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Her dad chimed in, clearly oblivious to the weird tension. “Evie, I think you should go to the Lake too. You’ve been single for too long and you work too hard. You need someone who will spoil you every now and then.”
An image of Charlie came to Eve’s mind but she pushed it away, suddenly unsure about what they had. Maybe going to Crescent Lake wasn’t a bad idea, even if it was just to confront Charlie about it.
She forced a smile, the first one in a while, and nodded. “Yeah, maybe I’ll go too.”
Thirteen
Charlie
* * *
Charlie paced up and down between the cars, her nerves not allowing her to focus properly on her job. Unlike Eve, she didn’t particularly like secrets and right now, she had too many. Secrets from Jack, secrets from Eve, denial of her feelings which counted as secrets from herself.
“Will you stop with that?” Jack called from the other side of the garage. “What are you so anxious about? It’s not because we’re going to Crescent Lake tonight, is it?”
“No, of course not,” Charlie denied, her gaze flicking to the reception where she could see Eve sitting behind the computer, none the wiser.
A part of Charlie just wanted to stick her head in the sand but going to Crescent Lake was serious stuff. Even if she wasn’t looking for her fated mate, the outcome wasn’t in her hands. That was the whole point of fate.
If she came back mated, that would be a really awkward conversation to have with Eve. It would be totally unfair to spring that on her.
Charlie stopped pacing. She had to tell Eve before the fact. It was only fair.
“I’m going for a break,” she announced.
“I could use a break too,” Jack said, stretching his arms. “Want to walk to the corner shop for a snack? I think that redhead is really warming up to me.”
“I should let you go on your own then,” Charlie said quickly, her gaze flitting to reception. The glass walls were great for sneaking glances at Eve but terrible for privacy.
Jack shrugged. “Nah, it’ll be better for me if she thinks I’m not interested. Casual is the way to a woman’s heart, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. That’s absolute rubbish. If you’re interested, you should show it. Declare it to the world!” Charlie said, the irony of her advice not escaping her.
“You know what, yeah, I’m going to ask her out. And if she says no, the fated-mate ritual is later. Who knows what could happen.”
“That’s the spirit.” Charlie gave her friend a well-meaning push out of the garage. “Go get her.”
“I will,” Jack said, nodding decisively to himself. “Oh, do you want anything from the shop?”
“Nope, I’m all good.”
“You sure? They have mince pies.”
Charlie held back a frustrated sigh. “Sure, I’ll have a mince pie.”
“What about a—”
“Stop dilly-dallying!” She pushed Jack again, this time a little less friendly. She wasn’t proud of her behaviour but the secrets were making her all jittery. It was high time to unload one.
She waited until Jack was out of sight before she even dared to look at reception. To her surprise, her gaze locked with Eve’s and a little shiver tingled up her spine. It was a miracle she’d managed to keep their little thing a secret up till now because she wanted to waltz into reception and pull Eve into a searing hot kiss. Or maybe a work-appropriate kiss.
She steeled herself with a breath and made her way inside. “Hello.”
Eve pretended she was busy on her computer. “Hi. I didn’t expect you.”
“Yes, you did. You were looking at me a moment ago,” Charlie commented with a grin, recalling a similar conversation they’d had.
To her surprise, Eve didn’t smile. “What can I do for you?”
