Page 18 of The Fallen Man

“Hey Ev,” he said, picking up cautiously, uncertain if Olivia had promptly forwarded the message to Evan.

“Are you and Dominique coming or what? This campaign guy is starting to fidget, and I can’t kick him out of my office. And now I’m loitering in the hall because it is my resolution to not be quite so rude to people, but he keeps sniffing.”

“Notquiteso rude?”

“I think we may all need to accept that there is a baseline level of rude that is just part of my personality.”

“I do accept that, actually,” said Jackson nodding reflectively.

“So should everyone else. Now, where are you?” Jackson checked the wall of mirrors in front of him, scanning the room and sneaking a peak at the model again.

“We stopped at the House of Amery to discuss Olivia’s wedding dress.”

He quickly glanced at Dominique in the mirrors and caught the designer checking him out.

“Oh God,” said Evan. “You’re never going to get here.”

“What does your brother do again?” asked Victor in what Jackson guessed was supposed to be a whisper. No one could ever keep straight that Aiden and Dominique were the only siblings among the Deverauxes. Jackson didn’t mind having his ass admired in general, but Amery seemed callous about it—his attitude was echoed in the way the tailors were treating the model.

“It’s fine,” said Jackson. “We’re almost done.”

“Security,” said Dominique, without correcting their relationship. Something crisp in her tone told him she also didn’t appreciate the designer’s vibe.

“Are we sure?” asked Amery. “Because with that build, he could do modeling.”

“You say almost done, but…” said Evan.

“I can’t think of anything he’d hate more,” said Dominique.

“I know, I know,” said Jackson. “But we’ve moved like two entire rooms toward the front door in the last five minutes. I’ll pick her up and carry her if I have to.”

Evan laughed. “Hey, you’re coming over for dinner afterward, right? Olivia’s baking, and I can’t eat all the cupcakes alone.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Jackson. Olivia was a stress baker.

“She’s stymied at work and presenting at a symposium next month. She’s having that school dream where you’re naked in front of the class and forgot to study.”

Jackson laughed. “I have literally never had that dream.”

“I think only people that really cared about school have that dream,” said Evan.

“That leaves me out then,” said Jackson. He didn’t add that GED graduates probably never had that dream.

“Pretty sure Aiden and Olivia have it at least once a year. Considering I was high for most of college, I don’t think I’ll ever have it.” Jackson laughed again. He appreciated Evan’s honesty, but he knew that high or not, Evan had still managed to pull down B averages at an Ivy League school. “We’ll have to ask Dominique for a true sampling.”

“Yeah, we should,” he said and looked around for Dominique only to realize that she and Victor had disappeared. “Oh, son of a bitch!”

“What?” asked Evan.

“She got away from me. Now I have to backtrack.”

“Time to carry her out,” said Evan.

“I’m thinking about it,” said Jackson.

“See you in an hour then. Maybe I can shove a Zyrtec up his nose,” said Evan and hung up.

Jackson looked up in frustration at the brunette model. She really was gorgeous. It was unfair that he had to leave herstanding there, but family came first. The girl subtly lifted a hand and pointed toward the far door.