“Yes. Hell yes. Let’s go.”
She grabbed his arms as the cold slap of reality hit her. They were an hour away from her hotel. At his friends’ home. And she wasn’t behaving at all like the woman who worked for his father. What must he think of her?
“Yes. Let’s go. Back to my hotel.”
His lips curved. “You sure you want to wait that long?”
His bottom lip was full. Sexy. She wanted to lift up and take a bite out of it.
Good lord, what was wrong with her?
The need for him warred with that damn logic and common sense that told her this was the wrong thing to do.
“No. I mean. No. We’re not doing this.”
Now he frowned. “This being sex.”
“Yes. I mean no. Definitely not having sex.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. She expected him to lead her out of the walkway. Instead, he leaned his hand against the wall and stared down at the ground.
Concerned, she asked, “Gray. Are you all right?”
“I’m going to need a minute here, Evelyn.”
She rubbed up and down his arm. “Is something wrong?”
He lifted his gaze to hers and gave her a wry smile. “It would help if you didn’t touch me like that.”
It took her a few seconds, then her gaze drifted to his very obvious erection. She took a quick step back. “I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “Don’t be sorry about that. I’m sure as hell not. Though I’m sorry we’re not seeing things through, but that’s your call to make.”
She blew out a very frustrated breath. “Believe me, if we were anywhere but here, your . . . problem, wouldn’t be a problem for long.”
He dropped his head and gave her a look that scorched her. “Not helping the issue here, Evelyn.”
“Sorry.” She turned around, thinking that might help.
“Neither is that great view of the skin of your back, your very fine ass, and those legs of yours.”
She couldn’t help but smile as she turned back to face him. “I think I’ll go seek out the restroom to . . . repair the damage.”
“You do that. I’ll find you in a minute or two.”
Despite the frustration, she smiled the entire way there.
True to his word, Gray was waiting for her as she exited the bathroom a few minutes later. She couldn’t resist glancing down where his shirt covered his slacks.
“All better now?”
“Not if you keep staring.”
She grinned. “I’m not going to apologize again.”
He laughed and took her hand. “Let’s go find Craig and Miranda. This is going to be a long drive back.”
They found Craig, who was singing with the band, just as Gray said he would be.
And like Gray said, Craig was definitely no expert rapper, but his exuberance was infectious and the crowd bobbed up and down, clapping and singing along. Craig appeared to be having a blast. They waited until he finished, then made their way over to tell him they were leaving.
“Thank you. I had a wonderful time,” Evelyn said.
Craig hugged her. “You keep watch over this one. Make sure he doesn’t drive too fast.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure I can do anything about that, at least when he’s on the track.”
After she gave Gray a hug, Miranda clasped both her hands. “Thank you for coming. And for your offer.”
Gray slanted a curious gaze her way. “What offer?”
Miranda answered. “She’s going to enlist your father’s aid with some of my charities. I’m so grateful. You know how hard it is to get anyone in the political sphere to even take your calls when you’re trying to cut through red tape. She’s going to help me leap a few steps.”
Gray looked over at her, and he didn’t look happy, but he smiled at Miranda. “Isn’t that just great.”
They said good night and made their way back to the car. Gray was silent for at least ten minutes. She could tell from the tight set to his jaw that he wasn’t happy, but since he hadn’t said anything directly to her, she had no idea what had upset him.
“Is something wrong?”
“So you couldn’t resist the opportunity to play politics with my friends?”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Miranda. Her charities.”
“Oh, that. She told me about the issues she’d been having getting funding and access for some of her causes. I know your father could assist with some of that, so I offered. Is that a problem?”
“You also know that Craig and Miranda have a lot of money. My father helps them out, then they help him out. That’ll work out well for the senator’s campaign, won’t it?”