Victim of Love (22 page)

My heart sank. I watched as Beck busied himself with cleaning up, trying to hide my disappointment. Kamal glanced at me. I’m not sure what he saw in my expression, but apparently he felt the need to rescue my dignity. “Yeah, Olsen, we should get going anyway. You’ve got that thing tonight.”

I did not have a
thing
, but had no options but to go along with it. “Yeah. Okay. Nice to see you, Beck.”

Beck glanced up from where he knelt on the floor, cleaning up ancient seeds with a dustpan. He gave us both a quick smile. “You too. Hey, you’re not letting this guy set you up on any more dates are you?” He nodded at Kamal. “The last one was a disaster.”

Kamal laughed heartily. “I’ve agreed to let Olsen find his own dates from now on.”

Beck stood. “Okay, have fun, guys.” He leaned in and gave us both a handshake, waved, then disappeared through the door to the house, closing it behind him.

Kamal and I looked at each other. He raised his eyebrows. “Let’s go.”

I waited until we were in the car and pulling out of the driveway before I spoke. “That was probably the least sexy meeting I’ve ever had.”

“Yep.” Kamal steered us toward my house. “Not sexy
at all
.” He glanced at me. “So what’s the verdict? Are you sufficiently discouraged?”

I sighed. “Discouraged enough. What do you think?”

“You really want to know what I think?”

I stared at his profile. “Yeah. I do. Be honest. Brutally honest.”

“Okay, Olsen. I think you should go home. Take a shower. And call that cute little social worker you met the other night. Evan, was it? Then I think you should forget all about Beck Turner.”

I stared out the window so Kamal couldn’t see the sadness in my eyes. “I feel like an idiot.”

Kamal reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t feel too bad. At the risk of getting you all revved up again, I do think Beck is still attracted to you. His eyes were on you every time you weren’t looking. But we both know his message was loud and clear. His dismissal was decidedly cold at the end there. He’s not interested. But I sincerely think it’s not about you. It’s his issue, whatever it is.”

I shrugged. “Well. It’s not like he promised me anything. That was my last and only attempt to chase him. I’m done.”

“Are you going to call Evan?”

I wasn’t in the mood for a date. And chances were Evan wouldn’t even be available. But spending the evening with someone who actually
wanted
to date me sounded like the perfect medicine for my shattered self-esteem.

I nodded. “Yeah.” I looked at Kamal. “Yeah. I’m gonna call Evan.”

Chapter Twelve

Just When I Thought I Was Out

Evan the social worker sounded understandably surprised to hear from me.

“Olsen, hey. I called you a couple times last week.”

“Yeah, I got your messages,” I said. “Things have been really hectic.” Lame. But in a pinch it was all I could come up with.

“Okay. So why are you calling now?”

“I was hoping you were free tonight. I know it’s late notice, so I understand if you have plans.”

Silence. I could almost hear his brain working, trying to decide whether or not to tell me to go fuck myself.

“I do have plans actually,” he said. “With my older brother and his wife.”

“Okay. I understand. Another time, then?”

After another long silence, Evan said, “Well, here’s the thing. My brother has a really nice boat. We’re going out on the harbor tonight. We do it a lot in the summer. Drink wine, picnic type thing. It’s a lot of fun, and I was planning to ask you to join us when I called last week. But you didn’t call back. However, the offer is still open if you’re up for it.”

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Thank you.”

“Oh good, I’m glad.” Evan’s voice lost a touch of that chilliness it held. “I’m really glad. It’ll be a good time.”

“It sounds great,” I said. “When and where?”

****

My place was within walking distance of the docks, so I agreed to meet Evan at his brother’s boat. I wasn’t even remotely excited about this date, and felt a little guilty about using Evan to try and purge Beck from my system. But it was a first date, so his expectations were hopefully as low as mine were.

When I saw him, though, loading a cooler into the boat, a small flicker of excitement tickled my gut. The boat was like a small yacht, gorgeous and spacious, the name ‘Severance Check’ scrolled across the side in blue letters. Evan was a lot cuter than I’d remembered him being. His wispy hair had a slight wave from the blowing sea breeze, and his face was handsome, even as he frowned through his glasses while he checked the cooler. He wore long canvas shorts and a striped tee shirt, and while his body didn’t blow me away, it certainly wasn’t bad.

“Hello,” I called out as I stepped onto the dock.

Evan smiled at me. “Hey, come on down.”

I climbed onto the boat and gave him a casual hug, then looked around. “This is a really nice boat.”

“You better believe it is!” This came from a stout, older man with graying hair who stepped out from the doors of a luxuriant looking inner cabin. He extended his hand to me. “Hi, John Pritchett. You must be Olsen.”

I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Any friend of Evan’s,” he said with a smile. He had a gruff, weathered-looking face, and seemed a bit old to be Evan’s brother. “Come on in and have a drink, guys. We’re just about ready to head out.”

John disappeared inside the cabin again, and I stole a quick glance at Evan, my eyes questioning because of the ‘friend’ comment.

Evan read my mind, and chuckled. “He knows,” he said. “That this is a date.”

“Oh.” I laughed. “Just wasn’t sure if I had to...” I stopped myself from using the word ‘pretend’. That was Beck’s word, and it invoked too many steamy memories.

“No, they’re cool with it. I’ve been out since college. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Inside, I met John’s wife Linda, a thin, pretty woman with short black hair and a dark suntan. She had a great smile, carved with laugh lines, and insisted I have a glass of expensive whisky.

Eventually we headed out to sea, ultimately stopping a good distance from the shore, but close enough to appreciate a stunning view of the city, glittering lights in the darkness. We settled down on comfortable chairs near the front of the boat in the open air, and John and Linda set out a feast of cheese and olives and loaves of bread with various spreads, several bottles of wine chilling in the cooler. I sat beside Evan, and he looked especially attractive in the evening light, and with the comfortable company and amazing surroundings, it was impossible not to enjoy myself. I learned that John was a retired Boston police officer, and his wife worked part time as a tax attorney.

“Hey, BC, you want some wine?” John asked.

“Yeah,” Evan said. “White please. Olsen? Some wine?”

“Sure,” I said. “Same. Thank you.”

John poured us each a glass of wine, and took over the conversation, telling amusing stories about Evan’s childhood, good naturedly trying to embarrass him. Linda asked about my work, and everyone politely pretended to be fascinated when I spoke about my job at the lab.

“I don’t know, BC,” John said to Evan. “I think this guy might be too smart for you.”

Linda laughed. “John!”

“Very funny,” Evan said. He looked at me. “You might have noticed, my brother likes to give me a hard time.”

“You can take it,” John said.

“Why do you call Evan ‘BC’?” I asked, and got a roar of laughter from Linda and John in response.

“Oh, man.” Evan shook his head. “Don’t do it, John.”

“Hey, he asked!” John grinned at me. “Evan here was a change of life baby. My folks already had grown kids when he came along. That’s why we call him BC. For
Broken Condom
.”

John wheezed with laughter. I smiled at Evan. “That’s cute.”

“Don’t even think about calling me that,” Evan said.

“Do your folks live around here, Olsen?” Linda asked.

“Ah, no. Both of my parents have passed on.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

John got up and gave me a hard pat on the shoulder before going to the cooler. “Well, they did something right, you seem like a good kid.”

I laughed. “Thank you.”

Evan reached over and gently placed his hand over mine. I flinched, and he retracted it. “Sorry about your folks,” he said quietly.

“Thanks, Evan.”

I felt guilty for flinching. Evan was a nice guy whose feelings I didn’t want to hurt. He was nice, John and Linda were nice, and the nicer they were to me, the guiltier I felt. They were the type of people who were probably nice to everyone, but I definitely got the feeling I was being taken seriously as a potential love interest for Evan. And I hadn’t discounted that possibility, but I was clearly not ready for it yet.

We stayed on the water for a couple of hours, and I attempted to make up for recoiling from Evan’s hand by focusing a lot of attention on him, learning about his past, his job, asking questions and maintaining eye contact when he spoke.

“We best head in before it gets too late,” John announced eventually. He grinned at me. “I’m sure you two lovebirds would like some time alone without us old farts around.”

“John!” Evan laughed. “Can you at least
try
to be subtle?”

“Have you met your brother?” Linda asked. “Subtle is not in his vocabulary.”

Once we arrived back at the dock, I thanked John and Linda for a great time, and Evan and I headed for the street. I had no idea what was going to happen now, it hadn’t been previously discussed, but he kept stride alongside me as we walked.

“Do you want to grab a drink?” Evan asked, slowing before a wine bar. The street was crowded with people going in and out of various restaurants.

“Um, sure. If you want to.”

Evan took my hand and led me toward the bar, then stopped before reaching the outdoor patio. “Or...” He pulled me in close. “We could go somewhere more private.”

I tried not to stiffen when Evan leaned in and kissed me, but the moment our lips met, my entire body tightened up. I softened my lips, trying to get into it, but it was too late.

Evan took a step back, and cocked his head. “No good?”

“Sorry.” I laughed. “Didn’t mean to freeze up. Just want to kind of...take things slow.”

“Okay. I’m fine with that.” His hands found my waist and he slipped them around my back. “No pressure, I promise.”

I smiled at him, but couldn’t seem to relax.

Evan frowned, then released me. “Oh. You mean slow-slow.”

“No, it’s all good. I want to see you again. If you want to.”

He eyed me skeptically. “Are you sure?”

My head turned as a group of men in suits stepped out from the restaurant next door, laughter and loud voices as they congregated on the sidewalk. When I saw that one of them was Beck-fucking-Turner, I quickly looked back at Evan. I can’t imagine my expression in that moment, but was pretty sure it bordered on panic.

Evan frowned. “Olsen. You’re not interested in me at all, are you?”

“What?” I glanced back at the suits on the sidewalk, just as Beck turned my way, catching my eye. I registered the surprise in his expression, his big grin sliding into a frown. I quickly shifted my focus back to Evan. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Evan shook his head, sighing, and raised his hands. “I’m done. Have a nice life, Olsen.”

“No wait.” I grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry, Evan. I just got...distracted.”

“I noticed. I was asking if you’re actually interested in me.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”

“I’m a social worker, Olsen. I’m pretty good at reading people. Be honest. Because I’m not looking for a buddy, here.”

Buddy. He had to use that word. The universe was throwing my shit back in my face, taunting me, adding in Beck’s presence as a cruel side dish.

“Again, I apologize,” I said. “I’m just not looking for anything...serious.”

Evan smiled tightly, and nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Goodnight, Olsen.”

“Evan...”

“
Goodnight
, Olsen,” he repeated, and moved off down the sidewalk.

I watched him go.
Well, wasn’t that just humiliating
. My peripheral vision was still aware of Beck and his crew up the road, and I didn’t want to check and see if he’d been watching. Sighing, I rubbed the bridge of my nose, and started toward the wine bar. Shit, I wasn’t driving, and I needed another drink.

“Hey, Olsen.”

Wonderful
.
And here comes Beck to turn me on with his smile and ruin my night a little more
.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, then turned to face him. Beck walked toward me, looking like a dream in a light brown suit and tie, hair neatly combed back from his forehead. He smiled when he reached me. “Well, hello.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Hello again.”

He chuckled. “Well, I’d have asked if you were stalking me, had I not witnessed that ah,
romantic
scene just now.”

“Just a small world I guess.”

He nodded. “So glasses guy. I take it that was the thing you had tonight.”

“That was the thing,” I said. “
Was
being the apt word.”

“I noticed. You breaking hearts out here?”

“I guess my charm just needs a little work.”

Beck laughed and looked around. “Ah, Christ. I can’t believe I just ran into you.”

“That makes two of us.”

Beck held my gaze, his smile slipping away. “Sorry your night didn’t go well.”

“I’ll get over it, believe me. Was that your ah, dinner with clients?”

He nodded, looking over his shoulder, where his cohorts were dispersing. “That was it. Didn’t exactly go as I hoped, but tomorrow is another day, right?”

“At least you won a bet today,” I said.

“Yeah. Thanks for stopping by my house, by the way. That was nice of you.”

Nice of me
. The comment felt very patronizing, and in an instant my mood devolved from slightly shitty to downright foul. I decided I’d do Beck the favor of ending the conversation before he had to come up with some excuse to do it himself. “Well. Enjoy the rest of your night, Beck.”