Dare to Tempt - Carly Phillips Page 0,15

was being … chivalrous.”

Quinn’s smile grew wider. “Another word I wouldn’t have associated with Damon.” She took a sip of her coffee.

“Back to the flowers, you’re sure it’s John?” Quinn asked.

Running her hand over the smooth wooden table, Evie thought about the afternoon. “Mack didn’t find a card with the flowers and the flowers were in a plain white box. I wanted to dig, but he insisted it was his job.”

“As your brother or as a detective?” Quinn raised an eyebrow.

Chuckling, Evie said, “A little bit of both.” Even though it killed her to take a step back in her own life and investigation, she’d let her brother handle it. “You know, Damon thinks John surfaced now because we went viral in that picture and he’s jealous. I have a life and he doesn’t. We know he blames me, but it was his fault he lost his law license, his job, his marriage. Not mine.” Her hand squeezed the cup too tight and the top popped off. At least she’d drunk enough coffee so it didn’t spill.

“So Damon knows everything about John?” Quinn asked pointedly.

Evie shook her head. “Not everything.” She not-so-absently rubbed the scar on her arm. “That’s on a need-to-know business and he doesn’t need to know. I’m just hoping that with that one prank, John got his digs in and he’s done with me.”

“I hope so.”

But they both knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t in her ex’s nature to give up.

“So, how’s that adorable baby?” Evie changed the subject to Quinn’s favorite topic.

“Jenny is so cute! She knows my voice and turns toward me when she hears me. And she smiles at us. Close to a laugh.”

Her eyes lit up as she described the baby that had been left on Austin’s doorstep and turned out to be his. He’d asked Quinn, who’d been his assistant at the time, to move in and help, and they’d fallen in love. Which effectively made her Jenny’s mother since the baby’s biological mom had signed away her parental rights.

“And I want to go shopping this weekend for furniture. She can’t stay in a Pack ’n Play forever and we need to make her room into a nursery.”

“Sounds great. I’m thrilled for you. You know that, right?” If anyone deserved happiness, it was Quinn. She always did things for others. As a child, she’d helped her parents raise her siblings, and she was the perfect executive assistant. She hadn’t planned on a family of her own, but now that she had one, she literally glowed with happiness.

Evie expected Austin to propose any day now and she knew Quinn would say yes. Because happily ever after was in the cards for some people. Just not for Evie. Damon was a job and she intended to handle it and him well.

* * *

Evie drove home, more aware of her surroundings than she’d ever been before, hyper-focused and more alert than since she’d moved and tried to put John behind her. She left her car and locked it, heading inside. She kept a hand on her hip, where she could easily reach her gun, and walked into the lobby, taking the elevator to her floor.

Soon she was back in her apartment, where she locked up tight and closed her shades. One more incident and she planned to ask the landlord’s permission to install an alarm. She didn’t want to overreact in case John had just been looking for one last-ditch opportunity to frighten her with the flowers and the snake. If he was on a mission of terror, she needed every means of keeping him out.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head she ate some quick leftovers. Then she took a shower, wrapped her hair into a bun, and slid on her favorite soft-as-butter tank top and panties.

Instead of obsessing, she took out her headphones and pulled up an app her yoga instructor had recommended for sleep and stress, headphones being an important part of the meditation and sounds.

Then she lay down, turned on the soothing voice, and followed the instructions, getting lost in her breathing and the calming exercises. As usual, when it ended, she pulled off the headphones and rolled over, immediately falling into a deep sleep.

She woke when she heard what she thought was the building’s fire alarm going off. The sun was just beginning to peek through the sides of the window.

Since it wasn’t a normal occurrence, she rushed out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans, slipped her flip-flops