Jacked Up (16 page)

“We were on the fence, but once we heard about the party, we decided to come. Tamara was sorry she couldn’t make it, but she has the kids and work.”

“I understand.” Elec’s wife was a college professor and her schedule wasn’t flexible. “I didn’t expect any of this. This was really sweet of everybody.”

“Well, that man of yours was so determined to do this, how could we say no?” Her mother leaned closer and murmured in her ear. “He’s even cuter in person than he is on TV.”

Amused, Eve laughed. “Back off, Cindy,” she told her mother. “He’s mine.”

“Fine,” her mother grumbled. “But in all seriousness, you might want to hang on to him. Someone will snap him up if you don’t.”

Her father came up behind her mother. “Well, I guess Nolan’s alright. I still don’t think you should date him, but I see the attraction.”

“He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?” Eve said, nudging her dad in the chest.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant he seems like a good guy. I mean, he’s wearing a pin with a cupcake on it. That either means he’s a nice guy or a total pansy. Now that I think about it, I’m leaning towards pansy.”

“Be nice.”

“Nice is overrated.” With that, her dad grabbed a beer and strolled off.

It occurred to Eve that she was more like her father than she cared to admit. He could be a real grump. She didn’t want to be that person. But she already was that person. She took another sip of her drink.

Fabulous.

“Don’t listen to your father. He’s just never going to think anyone is good enough for you.”

It was more like she wasn’t good enough for anyone. Eve drained her glass and refilled it. She wasn’t going to do this. She wasn’t going to feel bad on her birthday when all these people had taken the time to wish her well.

She wasn’t going to do this to Nolan, who was the nicest man she’d ever dated. She’d been fine until two seconds earlier when her dad had served as a mirror to her own flaws.

Tonight wasn’t about flaws. Tonight was about celebrating. About being with the people she cared the most about.

About being free . . . free to enjoy herself, free of worry.

“Nolan’s more than good enough for me,” she told her mother sincerely. “I can’t believe he did this for me.”

“My pleasure.”

Eve jumped when she heard Nolan’s voice right behind her. God, had she said anything embarrassing? But a quick glance showed he was the same as always—smiling and calm. How did he achieve that sense of easiness? She’d give her condo and everything in her bank account if she could figure out how not to stress.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Monroe.” Nolan stuck his hand out to her mother, still comfortably holding the sleeping baby in the crook of his left arm.

“Call me Cindy, please.” Her mother shook his hand and smiled.

Oh, Lord, her mother was thinking about Nolan’s ass. It was as clear as the nose on her face.

He seemed to realize it, too, because he looked a little flustered and cut the handshake short. It was amusing enough to dash off the remains of her bad feelings.

“I’ll leave you two kids alone,” her mom said with a wink. “Let me take that baby from you.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, just took the baby from Nolan and left with a “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Your mom is a firecracker,” Nolan told her.

“You seem to bring out the flirt in her. It’s your sexy factor.” She raised her glass to him. “Want a drink?”

“I want a kiss.”

“I’m not kissing you in front of a roomful of people.” Displays of affection were reserved for private. Holding hands had been enough for her, thank you very much.

“Even after I threw this party for you?”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Please, like I’m falling for that emotional blackmail. You should know me better.”

“I know you well enough to know that you want to kiss me, you’re just being uptight about it.”

Shit. He also knew her well enough to know that she was bound to react to that precisely the way he wanted her to. “I’m not uptight.” Might as well play out their roles.

“So kiss me and prove it.”

The worm smiled because he knew he had her. He knew he was going to win this round.

Eve gave him a kiss, nice and long and juicy, even biting his bottom lip as she retreated. It was a calculated move to make him horny, but unfortunately it made her horny as well. But she could ignore that for the moment.

“Hey, save that for later,” Elec said, coming up next to her.

She refused to blush. She was older than Elec. “It’s my party, I can kiss if I want to.”

“You always do whatever you want. Happy Birthday.” Elec kissed her cheek.

“Thanks, Eyeball.” She used his stupid childhood nickname just to keep their relationship on its natural trajectory. But his words gave her pause. Did her family really think that she got everything she wanted? Because in all truth, she hadn’t gotten anything she wanted.

What she had wanted was to drive a stock car in the Cup series. Hell, not even on that level. Just to drive for enough money to pay the rent. Just feel that adrenaline, the freedom, the beautiful solitude of her and a powerful machine.

Nor did she have a family. A husband, children of her own.

But whose fault was that? She couldn’t blame her father or men in the business for shaking their heads at her driving ambitions. If she had wanted it badly enough, she could have gone for it. She hadn’t even tried because she hadn’t wanted to fail. She’d known she would be good at managing her brother’s careers, and she was, but it had been a cop-out. She hadn’t tried to find a quality relationship either. She had bullied her way into a few unsuccessful attempts with men she thought she could control. That wasn’t trying either.

That was setting herself up to fail. Intentionally. Because maybe she was afraid to succeed. It was easier to stomp around and say she’d been given a raw deal. Easier, yes. Happier? Hell no.

Elec was telling Nolan he’d done a great job with the party and Nolan was shaking his head. “It was just my idea. Suzanne did all the hard work.”

“Is your nickname for my sister really cupcake? Because that’s nauseating.”

“Mind your own business,” Eve told him. Cupcake was starting to grow on her mainly because it was so nauseating. There was a certain sincerity to any nickname that was so saccharine Nolan was setting himself up for ridicule.

“It’s because she’s so damn sweet.” Nolan gave her a loud smacking kiss right in front of her brother.

She could admit it. She was pleased. Giddy. Pink in the cheeks. Feeling as sugary sweet as he was proclaiming her to be.

“Oh, Lord,” was Elec’s opinion. “I’m going to eat, though I’m not sure I can stomach anything after that.”

Eve watched him walk away, then looked at Nolan. “I guess I should stop calling you jackass. This was a really sweet thing for you to do.”

“If you stop calling me jackass, I’ll start to think you’re mad at me. Jackass works.” He smiled at her. “And you’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” He gestured for her to come closer. “I have a secret to tell you.”

“Yeah?” she asked suspiciously. Was he going to tell her he wanted to have a threesome for her birthday or something that would equally piss her off? Or was he going to give her a wet willy by sticking his tongue in her ear?

“I really like you.”

Oh. Right. He was showing no signs of being an asshole yet. Maybe she needed to trust that. The champagne and the party were warming her from the inside out. Instead of a smart-ass response, she told the truth. “I really like you, too.”

“Good. Now do you want a cupcake, Cupcake?”

She did. And she wanted him.

* * *

NOLAN
watched Eve waving good-bye to the last few party guests, feeling pretty damn pleased. He had been right. Despite Evan’s declarations otherwise, Eve had enjoyed the surprise and the party. She had been shocked and maybe a little embarrassed, but she had been sincerely touched that all these people had showed up for her birthday celebration.

He was starting to think that her family took her for granted. They just assumed she would always be there, cheering them on, yet no one cheered her on. It wasn’t always easy to understand how to do that with someone who didn’t have a career that had an applauding audience, but Nolan got the impression they didn’t show Eve a whole lot of appreciation.

It was easy not to give praise and thanks when someone was prickly. But was Eve prickly because she was taken for granted?

Nolan didn’t know what the truth of her family dynamics was. He just knew that Eve had somehow gotten herself wound up tight, and he was taking great pleasure in watching her unwind slowly and surely. He felt privileged to see her in raw, unguarded moments.

Looking around at the remnants of food and empty bottles of champagne, the balloons floating silently in the mostly empty suite, Nolan was satisfied. He no longer gave a shit how much the party had cost. It had been worth it.

“Thanks again for everything,” he told Suzanne. She had put Track to sleep in the portable crib and was sharing a glass of wine with Ryder. “We’ll get out of your hair so you two can enjoy some alone time.”

“You’re welcome. I had fun. I felt like an adult tonight instead of a milk spigot.”

Ryder laughed. “You make motherhood sound so glamorous, babe.”

“That it’s not. It’s wonderful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But I miss conversation that doesn’t revolve around burps and bowel movements.”

“So motherhood is like the boys’ locker room in seventh grade?” Nolan asked.

“I wouldn’t know since I’ve never been in the boys’ locker room, but I’m going to say yes.”

“Lucky you.” The comparison amused Nolan. Suzanne was always entertaining. “I’ll come by tomorrow and clean all this mess up. Unless you want me to take care of it now.”

“Oh, no, who cares? It will still be there tomorrow. Go have fun.”

“Thanks, both of you, seriously. This was amazing.”

Suzanne waved her hand, her feet on the coffee table. “Go on now.”

He could do that. Eve turned back from the front door as he approached her. She looked flushed, happy. Maybe slightly drunk.

“I think that was everybody,” she said. “Let me clean up this food, then we can go.”

“Leave the food. I’ll take care of it later. Suzanne and Ryder want to be alone, I think.” Nolan wanted to be alone with Eve, too, but he figured this was a better card to play.

She looked past him to the couch, where the couple was getting cozy, heads bent close to each other. “Oh, right. Let me just get my purse. I left it somewhere.” She went over and said good-bye, found her purse, then they were standing in the hushed hallway together.

“Thank you,” she said again, smiling up at him in a way that made his heart and other parts swell.

“This was a great night, Nolan.”

So naïve if she thought this was the end of the night. “It’s not over yet.”

“No?” She cocked her head. “Are you going to give me a birthday treat?”

“Oh, yeah. But first, let’s go out. Let’s hit the Strip, go dancing, do some gambling.” He just didn’t want this night to end. He was enjoying her so much he wanted it to last as long as possible.

“What? Are you nuts? I have to work tomorrow.”

“Come on. It will be fun. How many times do you turn thirty-three?”

She rolled her eyes. “You turn every age only once.”

“Which is why each one should be celebrated.”

“That’s insane logic.”

“No, it’s not.” Nolan pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her breasts pushing against his chest. She was warm, her eyes dancing as she tried to protest.

“You can sleep when you’re dead,” he told her. “You have a good buzz and we should go out.”

She laughed, a sound that was so free and goofy Nolan couldn’t help laughing himself. “Okay,” she said. “Fine. I’ll hate you tomorrow, but fine.”

“No, you won’t.” There was no hate involved between the two of them. There was something growing that he thought was more like the opposite of hate.

“No,” she admitted, her fingers stroking across the front of his shirt. “I probably won’t.”

Nolan was holding the gift bag the clerk had put the bra and panties set in, and he held it up for her. “A little something for you for later. After the dancing and the gambling and a few more drinks.”

“You got me a gift, too? Nolan . . . seriously, that’s too much.” She looked touched.

And she was touching him. Her hand was sliding across his ass. Hello. He liked that. “It’s just a little something I thought you would find entertaining.” Or at least he would find entertaining.

“Give it to me.” She backed up and held her hand out.

He laughed. That was Eve. “I love your patience.”

“You offered it to me.” She tore the tissue off the top and threw it down on the floor. A second later she had the bra in her hands. Her jaw dropped. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a bra. With a jungle theme. It’s hot. Or should I say, you’ll be hot in it.” His mouth was starting to water just thinking about her breasts pushed up in leopard print.

“I should be offended. I think I am. But at the same time, I have a hard time resisting you when I know it was well meaning.”

“You’re offended?” He supposed he wasn’t really shocked by that. It had been a gamble. “It was meant to be fun. To compliment you on your assets. The panties say
PUSSYCAT
on them. I mean, come on, that’s funny.”

She laughed, holding the bra up to her chest. His mouth watered a bit.

“You bought this last minute, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Eve leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Well, that was very sweet. Unnecessary, but sweet.”

“You’re going to wear them, right?” He’d return the set if she was just going to throw them in a drawer. This wasn’t a gag gift, he actually wanted to see her fine behind in those panties.

“Because you were well intentioned and because I’m drunk, yes, I’ll wear them.”

Fair enough. “Hey, that’s all any man can ever hope for. To get his girl drunk enough that she’ll wear tacky underwear for him.”

Her finger came up and she grinned. “So you admit they’re tacky?”