Page 53 of The Holy Grail
“I do like him. A lot.”
Paige gave Jules a long look. “But?”
Jules hesitated for a second. “But … I’m not used to waiting,” she said.
“I know you’re not, but it’s good for you. It seems like he’s trying to get to know you on a deeper level by dating you and taking it slow, especially since he’s aware of your history with men. He obviously wants more from you than what you’ve given in the past, and developing a strong connection before sex is the key. That’s how it works for most people, you know.”
“I know, but sometimes I feel a little discombobulated that all we’ve done is make-out and—” she broke off before she mentioned the oral sex on the island.
“‘Discombobulated’? That sounds like a Word-of-the-Day.”
“It is. Evan used it a few weeks ago, and it’s coming in handy …” Jules trailed off. “What?”
“You saw Evan a few weeks ago?”
“I, um, actually see him like every weekend.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m sort of working for him.”
“Working for him, how? And why am I just now finding out aboutthat?”
“I was keeping it under wraps, because it’s kind of a secret—”
“Why would it be a secret?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some accounting work for the bar, digging into the books to find out what’s going on.”
“What do you mean ‘find out what’s going on’? And how did this come about?”
“It started on the night of your pregnancy reveal—which wasn’t much of a reveal, by the way, since Evan and I both suspected you were knocked up. Anyway, I found myself at Three Amigos to share the joy with him, and during the course of the evening, he and I talked about his work schedule, his terrible pay, and things just weren’t adding up for me. So, I offered to look at the books and find out what was going on. He said Everett wouldn’t go for that, especially if I had to take the books off-site, so I promised to come into the bar late at night during Evan’s shifts, so Everett and Evelyn wouldn’t know what I was doing.”
“Have you found anything?”
Jules nodded. “I have. And I’m getting close to scheduling a meeting with everyone to go over my findings and recommendations for the bar.”
Paige looked thoughtful. “So you and Evan have been spending a lot of time together …”
“A fair amount, yes. Sometimes I even help him clean up the bar so he can leave before 4:00 a.m.”
“Jesus, really?”
Jules nodded again. “It’s been bad for him for a while. You have no idea. And Everett and Evelyn have no idea about the can of Whoop-Ass I’m going to open on them … which I’m really looking forward to.”
Paige grinned. “God, I wish I could be there to see it.”
“I do, too. You know how much I love an audience.”
Paige turned serious again. “Is it … difficult … working with Evan? You know, because of the chemistry?”
“A little. Okay, maybe more than a little. We had a moment last week, when he was going to make a move on me and I had to shut him down and tell him I was seeing someone. He was really upset—the look on his face was awful. He said he should have asked me out when he had the chance a long time ago …”
“Oh, Jesus, poor Evan. I feel so bad for him. For you, too, but mostly for him, because he has to deal with knowing you’re with someone that isn’t him.”
“Kind of like how you had to deal with knowing David was with someone who wasn’t you.”
“Yes, but that was different. That someone was Ashley, which made it worse.”
