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think Julie
had meant to leave her with Jimmy, but that didn’t change the
current situation.
    “I know you said beer, but I thought you
might like this better.” Jimmy handed her a wine cooler and sat
down on the bench beside her. “I know how you ladies like foo-foo
drinks.”
    Evie’s jaw felt like it might crack.
“Thanks.” She scooted down the bench as much as possible. The crowd
closed to hide Julie and Steve from her view.
    Damn it.
    She turned and tried to smile politely at
Jimmy. He wasn’t bad-looking, with his dark hair and dark eyes, but
she’d never liked him. He was loud, brazen, and a bit too macho.
Always had been. If she had to hear another story about him bagging
a gator—or a moose in Montana—she’d probably scream.
    “So,” Jimmy said, his hand skimming across
her bare knee and up her thigh. “You back in town for good?”
    Evie pushed his hand away and kept smiling.
There wasn’t an ounce of friendliness in it, but she knew Jimmy was
too dumb to see it. No, he leered and groped like they were back in
high school and she was still Easy Evie. More than anything, it
made her mad. Livid.
    “Nope,” she replied through clenched teeth.
“I’ll be leaving again soon.”
    She didn’t know that for sure, but it was
definitely the plan. The sooner, the better. She felt a pang of
guilt when she pictured Sarah’s sullen face, but that was life. Her life dictated that she had to get out of Rochambeau or
go crazy.
    “That’s a shame. Maybe we could get together
before you go.” He leaned in a little more, his fingers skimming
the side of her breast.
    Evie shot to her feet, and Jimmy barely
managed to catch himself before he fell into her vacant seat. “No,
thanks.” She said it politely when what she really wanted to do was
sock him. “I’m not ready to start a relationship.”
    “Who said anything about a relationship?”
Jimmy blinked up at her, clueless as usual. But there was something
in those eyes, something cold and mean. It made her shiver. “You
got time for sex, ain’t you?”
    Warning bells rang in her head as she faced
him down. Her smile could have cut glass. Maybe she should have
socked him anyway. “Oh darn, I took a vow of celibacy two days ago.
Look, there’s my cousin.”
    She spun on her high heels, thankful she
didn’t trip and make a mockery of her grand exit, and walked away
without waiting for an answer. She didn’t turn around to look at
Jimmy, but she could feel his eyes on her as she stepped into the
pavilion. She’d pissed him off, that was for sure.
    Evie breathed a sigh of relief as she skirted
the makeshift dance floor where couples gyrated to the music
someone played using an iPod and two great big speakers. She didn’t
think Jimmy would pull anything, but she liked having a crowd
around her just in case.
    She searched for Julie, finally spotting her
again. Julie leaned back against Steve, her head on his shoulder,
her lips tilted up to accept a lingering kiss.
    By the looks of it, Julie wasn’t going to be
willing to leave just yet. Julie had probably had sex with Steve a
thousand times, but they still had to go through this
ritual-courting thing first. They got together, broke up, then made
up a few days later with wild monkey sex. This looked like a
monkey-sex night, but there was a protocol to follow. Why they
couldn’t just admit they were hot for each other and go for it,
Evie would never understand.
    Evie set the wine cooler she’d nearly
forgotten she was still holding on top of a table as she skirted
the crowd. She’d go hang out in Julie and Steve’s corner until they
were ready to leave. If she were lucky, it’d be a matter of minutes
before they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and wanted to
go back to Steve’s place. Before they did, she’d get Julie’s keys
and drive herself home.
    “I think you lost your drink.”
    Evie knew that voice. It slid over her like
hot silk and she spun to find Matt Girard standing behind