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The next morning Evangeline was at the gym stretching her left leg on the wooden ballet barre when John walked in. He stopped at the door noticing her right away. He glanced around the gym only to see three other occupants. One guy was doing dumbbell chest press on the bench behind her. A female was running on the treadmill, and another guy was working out on the heavy bag in the far corner. He guessed he would have to wait his turn to punch the hell out of heavy bag today.
He focused back on Evangeline as he was reminded of his situation and what had him frustrated. He tossed and turned all night thinking about Evangeline and Vega living happily ever after with a kid. His eyes studied her body as she stretched her right leg. Then, he remembered thinking about them living happily ever after wasn’t the only thing that had him tossing either. He also dreamed about making love to her.
John closed his eyes and thought back to a time when Cristian Vega was in prison. John had gone to see Vega to ask for permission to be with Natalie, and Cristian refused. Vega made a statement about him wanting his life, and he remembered telling the man he didn’t want his life. Well, now, he would trade places with Vega in a second. He was crazy to think he ever cared enough for Natalie to make it work between them. While he was working on pleasing Natalie and giving her what she wanted, Cristian Vega took the only thing he ever wanted. He wondered if Vega did it out of spite or if he truly loved Evangeline. Then, John remembered a statement he made to Blair about everyone falling for Evangeline. There was no doubt in his mind that Vega did love the beautiful attorney. The question now was did she truly love Vega.
John sighed then started to leave when he heard his name being called in Evangeline’s honey sounding voice.
“McBain, I haven’t seen you in the gym in ages.” Evangeline greeted him with her signature smile showing all her pearly whites. “Then again, you were probably coming at a different time than me.”
“No.” He scanned her body and decided he liked the t-back tank top and compression shorts she was wearing. He could tell she has been devoted to coming to the gym, but he couldn’t tell if she was pregnant or not. Her whole body revealed more muscular definition. It took every power in him not to reach out and touch her, so he could see if she was still soft. She has always had definition, but this level made her look more slender than the frame he was use to. He started to wonder if it changed her in bed.
“Is everything okay, McBain?” Evangeline frowned slightly when she noticed how uncomfortable he appeared to be. Did he know she read his journal? Of course, not. There was no way he could have known she read it. She shifted in her stance. If he did, he would be angry with her. He wouldn’t be acting like a teenage boy who just realized he had a hard on and didn’t know what to do. Before she could stop herself, she glanced down at his baggy sweatpants and saw evidence that John was still attracted to her. She looked up at him and their eyes locked. He still had the most amazing clear blue eyes she had ever seen. They connected and she saw the desire in his eyes. It was raw and uninhibited.
“Excuse me.” They heard a feminine voice, and it snapped them both out of their trance.
“Is Natalie here too?” Evangeline asked being the first to regain her composure. She glanced passed him.
“Natalie? At a gym?” He chuckled then shook his head no. “I don’t think Natalie would know what to do in a gym. Besides, I think it would be a little crowded to her with us here.”
“Oh.” Evangeline watched as John looked around the gym. When his glaze stopped in the direction of the far corner, she glanced over her shoulder. “The heavy bag is free now. Are you going to beat the hell out of it?”
John offered one of his goofy shy smiles. He remembered the first boxing lesson he gave her on that exact bag. She asked him to teach her how to box the heavy bag. He informed her you don’t box the heavy bag; you beat the hell out of it. She was pretty good at it too.
“Yeah,” His smile widened as he walked passed her to claim the bag. “You want to join me unless you are meeting Cris.”
“No.” Evangeline recalled her fight with Cristian last night and realized he hadn’t called her since. “Cristian is training for a fight coming up in a few weeks. He’s at Rourke’s.”
“Sweat with me then.” He flirted wondering what her reaction would be.
“Well, McBain, I must warn you. I’m pretty damn good now.” She teased questioning what she was doing.
“OH, so now you are ready to fight with De La Hoya?” He questioned recalling she had doubts before about whether or not she was hitting the bag right. He informed her if she was planning on going a couple of rounds with De La Hoya, she needed some work. But, if she just wanted to pound on the bag, she was fine. One of the things he loved about her was she never gave less than one hundred percent in anything she did. She wasn’t like anyone he had ever met.
“I have trained with Llanview’s Liquidator.” She giggled.
“Yeah. I heard Vega is good.” John offered hating the glow in her eyes when she talked about her lover. He placed his gym bag down and searched inside for his hand wraps. “I haven’t been to one of his fights though.”
“You should come to the one coming up.” She offered. She was sure Cristian wouldn’t mind since he didn’t see John as a threat. “It’s going to be his first title fight.”
“Really.” John said surprised as he started putting on his wraps. “I didn’t know Cris was on that level yet.”
“Vincent Jones, his new manager, set it up.” Evangeline supplied nonchalantly. “He’s from Atlantic City too.”
She studied John as he glanced at her then finished wrapping his hand. She sighed then realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere with McBain unless she came out directly and asked him what she wanted to know. She thought about her approach for a moment then said, “Cris told me Natalie stopped by Rourke’s last night to say goodbye to him.”
“She did.” John replied and started hitting the heavy bag.
She waited for more then smacked her lips when he didn’t say anything else. She watched as he worked the bag. John McBain wasn’t like any other man she had known. Well, she corrected herself as she thought about some thing her mother said once. John did remind her sometimes of her father. Her father didn’t share too much about his feelings with her either. She knew he loved her more than life, but it would have been wonderful to hear it. She sighed inside then thought about what she read in John’s journal.
If John was being truthful and there was no reason for him not to have been, he really did love her. Maybe, the pain of his father and Caitlin’s death did force him to shut down that part of him. His actions beside from being Natalie’s hero told her he was more than in love with her. But, Evangeline knew he had buried feelings for Natalie. The feelings he had for her were probably stronger than the ones he had for Natalie, but he still had some for Natalie and she couldn’t accept that. She would never be second or accept less than one hundred percent. But, something happened between John and Natalie and for some strange reason; she felt she had something to do with it. She couldn’t shake her gut feeling.
“Let me hold the bag for you.”
“No!” He snapped in a protective tone. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Don’t worry so much McBain.” She comforted after getting over the shock. She thought she noticed him glancing at her stomach, but she knew he couldn’t have known anything about her pregnancy scare. “I can handle whatever you got. I hold the bag for Cris all the time. I’m a big girl.”
John glanced at her midsection again and felt a little foolish. She would be fine holding the bag. “Okay. Stand over there.” He pointed behind the bag.
Evangeline studied him as she held the heavy bag. He started pounding on it. His jabs were forceful, so she knew he was trying to work something out of his system. Every time his fist came in contact with the bag, her body moved some.
“John, believe it or not I have become a great listener over the last few months.” She tried wanting to know what was eating at him.
“Because of Vega, right?” He jabbed a little hard thinking about her lover and forgetting she was behind the bag. “Well, when I need to talk, you will be the first person I call.”
“Come on, John.” She ignored the irritation she heard in her ex’s voice. “You are giving this heavy bag a helluva workout, so something is troubling you. I know you.”
He stopped and sighed as he examined her. She still was a pusher. He smiled and walked over to the weight bench and sat down.
“Are you having a hard time with Natalie’s decision to leave Llanview?” She assumed.
“No.” He said quickly as she joined him on the bench. “If going back to AC will make her happy, I’m happy for her.”
“When I saw you and Michael at Rodi’s, you were drowning your sorrows. You want to talk about it.”
“Counselor, when did you become a therapist?” John shook his head as she offered him a smile. He decided to test the waters. “Evangeline, I think I will take you up on that offer. Where should I start?”
Surprised Evangeline opened then closed her mouth. Never in a million years did she think John McBain would be so readily to talk about his feelings.
“How about why you were drowning your sorrows at Rodi’s the other night?” She wondered if he was torn over Natalie leaving. She felt a strong desire to know. And, if it wasn’t because Natalie is leaving, then what was he down about? Maybe he was celebrating solving his father’s twenty five year old cold case, but neither he nor Michael was acting as though they were celebrating that night. And, if that was the case John would have corrected her when she made the comment about him drowning his sorrows. “I don’t think I have told you. I’m glad you solved your father’s cold case.”
“Thanks.” He stared into her big brown eyes and beautiful face then looked down at the floor.
“I hope you can allow yourself to be happy now.” She touched his arm and regretted it when their flesh connected. “I hope you can have peace.”
John looked back up at her and their eyes locked. Words he said to her on the day she broke up with him echoed in her head. “What we had no one could ever take away.” They still had a bond. Mentally…and definitely physically.
“Evangeline!” Cristian’s voice called her as he headed towards them.
Evangeline jumped and removed her hand from John’s arms as though she was just caught with her hand in the cookie jar. By the time she stood and turned, Cristian was standing in front of her.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you.” She grabbed each side of his waist gently and lovingly. “I thought you would be training at Rourke’s.”
“I was, but I couldn’t concentrate because of how we left things.” Evangeline smiled as Cristian cupped her face with his big hands. “I missed you last night.”
“I missed you too.” She confessed forgetting about John. Over the past few months, she has gotten comfortable with Cristian being there. She allowed herself to get into a routine with him, and she wasn’t ready to give it up…and be alone.
“I love you.” Cristian said as he pulled her face to him for a kiss and glanced over at John to see if the man was paying attention. He noticed McBain was studying the floor, but he was sure the guy was listening.
Cristian wasn’t sure what he walked in on, but he didn’t like how comfortable Evangeline and John looked together.
“I love you too.” Evangeline said after the kiss.
“Hey McBain.” Cristian greeted then frowned when he felt Evangeline move out of his embrace and saw her wipe her lips.
John nodded at Cristian then stood. “I should be going. I have to get to work.”
“Okay…John.” Evangeline said a little uncomfortable. “I hope everything works out for you.”
Cristian noticed John scanned Evangeline’s body, smiled weakly, then walked off.
“What was that about?” Cristian questioned getting jealous and wondered if she told McBain about the baby?”
“It was two friends talking.” Evangeline decided to challenge because of their conversation about Natalie last night. “It’s okay, right? I mean. John is my friend and needed to talk.”
Cristian studied her for a second, and she could see him getting his jealousy under control. “I guess he would be upset about Natalie leaving. I mean she was the love of his life.”
“No, she wasn’t!” Evangeline corrected matter-of-fact before she could stop herself. She chewed on the inside of her left cheek when her lover shot her a questioning look. She decided to offer an exclamation before he asked. “You know McBain. The only person he is in love with is himself.” She smiled and waited till he returned one. Then, she decided she needed to tell him about the baby. “We need to talk.”
Later that night at Ultra Violet
Evangeline, Layla, and a tall, light skinned, beautiful woman walked in to Ultra Violet. Evangeline was the only one not moving to the music between the three. The DJ was playing Will Smith’s Switch.
“So, this is a hot club?” The honey colored woman asked Layla.
“Yeah, Yvonne. My girlfriend’s boyfriend owns it.” Layla answered loving that she didn’t have to yell like most clubs. The music in here was always loud enough for you to have a conversation without yelling at the same time, and you could still feel it while you were dancing. “It’s happening every night.”
“Works for me.” Yvonne handed her purse to Evangeline. “ I don’t see Darius, so I’m headed to the dance floor. I’m only going to be a single woman for two more weeks.”
“See ya, sis.” Layla smiled then handed her purse to her sister and followed Yvonne.
Evangeline frowned a little as she watched the two younger Williamson join the crowd on the dance floor. They were both only on the dance floor alone for a second before a guy got behind each one of them. The older Williamson shook her head realizing it never took those two long to attract men. She looked around for an empty table half way debating whether or not if she was going to join them. She decided against it and went to the first empty table she saw.
Evangeline watched as the music changed to Usher “Yeah” and her sister and Yvonne moved right into the new beat. Those two have always loved to dance. She wondered how long they would be on the dance floor. She glanced around the club to see if maybe Darius, her cousin’s finance had arrived, and they just missed him. She really didn’t feel like sitting at the table all night by herself. She was very impressed how Layla and Yvonne moved like professional dancer. They danced with each other instead of the two guys trying to join them.
When Beyonce’s Crazy Love started playing, Evangeline quickly scanned for her sister and prayed she wasn’t going to try and show she could dance better than the singer. Layla loved that song and loved Beyonce’s creative dance moves. She smiled when she saw Layla and Yvonne doing the original dances to the song at the appropriate time. The only moves they didn’t do were the ones when Beyonce got down on the ground. She could see that both the guys dancing behind them were mesmerized…to bad both girls were taken. She smiled to herself.
Evangeline noticed the moment Yvonne became aware of Darius’s presence. Actually, she observed several women noticed the tall, dark skinned man dressed in a three-piece suit, but he only had eyes for her cousin. Yvonne quickly said something to her dance partner then joined her finance that was already on the dance floor moving to the beat. The connection between the two lovers was very evident as they entwine on the fast song. They kissed and enjoyed each other as though they were the only two on the dance floor.
“A dirty martini for the lady.” A waitress said placing a napkin in front of her then the drink.
“I didn’t order this.” Evangeline said to the waitress as she tried stopping her.
“The guy over there did.” The waitress pointed to the bar.
Evangeline started smiling when she saw John. She mouthed thank you as he walked towards her.
“Is this seat taken?” John pointed to one of the three empty chairs around the table. “The drink is extra dirty.”
“Thank you.” Evangeline waved for him to have a seat then pointed to the dance floor as she said. “But, I think I should stay sober.”
John glanced at the dance floor and saw Layla dancing. He sat in the chair nearest her and scooted closer. “So, you’re not going to drink your martini?”
“What brings you to Ultra Violet?” She asked remembering their first drink conversation at the Palace Bar. He answered her question with a question. She was going to ask him if he remembered, but when she looked at him, he was staring at the martini. “John?”
“I came here with an old friend.” He nodded towards the dance floor to let her know where his friend was. “He’s passing through.”
John was disappointed she didn’t drink the martini. It was a test to see if he could find out if she was pregnant on the down low. She must be pregnant. She loved martinis and wouldn’t turn one down…well, one from him anyway. He chastised himself, but he should have just asked her earlier at the gym.
“So, how about I buy you a beer and get me a soda?” Evangeline offered as he watched the people on the dance floor.
“And, add a Cosmopolitan for Lay, an Emerald Martini for me, and crown and coke for Darius.” Yvonne sat in the chair nearest John while Layla took the last empty one. “Lay and V you remember Darius. And, you are JD as my wonderful finance informed me coming over here. I’m Yvonne Williamson, but I will soon be Tate.”
John smiled politely and took Yvonne’s sweaty hand. He quietly waited for Evangeline or Layla to say something. He glanced at Evangeline and knew Layla would be the one to speak up.
“JD?” Layla questioned looking at Darius and John. Yvonne said Darius had a friend in Llanview, but she didn’t think it would be her sister’s ex. “John McBain is the friend of Darius you were talking about? There is no way I am going to let John McBain be in a wedding with my sister…especially after he hurt her so bad.”
“JD, you started using John again.” Darius smiled then frowned at his old friend uncomfortable expression. He glanced at Layla and Evangeline. “Oh, you must have burnt your bridge with these Williamson beauties.”
“John McBain…John McBain…why does that name sound, so familiar.” Yvonne pondered her mind.
John watched as Yvonne smiled then frowned as recognition shone in her eyes.
“This is John McBain that came to Aunt Rita’s funeral.” Yvonne moved closer to him. “The same John McBain that crushed Van? Lay is right. There is no way in hell he will be in my wedding.”
“Yvonne please!” Evangeline glanced around the room, at John then at her cousin and sister. “It’s history. We’re history. Please don’t cause a scene. I’ve survived. I’m with Cristian.”
“There is no way I’m going to let him be apart of my wedding.” Yvonne stared at Darius. “He hurt you Van and disrespected you.”
“Yvonne!” Evangeline chastised as Layla started drinking the martini John had brought for her sister. “I know I don’t want to get married, but if I’m not mistaken it’s not just your wedding. It’s Darius too. John is Darius’s friend.”
Evangeline wasn’t too surprise when Darius didn’t speak up. You could tell the man loved her cousin more than anything and wouldn’t jeopardize her calling it off. “John and I are friends. We have gotten past the hurt, so I don’t need you holding it against him.”
“What?” Yvonne looked over at her big cousin. “Evangeline, are you telling me you will be cool with having John at the alter with us? He rescued another woman while you were tied up to a pole with a fire around you. And, to add insult to injury he went and had a relationship with her after he broke up with you.”
“After lying to you and saying she was just a friend.” Layla added giving John a fierce look.
“Hey, Darius. I’m going to go.” John stood and stared at Evangeline with an apologetic expression on his face. “I don’t want to ruin your celebration.”
“No, John. You don’t have to leave.” Evangeline looked at her cousin and sister. “John and I have a past. Things didn’t work out for us. We became friends. I don’t need you or Layla crucifying him on my behalf. I have forgiven him and moved on.”
Yvonne and Layla watched as the older Williamson gently grabbed John’s hand and pulled him back down to his seat.
“And, for the record,” Evangeline glared at Layla then Yvonne. She pointed to Layla “When John was with me, he and Natalie were just friends.” then to Yvonne. “I broke up with him. You two need to stay out of my business.”
Yvonne smiled at her cousin then glared at John. Evangeline not only had to get the last word, but she had to set the record straight about the break up.
“Hey, Sugar Bear.” Vincent walked up to Layla and kissed her on the lips. “Have I missed anything?”
When Vincent didn’t get a reply from Layla, he looked at everyone around him.