I missed some of his conversation while I was off being jealous in my head, and the next thing I knew he was beside me. “I didn’t hear you come up.”
“I’m very light on my feet,” I quipped.
“Are you?” he asked, then pulled me to him, my right hand in his left, and his right at my back, as if we were about to waltz.
Whatever angst I’d been feeling vanished. “Evan!”
He moved on the deck, leading me and—since I can barely ballroom dance with music, much less without—I had to give him points for avoiding my decidedly not light feet.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” I said. “But what’s up with Neely?”
“Neely?”
I laughed. “Yeah, you remember him? The guy who got the real Creature Notebook. You mentioned him on the phone just now. Like I said, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but his name kind of popped for me. Is it about the Da Vinci?”
“What could it have to do with the Da Vinci?” he asked, which was a good point. Before I could concede that, though, he spun me around, then dipped me with a flourish. I laughed, enjoying this lighthearted side of him. Then he pulled me up and kissed me, and my bubbly mood shifted on a dime to something much more intense. I opened my mouth, my body firing immediately just as it always did around Evan. Foreplay might be fun, but I damn sure didn’t need it. One touch, one look, and I was aroused. As if I was a lock and he was the only key that fit. As if we were two halves of a treasure map.
As if I’d been waiting for him my whole life.
I pulled away, suddenly confused.
“Lina?”
I heard the concern in his voice and forced myself to smile at him. “Sorry. I think I got a little lightheaded when you dipped me.”
“Sit,” he said, leading me to a lounge chair. “I’ll go get you some water.”
He was gone before I could protest, and I was left on the deck, feeling guilty about my lie. Because the truth was, the more I got to know Evan, the more the fantasy I’d spun since I was a teenager was being shoved out by the reality of the man.
Reality.
There was a funny word.
I thought of the secrets that Jahn had said that Evan held. I thought of the allegations that Kevin had made. I thought of the dark flashes I’d seen in the alley and about Evan’s own cryptic comments about being a bad bet. All those elements had played to my fantasy of a dangerous bad boy staying one step ahead of the law.
Now, though. Now I wanted more than the fantasy. I wanted to see the reality of the man.
I’d shined a light on the dark things that I kept hidden, and now I hoped that he would do the same.
“Hey,” he said, hurrying back onto the deck. He had a sparkling water with lime, and as he handed it to me, he knelt beside me, his free hand going to my forehead.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I felt dizzy,” I protested. “Not feverish.”
“Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to touch you,” he said.
My mouth curved into a smile. “You don’t need an excuse.”
“No? I’m very glad to hear that.” He glanced back toward the stairs leading below. “Can I entice you with baked brie?”
“Um, yeah. I love brie,” I said honestly.
“I know. Jahn used to make a point of buying it before you came each summer.”
“And you remember that?” I was grinning like an idiot.
“I remember a lot of things. Green beans wrapped in bacon. Baked potato with no butter but tons of sour cream. And steaks medium rare.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you couldn’t cook.”
“For you, I’m making the effort.”
I held out my hands and let him pull me to my feet. I caught him in a kiss—slow and wet and sensual. “Should I feel special, or do you cook for all the women you bring to your boat?” I was teasing—well, mostly—but his response was one-hundred-percent serious.