“Okaaay…” She let the word dangle in the cool morning air as she took the offered envelope. “What is it?”
The young woman’s smile grew a bit more. “I think you should open it up and see for yourself.”
“Wait, you can’t just tell her what it is?” Lo interjected with a slight bite to her tone.
Evie fought the urge to chuckle at her overprotective friend. Lo always was the first to come to her defense.
As it turned out, however, the unsolicited protection wasn’t actually needed.
“Mr. Stone’s instructions to me were to deliver that envelope to you ASAP,” Ashley explained to Evie, rather than Lo. “He didn’t give me permission to share what’s inside, but he did say he’d like for you to read them over at your earliest convenience, and that you’d understand.”
Mr. Stone?
“Beckett sent this?”
“He did.” The woman smiled. “But since that has yet to be signed, I didn’t want to reveal anything you weren’t ready to share.”
Ready to?—
“Beckett?” Lo turned to her with a frown. “Who’s Beckett?”
Evie turned to her friend, only then realizing what Ashley had been trying to say.
Oh, shit!
She’d been so thrown off kilter by the unexpected visit—and subsequent mysterious envelope—and then to learn Beckett was the one who sent it, despite him not having said a word about it in any of his earlier texts…
And now you’ve said his name in front of Lo, and she’s staring back at you expectantly, waiting for an answer.
“Beckett’s, um…” Evie felt like a deer caught in a car’s headlights. “He’s…this guy I know.”
“A guy who sent a hand-delivered envelope to you at my house with instructions to read its contents at your ‘earliest convenience.’” Lo used air quotes on that last part for emphasis.
More focused on what she should say vs whatever it was she was holding in her hands, Evie opened her mouth but closed it again. Twice more, she’d start to say something—she had no idea what—before clamping her lips shut for fear of inadvertently breaking the law.
When she began the fish-out-of-water impression a third time, the woman still standing at the door became a sudden and surprising ally…
“Miss Mitchell, if I may.” She flashed Evie a genuine smile. “I believe this whole situation will be much easier for you to understand and to”—her blue stare slid from Evie’s, to Lo’s, and back to Evie’s—“explainonce you’ve seen what’s inside the envelope.”
The contents. Right.
Blinking quickly, Evie gave herself a mental slap so she could look over whatever Beckett had sent with a clear head. With hurried moves, she released the small metal clasp holding the envelope closed before lifting the flap and reaching her hand inside.
She pulled out a set of stapled papers, and for a moment, she felt even more confused than before. But after a quick scan of the very front page, she realized…
He didn’t.
“Evie” Lo’s voice became protective as she tried seeing the paperwork from over Evie’s shoulder. “Why did this Beckett guy send you something from…holy shit! Does that say Homeland Security?” The other woman slid more to the side to reveal the shocked look all over her face. “You have an NDA from Homeland Security?”
Ohmygod. He did.
Tears welled in her eyes, and it took several emotional swallows before Evie finally found her voice again.
“I-I do,” she answered Lo with a jerky nod. “But this one isn’t mine.” She held out the papers for the other woman to take. “It’s for you.”
“Me?” Lo snatched the documents from Evie’s hand, her eyes frantically scanning the top page once more. “Holy hell. This has my name on it.” She looked back up at Evie. “Wanna tell me why ‘some guy you know’ sent you a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Homeland Security formeto sign?
Because he’s the most amazing man I’ve ever known.