One Dance for Case (Possessed 2)

She…

Wow.

She’d rendered him speechless.

Evelyn was angry for him. Ready to do battle for him. She’d never been fucking sexier.

Anxious energy had Ev jumpy as they waited for Casey’s parents to arrive. He’d told her most of what they’d been like as he grew up and about how they hadn’t been able to accept his choice to join the Army. What had floored her the most was that they’d abandoned him in his hour of need. They’d called him nasty names and told him he wasn’t their son.

She had no idea if in the future, he’d ever planned to try and mend their relationship, but she did know that he hadn’t expected them to come to him. This scenario threw them both for a loop.

They ate the small dinner of baked chicken and potato salad she’d made in silence. Both lost in their own thoughts. Once the kitchen had been cleaned, Ev put on a pot of coffee—mostly for something to do. And now they sat on the front porch waiting.

Casey’s leg bounced in agitation. He kept checking that his prosthesis was covered by the hem of his pants, and she could feel her anger growing tenfold. Her big, strong take no shit from no one man was insecure about being around his parents, making her madder than a wolf with rabies. If she had her way, she’d meet them in the driveway just to give them a piece of her mind, but it wasn’t her place. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t glare like a she-devil while they were there, though.

Wanting him to feel secure and loved, Ev slipped onto his lap sideways, clasping her hands behind his neck. She smiled at his shocked face.

“Casey.” She tried to harden her voice. “I’m going to tell you something you once told me.” At his nod, she took a fortifying breath, hoping she wouldn’t sound like an ass. “As long as I’m around, I will not let anyone hurt you. I will protect you with everything in me. No one will make you feel bad so long as you have me. Understand?”

From the look on his face, she wasn’t sure if she’d shocked or insulted him. His burst of laughter said she probably shocked him.

“Fuck, do I love you, woman.” Pulling her head down to his, he kissed her with all of his pent-up emotion.

She felt his frustration, anger, and sadness all in the simple act. He didn’t take it deeper. It was an undemanding meeting of mouths, solidifying their devotion to one another.

Gravel crunching under tires broke the moment. When she was about to get off his lap to greet his parents, he held tight to her hips. A deep breath later and she was watching as an older couple exited the vehicle.

“You look so much like him,” she whispered to Case. He grunted in response.

His father r

eached for his mother’s hand in what seemed like forced intimacy. Or maybe they weren’t used to being close.

“Well, that’s weird,” Casey mumbled in her ear. Happy to know it wasn’t just her.

“Casey?” the woman called.

“Hi, Ma.” Ev just sat back for this uncomfortable encounter.

“How are you, dear?” the older woman asked softly.

“Still crippled, Ma.” Shocked at the bitter and callous way he’d responded, she whipped her head around to the see the anger brewing behind his eyes. His words were spoken to his mother, but they were obviously meant for his father as that’s where his gaze was glued.

“That’s no way to talk to your mother, boy,” his father tried to reprimand him.

“Porter, we’re not here for you two to get into a pissing match.”

Oh boy, Ev thought. She could see things going to shit in a handbasket soon. Removing herself from Case’s lap, she stepped up and stuck her hand out to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Evelyn.”

They both looked at her like they’d only just noticed her. Neither moved to shake her hand and just as she was about to retract it, she felt Casey’s heat at her back, a warning in his voice. “It’ll do you well to respect my woman.”

While she got a kick out of the possessiveness in his tone and calling her his, she didn’t want them to be phony with her. She was in it for the long haul, and if Casey wanted them in their lives, then she would have to deal with wondering if they only tolerated her.

“I’m sorry, dear. I’ll be honest. We’ve never met one of Casey’s women before,” his mother told her.

“Women?” Ev asked.

She felt Casey tense behind her. Squeezing his hand, she hoped he remained quiet because as far as she was concerned, this was her opportunity to show them she was no pushover. Especially when it came to her man.