Evan took an unconscious swig from his glass, his mind elsewhere as the liquid burned its way to his stomach. The fiery heat didn’t even make him flinch. “You’re blocking my view,” he growled.
“I know,” Jared answered calmly, shoving a hand in the pocket of his tuxedo pants and looking like he was making himself comfortable. “Believe me, it’s better this way. The song will be over in another minute or two.”
“I hate feeling this way,” Evan admitted. His control was slowly slipping, and he knew he was acting irrationally, but he didn’t give a shit.
“Now you know how I felt when I thought my own brother was interested in my woman,” Jared reminded him harshly.
“I didn’t dance with her,” Evan pointed out.
“No, but you did touch her, pick her up, and hold her,” Jared remarked casually. “And you did take an interest in her.”
“Because I actually liked Mara,” Evan snapped. “And you were acting like a jackass.”
“Kind of like you’re acting right now?” Jared prompted.
“Yes,” he growled, realizing just how Jared had felt when Evan had tried to make him see sense by hinting that he might be interested in Mara himself. “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t know how it felt back then.”
“Apology accepted,” Jared replied calmly. “I’m thinking that karma is a bitch right now for you.”
Evan took another sip from his drink. “Pretty much,” he grunted as he swiped a hand across his face. He was starting to relax, but he was sweating. It had to be the effects of the alcohol. He didn’t usually imbibe, and the drink was obviously starting to hit him pretty hard.
“You okay, Evan?” Jared asked in a milder, more concerned tone.
For the first time in his life, Evan answered the question honestly. “No. No, I don’t think I am okay.” His voice was raw with emotion, and his chest ached with a pain he’d never experienced before. So many feelings began to bombard him all at once that he wasn’t certain which ones to react to first. “I love her,” he added, his vulnerability open for Jared to see, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“I know.” Jared’s answer was benevolent. “But it’s not the end of the world, Evan. It’s the beginning of something so good that you’ll wake up every morning happy to just see her face when you open your eyes.”
“I won’t be seeing her. I’m leaving tomorrow, and she can’t love me,” he snarled back. Maybe his younger brothers’ relationships had worked out, but Evan couldn’t make Randi love him no matter how much he wished he could.
“Then don’t go,” Jared suggested.
“I have an important meeting in San Francisco on Monday, a company I’ve been trying to acquire controlling ownership on for a long time. I think they’re ready, because they need capital to grow. If I’m not there to snap up the company, somebody else will,” he answered automatically.
“So let them.” Jared was blunt. “Evan, there comes a point where the money doesn’t matter anymore. We have so much that we couldn’t spend it in a dozen lifetimes.”
“It’s not about the money. It’s about being better, being successful. The old man never thought I’d do it, but I can.” Evan was breathing heavily as he downed the rest of the drink and tossed the glass on a table beside him.
“You already have,” Jared answered furiously. “You don’t have a damn thing to prove to anybody anymore, Evan. That battle is over and won. It only still exists in your own head.”
“Is everything okay?” a feminine voice interrupted.
Jared stepped aside, revealing Randi and her dance partner. “Fine,” he said amiably. “Evan and I were just discussing . . . business.”
“Would you like to dance another one, Randi?” Liam asked politely, his hand resting on her bare back.
“No, she wouldn’t,” Evan growled, his temper finally snapping.
He stepped forward and grabbed the front of Liam’s starched white shirt that he was wearing with a gray suit and tie. “Take your hands off her,” he rasped, his rage now beyond being contained.
Jared reached out and pulled Randi to the side, causing Liam to lose any connection with her. “Stop it, Evan. People are starting to stare,” Jared advised.
Evan didn’t give a shit whether the entire world was watching. He stood toe-to-toe with his rival, a homicidal look on his face. Without letting go of Liam’s shirt, he said in a low, dangerous voice, “Don’t look at her. Don’t think about touching her. Don’t ever even imagine yourself with her or your ass is mine.”
Jared jerked Evan backward, forcing him to let go of Liam. “Randi, can you take Evan somewhere to cool off? He’s . . . overheated. I’ll talk to Liam.”
Randi grasped Evan’s arm and whispered fiercely, “What in the hell was that about?” She started to lead him away from the crowded ballroom.
Evan followed . . . well . . . just because he’d follow her anywhere.
He let her lead him down the hallway and away from the ballroom, stepping into a smaller room some distance away from the crowd.
She closed the door and locked it behind her, and then pushed him into a padded chair that seemed much too small for him.
“What in the hell just happened?” she asked, sounding more puzzled than angry.
“I didn’t like the way he was touching you.” Evan’s response was angry.
“We were dancing,” she answered reasonably and propped her hands on her hips.
“I know. I hated it.” His answer was blunt as he struggled to regain his usual control.
“Then you should have asked me to dance,” she said softly. “You are my date.”
“That’s another thing I never did right for a Sinclair. I suck at dancing,” he confessed. “I wish I would have done it anyway. I don’t do it perfectly, so I rarely dance. Would you have cared?”
Randi’s expression softened as she looked down at him. “No. I wouldn’t have minded at all. In fact, it would make you more human. Nobody is perfect at everything. You don’t have to be perfect at everything, Evan. You’re already disgustingly close.”
Then why can’t you love me? Why can’t you love a man like me?
He wanted desperately to ask her, but the answer was obvious. Love just . . . was. There was no explanation for it, no way to rationalize it, and no way to pick the perfect partner and feel those kinds of emotions. He was starting to understand that love wasn’t a choice, it just happened. He definitely never thought it would happen to him.
“I think you owe Liam an apology,” Randi remarked matter-of-factly. “He was being charming and polite.”
“He wasn’t charming.” Evan’s response was disgruntled. “He wants to get you naked.”
“How would you know?” she asked.