Until the Tequila (The Killers #3.5)(16)

And I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.

I just gave myself to Evan in every way and I want to remember it forever.





10





Expectations





Evan





I hear the shower as soon as I walk into the guest house. Mary doesn’t drink coffee, but she’s always got a Diet Coke in her hand. I went to the fridge in the barn that we keep stocked for the handlers and trainers and got her one.

I’ll stop and get her some breakfast on our way to her apartment. I hate that she can’t come to the winery to be with me. She has clients later today.

I hear her phone vibrate in her bag and dig through it. Frowning, I wonder who could be calling from Lexington, Kentucky?

I know taking her for the first time last night still doesn’t give me permission to answer her phone. But after, while we were in bed and before we found sleep, she told me more about how she grew up. She talked a lot and opened up and it was all I could do not to get up, track down her motherfucking father, and wrap my hands around his neck. I’ve never felt the urge to hurt anyone before, not like that.

I wish I could erase it all from her head. Hell, I wish I could erase him completely from her past.

I learned a lot last night. Like the only reason she escaped rape as a twelve-year-old girl at one of her foster homes was because a neighbor heard her cries and did something about it. It might not have happened but, from her tone and the way she described what she went through, I can tell the experience still haunts her to this day. Her telling me things like that might not give me the right to invade her privacy, but I’m gonna do it anyway.

“Hello?” I answer.

There’s a pause before a male voice hits me from across the line. “Is Mary Giesen available?”

I feel my brows pucker. I move out of the bedroom and shut the door so she can’t hear me if she gets out of the shower and walk over to the back doors that are floor to ceiling glass, looking out over the rolling hills of my family’s property. I do everything I can to keep my tone only mildly irritated. “She can’t come to the phone right now. Who’s this?”

From everything I’ve learned from Mary and now, my new number one informant July, this is not how I expected her father to be contacting her, let alone sound like. His voice turns inquisitive. “I’ve been trying to get hold of Ms. Giesen for a couple of weeks. I’ve been leaving messages at this number and at the last place of employment I have on record for her. She hasn’t returned my calls.”

“I’m sorry,” I lie. I’m not the least bit sorry and I’m pretty sure my voice reflects that. “Who are you and what do you want with Mary?”

“My name is Joe Ratcliff. I’m an attorney with Wilson Partners in Lexington. My business is with Ms. Giesen and, by law, I cannot divulge anything about the client I represent to anyone but her.”

I note his full name and practice so I can look into him later. I might even call in a favor to my father’s attorney—see what he can come up with. “I’ll have her call you.”

“Please do. Time is of the essence. It will behoove Ms. Giesen to return my call as soon as possible.”

I disconnect the call and head back into the bedroom. She’s pulling the clean tee over her head that I gave her to wear home that I had stored in my gym bag.

Seeing my shirt hang on her small body where it hits her halfway down her bare thighs, I want nothing more than to ignore the world and throw her back into bed. She looks from my hands to me. “What are you doing with my phone and is that Diet for me?”

I smirk and pop the top of the can, taking a sip before handing it to her. “You need to learn to drink coffee.”

Her face twists and she shakes her head at the same time she nabs her phone out of my hand. “No way. I can’t stomach the taste.”

“You had a call.”

She unlocks her phone and then looks up to me. “It doesn’t say I missed a call.”

I shrug. “That’s because I answered it.”

Her eyes narrow and her hand goes to her hip. “Don’t you have a phone of your own? You sure seem to like to talk on mine.”

“Why is an attorney from Lexington looking for you? He said he’s left you messages. What else is going on?”

She shakes her head and turns to toss her phone in her bag. “He called again? I have no idea what that guy wants. Look at me, Evan.” She holds her arms out low before she starts to pull on her shorts from yesterday. “Do I look like someone who gets calls from attorneys? It can’t be good so I haven’t returned his calls.”

I lean onto the door jamb and cross my arms. “So you’re ignoring him? He’s not the Feds, baby. Not much an attorney can do to you. It sounded important—you should call him.”

She buttons her cut-off jean shorts and walks over to me. “You seemed into me yesterday, but before you hang your hat too long on my hook, you should know that I don’t adult. At all. You saw my apartment. I had most of that crap when I was still in high school and I have no plans of replacing any of it with anything even close to grown up—let alone coordinating. I do hair, nails, and makeup for a living because it’s basically like playing dress up. Sorry, but if you’re into me, this is what you’re gonna get.”