Page 9 of Necessary Evil

“Fuck yourself,” she came back at him. “It’s cheaper.”

“Ladies,” Evan said, sauntering over, “don’t fight. You’re both pretty.”

“Fuck you too, Evil,” McKinley said, but with less heat in his voice.

“I’m taken.” Evan slung an arm around Lucy’s shoulders. She tensed at the heavy weight but forced herself to relax against him. After Travis’s rejection, it was a slight balm to her ego that at least one guy didn’t think she was a leper.

“Not by me, you’re not,” she said, just so he didn’t get any ideas. She also said it so she wouldn’t get any ideas. He was overwhelming up close, especially when he smiled like that.

“Come on, it’s a party. We’re supposed to have a good time.”

Lucy knew she should shove his arm off, but she really didn’t want to spend her day off fighting with McKinley and his band of jerks. Besides, it felt nice to have Evan on her side. He smelled delicious too, a crisp lime and musk scent that made her want to sidle closer.

“You better make sure you don’t run any stop signs,” McKinley said, shaking his spatula at her.

For a moment she had forgotten McKinley was there.

“Oh, I always do the speed limit and my taillights are working properly, don’t you worry,” Lucy said, ignoring Evan’s warning squeeze on her elbow.

“Do you always have to have the last word?” Evan asked.

“She’s a lawyer. What do you expect?” McKinley said, finishing his can of Budweiser in three long swallows.

“I should get back and see if they need any more help.” She turned and slid out of Evan’s embrace reluctantly. She didn’t need to prove anything by standing in front of this firing squad. Inside the building were people who actually liked her.

“In the kitchen, where you belong,” McKinley muttered.

Lucy whirled but bumped into Evan’s chest as he backed her toward the kitchen. “Don’t,” he said in a soft voice. “You’re just giving him what he wants.”

He was right, even though she was so tempted to punch McKinley’s lights out. But then she’d be the one arrested for assault and battery, and, unlike with her brother, there would be plenty of witnesses glad to put her at the scene.

“He’s not worth it,” Evan said again. “Let’s get a drink. I want to spend some time with you.”

“Why?” she asked, searching his face for ulterior motives.

“Hey, Evil,” Jenny said when they walked into the kitchen. “Is Josh here?”

“No,” Evan lied, and pulled Lucy away by the arm when he saw that she was preparing to take the tray of condiments outside for round two.

Lucy frowned at him. Jenny would find out that Josh, aka Sentinel, was outside as soon as she went for a burger. And she would see that he had a voluptuous redhead on the back of his bike. She didn’t want Jenny to be hurt, but it had been two years since Lucy had caught her and Sentinel doing it on a bunch of coats at Evan’s retirement party.

Don’t think about that night.

Too late.

It was all she could think about when he was this close to her.

What if…

Evan reached into the large cooler and pulled out two beers.

“Actually, I’m going to stick with root beer,” she said, taking a can from the other cooler. “It would be just like one of these wise guys to try to get me for a DUI. So what’s this about spending time with me? Last time I checked, we weren’t doing the FWB thing.”

She shouldn’t have said that. It made him look at her mouth as if he was thinking about kissing it.

Not this time.

Maybe.