Page 20 of Sipping Seduction
“Yeah, I said that, but I didn’t mean it when it comes to bringing a Stewart over here.”
She’d gotten the best of me, and she knew it.
The cocky, confident look on her face faded, and she set her hand on my arm. I had on a t-shirt, so the touch of her fingers on my bare skin sent a wave of heat rolling through my belly. “I really think you’ll like him if you’ll give him a chance.”
I could go toe to toe with Frannie all night long while we were teasing. But when she dropped her defenses and spoke to me from the heart, I could never resist her.
“Will you please keep an open mind, Evan? For me?”
“Yeah.” I barely got out one word before my fucking heart jumped into my throat and made it impossible to say anything else. So I gave her hand a squeeze and nodded.
“Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed into me.
Her chest smashed against my pecs, and her hips grazed the front of my jeans. I hugged her back, being careful to break contact between our lower halves. The last thing I needed was for my cock to mistake a friendly hug as a sign of encouragement.
“You’d better go get cleaned up.” I pulled away first and resisted the urge to shove my hand in her hair and lower my mouth to claim those full, pink lips.
“You’re the best, Evan.” She pecked my cheek, then rushed down the hall to the bathroom.
I watched her go, torn between hoping she had a good time tonight because she deserved it, and wishing Andrew Fucking Stewart would get lost or maybe even drive into the river on his way over.
CHAPTER10
Frannie
At five to seven,Andrew pulled up the drive to Evan’s place. I could hear the gravel pinging the bottom of his car before I saw his shiny four-door sedan. Pete the Dog stared out the window and barked. He seemed to have settled in at Evan’s and already considered the cabin in the woods his home.
I wasn’t sure how I felt yet. Evan had been great all day, but he’d disappeared into his bedroom while I was taking a shower, and I hadn’t seen him since. He’d better not be trying to get out of meeting Andrew. If things with Andrew were going to progress at all, I needed the two of them to get along. I didn’t anticipate any issues from Andrew. He’d grown up far enough away that the feud between their families hadn’t influenced every aspect of his life.
Evan was the one I worried about. All the Bishops held grudges, but he had a history of run-ins with some of the Stewart brothers. I hoped he’d be able to look beyond the past and be happy for me.
“Hey, Evan. He’s here. Will you come out and meet him?” I stood in the hallway, right outside his bedroom door. Inside, the TV played, and I wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep.
While I waited, hoping for some sign of life from within, Andrew knocked at the front door.
“I’m going to answer the door now. Come on, Evan. You said you’d come out to meet him.” Hoping he wasn’t playing games, I turned to go let Andrew in.
The door creaked open behind me. Evan stood there, a pair of gray sweatpants hugging his hips. He had on a t-shirt, but as he stretched his arms over his head, the bottom hem lifted. A sliver of tanned skin appeared right above his waistband. Heat shot straight to my cheeks. I’d seen him without a shirt on before… probably hundreds of times over the years. The sight of a little skin shouldn’t make my pulse spike, especially not Evan’s skin. And especially not while my date was standing at the front door, waiting for me to answer.
“Sorry, Frannigan. I guess I dozed off while watching the Vols game.” He ran his hand through his hair, even though he kept it so short there was no chance of it being messed up in the first place. His gaze met mine, and he gave me a sleepy smile. “You look gorgeous tonight.”
“Thanks.” The compliment sent tendrils of heat straight through me. I had on a dress I’d bought the last time I went shopping with Charice—one she dared me to buy. She was way into manifesting and thought if I bought the dress, I’d be letting the universe know I was ready for a man to show up in my life. I told her the universe had known I was ready for the past ten years, but she didn’t buy it.
Evan’s gaze traveled from my head down to my toes and back up again. I wanted to move, but my limbs were pinned in place.
“Are you going to be warm enough in that dress? It’s supposed to get down into the fifties overnight. You sure you don’t want to put on some pants? Maybe a sweatshirt?”
I squinted at him in the dim light of the hall. “We’re not going to a football game. He’s taking me out to dinner.”
Evan shrugged. “Maybe a jacket then?”
He was acting more like my dad than my best friend. Or was he trying to tell me something about the dress without being mean? Charice said it looked great on me, and I’d felt pretty confident in it until he started acting all weird.
“Is there something wrong with my dress?” I pushed past him into his bedroom, knowing he had a full-length mirror in his bathroom.
“There’s nothing wrong with your dress.” Evan trailed behind me. “You look nice.”
“I don’t want to look nice. I want to look hot.” Standing in front of his mirror, I twisted around to try to get a view of my backside.
