Evie narrowed her gaze, remembering how that handsome jerk had looked her over and found her lacking. Damon Prescott pushed all her wrong buttons. From the day she’d been introduced to him at Dare Nation, he’d treated her like an annoyance. She couldn’t deny the idea of dressing up and seeing his jaw drop at the sight of her held a lot of appeal.
“This.” She joined Quinn by her walk-in and reached for the black one-armed dress that draped her body and hit mid-thigh.
“Oooh, pretty. Reminds me of my red gown, and Austin nearly ripped that right off me.” She grinned at an obvious memory Evie didn’t want to know about.
“Keep the dirty details to yourself.”
“You know … you don’t need to cover your arm. The scar has healed and—”
“We don’t discuss it, remember?” Evie laid the dress out on the bed and smoothed her hand over the soft fabric.
“You don’t discuss it. I do because the past doesn’t define who you are, no matter what you think.” Quinn put her hands on her hips and faced Evie. “Now I’d love to lend you a gold dress that would look gorgeous with your skin tone. It drapes down the back and both arms are bare.” She went back to the subject at hand.
Evie shook her head. “A married woman hired me to catch her husband cheating and it turned out he was my fiancé. A man I hadn’t pegged as dangerous and I should have. I’d say that shows a decided lack in judgment on my part when I prided myself on being a smart chick.” And that was just one of the reasons she’d left her job. She couldn’t face people giving her that sympathetic look or questioning her skills because she hadn’t seen what was right in front of her.
“You’re still a smart chick. John was a slick bastard. He conned his wife as well as you and she’s an investment banker. I don’t think she’s stupid. Do you? What about the other women who’ve been duped by pathetic men? Who’s at fault?”
“I hear you, but it isn’t the same thing. I need my instincts, and if I can’t trust those, then I have issues I need to work through. And this is a reminder of my mistakes.” She held out her arm with the angry red scar running along her forearm.
“I don’t want it exposed for me to see every day or be asked about it and have to explain the knife wound.” Because John, once he’d been caught, had been so angry, he hadn’t hesitated to hurt her.
Tears formed in Quinn’s eyes and she pulled Evie into a hug, something she still wasn’t used to, even though Quinn had always been a hugger. Her brothers were more the shoulder-slapping types unless they were scared for her well-being, but they always had her back. Always. And they’d have gone after John if she hadn’t insisted she didn’t want them to end up behind bars.
“Okay, fine. I’m not going to give up trying to convince you that you’re the strong, kick-ass woman you always were, but wear that dress. When he gets a look at you, Damon is going to swallow his tongue. Now let’s see the shoes.”
A couple of hours later, Quinn had gone home to see Austin and Jenny, her adorable little baby, and change for tonight.
Evie stood in front of the mirror once more and she didn’t recognize herself. It had been a long time since she’d dressed up for any reason or gone all out for any occasion.
She’d put self-tanner on her legs, arms, chest, and face, because she never had the time to relax and lie in the sun. Her face was completely made up, including wearing false eyelashes, her lips were plump, and her brown eyes wide.
The dress accentuated her curves while the designer red-soled heels hurt her damned feet. Though she had to admit she liked the Chanel purse she owned for times when she had to look a certain way. And tonight? She appeared every inch the pro football player’s girlfriend. Damon Prescott wasn’t going to know what hit him.
* * *
Given his concussion symptoms, Damon couldn’t drink alcohol. It was hard enough to hold up his head, but he understood the need to be at the bar. If he wanted to discover who had set him up, he had to put a plan in motion, and testing Evie and their chemistry was a start.
He occupied a table at Allstars. On one side of Damon, Austin and Quinn were cuddled close together. Bri sat next to her friend Macy Walker, and beside her was Damon’s brother Jaxon, who never missed a chance to go out and party, even if the night was a mellow one.
Behind them but at a nearby table, close enough to share conversation if they wanted to, were other guys from his team, Devon White, his running back, and James Slater, his wide receiver.