Page 16 of Forbidden Daddy

A lesser man would have blushed at being called out like that, but I’d had years of practice.

“So, what’s brought you both here?”

“I wanted to show Ev your work—she’s actually a decent artist herself, y’know.”

I eyed up my daughter’s friend, wondering about this new information.

“Oh, really?” I said with a dismissive tone.

“Yes, really,” said Evelyn this time. “Just because I’m a nursing student doesn’t mean I don’t have other interests.”

There was a fire in her eyes. She was angry with me. Good. If she felt the same way about me as I felt about her, that would soon be extinguished.

“Anyway, so can we see your portfolio?” Hannah asked.

I pulled the binder out of my desk and handed it to my daughter. She gestured for her friend to sit with her on the sofa in my office. Evelyn was clearly very uncomfortable, but I watched her visibly relax as she thumbed through my sketches and designs. I could tell that art was something familiar to her by the way she commented on the linework and color choices. I tried to turn my attention back to the job at hand, but her presence was intoxicating. I couldn’t shut my mind off with her around, and that wasn’t good. I was acutely aware of her presence. I registered every move she made, and every word she muttered to Hannah.

After only twenty minutes, Evelyn stood, carrying the binder back to me. When she got closer, I could smell her perfume. It was the same one she’d worn the night of the party, and I saw her in that dress, looking devilishly gorgeous as she danced.

“You’re really very talented,” she commented. “When Hannah said you’d grown your business from the ground up, I hadn’t expected all ofthis.”

I wanted to laugh. I never met people who were surprised at my wealth anymore. The genuine astonishment in her eyes said that her sentiments were genuine, but more than that, she clearly admired the hard work more than the money. That was unusual. I had been on a couple of dates over the last fourteen years but never called anyone back for a second one, never initiated any kind of physical contact, because the money was all they ever cared about. I couldn’t help but feel a little mollified by the look in her eyes. The anger was definitely still there, but more than that, was wonder.

“Would you like to see my most recent designs?” I asked before I realized what I’d said.

“I would love to,” she said quietly.

“I’ll stay here,” Hannah said nonchalantly.

She was on her phone on the sofa, eyes glued to her screen. I braced myself. I hadn’t expected to be alone with Evelyn. Nevertheless, I was a man of my word, and led her out of the room silently. Evelyn looked guarded, one arm across her chest gripping her other arm as we walked. I kept distance between the two of us, almost too much distance because I wasn’t sure I could trust myself around her. We entered the drawing room, whichof coursewas totally empty. I glanced at the clock on the wall, and naturally, all the other artists had gone to lunch. There were drawing boards in every corner of the room, papers clipped into them. Like a kid on Christmas, she danced over to the different boards, oohing and ahhing over each of them. She stopped in front of one in particular, and her eyes were wide.

“This isbrilliant,” she said.

I felt my stomach drop because I already knew which one she was looking at. It was a piece I’d spent a lot of time on, a personal project. There were intricately drawn leaves decorating every corner of the paper, and gold lettering in the center. Her eyes were wide as she took it all in. It was the cover for a children’s book, and I couldn’t deny I was proud. I had personally taken on the work when the publishing house called me.

“That’s our, uh, charity project,” I said, “I’m doing all the artwork for it.”

“I thought you were in graphic design, not illustrations?” she uttered.

Her eyes traced every letter carefully.

“Yes, I am, but they called and asked, and…”

It was hard to voice just why the book meant so much to me, so I handed her the manuscript I’d been sent. Evelyn’s eyes widened as she read. I knew what she saw. The book was part of a project by multiple authors about tragedies children might have to face. The idea was to have a series that could help them comprehend the harder facts of life. The one I was working on was about losing a parent, especially suddenly. The little boy in the book wasn’t around the accident like Hannah had been, but I took it on because I knew a book like that would have helped us talk more when she was younger. I didn’t tell Evelyn all this of course, but she seemed to sense some of my reasons because I could see understanding in her eyes when she looked back up at me.

“Thank you for showing me these,” she uttered.

I thought there were tears beginning to form in her eyes, but she turned away too quickly for me to see. I wanted to reach out, at least ask if she was okay, but I knew she wasn’t. Hannah had told me about Evelyn’s mother and hinted at the life that had followed.

“I need to get back to work,” I said gruffly.

When she looked back, her eyes were closed off to me again, and I missed the vulnerability I had seen in them. I walked out of the room, not looking to see if she was following. She was, however, and we walked the hallway back to my office in silence. Fran stared at us curiously as we passed her this time. By the time we got back into the office, she had completely recovered from whatever emotional episode I had brought on. She walked into my office ahead of me, ignoring that I held the door open. Her eyes landed on her friend, and she spoke immediately.

“C’mon, Han, we should go.”

Hannah looked up at the determined tone, and her eyes flicked to me.

“What did you do, Dad?” she said in an exasperated tone.