Page 14 of Happily Evan After (Dog Tags #5)

chapter

fourteen

Marley

After making me come more times than I could count last night, Evan slept in my bed. And I slept the best I have in months, maybe years. I haven’t agreed to anything other than going on a date with him tonight, but it’s a step.

Maybe I can put myself out there and trust that he wants me more than his need to uphold some sense of duty.

I have been an obligation before. I don’t want that ever again. And I certainly don’t want it for my daughter.

It’s been a relatively slow day at the clinic, which is why I let the rest of the staff go out together for lunch.

So I’m sitting up front when the guy walks in.

He’s wearing dark sunglasses and what I think might be a leather coat, but that seems insane in the heat of the Texas summer.

He’s alone, and he walks straight up to the counter.

I don’t miss the fact that he has no animal with him.

“Can I help you?” Maybe he’s looking for Lily’s side of the clinic, the big animal section.

He pulls off his shades in what feels like a practiced move. He levels his gaze on me and I’m met with thickly lashed green eyes that look oddly familiar.

“Looking for the vet. Marley something,” he says.

“That’s me.”

He stares at me for a beat, then nods. “Older than I would have guessed, but alright.” He reaches into his leather jacket and pulls out a stack of folded paper. “These are from my attorney. You can have your own read over them and submit any changes, but I think you’ll find the terms are fair.”

“I’m sorry. Who are you?” I ask, deliberately not reaching for the papers he’s holding out.

He frowns. “You don’t know who I am?”

“No. Should I?”

He releases what sounds like an annoyed chuckle. “Most people do. But I’m Abel Cartwright. I believe you know my brother.”

“Oh! You must be Evan’s twin. No wonder your eyes look familiar.”

That seems to annoy him, but he doesn’t say anything about my comparison.

I hold my hand out to him. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Abel. I’m Marley, Evan’s…” but I falter because what am I to Evan? Not his girlfriend. Just his pregnant hookup.

Abel smirks. “The woman who got herself pregnant. Yeah, I’m aware.

What I want to know is how you figured out he’s my brother.

Was it that damn article in People magazine from a few years ago?

They were doing a special on famous people and their non-famous siblings.

Our pictures were right on the same page as Ewan McGregor and his military brother. ”

“I’m sorry. I truly have no idea what you’re talking about. How could I possibly know he was your brother if I have no idea who you are?” I say.

“I told you who I am.”

“Yes, Abel Cartwright.”

He shakes his head. “No, the Abel Cartwright.”

“Well, I’m the Marley Olsen. What do you want?”

“You’re going to continue pretending you don’t recognize me?”

I just stare blankly at him. Maybe Evan was waiting to tell me that his brother is a little soft in the head. Or at the very least, extremely egotistical.

“Oh, maybe this will help.” He takes a few steps back from the counter and lifts his shirt, exposing a perfectly honed abdomen and chest. It’s hairless and completely scar-free.

“Do you need me to call someone for you?” I ask him.

“Lady, come on! I’ve been on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine three times. I’ve been in fifteen major blockbuster movies, two of which are among the highest-grossing films of all time.”

“Congratulations,” I say.

“For fuck’s sake,” he mutters. “Look, I don’t know what kind of scheme you’re cooking up, but I’m here to make sure my brother is safe from your clutches.”

“My clutches?”

“Exactly.” He taps the stack of papers on the countertop. “Thus these.”

“Which are?”

“Contracts protecting my brother.”

“From my clutches?” I repeat.

“Exactly.”

“We could make this really simple, though, and I can just pay you a lump sum to disappear from his life,” Abel says.

“Oh, now that’s interesting,” I say. I’m simultaneously amused by this situation and indignant on Evan’s behalf.

It’s one thing for this man to think so poorly of me, a woman he does not know, but to believe your brother is too stupid to take care of himself.

Has he even met Evan, because he’s the most capable man I’ve ever met?

Just yesterday, he cleaned out all of the window boxes of the plant carcasses I killed. He assured me he’d plant new things that would be a little heartier, but it would have to wait for spring. This time of year in Texas is far too hot to plant new things.

It suddenly occurs to me that in that moment, Evan had been telling me something. Making a promise that initially had gone unnoticed. He was going to be here, beside me, past the rest of summer, fall, winter, and into spring.

More than anything else he said to me, those words, that simple promise about flowers, reveal the depth of his sincerity. Of his steadfastness.

“How much?” I ask his brother, just for entertainment purposes.

“One million,” he says.

I half expect him to put his pinkie finger up against his lips. I try not to snicker when I say, “Oh, I’m sure a big star such as you can do better than that.”

“Five million. My final offer. Five million to stay away from my brother, and you have to sign a contract agreeing to never ask him for future financial resources for the kid.”

“What in the actual fuck is going on here?” Evan’s voice comes from the door. He gives me a gentle look. “Hey, Dimples. Can you excuse me and my rat bastard of a brother for a few? I believe I need to teach him some lessons.”

“Oh, could you do it here? I’d rather not go outside in this heat, and I really want to watch this,” I say.

“Evan, calm down,” Abel says while holding his hands up as if that one movement reveals the purity of his motives. “I did this for your own good.”

“I don’t even know what the fuck you did,” Evan says, his tone thick with anger.

“Except offer my girl money to leave me alone.” He takes more steps to close the distance between him and his brother.

“Brother or not—twin or not—what the fuck gives you the right to make an offer on my behalf? Do you have any idea what I would have done to you on the odd chance she agreed to your asinine offer?”

Abel takes a step backward.

“I would have murdered you. In the special way they only teach Army medics in special forces. No one would be able to identify your body when I was done.”

“Calm the fuck down, Evan. I am just trying to protect you.”

“From what?” He points at me. “The woman I love and the baby we created together?”

My eyes cloud with tears as his words hit home. Does he love me? Truly? Can it happen that fast?

You already love him , a voice reminds me.

I come out from around the counter so I can get closer to him.

To Evan. My baby’s father, and the man I’m in love with.

It feels so right to acknowledge that, I kinda want to run outside and scream it at the top of my lungs.

Except for the fact that it feels like the surface of the sun out there.

“Is that what you’re doing?” Evan continues. “She is not Cassandra. Not every woman is Cassandra. In fact, if you’d get out of Hollywood more often. Maybe talk to some people who don’t know what the fuck a colonic is, you might realize that most of us are decent, hard-working people.”

“There are plenty of decent people in Hollywood,” Abel says.

Evan scoffs.

I take the opportunity to grab his hand. “Do you really love me?” I ask.

He turns to face me and his entire demeanor changes. Gone is the hard-edged anger that lined his features a moment ago. Now, when he looks at me, his expression is full of tender affection.

“Yeah, Dimples, I’m nuts about you. Us finding each other was just confirmation to me that we belong together. I had already called a private investigator to see if I could find you. I know that probably makes me sound like a stalker, but I can’t help it. I need you in my life.”

“You’re not worried I was going to accept your brother’s money?” I ask.

“Marley,” Evan says. “Of course not. Maybe we haven’t known each other very long, and I know there are a million things I have yet to learn about you.

But I know you.” He taps on my chest. “I know your heart. You would never have agreed to such an offer. You’re so much better than that.

” The last sentence he grounds out and shoots a death glare at his brother.

He pulls me into his arms, and I breathe in the scent of him. “I love you, too,” I say. “I’m scared, but I do love you.”

“I will slay every dragon you face. The only thing I’m afraid of is living this life without you.”

And then he kisses me.