e with Mike Bishop on Saturday left her completely unmoved. But the thought of next week’s scholarship meeting with Evan—well, that made her pulse rate jump measurably.
She didn’t even want to consider how Lucy would react to that information.
* * *
“That dinner was really good, Renae, though I’m afraid you went to too much trouble. When you said you were providing the food, I assumed you’d get takeout, as I did.”
“It was no trouble. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she replied self-consciously to Evan’s compliment as she snapped the top back onto the plastic container in which she’d brought a salad made with roasted chicken, Bibb lettuce, cheese cubes, grapes and toasted pecans tossed with a homemade vinaigrette dressing she’d brought in a separate container. She’d provided whole wheat rolls to serve on the side. Though she’d worried that Evan wouldn’t find the quick meal hearty enough, he’d appeared to enjoy it, and had eaten two of the small brownies she’d brought for dessert.
She’d made the meal last night. When Lucy had commented about the size of the salad, Renae had merely shrugged and muttered something about “potluck.” It hadn’t exactly been a lie, she’d assured herself, even though she knew Lucy had assumed the potluck was one of the office luncheons that took place at the clinic.
Evan closed his laptop. “We got a lot done this evening.”
“We did. Tate will be proud of us,” she replied lightly.
“Yes, he will.”
In some ways, these meetings were getting easier, she thought as she stacked her notes and slipped them into her bag. By focusing intently on the scholarship, she and Evan were able to keep their personal issues out of the way. At least outwardly. Inwardly, she still shivered whenever their eyes met, though she hoped she’d done a decent job of hiding that from him.
Evan cleared his throat, seeming to search for an innocuous topic that was not scholarship related. “How are the kids? Looking forward to celebrating Halloween this weekend?”
“Oh, sure. They can’t wait to dress up and collect their candy. I’ll take them out trick-or-treating while Lucy stays at the house to give out candy.”
The mention of Lucy made Evan’s smile fade. His eyes were shuttered when he studied her face. “Have you told Lucy you’ve been meeting with me?”
This time it was she who cleared her throat. She wasn’t sure exactly how he’d made that leap, but she wouldn’t lie to him. “Um, not exactly. But I will.”
It needed to be sooner rather than later. It was going to be hard enough as it was to explain why she had waited so long. Surely Lucy would agree eventually that the scholarship was worth the renewed contact with Evan and Tate.
Evan glanced at the open plastic container on the table. “Tate’s going to be sorry he missed this. Best brownies I ever ate.”
So he didn’t want to talk about Lucy now. Neither did she. Cooperating with the lighter tone, she forced a smile. “I’m glad you like them, but they really are just standard brownies. I made a double batch last night, so there are still plenty at home. I’ll leave the rest of these with you. You can share them with Tate or keep them for yourself.”
He laughed softly. “Share with Tate? No way. He missed out today. These are mine.”
Her stomach did a somersault in response to his laugh. She was entranced by the deep, warm sound of it, and the way it lightened his brown eyes and softened his firm mouth. It had been a very long time since she’d heard Evan laugh. She’d almost forgotten the effect it had always had on her.
She stood. “I hope you’ll enjoy them.”
“I know I will,” he said, rising with her.
He walked her to the door, where he smiled down at her. “Have fun with the kids this weekend. Maybe you can show me pictures of their costumes next week.”
“I’d be happy to.”
“Thanks again for the brownies. And I didn’t even have to say ‘trick or treat.’”
She chuckled, smiling up at him. “Happy Halloween, Evan.” He focused on her mouth. She wondered if this was the first time she’d truly smiled at him since he’d shown up in her life again. Probably.
She thought maybe he intended to simply brush his lips across her cheek. A casually friendly parting, similar to the way Tate had left her last week. But the undercurrents between Evan and her had never been casual. His mouth touched her cheek, lingered, slid closer to her lips. Holding her breath, she froze, closed her eyes...then turned her head just that fraction of an inch so that their lips met.
It had been so long since she’d savored the slight roughness of a man’s face against her skin. Since she had felt warmth radiating from a hard body next to hers, or caught just the faintest whiff of masculine soap and aftershave. Since she had allowed herself to sink into a kiss and turn off everything except the sensations ricocheting inside her. And yet, as much as she had missed those things, she hadn’t been truly tempted to throw all caution to the wind and give in to those urges for a long time.
Not until Evan Daugherty had sauntered back into her life.
The kiss didn’t last long. Nor did it flare out of control, though Renae was aware, as she was sure Evan was, how easily it could have done so. He didn’t try to hold her when she drew away, but kept his arms at his sides, his gaze locked on her face. He could probably see the pulse hammering in her throat and the flush on her cheeks, but she wasn’t sure what he saw in her eyes.
“I’ll see you next week,” he said. Was there just a hint of question in his statement?