Page 85 of The Hardest Hit
“Olivia,” he gasped and came into her, with one final violent thrust and they collapsed together onto the bed.
An hour later, they were still spooned together on the bed and Olivia realized that she could not remember a single thing that she had thought in that time. Had she been asleep? Had he seriously fucked all of her thoughts out of her head?
“I did that wrong,” said Evan, his voice breaking the silence of the penthouse.
“No, you really didn’t,” said Olivia.
He moved so that she rolled into him and he was over her. “You said I love you,” he said. “I was supposed to say it back. I’m not sure what happened.”
She wanted to laugh at him. He looked confused and worried. And sweet. His hair was still wet with sweat and sticking up on the side where he’d been laying. She smoothed it down with one hand.
“Evan Alexander Deveraux,” she whispered, “I love you.”
He smiled, beaming. “Olivia Rose West, I love you back.”
He lay back down snuggling in close to her. “Although,” said Olivia, “I wasn’t confused. Somewhere around the fifteenth orgasm, I got the message.”
“Sometimes words are not my thing,” he admitted sleepily.
“That’s OK,” said Olivia. “I like the way you talk.”
30
Evan – Christmas Gifts
At five, Evan left Olivia sleeping and began to make some calls. The call with Jackson did not go well. Unable to mention Olivia, he found himself unable to express why he was so angry. Next, he called the insurance company to report the theft of the necklace. The police report made it easy and they said they would courier over a replacement immediately. After that, he made a call to one Mr. Tanazashi.
Mr. Tanazashi was not a nice person. But he was exactly the sort of person who would be able to find the thug who had put a gun to Olivia. Mr. Tanazashi had helped him out of his little problem with the Yakuza and Evan hoped that he would be able to perform similar miracles here.
The replacement necklace arrived just as Olivia emerged for breakfast. He took it from the courier and handed it to her, but she closed the box and handed it back. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but that one’s not mine. I wanted the one you gave me. It’s just… not the same.”
The necklaces were the same. In another girl, Evan knew he would have been impatient and angry. He also realized that rules he had applied to other women no longer applied to Olivia. So he kissed her. “That’s fine,” he said.
Somewhere between breakfast and lunch, Eizo dropped in. He brought flowers for Olivia, and Olivia smiled and said thank you, but something had shifted in her demeanor toward him. It took Evan a moment to place the difference. She was being gracious at him.
It was a distinctly Southern manner that said everything polite and proper while negating any attempts at an actual connection. Olivia no longer found Eizo amusing. It was surprisingly Japanese of her and he could see that Eizo understood exactly the degree to which he had been marked down. He could also see that Eizo found it galling, which amused Evan.
“You don’t like Eizo?” he asked after the door shut.
“He should have helped you more last night,” she said.
“Eizo doesn’t really help people,” said Evan.
“And that’s why I don’t like him,” she replied.
She was making some notes on her wall and tiredly rubbing her neck when the front desk called.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Deveraux. This is Aiko. I was recently apprised of the horrible events of last night. I was wondering if Mrs. Deveraux would care to come down for a private soak in the spa.”
“That is a thoughtful idea, thank you. I’m sure she would love that. I’ll send her down.”
It wasn’t until after he hung up the phone that he realized that they’d referred to Olivia as his wife. It was a strange thought. And he turned it over in his head like the novelty it was. Even if they were married she probably wouldn’t change her name—Dr. West was her career. Also, he had always assumed that he wouldn’t get married. His father never had. His mother, a Ukrainian model with fabulous cheekbones, had essentially been Owen’s chosen egg donor. He’d dismissed her by the time Evan was two. Evan saw her every once in a while. They usually stared at each other in mutual distrust and confusion. He shook his head and sent Olivia to the spa.
He was asleep when she returned. Legs kicked out in front of him in a chair in the bedroom. He’d sat down to take off his shoes, fully intending to get up again in a minute, but not quite making it. He woke up when Olivia began to unbutton his shirt.
“You need to take a nap,” she said.
“No, I’ve got a little more work to do,” he said. “Then we’ve got reservations tonight.”
