“Better now.” He put down his wineglass. “He went through some tough years. A few brushes with illegal substances and the law.”
“While you were driving the getaway car?”
“Oh, yeah, that was me.” He nodded solemnly. “Living on the edge, same as I do now.”
She contemplated her glass, frowning thoughtfully, making Ames want to smooth the furrows from her forehead. “Did you ever feel like he got all the attention?”
Her comment took him aback. She’d hit it, absolutely. “Why do you say that?”
“My sister and me. You’d never believe it to look at me, but I was more of a rebel than Chris.”
“No way. I would have picked her as the bad girl.”
“I know, right? But it was me. I cut school, tried to fail a few courses, hung out with a wild crowd, had just a few issues conforming to expectations, yadda yadda.”
He just laughed. “Uh-huh.”
“I think Chris felt as if I did all that for the spotlight, instead of what it really was.”
“What was it?”
She frowned, looking perplexed. “I’m not exactly sure. Probably partly basic wiring. But it’s also really hard to be born into a close family and feel like you’re the only one who is different. I suppose some people react by suppressing their differences to fit in better. I did the opposite. Anyway, it took Chris and me a while to work it out. But we did.”
“We did, too. In the meantime Mike settled down, got a good job, married a great woman. They have a kid on the way.” He stared at his plate, wondering at this urge to unburden himself tonight. Maybe Jean had made a Lasagna of Truth. “I had goals, things I wanted to accomplish, life plans. I was self-sufficient. So I guess I did feel at times as if I took second place to his bad behavior.”
“Hmm.” Eva regarded him thoughtfully. “So what you’re saying is that your brother was a sexy rebel and you were an uptight little nerd.”
“Yes.” He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s it exactly.”
Her smile turned wicked. The sparkle returned to her eyes. “You poor guy. No wonder mini golf was so traumatic. I should have suggested a library trip. We could have hung out in the reference section.”
“Oh, yeah.” He sent her a smoldering look. “And have you read me the dictionary?”
“Ha!” She threw him a look and finished her lasagna. He was glad to see her relaxing enough to eat well. He’d barely touched his. Nervous. Unsettled.
And, oh, yeah, all those French fries.
“So what about your family? Are your parents more like you or Chris?”
“Like Chris. Numbers, charts, schedules...and there was me, freak child.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised they didn’t auction me off on eBay.”
“I would have bought you.” The words slipped out more seriously than he’d intended.
She looked startled, then blew a mischievous raspberry. “Yeah, I’ll bet. And you’d take me to your fancy dinners and parties and insist I wear this very outfit.”
An awkward silence passed while he tried to imagine Eva as his date to Boyce Wines’s client dinner at La Grenouille Laide at the end of the month. He’d taken Taylor the previous year, and had to admit that he’d been pumped showing up with the hottest woman in the room, but their relationship had already turned dysfunctional. “Why, would you want to go with me to fancy dinners?”
“No, I wouldn’t want to go with you. Jeez. I’d be completely out of place.”
“Oh.” Her rejection startled him with its intensity. “Okay.”
More awkwardness.
“Hey.” Eva touched his sleeve, worried and subdued again. “I’m sorry. I assumed you were teasing me.”
“Yeah, I was.” He glared down at his plate. The Lasagna of Truth had failed him. He’d only been half teasing. Or maybe...
Damn it, he had no idea. His brother was right, the woman had messed...him...up!
“Well, because—”
“Why, do you—”
They stopped, each waiting for the other to break the stalemate.
Then they started laughing.
“Okay. I think we’ll drop that topic.” Eva drained her glass and stood with her empty plate. “Thanks so much for the rescue tonight. I should get going. Early shift tomorrow.”