Page 70 of Fall Into Temptation
She looked around the room where she’d spent a few hours of her life that she’d remember forever. The moody gray walls, the plush carpeting, the heavy, dark furniture. She wanted this. She wanted this with him. And she owed it to Donovan to try to be the person he saw her as. Honest, open, and head over heels for him.
She was loved.
Eva caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror and saw happiness, bone-deep.
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As cheerful as she’d ever been at seven a.m., Eva pulled up outside Overly Caffeinated and was disappointed to find that whatever ruckus had taken place at the café was now settled. Donovan was nowhere to be seen, and the usual morning rush was in full swing.
Well, since she was here it would be a shame to leave without indulging, she mused.
Eva slid out from behind the wheel and followed her nose in the direction of caffeine.
The crowd inside was a dapper blur of tie-dye, hand-knit cardigans, and varying desperation for coffee. Eva kept herself entertained in line by revisiting the highlights of last night with her writer’s mind. Had she written it herself, it couldn’t have been better. They’d connected on a level that, until now, only her characters had been able to find.
And that was only a little bit terrifying. Okay. A lot bit. Eva vacillated between enjoying the ultimate female satisfaction and the terror that she was about to step off solid ground into an abyss.
“What can I get you, Naked in Town?” The girl behind the counter, an ethereal third generation Woodstock-wannabe, asked with all the interest of a robot.
Her counterpart, a dark-haired guy with an eyebrow ring and about a quarter mile of ink visible on his skinny arm, snorted. “Naked in Town is old news. She’s the sheriff’s girlfriend,” he said, elbowing the blonde out of the way.
“How did you—”
But he was shaking his head. “It’s Blue Moon. We know everything. Plus, there was a special edition ofThe Weekly Monthly Moonthis morning. You want your usual?”
Eva had no idea what her usual was since she had the tendency to try new things every other time she came in here. “Sure,” she shrugged.
“You get the law enforcement girlfriend’s discount,” he said, taking five percent off her total.
“Uh, thanks?”
“If you guys get married, it goes up to ten percent,” he promised. “Next.”
Eva handed over the cash and slipped out of line to admire the glass case of sinful pastries and pretend the guy hadn’t just mentioned marriage.
“Well, don’t you look chipper today?” Ellery, clutching her black matte thermal mug, eyed Eva from her seat by the pastries.
“Should I be seen talking to you?” Eva whispered. “Or will the B.C. run us both out of town?”
Ellery’s black lips curved. “I work for your brother-in-law in your front yard. I think we can come up with an excuse for chatting.”
“Here you go, sweetie.” Ellery’s fiancé swooped in with a flakey croissant drizzled with chocolate.
“Awh, thanks, hubby-to-be,” Ellery grinned up at him.
“Hey, Mason,” Eva greeted him. She still found the relationship fascinating. Goth princess Ellery was marrying number-cruncher Mason with his gray suits and his nerdy glasses. It was adorable, even if the match was completely incomprehensible.
“Oh, good morning, Eva,” Mason smiled. “Will you and your sisters be attending the wedding?”
After dating Emma in L.A., Mason had been an instrument wielded by the diabolical Beautification Committee to cement her sister’s decision to date Nikolai. In the midst of the subterfuge, Mason had fallen hard for Ellery.
“We wouldn’t miss it, and I believe I’ll be bringing a plus one if that’s okay?”
Ellery’s black lips stretched wider. “The sheriff is already on the guest list, but I’ll make sure he’s at your coffin.”
Eva blinked. “Coffin?”
“We’re using pine coffins as reception tables,” Mason said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
