Mastered(73)

Evangeline flinched, closing her eyes as the lie swelled and grew, because she hadn’t bought the phone. Drake had. So far Drake had bought everything. She sat in Drake’s lap and listened as her mother extolled the dangers of living in a city where one’s neighbors couldn’t be counted on and people would walk right by someone in need.

She had tried to explain to her mother the stereotype of New York and that in fact it was quite safe, even if Evangeline lived in a sketchy area. Or rather she used to. Yet one more thing she had to tell her mother. But her mother refused to believe that a city as large as New York could possibly be safe and had told Evangeline that she was a sweet and trusting soul and cautioned her on a regular basis not to let herself be misguided. Oh how misguided her mother would think she was presently, throwing caution to the wind and handing her life over to a man she’d known mere days.

Drake shook against her and she glanced sharply at him, wondering what was wrong, but she saw him silently laughing, amusement clearly showing on his features.

“Um, Mama, is Daddy close to you? Can you put him on too? I have some things to tell y’all.”

“Of course.”

There was a long pause as her mother seemed to digest Evangeline’s request, which wasn’t unusual, so Evangeline could only think there was something in her voice that her mother had picked up on.

“Honey, is everything all right?” her mother asked anxiously.

“Evangeline, how are you, baby?”

Her father’s raspy voice washed warmly over Evangeline’s ears, making her momentarily so homesick that she couldn’t breathe. Drake squeezed her and she sighed. Whether in person or over the telephone, she telegraphed her emotions like the freaking Jumbotron in Times Square.

“I’m fine, Daddy,” she said lightly. “The question is, how are you? How have you been feeling lately?”

“I get by just fine,” he said gruffly. “You’re worrying your mother, so you need to spit out whatever it is you want to tell us so she doesn’t get her feathers all in a ruffle.”

She couldn’t help but soften all over and smile. God, she missed them. More than anything she wanted to go home and see them, but the cost of an airline ticket was money she wouldn’t be able to give her parents and right now, they needed financial support more than they needed her to visit.

But then Drake was changing all of that. Maybe . . . She shook herself from that train of thought. Her parents might be taken care of, a fact she was grateful for, but Evangeline had no job now and no means of raising the amount of money needed to visit her family. She was truly dependent on Drake for everything, and her heart sank at the ramifications of that fact.

“I’m no longer waitressing at the pub,” Evangeline said, deciding to start with the more minor announcements and work her way up to the more shocking ones.

“Praise God,” her mother said fervently.#p#分页标题#e#

“Good,” her father said in a firm tone. “I never did like you in a place like that. A bar is no place for a good girl like you. I hated that you had to do it because I can’t provide for my own family anymore.”

Her heart ached at the pain in her dad’s voice. Didn’t he know that she’d do anything, anything at all, to give back all they’d given her when she was growing up?

Drake’s hand rubbed up and down her arm, pausing at her shoulder before resuming the idle motion. He was solidly absorbed in the conversation now, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I’ve also met someone,” Evangeline said softly.

As she spoke, she glanced up at Drake, pleading silently for him to understand the fabrication she was about to create. Her mother and father simply wouldn’t understand. The nature of Evangeline’s relationship with Drake would baffle them, and she had no doubt the both of them would be on the next flight . . . Wait, no, her father would make her mother drive all the way to New York because he’d be carrying his shotgun and he’d pepper Drake’s ass with buckshot for “dishonoring” his little girl.

“I work for him now,” she hedged. “It’s a good job. Fantastic salary. And benefits,” she added hastily for Drake’s hearing.

His eyes gleamed and his white teeth flashed. He looked so incredibly hot that she could feel her body jump-start and come to life. Her nipples puckered and strained outward and she wiggled uncomfortably on his lap in an effort to alleviate the sensitivity between her legs.

“Why, that’s wonderful, dear!” her mother gushed. “When do we get to meet him?”