Desire (11 page)

She blinked, clearly shocked by his admission.

“You went to my father when you didn’t even ask
me. I might not want to fucking marry you.” He fought not to laugh when she
stamped her foot. She looked so cute and adorable. “No, you don’t get to laugh.
I can’t believe I trusted you.” Wendy stormed off up the street.

Evan followed her. If he went home with her
pissed at him then Drake was going to kill him. Her emotional outburst that
morning had been the cause for him to visit her father. He didn’t like the
guilt in her eyes, and he knew Ronald was the cause.

“Wendy, slow down and listen.”

“No.” She spun on the spot. “You don’t get to
order me around. I’m so angry at you right now. You had no right to interfere,
and you’d better tell Drake not to bother picking me up tonight. I’m not in the
mood.”

She walked off.

Shit. Drake was going to kill him.

****

Drake hummed a tune in his head as he keyed in
the code for the running machine to go faster. Since Wendy had left he’d been
using the spare time he possessed to burn off steam. The image of her body
wrapped around him and then his brother kept plaguing him. After two cold
showers and masturbating to his memories, Drake had settled for running.

The sound of the door slamming broke into his
thoughts.

He didn’t bother to answer the yell. At thirty
years old he no longer answered to screeching.

Evan appeared in the doorway minutes later. He
looked like he’d been punched in the gut.

“What did you do? You only dropped her off,”
Drake said.

“I went to see her father.”

Drake stumbled on the machine and fell down. He
cursed as pain exploded around his body at the impact. Evan was next to him
right away.

“Are you all right?”

The machine was turned off. Drake tried to stand,
but pain exploded in his wrist.

“I think I’ve sprained my wrist.”

“We need to get you to the emergency room,” Evan
said. When Drake was standing he stopped his brother from moving.

“We agreed we’d talk to her father in time and
together. Why did you go without me?” Drake asked.

“There’s a lot of unfinished business between us
and Ronald. I didn’t want Wendy to be upset by her decision.”

Drake cursed. “We only just got her to agree and
you went and interfered. Please, tell me you didn’t do anything else.”

Evan wouldn’t look at him.

“Fuck. Why couldn’t you just let this develop?”
he asked.

“I needed to get it out of the way.”

“Well, she obviously caught you, and what did
she say?” Drake didn’t want to know the answer. Wendy was anything but a
doormat. He didn’t for an instant imagine she’d be all friendly about it.

“She got mad, and we’re not to pick her up.”

After that, Drake tried to go to the emergency
room alone. Evan wouldn’t let him. His brother escorted him there then back.
He’d sprained his wrist and needed to rest for a few days. After the fact Evan
had fucked up their relationship resting wouldn’t be a problem.

Evan agreed to go to Desire alone.

Drake refused to talk to his brother for the
remainder of the day, and when he left for the night, Drake sent Wendy a text
message.

Hi,
Babe. Sorry about my shithead of a brother. Am I forgiven?

No response came through. He turned on the
television to distract his thoughts when his phone beeped.

Is
he there?

He responded.

Can
you call me?

In the next moment he dialled her number. She
answered on the first ring.

“Hi,” she said.

“I was worried you wouldn’t speak to me.”

She chuckled. “I’m so angry at him. You come as
a double package, and I didn’t want to risk seeing him.”

“Can I come and see you?” he asked. Drake needed
to see her and remind her of the way he could make her feel.

“I thought you were working tonight?”

Drake told her about his accident and the
sprained wrist.

“You’re such a poor baby.”

Laughing, Drake stood ready to leave. “I can be ‘round
to your place in no time. Please, say yes.”

She paused over the line. “Yes, come ‘round.
Tiffany’s at
work,
and my father won’t talk to me.”

“I’ll be there soon. I’ll grab a taxi.”

He left a note for his brother then phoned for a
taxi.

Wendy went down to meet him. She opened the door
and followed him up the stairs.

“Did you come down to make sure Evan hadn’t
followed me?” he asked.

She closed the door to her apartment, chuckling.
“No, I didn’t think that. Well, maybe just a little.”

Drake watched as she went straight to the
kitchen. She poured two glasses of milk. “I figured you’d need milk because of
you being on pain killers.”

“Milk is good.” He sat down at the end of the
sofa waiting for her to join him. She placed their drinks in front of them
before taking the seat next to him. Joy filled him when she snuggled against
him. “What are you thinking?”

“This is nice. Evan really pissed me off.”

“Are you going to stop seeing us because of it?”

She let out a sigh then shook her head. “I’m not
that petty. I wish I could be, but I enjoyed last night. I don’t want to lose
that, and I’m happy to see where this goes.” Drake stroked her arm loving her
response. “That feels nice.”

“So, you’re going to make him sweat a little.”

Wendy shrugged. “I haven’t got a clue what I’m
going to do. I don’t want him to think he can get away with going behind my
back. I love my Dad, and what he did was wrong.”

“He cares about you. Evan has always been this
way. When he sees what he wants he goes for it without any questions.” Drake
defended his brother as best as he could.

“You’re going to defend him. You do everything
together.”

Drake chuckled. “He’s my big brother, and I love
him. Without him, we wouldn’t have what we have today. In his way he cares, and
I think you should trust him, but I also think you need to make him sweat.”

“You’re a tease, Drake.”

“Nope, I look forward to seeing my brother
squirm. He’s used to getting his way all the time. Making him earn it will be
fun.”

She laughed, slapping his thigh. The sound went
straight to his heart. Drake swallowed caught by the emotion in his chest. His
throat felt tight.

“You’re a bad man, Drake.”

Shit, he barely knew Wendy, and yet he didn’t
want to live without her. What the fuck had he done?

Chapter
Twelve

Rolling up the note Evan threw it in the
trashcan. He locked the front door then made his way up to his room. The bedding
had been neatly arranged, and he imagined the scent of Wendy had been washed
out. The cleaners he hired were efficient.

After a quick shower Evan settled into bed. He
sent a quick text to his brother making sure he was all right. The night had
been long and drawn out. For most of the night he’d wanted to go home. Desire
was successful, but he couldn’t seem to let go and let it run itself.

He lay back against his pillow thinking about
the day. Going to her father had felt like the most likely solution when in
fact he’d only caused more problems.

Slamming his palm against his head did little to
ease him. He’d been heavy-handed for a long time. Being in control was
important to him. Allowing others to take over his life wasn’t an option. All
he was doing with her father was assuring their future, but Wendy had been
right. What future? They’d not made any guarantees.

His cell phone buzzed with Drake’s picture
coming up on the screen. Accepting the call Evan rubbed his eyes. “Have you
taken your pain medication?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ve taken everything. Wendy is asleep.
She looks so peaceful.”

A punch to the gut wouldn’t have hurt more than
his brother’s words. “I guess she kissed and made it all better.” To him, his
words sounded full of bitterness. Shit, what was happening to him?

“Not like that, Evan. We talked. Nothing else
happened. She’s not like that, and you know it.”

Letting out a sigh Evan nodded then realised his
brother couldn’t see. “I fucked up big style.”

“You can fix it and make it right. Wendy won’t
hold a grudge.”

“I wish she was in my arms now.” Evan admitted
his yearning to his brother. He’d known her less than a week, and already he
wanted her desperately.

“We need to give her time. I’ve not touched her
other than to kiss her.”

“I better let you go. Will you be home
tomorrow?” he asked. “I’m visiting Mom and Dad.” He’d bought flowers and left
them in the sink. Visiting his parents’ graves was important to him.

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

They talked for several minutes more before
calling off. Throwing his phone onto his bed side unit Evan closed his eyes
waiting for sleep to claim him.

He tossed and turned throughout the night, and
the following morning his mood wasn’t much better. Drake had left him a text
message saying he’d meet him at the cemetery. After a quick shower and
breakfast, Evan grabbed the flowers then made his way out into the cold Sunday
morning. The biting cold gave him little comfort. The winter wasn’t his
favourite time of year.

Drake was by the gates waiting for him. Evan
started when he saw Wendy holding his hand.

His heart sped up at the sight of her. She wore
a pair of black trousers that shaped her legs perfectly. A large coat covered
other parts. She wore a tri-coloured hat with little pompoms that dangled past
her ears.

To him, she looked so adorable and sexy.

“I invited her along. I didn’t think you’d
mind,” Drake said.

Evan didn’t have much choice. She was there, and
he wouldn’t be the one to push her away. Shrugging, he opened the gate letting
them both in. Drake’s wrist was still bound up.

“I’m sorry about your parents passing,” she
said, moving toward his side.

He nodded. He’d never been good at dealing with
sympathy. Losing his parents hurt more than anything, but he’d learned to live
with it.

She took his hand giving him a gentle squeeze.
Evan took the comfort.

“We try to visit them as much as possible,”
Drake said.

“My Mom is gone. It’s hard. I struggle to visit
her. Too many memories and they hurt too much.”

She offered them comfort as they left the
flowers cleaning up the last lot. Wendy didn’t force them to hurry, and when
they moved away she embraced them both.

Evan took them to a coffee shop that was open on
a Sunday. The coffee wasn’t as good as his French café one. Evan sipped through
it pleased with the company he kept.

Drake left them to use the bathroom. Evan took
the opportunity to apologise to her. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. I acted
rashly, and I won’t let it happen again.”

Wendy stared at him over the rim of her cup. “Your
apology is accepted. I’m not promising anything, and I really don’t want you
talking to my father again. This is about us, and I want to leave it like
that.”

“We’re not letting you go,” Evan said.

She placed her cup on the table. The sound was
hard and drew the attention of several customers. “You don’t know me, Evan
Johnson. For the better part of the last six years since you bought my father’s
shop, I’ve despised you. I’m attracted to you and Drake, I’m not denying it,
but I refuse to be manipulated or manhandled.”

He went to interfere, and Wendy held a hand up
stopping him from talking.

“Stop trying to take over my life and let this
happen naturally. Drake told me you have to control everything. I’m not staying
if you think you can control me. I refuse to stay, Evan.”

Biting his tongue, Evan kept his thoughts to
himself. The need to order her to his side was strong. He ignored every impulse
to command she do as she was told. Drake returned after he’d nodded his head in
agreement.

They finished their coffee without argument.
Wendy left them to walk back to her apartment.

“Don’t fuck this up,” Drake said.

 
Evan
would do everything in his power to make it work. He enjoyed her company even
though he’d spent so little time with her. Her requests were not unreachable,
and in the end he’d get what he wanted.

****

Several days later Wendy spilt her coffee over
the kitchen counter when Tiffany slammed the door to her apartment. Her friend
was cursing and throwing her shoes into the corner of their apartment. Wiping
up the mess, Wendy stood in the doorway of the kitchen.