Roger drove both girls home, and Evelyn went to bed more confused than she could remember feeling. Jack had awoken feelings in her that she didn’t know she had—wild animalistic feelings that made her want to see him again, to do again what they’d done that night. To do much more. But while he so clearly wanted her, he’d been so cold.
Roger, on the other hand, had been warm and charming as he delivered her home, walking her to her door with excuses at the ready, should she be caught. Something had shifted as they’d left the club, and his cold attitude at the bar had turned into something much sweeter, almost protective. He’d kissed her lightly on the cheek and given her a smile that lit the dark chocolate eyes, even in the dim light of her doorstep. She’d slipped in quietly, and gone right to her room. She hoped Tug had gotten into her house as easily.
Evelyn awoke the next morning feeling glum. She moped around the house for most of the day, wishing for evening so she might find an excuse to sneak out and see Jack, but once the sun set, she thought better of it. She couldn’t forget the feeling of his hands on her; the way he had made her body play for him like an instrument in expert hands, but she also couldn’t forget the cold cast of his light eyes as she’d returned to the bar to sit with Roger and Tug. His gaze—when he’d deigned to even look at her after their interlude in the back office—had been cold and appraising, and remembering it made Evelyn shiver. And Roger’s angry stare hadn’t been any better. Why was he angry? Was he jealous? But then he’d been so sweet on the way home. Roger White was a mystery. Evelyn went to bed early instead of finding a way to sneak out, and consoled herself with a volume of poetry that did nothing to alleviate her troubled mind.
The week that followed saw Evelyn feeling stronger and more certain, at least about Jack Taylor. He couldn’t grope her like that and just expect her to be fine with it. If he wanted to see her, he would come round to her house like a proper gentleman—meet her parents.
Though Evelyn spent the week playing tennis, reading and staying quite close to home, the irony of her newfound righteousness where Jack was concerned was not lost on her. Part of his allure, after all, was the fact that he wasn’t a proper gentleman. He was dangerous and scandalous, and so very handsome. And those hands…and those lips…Evelyn felt her resolve crumbling whenever she thought of what he’d done to her in the back room.
Tug came for tea late in the week, with Janie at her side.
“Girls! It’s wonderful to see you! I’ve been completely homebound all week, it’s been absolutely dreadful.” Evelyn pulled them into the parlor and pushed a plate of cookies toward them.
“No late nights at Maison?” Tug whispered, looking around to make sure Mrs. McKenzie wasn’t nearby.
“Won’t Jack be missing you?” Janie smiled.
“Don’t fool yourself about Jack,” Evelyn told her, mostly for her own benefit. “He’s not pining after me. He was so rude the last time we were there. Tug, did you notice?”
“Not especially,” Tug said, a strange look crossing her face. She lifted a hand to her dark curls, flicking one behind her ear. “Was this rudeness during the time that you were ensconced behind closed doors with him in his office?”
Janie’s eyebrows lifted in her pale face.
“Don’t look so shocked, Jane.” Evelyn tasted a cookie, then put it down, lowering her voice to a whisper and leaning in. “Girls, have you ever let a man use his fingers on you?”
If Jane looked shocked before, now she appeared as if she might pass out. “What do you mean?”
Tug sighed with irritation. “I’ve never met a man with fingers nice enough. Or at least I hadn’t until now. I think Roger probably has lovely fingers.” She grinned.
“Roger?” Evelyn was surprised.
“He was perfect about fixing Daddy’s car,” Tug breathed, a dreamy look on her face. “And he came round the next day, too. We went walking.”
“Really?” Evelyn couldn’t think what else to say. She was annoyed at the stirring of jealousy within her. Roger and Tug? For some reason, she felt ownership over Roger and didn’t like the idea, but knew that she had no claim on him other than that staked by her parents.
“I’d like to get back to the question about the fingers,” Jane said, her shocked expression replaced by a wide-eyed curiosity.
Evelyn smiled, feeling her face stretch as she remembered the release she’d felt in Jack’s expert arms. “It was incredible. So hot. And so wrong. Which is why it was so hot.”
“Is there a bed back there?” Janie asked.
“No, we did it on the desk.”
“Did you let him…?”
“Only his hands. But I touched him, too.”
“Fair’s fair,” Tug said, her open grin spreading across her face. “Wanna go out tonight?”
Evelyn thought for a moment. She did. She wanted to feel Jack’s touch again, feel his cool eyes on her—not to mention his warm hands. He wasn’t going to come court her properly. And maybe she didn’t care. “Yes. I’ll call you later to make plans.”
“Hello, girls!” Mrs. McKenzie appeared in the doorway, and Evelyn hoped she hadn’t been loitering outside, listening. She crossed the room to take a cookie and sat down next to Janie. “You’re both looking well. Anything new?”
“I’m seeing someone,” Tug offered.
“Are you? How wonderful! Who is he?” Mrs. McKenzie asked.
Evelyn felt a sudden urge to leap from the room and escape.
“Roger White,” Tug told her, her eyes dancing.
Mrs. McKenzie looked surprised for a fleeting moment, then recovered. “Oh, he’s a wonderful boy. I’m so glad for you.” She entertained a few more short conversations with Evelyn’s friends and then excused herself from the room. Evelyn could hear her mother’s voice drifting down the hallway, and knew that she’d gotten up immediately to telephone someone. As soon as the girls left, she found out who it was.
“Clean up, darling. The Whites are coming round for a last minute dinner.” Her mother smiled wickedly. “Roger will be with them. He’s in town for a couple more weeks before he begins winter term.”
Evelyn went to her room to clean up, shaking her head at her mother’s competitive streak. She was only slightly ashamed at her own excitement at the prospect of being near Roger White again.
* * * *
Evelyn sat before her dressing table, staring into the glass before her. The woman she’d seen looking back at her all those years had changed, she decided. Something about the way Jack had touched her had awakened something deep within her. She wasn’t a girl any more. She knew something different now. She’d had a glimpse of something deeper and darker within herself than she had ever known was there.
And while Jack had been almost a mere idea before, sharing kisses and conversations in the dark corners of the club—suddenly he was much more real to her. The faded edges of his face in her mind’s eye had come into sharp focus and Evelyn was equal parts excited and afraid of what Jack Taylor might actually be.
And Roger White…well, she knew that he had an effect on her, too, though she didn’t know just what it was. And she had no idea how he might feel about her. And now that she knew he was interested in Tug, she wasn’t sure how she should feel about him. Her mother, clearly, believed that it was a competition and that Evelyn should try to win.
“Darling,” her mother had told her earlier. “Tug is a nice enough girl, of course. But her family has never been able to do the things for her that they should have—to make her a proper young lady. Roger White is the kind of boy who will expect certain things, certain ways of things being done. His family will expect a young lady of a certain class and disposition…”
“So Tug isn’t good enough for the Whites?”
“Well, darling, that’s for them to decide, of course.”
“But you think I’m a better choice and that I should try to steal my friend’s boyfriend?” Evelyn got some pleasure from watching her mother squirm.
“Of course not, but I really don’t think things are that serious between your friend and Roger.” She patted her skirt, and smoothed invisible wrinkles from the dark cloth. “Just be yourself and entertain him, dear. That’s all I suggest.”
Evelyn wondered how entertaining she might manage to be with thoughts of Jack’s fingers climbing her body flitting through her mind at unbidden moments. She shivered with the memory as she rouged her cheeks and placed a shining headband in her glossy dark bobbed hair. She’d keep her shoulders covered to please her mother, but her hemline was higher than any she’d worn at home before. She grinned wickedly at the effect it would have on Jack later. And a small part of her was pleased to imagine it might get Roger’s attention, too, though as soon as she’d had this thought Evelyn felt a rush of shame. If he was interested in Tug, shouldn’t she be happy for them? Wasn’t she trying to move beyond her mother’s petty competitive ways?
Evelyn stared at herself in the mirror and resolved to ignore any feelings of attraction for Roger White. She would focus on the dark and delicious Jack Taylor. She wasn’t quite eighteen, after all—hardly old enough to be dating someone as perfectly marriageable as Roger.
The door chimed, bringing Evelyn out of her confusion, and she glided down the stairs.
Roger and his parents were being ushered into the parlor just as Evelyn reached the landing, and Roger’s dark eyes caught hers immediately. There was a playful gleam in those dark brown depths that had Evelyn forgetting every ounce of resolve she’d just found. She smiled and took his arm as they followed their parents into the front room where her father was already pouring drinks. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but he looked perfectly at ease, and that made her feel that maybe there was less to worry about than she’d thought.
“Had much real Scotch lately, White?” Evelyn’s father was asking as he poured.
“Not in a few weeks. My supplier’s had some problems,” Roger’s father replied, eyeing the glass he was presented with a measure of respect. “This is the good stuff, then?”
“Of course.”
“Darling, let’s just have the drinks, no need to make it a competition.” Mrs. McKenzie smiled, looking embarrassed.
“No, I wasn’t…I just thought maybe Allen would appreciate the Scotch.” He grinned at Roger’s father and rolled his eyes. “Women!”
At that, three small twosomes formed around the room, with Mrs. White and Evelyn’s mother talking in excited tones in the corner and glancing to Evelyn and Roger. Mr. White and Evelyn’s father stood near the fireplace, expounding on the virtues of various Scotch whiskies that they’d managed to secure despite the efforts of the local authorities. And Roger and Evelyn sat facing one another on a low couch in the corner of the room, their knees almost touching.
Throughout drinks and dinner, Evelyn tried to commit herself to the idea of just being friends with Roger, but his smooth skin and easy laugh were stirring something in her that she couldn’t qualify as a purely friendly feeling. And when he put a hand in the small of her back to help seat her at the table, the electricity created by his touch was far different from what she felt at the touch of a friend’s hand, different from what she’d felt for him before. Was she suddenly more interested in him now that she knew he was interested in Tug? Was she really that kind of girl?
Shame filled her as she glanced at him through the meal, her eyes lingering on his full lips, the easy smile and the grace of his movements. She couldn’t help but sneak a look at his fingers, too, remembering what Tug had said. They were long and handsome, the nails smooth and clean. She tried not to imagine those fingers touching her as Jack’s had, but failed miserably, and cast embarrassed glances at Roger as a hot wetness grew between her legs. Evelyn was relieved when dinner was over. She hoped that soon she’d be able to escape and go with Tug to see Jack. Maybe seeing him again would help sort out the confusion she felt. And spending some time with Tug would help her remember that her friend deserved to be happy, too.
But there were more drinks after dinner, and the whole group returned to the parlor.
“I had quite an adventure returning your friend’s jalopy. Did she tell you?” Roger whispered as they sat, his warm eyes dancing.
Evelyn felt the jealousy pricking at her again, and realized that Roger was about to tell her that he was dating Tug. She prepared herself, answering, “She mentioned that she’d seen you.”
“That’s quite an understatement.”
Evelyn imagined what he could mean, pictured Tug pulled into his strong arms, the full lips on her own. She shook her head lightly to clear the unwanted image. “What happened?” She didn’t really want to know.
“Well, as I parked the car near her house, the old man came storming down the steps screaming at me!”
“Oh no!” Evelyn laughed. Tug had not told her about this.
“He was calling me a thief and threatening to call the police. Luckily Tug was right behind him, and she’s a quick thinker.”
“She is,” Evelyn agreed.
“She came running out and put her arms around me as if we’d been a couple forever. She called me ‘darling’ and introduced me to her father, telling him that she’d been intending to introduce us that evening.”
“Oh.” Evelyn didn’t like the turn this was taking. No doubt Roger had realized how wonderful Tug was and decided that they should be dating in reality, and not just as a ruse to stay out of trouble.
“I had no choice but to come back round that evening. Her father insisted, and I was stuck there all night, drinking bathtub gin with Tug’s old man!”
Tug’s family was not of the same class as Evelyn’s—at least not any more. Her mother had been a schoolmate of Mrs. McKenzie’s, but had recently become flighty and careless in social situations. Tug’s father made his own liquor, and between the two, they’d alienated many of their friends. They were not usually invited to the events that Evelyn’s own parents felt were important to maintaining their social standing.
“So you’re seeing Tug now?”
Roger looked surprised, his handsome face smoothing and his eyebrows climbing toward his wavy brown hair. “No, Evie.”
“You’re not?” Evelyn asked, annoyed at her own relief. It’d be wonderful if Tug dated Roger. She wished she could convince her heart to believe what her head knew was true.
“No. Actually I’ve met someone else.” Roger sat back, staring at her openly with a penetrating look in his eyes.
What did he mean? Why was he being so damned vague? Part of her jumped, thinking he meant her. But she knew that there’d been nothing between them that would really suggest she should expect anything from him at all. And there was Jack. She had no idea what to say, so said nothing.
“But she’s a complicated girl,” he said, his voice low and ominous.
Evie looked up into the dark eyes. “She is, huh?”
“She is.” Roger sipped at his drink and seemed to be thinking about something.
Evelyn felt a strange sense of disappointment flood her. Roger was interested in someone. Why should that surprise her or make her feel so discontent? She herself was seeing someone. Which was exactly why she had no right to feel that Roger had wronged her in any way. It was for the best, actually. She clearly wouldn’t have managed to be a gracious friend if Roger and Tug got together. Let it be some other girl, then. Evie looked up at Roger, hoping that none of her changing emotions were written across her face.
He put down his cup and seemed to relax suddenly, lightening the tension between them. He leaned in and took Evelyn’s hand. “Would you like to go for a car ride sometime, Evie?”
A thrill ran through her. Could he have been talking about her after all? She spoke before she’d even thought about it. “I’d love to. How about now?”
Roger laughed with surprise. “Will your parents allow it?”
“With you? I think so.” Evelyn stood, pulling Roger to his feet. Her parents had one idea of Roger White—she suspected that they’d been underestimating him, and that she had, too.
“Mother, Roger is going to take me out driving for a bit. We won’t be long.” She pulled him toward the door, pushing her coat into his hands.
“All right darling,” her mother said. “But it’s awfully late, isn’t it?” There was discussion among the parents. “Just don’t be long, please. And Roger, be careful!”
“I’ll have her back in a jif,” he said, flashing a grin at Mrs. McKenzie as he stood in the parlor door after helping Evelyn on with her coat.
Evelyn felt her spirits soar with excitement as she ran out the front door with Roger by her side.