Paige frowned. “It’s something I try to forget.”
“She seemed to think that if you were having fun in your working day, it meant you weren’t working hard enough.” Frankie sat back, put her feet on the table and grinned. “And here we are, working hard and having fun. So come on, Ev, the hard work is done and now I want the truth about why you’re so distracted. Debrief on your time with Lucas Blade. Did you steal any signed books? Was he working crazily hard? I can’t wait for his next one.”
She’d given her friends an edited version of her time with Lucas, leaving out the fact that he had writer’s block. That was his secret. Not hers to share.
“I spent my time in the kitchen,” she said truthfully. “And he was in his office.”
“So you ate separately?”
“We ate dinner together.”
“So you must have talked about something.”
“Not really.” Eva was deliberately vague and Frankie exchanged glances with Paige.
“Ev.” Frankie’s tone was patient. “This is you we’re talking about. You can’t go five seconds without saying something. Remember that sponsored silence at school? You raised no money at all. None. Not a single cent.”
Eva flushed. “We made small talk. I don’t remember what about.”
Paige put her pen down, her gaze warm. “You like him, don’t you?”
Frankie frowned. “Of course she doesn’t like him. He yelled at her!”
“That was my fault,” Eva said. “I shouldn’t have accepted that invitation without asking him first.”
“How were you born so forgiving?” Frankie swung her legs off the desk. “The guy was rude. You should have punched him and walked out.”
“She did walk out,” Paige said and Eva felt a stab of regret.
“I’d finished the job.” But she could have found an excuse to stay on, and part of her wished she had. How could you miss someone you’d known for only a couple of days? “He’s hurting. He lost the love of his life. They met when they were just kids.”
“How do you know that?”
Eva felt her cheeks burn. “I just do.” She didn’t tell her friends that she’d read the media reports. His wife had slipped on the ice while climbing into a cab. Her head injury had been massive. She’d never woken up from the coma. It had happened just a few weeks before Christmas.
Now she understood why he hadn’t wanted her to leave that night. Why he’d stared out at the weather as if it was repugnant. And she’d made all those guileless comments about the magic of snow.
“He made it clear he didn’t want to go to anything. I made the decision for him and it was wrong of me. I hate when people do that to me.”
Frankie gave her a speculative look. “Is there more than your marshmallow heart going on here?”
“What? No. Of course not.” Eva felt the flush start at her neck and travel slowly up her face. “He’s had a horrid time, that’s all.”
“So this is pity we’re seeing?” Frankie gave her a long look. “Come on, Ev. Tell us the truth. Paige is right. You liked him, didn’t you?”
She gave up pretending. “Yes, I liked him. He was smart and good company. And interesting.”
“I thought you didn’t say anything to each other?”
Paige smothered a smile and returned to her desk. “Leave the girl to her secrets, Frankie.”
“I will not. Eva wants love, which makes her vulnerable. It’s my job to vet any man she falls in love with.”
“I’m not in love!” Eva’s protests went ignored.
“I’m vetting raw lust, too, because there’s a high likelihood that you’ll fall in love with whoever you sleep with.”
“Not true!”