He smirked back as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Sure are, you little animal.” I giggled and leaned over to kiss his lips when the vibration of his phone on the table interrupted us. I glimpsed and saw Jenna’s name flash across his screen. Evan huffed as he quickly deleted the message.

“She’s still trying to contact you.” I raised my eyebrows at Evan.

“And I’m still ignoring her. I’m either changing my number or blocking her. And the guys know she’s not allowed at the office again. Please, Daisy. I told you, she’s nothing to worry about.”

“I know that. I trust you and I know it was all her in the office that day. But I don’t understand why she’s still lurking around trying to get you back. Jack and Ellie keep saying I don’t want to know, but you can tell me. What happened between you two?”

Evan lowered his gaze and adjusted the baseball cap on his head. “Jenna and I started dating before I moved to Philadelphia, a little after Jack’s wedding. Things moved along pretty quickly. She . . . wasn’t the way she is now. Maybe a little needy, but mostly sweet and seemed to want the same things that I did. When I moved, she decided to follow me since she had a sister who lived there already, but she ended up moving in with me anyway. We got engaged, and then things changed.”

I squinted at Evan as I leaned forward. “Things changed how?”

Evan grimaced and shook his head. “I worked a lot of night jobs at the time, and she started getting distant and secretive about where she was when I wasn’t home. Every time I asked, she got defensive and we would have a huge argument that would end with her sobbing. It got to the point where all we did was fight. I finally told her it wasn’t working and she needed to move back with her sister. That’s when she burst into tears and said she was pregnant.” Evan let out a long sigh, and my stomach dropped. Not like I had a claim to Evan’s sperm then, or even now, but the thought of that awful woman carrying his baby made me physically sick.

“So, what did you do?” I put my hand on top of his. I got the feeling this was the ugly part of the story.

“You know when I lost my mom, I lost my dad, too. Since then, all I’ve ever wanted is my own family. I should have been more suspicious, considering how she’d been acting, but I accepted what she said as the truth. We started planning for our baby, or so I thought. I’d ask to come to doctor’s appointments and she’d always only be able to go when I couldn’t. Thinking back, I wanted to believe her so badly I fought against my gut instincts. There were no sonogram pictures, no details about what the doctor said.”

“Did she . . . fake the pregnancy?”

Evan let out a long sigh and put his head down. “The day before I was supposed to go with her to the doctor, I came home from work to find her a weeping mess on the couch. She said she lost the baby. I didn’t know if I believed her, but what if she really was telling the truth? I mourned a baby I wasn’t even sure existed in the first place. I wanted to call her on it, but if there was the slightest chance she’d been telling the truth, I couldn’t live with myself if I left a woman who just had a miscarriage.” He motioned to his chest with his thumb. “Big asshole. You can say it.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I’ve been there a few times myself. You let someone take advantage of you, even though you know they may be using you. Happened to me more times than I care to count.” I rubbed his back to encourage him to keep going and unburden himself.

“Then she lost her job and I basically supported her. She said she couldn’t focus on work because she was too distraught. I came home early one night to find her naked on the couch with a guy friend of hers. I flipped out and we started screaming at each other. That’s when she let it slip out there was no baby. She faked the whole thing. I called her sister and demanded she come pick her up before I called the cops. After she left, I heard a ton of stories about the other “friends” she hung out with all those nights while I was at work.” He let out a deep breath. “I got myself tested for everything I could think of. Apparently, she moved back here with her parents after her sister threw her out, too. That’s when she started calling, texting, stopping by Jack’s office to beg him to speak to me for her. He warned me over and over again about her so he wasn’t hearing any of it. I had a feeling she’d pull something when she heard I moved back. Seeing you that day just made her up the ante.” Evan took my hand and laced our fingers together.

“Believe me when I tell you. I feel nothing for her. I probably never really did. A lot was obligation and trying to ease my own loneliness. Pathetic I know. She could never compare to you. Ever.”

I squeezed his hand back in return. “Thank you for telling me. Just one thing doesn’t make sense. If she cheated on you, why is she making such a big effort to get you back? I don’t get it.”

Evan shrugged. “Wish I could tell you. I used to be an easy target; maybe she misses her meal ticket, not sure. She knew just how to get me, too. A baby was the one thing that would have made me stop in my tracks and overlook everything else.” He glanced up at me with a mix of sorrow and shame in his eyes. How could she do something like that, to Evan of all people? Ellie was right: Jenna was a whore and an evil, crazy bitch.

“Now you see why I didn’t want to bring her up. I hate talking about her, and didn’t want you to think less of me because of what I let her get away with for so long.” Evan looked away, and I cupped his cheek to turn his head.

“I could never think less of you. You’re a wonderful man with a huge heart, and she took advantage of your good nature. Not your fault you’re a good guy.” Evan laughed and nodded.

“Always been my problem.” I shook my head and leaned over to give him a soft kiss on the lips.

“I happen to like this good guy. A lot.”

Evan chuckled and kissed me back. “So I am better than okay?” I laughed as he kept his lips on mine.

“Maybe,” I murmured against his mouth. I more than liked this good guy, but was still afraid to say out loud just how much.

I lay back on the comfy lounge chair overlooking the gigantic in-ground pool, quite the leap from my postage-stamp sized backyard back in the Bronx. I was curious as to what type of person kept a beautiful house and grounds like this as a second home.

We spent most of the afternoon food shopping for our own private barbecue. I was afraid to figure out the state of the art grill, but Evan couldn’t wait to get his hands on it.

“You don’t need any help?” I settled into the chair cushion and hoped I’d hear a no. Laying in the sun and doing nothing for three days was pretty exhausting.

“Nope. Grilling’s a man’s job. Relax, Daisy.” He gave me a wink and a smirk.

“Whatever. I’m too comfortable to fight that obnoxious statement.” I stretched my arms over my head. This was certainly the life. A girl could get used to making love all night and sleeping until noon.

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest. “So who is the friend who keeps this mini mansion as a second home?”

“An old college friend of mine, this was his family’s place. We used to come here during breaks and sometimes on weekends during the summer.” Evan answered without looking as he messed with the controls.

“So this was the place for wild parties I guess.” I settled on my side as I raised my eyebrows at Evan. He laughed and shrugged.

“We’d have people here, I don’t know how wild the parties were.” Evan came over to my beach chair and sat on the edge. “Is that your sneaky way of asking if girls were here?” He leaned in and ran his hand up and down my thigh. I shook my head at the smug grin on his face. “Yes. There were. But I honestly don’t remember any of them.”