Billionaire's Touch(66)

Evan downed the entire glass of liquid in one gulp and handed it back to Jared. It took superhuman effort not to cough as the alcohol burned all the way down his throat to his gut. “Did you just poison me?” he asked in a painfully hoarse voice.

“Scotch on the rocks. It’s a good year and brand. You’ll get used to it. It’s kind of an acquired taste,” Jared remarked with a mischievous grin as he handed Evan a second glass that he’d snagged from a passing waiter. “Drink it slow,” he warned.

Evan scowled at the glass in his hand. “How do you know that she’s not interested? She’s smiling at him.”

“Generally, if a guy asks a woman to dance it’s not really appropriate not to smile. Just calm the hell down. It’s just a dance,” Jared advised. He paused to take a sip of his own drink before adding, “Damn, you have it bad for her.”

Evan took an unconscious swig from his glass, his mind elsewhere as the liquid burned its way to his stomach. The fiery heat didn’t even make him flinch. “You’re blocking my view,” he growled.

“I know,” Jared answered calmly, shoving a hand in the pocket of his tuxedo pants and looking like he was making himself comfortable. “Believe me, it’s better this way. The song will be over in another minute or two.”

“I hate feeling this way,” Evan admitted. His control was slowly slipping, and he knew he was acting irrationally, but he didn’t give a shit.

“Now you know how I felt when I thought my own brother was interested in my woman,” Jared reminded him harshly.

“I didn’t dance with her,” Evan pointed out.

“No, but you did touch her, pick her up, and hold her,” Jared remarked casually. “And you did take an interest in her.”

“Because I actually liked Mara,” Evan snapped. “And you were acting like a jackass.”

“Kind of like you’re acting right now?” Jared prompted.

“Yes,” he growled, realizing just how Jared had felt when Evan had tried to make him see sense by hinting that he might be interested in Mara himself. “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t know how it felt back then.”

“Apology accepted,” Jared replied calmly. “I’m thinking that karma is a bitch right now for you.”

Evan took another sip from his drink. “Pretty much,” he grunted as he swiped a hand across his face. He was starting to relax, but he was sweating. It had to be the effects of the alcohol. He didn’t usually imbibe, and the drink was obviously starting to hit him pretty hard.

“You okay, Evan?” Jared asked in a milder, more concerned tone.

For the first time in his life, Evan answered the question honestly. “No. No, I don’t think I am okay.” His voice was raw with emotion, and his chest ached with a pain he’d never experienced before. So many feelings began to bombard him all at once that he wasn’t certain which ones to react to first. “I love her,” he added, his vulnerability open for Jared to see, but it didn’t seem to matter.

“I know.” Jared’s answer was benevolent. “But it’s not the end of the world, Evan. It’s the beginning of something so good that you’ll wake up every morning happy to just see her face when you open your eyes.”

“I won’t be seeing her. I’m leaving tomorrow, and she can’t love me,” he snarled back. Maybe his younger brothers’ relationships had worked out, but Evan couldn’t make Randi love him no matter how much he wished he could.

“Then don’t go,” Jared suggested.

“I have an important meeting in San Francisco on Monday, a company I’ve been trying to acquire controlling ownership on for a long time. I think they’re ready, because they need capital to grow. If I’m not there to snap up the company, somebody else will,” he answered automatically.

“So let them.” Jared was blunt. “Evan, there comes a point where the money doesn’t matter anymore. We have so much that we couldn’t spend it in a dozen lifetimes.”

“It’s not about the money. It’s about being better, being successful. The old man never thought I’d do it, but I can.” Evan was breathing heavily as he downed the rest of the drink and tossed the glass on a table beside him.

“You already have,” Jared answered furiously. “You don’t have a damn thing to prove to anybody anymore, Evan. That battle is over and won. It only still exists in your own head.”

“Is everything okay?” a feminine voice interrupted.

Jared stepped aside, revealing Randi and her dance partner. “Fine,” he said amiably. “Evan and I were just discussing . . . business.”