Evan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. When put that way . . . “I’m trying to win again, Carl. That’s why I got into it with Elec.”
“I doubt you’d have gunned that hard for him if he hadn’t been your brother. Which proves my point about dating Kendall. So let’s say the two of you have a fight. You’re going to take that out onto the track.”
“I’d never go after Kendall on the track.”
“No? But what about the distraction? You’re upset, you can’t concentrate. Or you’ve just spent all night doing the horizontal shuffle and you’re both a wreck waiting to happen out there.”
“I think that everyone runs that risk, regardless of who they’re dating or who they’re married to. Everyone out there has sex, I would assume, and everybody’s had a fight with a loved one if they’re human. And I think I’ve proven that my personal life has no bearing on what happens on the track.” Frankly, he was offended that Carl thought otherwise.
“Yeah, but I hear that Kendall was the only woman who’s ever really got under your skin. I heard about the rough breakup when you dated before.”
Now he was just pissed. “That was ten years ago. We were kids. And again, nobody’s business but my own.”
“You’re skating on thin ice, Evan. I’m just again advising you to think long and hard about dating Kendall and the impact that might have on your career.”
Evan finally glanced at Eve. She was just sitting there, her lips pursed together, hands gripping the arms of the chair.
“I thank you for your concern. I’ll take everything you’ve said into consideration.”
Then completely disregard it.
“By the way, how did you even know we were in any way involved with each other?”
Carl shrugged. “It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. It’s not like it’s been a secret.”
Evan knew exactly who wouldn’t have kept it a secret—Eve.
“I see.” He saw exactly what he needed to do.
“I look like crap in this picture.” Kendall stared at the shot on her computer screen, of her and Evan exiting the hotel in LA.
Tuesday was over at Kendall’s and she had showed her the picture on a popular gossip site. “You don’t look like crap. You’re not even facing the camera in this shot.”
Tapping her finger on the computer screen, Tuesday indicated the picture that had Kendall turned almost entirely around, craning her neck to see back into the hotel lobby. Evan looked hot, smiling and lifting his hand in greeting to the paparazzi.
“I do so look like crap. My hair is practically still wet from my shower and I have no makeup on.”
“When do you ever really wear makeup?” Tuesday asked, perching on the corner of the desk, wearing makeup.
Her friend had a point. “I know, but still. If I had known I was having my picture taken, I would have calmed down the hair frizz and slapped on some mascara. And this other shot is even worse. It looks like Evan is posing with a middle school–aged fan. I look twelve!”
“You’re exaggerating. You look at least eighteen. It’s the big boobs.”
“Thanks.”
Tuesday grinned. “Come on, don’t worry about it. These are not bad shots. I’ve seen really awful shots. Cellulite butt hanging out, panty-less crotch flashes, br**sts popping out, nose picking, the walk of shame shots, wedgie digging . . . it’s all out there. Though for some weird reason my personal favorites are the spray tan screwup pictures. You know where some celebrity has either a horrid orange tan or it looks great everywhere but then you see their armpits are lily white, or they have streaks on their fingers. For some reason, those make me laugh.”
Kendall just stared at her friend. She had no interest in giggling over a woman’s spray tan gone bad. “You’re right. That is weird.”
Her phone started ringing and she glanced at the screen. “Oh, this is Evan. I need to answer this and see what happened with his meeting.”
Tuesday made kissy-kissy sounds, which actually made Kendall laugh. “Very mature.”
“Don’t take forever. We have Chinese food arriving any minute now and I don’t want to eat it alone.”
“I won’t be long.” She hit answer on her phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s it going?”
“Fine. What happened with Carl?”
“Well . . .” There was rustling, like Evan was readjusting his phone next to his ear. “Carl suggested that you and I becoming involved with each other was a particularly bad idea.”
“What?” Kendall popped up off the computer chair and started pacing. “How would he even know about us?”
“I think Eve might have said something. Or maybe he saw the pictures online. I don’t know. But the bottom line is, he told me not to date you.”
She needed a second to pick her jaw up off the floor. “What did you say to him?”
“I told him to go f**k himself, though much more politely. It’s none of his business who I’m seeing in my personal life. And his arguments were all ridiculous.”
“Great. This is just great.” She was going to have a heart attack. Why was nothing ever easy?
“Don’t worry about it. Just nod and agree with him and then we’ll just ignore his so-called advice.”
“Evan . . .” That didn’t seem like a good idea. None of it seemed like a good idea.
“Come on, it’s no big deal. Can I see you tomorrow night? I want to see your beautiful face and touch your amazing body.”
Even as she bit her fingernail in worry and indecision, she was nodding. “Okay. Sure, of course. I’d like that.”
She had just found Evan again.
She really didn’t want to lose him before she really had him.
“WHAT?” Eve shouted at Evan.
“You’re fired.”
God, that look on her face was priceless, worth every bit of hell he was going to catch for this one.
“You can’t fire me,” she sputtered, feet on her coffee table.
Evan figured he deserved points for being considerate enough to come to her apartment to fire her, instead of making her drive to him. “Yes, I can. And considering that you have been going behind my back feeding information to Carl I don’t see how you expect me not to fire you.”
“I’ve been working in your best interest.”
“You kept the sponsorship deal a secret from me. And running off and telling him I’m dating Kendall Holbrook was not in my best interest. All you did was contribute to the shit storm. He’s going to be watching both of us like a hawk.”