Stay away from her.” Corey leans against the bar. “Fucking bunny boiler, that one.”

Eva said the same.

I down the entire glass of oak-flavored liquid. It burns as it goes down. “Fuck. I’m too old for this shit.”

“It’s like high school all over again.” Shane pauses. “Remember Melanie Forrester? She was obsessed with you.” He shakes his head, chuckling to himself.

“She had a screen-printed picture of you on her pillow. She mailed it to you in pieces when you split up with her.” Corey laughs, winding a finger around in the air at his temple. “Cuckoo. You're a magnet for the crazies.”

Then after that was Olivia.

I’ve never been lucky with women.

“Eva’s gone, by the way,” Shane informs me.

“Gone?”

“Yeah. With her usual crew. And your son and his buddies.”

A twinge of jealousy snowballs in my chest.

“Linc said they were off to try the new wine bar,” Corey adds. “Here’s a word of advice, take or leave it. But… you could make it easy for yourselves. Tell Charlie. He’ll understand. As will Linc.”

“Charlie trusts me. He confides in me about his business and life. His daughters. I can't; it's too soon. I’ve only been seeing her since last Friday. We don’t even know where this, us thing, is going.” I hunch my shoulders and fold my arms over the bar.

“And yearning for her for how long? Two years? I think you’ve waited long enough, Knox. Tell everyone. If you don’t, it will only manifest into something bigger. And not in a good way.”

Maybe he’s right.