Rex ANYA CAUGHT UP to me when I least expected it, as I was waiting for Evie to return and admiring a print by a local artist. “You’ve been dodging me all evening,” she said, sneaking up from behind me.
“Well, I’ve been trying.” She inclined her head at me and pursed her lips in the way she often did. “And why is that?” I checked for Evie, hoping she might pop out of the restroom and head my way. But there was no sign of my Anya shield. Fuck me. “I’ve been busy.” She narrowed her eyes, but then let it go. I could never tell what her actual emotions might be. She had so many perfectly rehearsed facial expressions. “You’re always busy. I hope I’ll see you at the opera next week. It’s a Wagner. You always go for Wagne r shows.” “Not always,” I said simply, and downed the rest of my drink. I wasn’t three sheets to the wind like Evie was, but I suddenly wished I were. “Look,” she said, her voice dropping the glossy tone she always used at social events. The real Anya was about to come out. “Anya,” I said, hoping to head off anything she might say, but then I spotted Evie, standing like a deer in the headlights, staring at me. This was not the time for her to get shy. I needed her to strut across this gallery and claim me in some undeniable way so that Anya — hell, my parents, too, since they were nearby — would back the hell off. I’m not a spiritual man, but suddenly I believed wholeheartedly in tel epathic abilities. I tried to send mental messages to her. Evie, get over here. Look confident. Look hot. Let’s show this entire gallery we’re together. She made her way toward me, but not confidently. She did what I can only describe as a slink, her eyes darting from me to Anya. Don’t chicken out. You’re my fake girlfriend. Act like it, please. In my dreams, she would have come toward me and wrapped her arms around me so Anya would have no doubts that this relationship was as real as it came. Instead, Evie came up beside me and put her hand around my elbow like we were some Regency couple. It was effective, at least. Anya’s eyebrow arched, and her glare went straight to that hand. “So she wasn’t kidding,” Anya said in a low voice. “No, I wasn’t,” Evie said. “Anya, this is my girlfriend, Evie.” The words stuck in my throat more than I expected. My girlfriend. I hadn’t dated in a long time, tired of the games people play around wealth, and — frankly — tired of trying to be the man most women who dated a rich man se emed to want. I’d introduced Evie as my girlfriend to my family, but now we were really going live.
“Girlfriend,” Anya r epeated more than asked, probably as shocked as I was to hear that word coming out of me. “Oh, well, how did you two meet? It must have been recently.” “We met at a cafe near work,” Evie said, cutting me off. “We just hit it off. You’re right, it’s recent, but it doesn’t feel that way. That’s how you know it’s real, isn’t it?” I almost laughed. Anya looked like she had taken a bite of a lemon. I hadn’t had so much fun in a long while. I k ept my face straight because this might work, which suddenly struck me as a little thrilling. I might actually get my way instead of getting pushed into a marriage I didn’t want. “I need to go ask your parents something,” Evie said, and I felt her body press against mine. I looked down to see her standing on her toes, her lips approaching mine. I didn’t have time to think. When her lips touched mine, they lingered. When she pulled away, she gave my arm a squeeze before she left. The kiss surprised me, but it surprised Anya more. “You look smitten,” Anya said, and I realized my eyes had followed Evie as she walked away. All the better. “I am,” I said. “Sure you are. Since when have you ever done smitten?” “Since now, I suppose.” “You suppose?” I took a sip of my drink since I didn’t know how to answer that or what she was getting at. “You’re not acting like yourself,” she said flatly. “What does that mean?” “That kiss. Watching her walk away like you already miss her. I don’t get this change in you.” Maybe the lingering kiss wasn’t enough. Maybe it should have lingered longer. “I don’t know what to tell you, Anya. Evie is my girlfriend. We haven’t been together long, but so far, I’m happy.” “Well, if you’re happy, I guess that’s all that matters.” She said the words, but I didn’t hear a single note of sincerity in her tone. Not one. Not that I usually did. “I’m glad you feel that way. I’m going to go see what my parents and Evie are talking about.”
She ignored me and shifted her weight to one hip. “You know what I think?” “What’s that?” “I don’t think you can stay with someone who would wear that dress to the city’s most prestigious fundraiser.” “Excuse me?” “You heard me.” At that, I rolled my eyes at her. Then I started to walk away, but she stayed by my side, going so far as to link her arm around mine. “I know you don’t want to be with me, but you need to realize it’s the best option for both of us.” I said nothing. This wasn’t the place to do this. Frankly, nowhere was the place to do this. “Dating her won’t help you es cape what your parents want from you,” she said. By the time she dared utter those words, we were close to my parents and Evie. Evie’s eyes fell onto Anya’s arm around mine, which prompted me to pull my arm away from Anya. She didn’t fight me. Evie smiled at me, gave Anya a bit of a look, and held out he r hand for mine. I took her hand and let her draw me closer. Anya briefly greeted my parents, but then made her way toward a clump of Seattle’s richest executives. I was glad to see her go rather than having her cause a scene, and yet I knew this was far from over. Still, she k ept her distance for the rest of the evening. I didn’t even see her as we were d eparting, which was unusual. She almost always made a point of saying goodbye to me at functions. Instead, Evie and I waited in front of the gallery for Adaline. “I had a nice time tonight,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I would, but I really did.” “Me, too.” “I think Anya watched us all night, though. I think she’s still watching us.” “Really?” I turned to look, but didn’t see her. “In the gallery window, on the left. You’re not being very subtle.”
Then I saw Anya, staring us down. I pretended not to look her way and pointed to an architectural feature on the building so Evie would look at it. Smooth, Rex. Smooth. “I think you should kiss me,” Evie said. The words were simple enough, but the response in my pants was not. For that reason alone, I didn’t want to kiss her. “She’s watching, and I get weird vibes from her. I think she’s suspicious of us. I think a kiss would help.” Her logic was sound. It was just a kiss, nothing more. If Anya saw, all the better. She obviously needed a hint. When I looked at Evie, standing there, willing, waiting, I froze. My guts twisted. I did not know why. But I couldn’t stand there figuring it out when the right thing to do was help Anya understand she and I would never happen. So I leaned forward and kissed Evie, and this kiss was not quick or stilted. Her soft mouth touched mine. Her hands went around the back of my neck and pulled me closer, and something happened to me when she did that. I took the kiss de eper. My tongue part ed her lips. I wound my arms around the small of her back and pulled her body to mine. If we were going to put on these shows, we would not mess around with tame kisses that Anya would doubt. We would take this all the way. When we pulled away, the dewy look on Evie’s face surprised me, but not nearly as much as me not letting go of her right away, not even after Adaline arrived. We stood there, gazing at each other, and I did not know what was going on. But I wanted it to ke ep happening.