Mastered(44)

“Evangeline?”

She whirled her head around guiltily and met his gaze a split second before lowering her lashes and nervously fixing her stare on the space between them on the seat.

Impulsively, he reached over and covered her hand with his, feeling her jump beneath his touch. Controlling his frown, he squeezed comfortingly.

“Look at me, Evangeline.”

Though it was a command, his voice was soft and encouraging.

Cautiously she raised her chin so that her deep blue eyes fringed in dark eyelashes met his.

“There something you want to ask me? I don’t bite. Well, unless you ask me politely,” he finished with a grin.

She blinked, startled by the teasing remark, and then to his surprise she burst out laughing.

Dear God, in that moment he was so fucking envious of Drake that he was tempted to instruct the driver to take them to his place, and he’d do his best to make her forget all about Drake Donovan. He’d just tell Drake that the lady changed her mind. He mentally smacked himself on the head and shut down that train of thought. Drake was his brother, as were all the men closest to him. But . . . If Drake stayed true to form and this was a short-lived affair, then Justice would be waiting. Although something told him Evangeline was going to be a game changer for Drake. Whether he knew it or not.

“Evangeline?” he prompted when she remained quiet, though her eyes still sparkled with mirth.

“Uh, Mr. . . .”

She looked to him in sudden confusion.

“Justice,” he said gently. “My name is Justice. No Mister. I imagine we’ll be seeing one another frequently, so there’s no need for formality.”

She seemed to ponder his statement, the laughter fading from her eyes, replaced by unease and confusion. This was a woman who had no idea of her place in Drake’s life. Drake had better rectify that soon or she’d be gone in a flash.

“Um, Justice, then, what time will Mr. Donovan, I mean Drake, be home, I mean back to his apartment?”

Her uncertainty was killing him. Damn, but he wanted to hug her just to comfort and reassure her, but if he did that, there was no guarantee she’d ever get to Drake’s apartment and then Drake would kill him. Or try.#p#分页标题#e#

He’d always adhered to the creed of a woman never coming between brothers, but at the moment he considered that some women might just be worth it. He mentally shook his head at the rueful thought and promptly stopped dwelling on what would never happen.

“Drake will be home at six and he doesn’t want you to worry about dressing for dinner. He plans for the two of you to eat in tonight.”

Panic flared in her eyes and she yanked her hand from him, putting it with her other one, squeezing in agitation. She bit into her bottom lip, her mind obviously going a mile a minute.

“I need to stop at the nearest market,” she blurted. “Please?”

He stared at her, perplexed by the unexpected request and the fact that she was obviously upset about something. He shrugged. His orders had been to make Evangeline happy and allow her what she wanted as long as it was safe and Justice never left her side. He pressed the button to the intercom and instructed the driver to stop at the nearest grocery, and took in Evangeline’s relief from the corner of his eye. Who knew what had set her off.

A few minutes later, they pulled to the front of a gourmet grocery store that was popular for its selection of the finest products and a wide variety of ethnic foods. Evangeline immediately popped out of the car before Justice could get out and go around to open her door, and she hurried toward the entrance, leaving Justice striding to catch up with her.

He caught her at the door and she regarded him with a frown.

“It’s not necessary for you to go in with me. I’ll only be a few minutes. You can wait in the car. I’m sure you’ve had your fill of shopping for the day.”

Justice frowned back at her, his jaw set in a stubborn line.

“It’s necessary.”

She rolled her eyes, clearly disgruntled.

“Whatever,” she muttered as she proceeded inside the market.

She grabbed one of the small baskets to put her groceries in, which he promptly confiscated, eliciting another frown from her. Then, muttering to herself, she hurriedly made her way down each of the aisles, her face a study in intense concentration.

He wondered what the hell had prompted this unexpected grocery shopping expedition, but a quick look at her told him she was about to melt down, and the last thing he wanted on his hands was a hysterical female. So he kept quiet and followed her down the aisles, taking the things she picked and putting them into the basket he carried.