“I know that’s bullshit,” Hope answered. “I can see how he looks at you, and how he watches you constantly. But thank you for trying to help my brother.”
“I’m not doing much, really. I’m just trying to get him to relax a little and enjoy life.” Randi sighed.
“Well, he is more relaxed, and he looks like all he wants is to take you home and jump your bones,” Mara observed.
Randi couldn’t deny that she and Evan had off-the-charts chemistry, so she remained silent. She’d probably been just as guilty of watching Evan like a woman who just wanted to strip him naked and devour him.
Hope came to Randi’s rescue. “Shall we join the guys? I think they’ve been deprived of our company for far too long.”
Randi breathed a sigh of relief as they all left the kitchen to go join their men.
The next evening, Randi wanted to laugh as she watched Evan trying to meditate. It was clear this night was going to be a challenge.
Since Evan had brought her supplies to his house during the storm, she’d cooked at his place tonight, and he had eaten like a horse, including dessert.
After spending the night with his family the night before, Evan had insisted on her staying with him on the Peninsula and letting him take her home early in the morning so she could get dressed for school.
He’d rocked her world as soon as they’d walked through the door last night, and Evan had promptly announced he was “happy” the moment she had her first climax.
She’d laughed, both exasperated and amused that Evan only appeared to be “happy” when he was making her come.
Tonight, she was determined to show him that not all happiness or being content revolved around earth-shattering sex.
So far, she seemed to be failing miserably.
“You need to close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing,” Randi instructed as she sat cross-legged on his living-room floor. She’d brought a few items of clothing, including the pair of yoga pants and the tattered T-shirt she was wearing. “Center on your breathing and be an observer. You can acknowledge your thoughts, but don’t react to them. Just treat them as if they’re random information that isn’t connected to you.”
“Not possible,” Evan grumbled as he sat across from her in a pair of gray sweatpants and a navy tank top.
“Close your eyes,” she prompted.
“Can’t,” he insisted.
“Why?”
“My thoughts aren’t something I can ignore, and my dick is hard. It’s been that way since I saw you come downstairs in those yoga pants,” he grunted unhappily.
Randi laughed, wondering what in the world he saw in her that was attractive right now. The yoga attire had been washed so many times that the pink material was faded to a very light pastel color, and she’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. In her mind, she wasn’t exactly an enticing sight.
The man sitting across from her was a different story. Evan looked impossibly tempting, his hair slightly mussed, the muscles in his arms and chest rippling every time he moved.
All she’d need to do was lean forward and lick every inch of his exposed skin, then she could . . .
Stop. This is about Evan. I want to teach him to relax! I can keep my hormones under control for an hour. Okay . . . maybe thirty minutes.
Randi slammed her eyes closed and swallowed, unable to stop her reaction to the hot look he was giving her, like he wanted to devour her as another helping of dessert. “Close your eyes,” she demanded. “I told you this wasn’t going to be all about sex.”
It was the last evening she had to spend with him other than the ball. Tomorrow night she had a tutoring session. She and Evan would attend Hope’s party together and then he’d be gone.
I can do this. I can spend one night with Evan without wanting him to do me.
She felt his heated breath on her ear before he spoke huskily. “It isn’t all about sex, Randi. With you, it never has been and it never will be.”
She shivered as she felt his lips nuzzle her ear, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Then what is it?” she whispered shakily.
“I don’t have to explain it to you. You already know. You want this as much as I do,” he said with a low growl as he wrapped a strong hand behind her neck. “I need to do everything in my power to make sure you never forget how this feels, to make you remember that you’re mine. Everything about just being with you makes me happy.”
It was all about the connection, the addictive euphoria of having him claim her like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like she could ever forget Evan? She knew that would never happen.
“The man who tried to assault you is dead,” Evan told her unhappily, as though he was disappointed he couldn’t make Randi’s tormenter suffer. “He died of a heart attack several years ago.”
“You tried to find him?” Randi asked, her eyes opening wide in disbelief.
“Of course. If the asshole wasn’t already dead, he was going to wish he was when I found him,” Evan answered, his voice vibrating with anger.
“You tracked him down for me?” She had no doubt Evan had been seeking revenge for an incident that happened years ago. Randi knew he wasn’t capable of cold-blooded murder, but there were plenty of other ways for a billionaire to completely destroy somebody’s life.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” Evan answered in a grave voice. “If the bastard was still molesting children, he needed to be stopped.”
Randi was relieved the man was dead. “How did you find out?”