Her Blood Sings: Episode 01 (8 page)

Evie's heart thudded in her chest, her body
flooded by hormones.
Traitor body
.

Everyone turned to him, especially the women.
Whispers, giggles, and sighs followed, but he seemed immune to
them. He made a beeline for Evie, standing in front of her.

"Hi," he said, his voice deep and seductive.
"Can we talk?"

She gaped at him, most of her brain out for
the count. A small part of her registered that she was staring at
him like the proverbial deer caught in headlights. Evie shook her
head and lowered her eyes. She cleared her throat.

"How did you find me here?" she
whispered.

"I was walking down the street and thinking
of you," he said, giving her a well-worn but stellar smile. "I
looked up and there you were."

Evie looked up, frowning. She felt a fresh
wave of tingling in the back of her neck. This guy was lying to
her.

"What are you doing here?" she said, her
voice strong again.

He hesitated, probably sensing a shift in
her. His smile was faltering now. "I told you. I came to talk to
you."

She took a step back and took a deep breath.
This guy would be perfect if he didn't open his mouth.

"Thanks," she said. "But whatever it is, I'm
not interested."

He shoved a hand through his hair, his whole
demeanor imploding a little. "I don't usually have to work this
hard, you know."

Evie's lips twitched into a smile. It was so
much easier to deal with this guy when he was being a jerk.

"Oh, I'm flattered," she said, sarcasm
dripping from every word. She waved towards the door. "Now, off you
go."

He watched her with no small amount of
fascination. Feeling like some exotic and rare animal, Evie
sidestepped the guy and went to a patron who was calling her. She
wrote down the patron's order and turned around, half expecting the
guy to be long gone. Instead, she found him staring at her, rooted
to his spot. She took a deep breath and started towards him,
determined to ignore him long enough for him to get it.

"Let me get one thing straight," he said.
"You're attracted to me."

Evie froze. She could feel all eyes on her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Could she hit this guy
in the back of the head and get away with it?

"Excuse me?" she asked, twisting around to
look at him.

"You're super attracted to me," he said,
grinning. He seemed to brighten up at her discomfort. Bastard. "But
you still won't give me the time of day."

Evie narrowed her eyes at him. She crossed
her arms over her chest. "Why should I?"

He blinked, caught off guard.

"Listen-" she tried to remember his name.

"C-Chris," he volunteered.

"Listen, Chris. There are a million hot guys
out there," she said. "You want my attention? Do something worth
paying attention to. Right now, you just look like a douche. All I
want is to run as far and fast as possible."

He stood there, his eyes lost in the
distance. Calculating, thinking. His face set in deep, thoughtful
lines. He seemed to be hearing her for the first time. Then, he
turned to Evie and gave her a sharp nod.

"You're right," he said.

Evie hesitated. She wasn't really expecting
him to agree with her.

"Good." She shifted on her spot, unsure what
she should do or say now. "Goodbye, then."

He smiled at that and shook his head as if
Evie was a petulant child he was indulging. He turned around and
walked to the only free table in her section. It was her favorite
table too. It was on the bay window seat that let her look outside
from time to time. He removed a worn pocket book from his coat's
inner pocket and started reading.

Evie cocked her head to the side, watching
him. What the fuck? How could he possibly just sit there? She said
he was a jerk to his face. Why had he sat at her section? Was he
trying to prove a point? Of their own accord, her feet had taken
her to his table.

"Hey," he said, giving her another
heart-stopping smile. "I want a cup of coffee, please."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm ordering coffee."

Was he trying to be obtuse? Evie narrowed her
eyes, suspicion taking deep roots inside her. Was he trying to make
her life difficult? Maybe he hoped she would be rude to him so he
could complain to her boss. Evie refused to make it easy for
him.

She smoothed her ponytail and plastered a
smile on her lips. "Of course. I'll be right back, sir."

She turned on her heels and walked up to
Lucy, who was slipping her orders to the cook.

Lucy looked up at her, instantly on edge.
Evie couldn't say she was surprised. She had avoided Lucy for most
of the day - ignoring her texts, letting her calls go straight to
voicemail and even walking away when Lucy had tried to talk to her.
She was still a little mad that Lucy had just ignored her at
Moonlight, even though she knew she shouldn't be that mad. Dan's
bag of crazy wasn't Lucy's burden.

"I know I've been horrible to you all day,
but I need a favor."

Lucy turned to her, a determined look on her
face. "I'm in."

Evie chanced a glance at Chris. He was
staring at her with this hungry gaze that both scared her and made
her horny as hell. She turned her back to him. "Do you see that guy
at the bay window seat?"

Lucy glanced towards the table. She perked
up, a smile on her lips. She had seen him - Evie was sure. That
dazzled, flustered look was a telltale sign.

"I need you to take his table. I don't want
to talk to him," Evie sighed. This was the right thing to do. "He
ordered coffee."

Lucy tossed Evie a glance, hesitating. "Are
you sure?"

"Yep."

"That's some serious man-candy, Evie," Lucy
commented.

Evie poured the coffee in the cup, placed a
tiny cookie on the saucer and handed it all to Lucy. "You have my
blessing. Flirt away, please."

Lucy smiled and nodded, her ponytail
bouncing. "I'm on it."

Evie bit her lip as she watched Lucy walk to
the table. She placed the cup and saucer in front of Chris and
smiled. He glanced at Evie, his eyes narrowing. A part of her
wanted to look away, pretend she was busy, but she was too
fascinated by him to do just that. He seemed both pissed and proud.
He leaned forward and locked eyes with Lucy. She blinked, her face
going slack. He said something to her and Lucy answered. He said
something else and leaned back on his seat. She gave him an absent
nod, picked up the cup of coffee and saucer and walked back to
Evie.

Lucy blinked and shook her head as if she was
clearing her head.

She handed the cup to Evie. "He won't talk to
me. He said he will only talk to you."

"Lucy, please -"

"No, Evie," Lucy said. She shook her head,
trying to add more weight to her words. "You can be mad at me all
you want, but that guy is weird. Besides, I slept with his
brother."

Evie could feel her anger bubble under her
skin like lava. She marched to his table and dumped the cup of
coffee in front of him.

"Why?" she asked. It was the only thing she
could think of saying to him. "You're attractive. There. Are you
happy now?"

"No, I'm not, Evie," he said. "Because you're
absolutely right. Looks are only skin deep. There has to be
something else to keep the attraction alive." His stare turned
molten. His eyes were two blue flames heating her skin. "And even
though you're sinfully hot, what you do is far more attractive. I
can't leave you alone."

Evie was too dumbfounded to say anything
else. Her breathing was coming out in short, harsh pants. Her brain
was out for the count.

She took in a shaky breath and looked
away.

Evie's heart thudded in her chest, all warmth
leaving her. Dan was outside the café, glaring at her.

Dan had thanked his lucky stars. He had
feared Evie had moved out of town or changed jobs, but his girl
stuck to her routine. She still lived in that brick building in
that same old idyllic street where her grandma had lived. She still
worked at the same café. He was waiting outside Evie's work,
watching her work. Dan had to be reacquainted with her schedule, to
find out who was in her life.

Besides, he wanted to be with her. Dan missed
Evie too much.

He watched from a darken alley as she moved
inside the warm little café. He saw her smiles and her words to the
patrons. He hated that anyone other than himself deserved her
smiles. Dan told himself Evie was working, that it meant nothing.
As far as he could tell, she had no one in her life. Beating the
crap out of that bozo she was seeing the last time had taught her a
lesson. She was his and no one else's. She was waiting for him now.
He could tell.

Dan shivered into his coat. The night was
crisp, sharp. It had started snowing again. This place was nothing
but snow and misery. He had no idea why Evie liked it here. Even
Mom had loved it up here, always talking about how nice people
were, how the country was gorgeous. Personally, Dan couldn't wait
to leave this frozen hell behind. He wanted to go back home. He
dreamed of being welcomed in Mr. Williams' garage once again, of
sliding back to his routine of cars and Evie.

Amidst his daydreaming, Dan noticed the
client gawking at Evie. The guy was sitting on the bay window seat.
He was tall, with trendy clothes and that wayward hair girls seemed
to love. And he was looking at Evie like he owned her. Dan's hands
curled into gloved fists.

At first, Evie seemed eager to put as much
distance between her and that guy as possible. She had even sent
another waitress to that guy's table.

"Good girl," Dan muttered to himself.

The guy and the waitress talked briefly while
Evie watched them, chewing her bottom lip. Dan watched her. She
shouldn't be looking at the guy and fidgeting with her hair like
that. She shouldn't be blushing every time his eyes met hers. She
should be annoyed. She should look like she hated that guy's
attention.

The waitress blinked at the guy and nodded.
She walked back to Evie and they talked. Evie frowned, clearly not
happy, but she ended up walking to the guy's table.

"No, no, no," Dan said to himself. "Go back,
Evie. Walk away."

Dan watched Evie and the guy talk. He was
shamelessly flirting with her, his eyes burning holes into her. She
seemed mad at first. Then, her face fell and she looked flustered.
Her cheeks warmed, turning a lovely shade of pink. The guy licked
his lips like Evie was something to eat.

Dan felt his blood boiling in his veins. Who
the fuck was this guy? And why was Evie ready to spread her legs
for him? Did he have to send this guy to the hospital too? Maybe he
should just use his fists on Evie again. Maybe then she would learn
her place.

Evie raised her eyes. She stopped moving, her
face going pale. It took Dan a moment to realize she had seen him.
He looked around. In his rage, he had stepped out of the shadows in
the alley and was standing right in the middle of the street.

He smiled at her.

Evie started for the door.

Dan turned around and dashed back into the
alley. This was not the right time. He had to make things perfect.
He sped away from Evie even when she called him. He rushed to Mom's
car even when he heard the screeching of tires in front of the
café.

It was not the right time.

"Just a little longer," Dan said once he was
behind the wheel and driving home. "Just a little longer."

Chris frowned. Evie had just run outside. She
looked around, spinning on her heels slowly several times. Then,
she froze.

She was just standing there, in the middle of
the street. Her eyes drifted to the café. Their eyes were
locked.

Chris's eyes drifted down the street. The old
pickup truck was rushing to Evie, skittering on the icy street. It
looked like the driver had lost control. Evie looked terrified, her
eyes wide and her face pale. Her shoulders shrank, bracing for
impact. It only made her look small and fragile.

For a moment, Chris saw what would happen
next. The car would hit her head on, the impact sending her flying
several feet away. Her body would hit the cold pavement. Her blood
would fall around her, painting the snow in shades of red and pink.
The fire that burned in her eyes would disappear and her smell
would fade into nothing. At that idea, Chris felt something inside
him snap. He couldn't let that happen.

Chris acted before he really thought about
it.

He sped out of the café, his feet barely
touching the frozen ground long enough to slide on the snow and
ice. The headlights of the car hit his eyes, but it wasn't enough
to blind him. He saw Evie squint under the lights, her eyes
scrunching shut. The big, old pickup truck sped towards them,
unyielding and aimless. Its wheels were useless on the ice. A nice
looking old man with tons of wrinkles on his narrow face and wide,
scared eyes was behind the wheel, trying to reign in his beast of a
car.

Chris reached Evie. He had seconds to save
her life. His arm circled her waist and he pulled her close. It
took her a second to realize Chris was next to her. In the chaos of
the moment, her eyes seemed to take forever to find his face. Her
lips parted in surprise. He pulled her close, flurry drifting
around them. Her skin was covered in deep shivers. Chris growled
when he realized she was wearing nothing but her uniform.

Chris wondered what she had seen outside,
what had made her snap and walk out of the café. He made the mental
note to get to the bottom of it later.

He twisted his body out of the car's path,
taking Evie with him. He used his body to shield her, wrapping
himself around her like an ivy. The pickup truck rushed past Chris,
a wall of cold air hitting his back as the pickup truck passed them
by. It probably had missed him by a hair.