‘Just a minute, I want to talk to the lovely girl who’s fallen on her feet.’
Evie shot a look at Jack. He looked angry, but was he angry with her or this horrid little man?
She felt the man’s hot breath when he took a step closer to her, and in that moment she realised exactly why he made her skin crawl. She’d seen him before, beneath the darkened New York City sky, as menacing as he looked now.
‘Like I said,’ he continued, ‘I know your type. How did you get the good job with the fancy wedding designer? How did you get to be wearing such fine clothes?’ When he reached out an arm and ran it down the sleeve of her jumper she cringed, her past flashing through her mind, her previous meeting with him all she could think about. ‘I suppose good looks go a long way in this city.’
Jack grabbed Braydon’s arm and yanked it back. ‘That’s enough.’
Braydon shrugged him off and took a step closer to Evie, backing her against the wall, his stocky build making his presence known, his stomach protruding so it touched against hers. ‘I wouldn’t mind betting somewhere along the line you slept your way to the top.’
He moved closer still, trailed a finger beneath her chin and up to her lips, and for a moment she was paralysed. But then instincts crept in.
She parted her lips, let his finger graze her bottom lip and then … she stuck her chin forwards and bit down as hard as she could.
The scream brought Braydon to the attention of each and every person in the foyer, alerted a security guard, made Nicole stand stock still as she emerged from the restrooms. Braydon drew back a fist, but Jack dived between them, blocking Evie.
Evie’s heart pumped so hard she swore she could hear it. He’d been about to hit her, she was sure of it.
The security guard was on the case. ‘Is everything all right over here?’
‘It’s fine,’ Jack assured him. He stayed where he was, his bulk protecting Evie. She could smell the dry-cleaning scent on his expensive suit, even now that it was covered in coffee, his subtle cologne that made her imagine he was nicer and sexier than he actually was.
‘Braydon, go up to see my father. Now,’ Jack instructed.
Braydon smirked, shook his finger at her as if to say ‘you’ll keep’. She noticed she’d drawn blood and she hoped it hurt like hell.
Nicole was by Evie’s side seconds after Braydon retreated. ‘What on earth’s going on?’
She couldn’t look Jack in the eye. ‘Could we please just leave?’ She didn’t wait for an answer and walked straight for the door, out into the icy open air, letting the cold blast wipe away the revulsion of another man who was hungry to get exactly what he wanted, what he felt was owed to him. And although Jack had leapt to her defence, she couldn’t help thinking he was no better. They both represented a world of pretence, of entitlement, and a world she never wanted to be a part of, not ever.
