Bound Together (a.k.a Beauty and her Famous Beast)

Chapter 2

“You have sparkling cider right?” Evie could hear his deep rich voice but couldn’t bring herself to answer. She was stunned at how handsome he looked in his tailored tux with his dirty blonde hair slicked back.

It felt like he was drawing her closer with that mesmerizing voice of his and she probably would have taken a few steps closer if she hadn’t been holding a tray full of drinks.

All Evie could manage was a nod as the young movie star stood before her. Why had he come over to her? There were other servers that he passed on this way over to her.

He slowly reached forward, closing the distance between them, to pick up one of her drinks and she couldn’t help but notice how large his hands looked against the delicate stem of the glass.

Pull it together Evelyn. She chastised herself since no one else was going to knock some sense into her. It wasn’t her business to notice how broad his shoulders were or how much taller he was than most of the men in the room despite how young he was. He definitely commanded attention. Just looking at him for a minute she was very much in danger of hopping onto the Theo Rogan bandwagon.

“Is there anything else I can get you Mr. Rogan?” Her voice returned in full force and she was prepared to use it to extricate herself from this situation.

She waited while he gave her a long look, his cool eyes almost making her shiver. When he finally opened his mouth he decided not to answer her question at all, but surprise her all over again. “You know all of the girls in this room are going to hate you.”

“And why is that?” her eyebrow rose slightly, challenging his certainty.

“Because I’ve decided to talk to the most beautiful woman in the room and not them.” He flashed her a smile that she knew had melted hearts all over the world. Now would have been the perfect time for him to walk away with the last word, but he stayed put looking completely calm.

While Theo may have been unaffected by his flattering words Evie couldn’t help but blush. “Thanks for the warning.” She sarcastically replied ignoring his compliment not believing a word he said. “Looks like I’ll have to work in the back for the rest of the night to avoid any trouble.” She needed to get away from him and his lady snaring lines and start focusing on work. Work that was going to get her into college.

“I don’t want to keep you from directing your attention to the other beautiful ladies in the room so I guess this is goodbye. It was nice to meet you Mr. Rogan.” She flashed him her own smile hoping she didn’t look too ridiculous and walked off before he could say another word. She would bet everything she owned he had never had a girl walk away from him before. If only she could see the expression on his face.

Theo seemed charming and handsome enough but he was still a ladies man and a celebrity and she needed to steer clear of him, no matter how alluring his appearance was. All she had to do was get through the night and she would be a little bit richer and a little bit closer to vet school.

After receiving a million glares and getting tripped by a few “misplaced” feet Evie realized that Theo was right; these women were going to make it impossible for her to work.

One woman almost made her spill all her drinks making it obvious that she needed to switch jobs with someone in the back. Maybe she could set up the trays of food that were going to need to be circulated soon. She would miss the illusionist who was scheduled to perform soon but she would rather be in the kitchen where no one was staring daggers at her.

On her way to the kitchen she caught a glimpse of Theo and was momentarily distracted by how close he was standing to a leggy blonde over by the stairs. He certainly moved fast. Seeing him lean in to whisper something in her ear just confirmed that he was an incorrigible flirt and what had transpired between them was just a game to him. She had known it would only be a matter of time before he went off and found another girl that was actually beautiful to talk with. Not that she cared.

Her whole life people had told Evie that she was pretty but she never really saw anything special when she looked into the mirror. Her dark brown hair and dark brown eyes had never seemed to come together one her face. She had never had a boyfriend before and if she really was as pretty as everyone said shouldn’t she have been asked out by now? Not that she would have said yes. There wasn’t any time for dating or men in her schedule.

Evie was lost in thought trying not to dwell on the lack of romance in her life and didn’t notice the young man walking her way until she had bumped into him. Stumbling back a bit he caught her arm and kept her from falling. Where had he been the last twenty times she was tripped by every crazy jealous woman at the party?

“Oh! I’m sorry I wasn’t watching where I was going…” she trailed off as she looked up and saw how handsome he was.  Just what she needed. Another good looking guy she would get to embarrass herself in front of.  She had already successfully made a fool of herself when she walked right into him so anything could happen now. It seemed she was always running into someone but it was usually because she had her nose stuck in a book. Mentally kicking herself she took a step back unintentionally giving herself a better look at his long lean body.

“It’s alright miss. Are you here with the catering company?” he asked as he looked down at the uniform she was wearing. At least the black trousers and white blouse she was required to wear actually made her look good.

“Yes, I was just coming back here to trade places with someone in the kitchen. Do you work here?”

“I am part of the Rogan family’s cooking staff, but I had the night off thanks to you. Theo and I are friends so I wanted to stop by and wish him a happy birthday.” Looking embarrassed that he was caught trying to do something nice for his friend he reached his hand up to run it through his shaggy black hair.

“Well that is very sweet of you.” Evie said smiling up at him, “I just had a run in with him. He’s… interesting?”

He let out a laugh and extended his hand as he introduced himself, “I’m Noah and it’s a pleasure to meet you…”

“Evelyn, but you can call me Evie.”

“Well Evie, would you like me to help you find your way around the state of the art kitchen the Rogan’s had added?”

“Are you sure you have time?” She didn’t want to keep him from enjoying Theo’s party.

“My schedule just opened up.” He winked at her as he grabbed her hand and dragged her further into the kitchen.