Page 37 of Fall Into Temptation
“Who gave that guy a bullhorn?” Donovan murmured against Eva’s mouth.
She laughed. “I really like you, Sheriff.”
“I really like you, too, Eva.”
His phone rang and he groaned. “I gotta take this.”
“I’ll get your coffee to go,” Eva told him.
He kissed her once more, hard on the mouth, before answering his phone. “What?” His frown shifted into a grin. “A noise complaint on Beckett’s block? That’s weird. I’ll check it out. Thanks, Minnie.”
He hung up and took the travel mug Eva gave him. “Someone’s complaining about some idiot with a bullhorn. I’d better go investigate.”
She laughed. “Sure you don’t want to stay and protect me from my sisters?” she asked.
“I don’t think you need much protecting, Eva. Just don’t maim them or I’ll be back here for another noise complaint.”
She didn’t want him to leave. But there was a town out there that needed to be protected from itself.
“Be safe out there,” she called after him when he opened the front door.
He tossed her a salute. “Will do. I’ll call you. Don’t get into any trouble.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“What in the ever-living hell, Eves?” Emma stared at her, hands on hips, lips pursed. “I don’t even know where to start with you. ‘Oh, hey! By the way I’m a giant liar, and I’m only confessing because I got busted!’”
Gia took a different route. The one Eva hated. She sat perched on a barstool at Eva’s kitchen island, her green eyes wide and sad. “Can you tell me what I did that made you feel uncomfortable trusting me? I feel awful that you felt the need to keep this whole part of your life from us.”
Eva shoved her hands through her hair. The guilt trip. Gia had mastered it as a mother and wielded it like a sword used to stab her in the heart.
“Look. I’m sorry. I’mreallysorry. It wasn’t that I thought you guys would judge me. I mean, maybe a little, but—”
“I’m judging you and your jerky liar face right now,” Emma snipped.
“Damn it! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this!” Eva paced the small space and wished Donovan was still here.
“How exactly did you envision it going?” Gia asked calmly.
“I was going to hit a bestseller list, and I was going to have you two and Dad and Phoebe over for dinner—with champagne—and give you all signed copies, and you’d finally know that I wasn’t some daydreaming screw-up anymore.”
“We don’t think you’re some daydreaming screw-up,” Emma argued. “We think you’re our little sister. We pick, all of us. I’m the control freak, Gia couldn’t find her damn car keys if they were braided into her hair, and you can’t be bothered to pay enough attention to not walk into cabinet doors.”
“So, if I come to you with a bestselling book—”
“You’re still our Eva. Dumbass.”
Gia shot Emma a warning look. “Eva, we’re already impressed with you. You graduated college. You travel. You’re living your dream right now and not waiting until you’re fifty to chase it down. You’re amazing, and I’m sorry we ever gave you the impression you were anything but amazing.”
“I just always thought you guys didn’t think I could take care of myself.”
“Where did you get that dumbass idea?” Emma asked, a little less heat behind her words.
“When Mom left, you guys and Dad hovered over me like I might shatter into pieces.”
“When Mom left, you were the youngest. You were also the closest to her. Gia and I were going through our rebellious phases already.”
“Besides, Dad smothered usallwith ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Do you miss your mom?’.” Gia pointed out. “It wasn’t a ‘you’re too weak to function’ thing. It was a ‘you can talk to me thing.’”
