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CHAPTER 2
EVAN
I find myself staring at the place where Raegan was just standing, a feeling of foreboding settling around me. My mind is spinning. What the fuck just happened?
She seemed so sad and frustrated when I walked in. I’ve been coming here for months and while I do enjoy a good éclair, the baked goods are not the reason I come in. It’s for her. For Raegan.
I have this need to see her as often as I can. I’ve been watching her from afar and engaging in small talk when I can. It’s clear she’s been focused on the business which she shares with her sisters. It’s the only thing that stopped me from asking her out before now.
I was afraid of her saying no, not like it would have stopped me from pursuing her, but it would have meant I had to back off for a little while. I know she’s supposed to be mine. I knew it the first time I saw her.
It was the day they were hanging the sign out in front of Éclair Wishes as I was headed home. It was one glance at her sweet face lit up with a smile as she looked at the sign with pride and that was it for me.
She was so full of light that day and has been every time I’ve come in and seen her. There are times I’ll stop in when she’s in the back and not being able to see her makes my heart ache in a way I’ve never felt before. In the last few weeks though, there’s been a change in her.
Ever since the weather started to cool off and fall swept through, something shifted. Now with winter upon us, I can practically feel the negative energy pulsing around her.
To hear she hates Christmas is a surprise, but I can’t say I don’t understand her reasoning. She just seems like a person who would love Christmas.
She always keeps our conversations light, never getting into anything heavy. The smile she usually has on her face always puts a smile on my own, no matter the day I was having before seeing her. She’s the kind of person who should love Christmas. Maybe she would feel differently if she were laid out in front of a twinkling tree and ravaged.
Even though she just turned me down, my cock thickens in my dress pants at the thought of seeing lights bathing her body. She’d look like a damn angel.
I shouldn’t have pushed her. I just hate that she’s been so out of sorts lately.
I blink a few times, a little unsure what I should do right now. Do I just leave? Damn it.
Before I can decide, Justice, the middle Torres sister is standing where Raegan just was while giving me a soft, understanding smile. She leans over the counter as if she’s going to share a secret with me, but there’s nothing flirtatious about the action, thankfully. That would cause some problems.
“She hates all the,” she moves her hands as if encompassing everything in existence, “whole Christmas thing. I don’t think it’s you.”
“She told me,” I admit with a sigh. “I just thought she might need to have some fun.”
Justice narrows her eyes and cocks her head to the side. “What did you say exactly?”
“Uh,” my eyebrows come together in confusion. “I asked if I could take her out and said it sounds like she needs it.”
Justice’s eyes slide closed before she mutters, “Men.”
I scratch the back of my head, confused as fuck. “Huh?”
When Justice’s brown eyes snap open, so much like her sister’s, there’s an accusation there which makes me want to step back from the counter. I stand my ground. Barely.
“Did you ask her out because you pity her and her whole anti-Christmas thing?”
My mouth drops open before I snap it shut and grit out, “What? No.”
Anger is not something I give into very often. I’m sure as hell not happy all the time, but I don’t hold onto anger much.
“Well,” Justice sasses me, “it sounds like it when you put it that way.”
I stare at the door Raegan disappeared behind and think over the way her face morphed when I asked her out. Could that really be the problem? She thought it was a pity date.
Really?
“She’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. I’ve wanted to take her out since the moment I met her. More than take her out, really,” I admit.
“I don’t need to know that kind of thing about my sister,” Justice scoffs.
