Chapter Six: Stalemate
The unexpected weather wasn’t the only thing causing havoc. The man, who she was far too conscious of on every physical level imaginable, had her right where he seemed to want her—alone on a luxury yacht. She watched as Evan walked inside the open galley and sat the cooler on the granite countertop.
“This is some boat you have,” she said looking around the salon at the white leather furnishings, the exquisite inlaid wood floors, and the glass windows surrounding the interior gave a panoramic view of the marina.
She stared outside as shards of rain poured from dark clouds all around them. Then her eyes zoomed in on a pair of wine glasses resting on the nearby sofa table. One had a red smudged of lipstick on the rim. Looking across at Evan, she had to wonder who he had brought here recently. He worked faster than Peter. It had only been four days since he had been with her and already he had moved on to his next conquest. For some odd reason, she felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of him with another woman. Where on earth had that come from? She had no right to feel anything one way or the other where he was concerned. It wasn’t like they had ever had a real relationship.
Evan was bent over rifling through the fridge when she heard him say, “I’m surprised you’ve never been here before.”
“Oh and why’s that?”
Closing the door, he turned around with a bottle of water clutched in each hand. “I thought Peter would have brought you here. This is one of his favorite places to bring women.”
She didn’t even know Peter liked the water. On the few occasions she had invited him to the beach he had always declined. She felt a sliver of hurt stab her heart. Looking away from Evan’s watchful stare, she said, “I see bringing women here is one of your favorite pastimes as well.”
He walked over and handed her the water with a confused look on his face. “What are you talking about? I haven’t been out here in years.”
His gaze dropped to the two glasses on the table. “I see. You think these are mine.”
He picked up the stemware and carried them back to the galley. “I can assure you, I wasn’t the one doing the late night entertaining if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Who said I was implying anything? I really don’t care where or when you do your entertaining.”
“You don’t like it when I point out the obvious. Tell me, what exactly was your deal with Peter? You didn’t sleep with him. You’ve never seen the inside of the boat. I’m beginning to think the relationship might be all in your head.”
His words hit an aching nerve. She felt her blood pressure rising and before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “I’ll have you know Peter proposed to me.”
Immediately hating her childish admission, she followed with, “Right before he dumped me for another woman.”
“How did that make you feel?” he asked, never taking his watchful eyes from hers. He moved around the island and took a seat in one of the white leather bar chairs waiting for her reply.
The last thing she wanted was pity and especially from Peter’s brother.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You need to talk. You need to get it out of your system so you can move on. And I don’t mean move on by jumping in bed with the first available man that comes along. That’s not going to fix your problem, Beth.”
“I don’t have a problem. I have moved on and what I do in bed is none of your concern.”
“You made it my concern when you decided to make me the man you jumped in bed with, which by the way, I’m still confused about the whole thing. Why did you sleep with me? It’s apparent that’s something you’d never done before.”
