Page 26 of Holding on to Chaos
“Water,” Joey rasped next to her. “Gimmie.”
Eva pulled the towel off her face and rolled her water bottle over to Joey’s mat. A foot appeared in her line of vision. It was attached to a hairy, muscled leg. She could see up those blue gym shorts.Oh, my. She hadn’t been wrong about the undercover equipment.
Donovan grinned down at her. “Morning,” he said, cheerfully. Droplets of sweat clung to his chest. When he’d stripped out of his shirt mid-class, Eva had been so distracted she’d fallen out of her attempt at crow pose, knocking into Joey and sending them both sprawling.
“Morning,” Eva returned, pretending that she wasn’t laying on her back in a puddle of her own sweat.
He reached down and hauled her to her feet. When her head spun, she wasn’t sure if it was the dehydration or the magnificent torso in front of her. Hisabshad abs.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Huh?”Great, response Eva. You’re a real sweaty intellectual.
“Have dinner with me?”
“You want to have dinner?”
“Did you hit your head again this morning?” he teased.
Eva shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. “Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
His quick smirk was filled with dark promises. “Good. Neither did I. And I figured, since our first date was a coincidence and you asked me out for a second date, it’s my turn.”
“Dates? We’re dating?” Her voice was a squeak that hurt her own ears.
“Not only dating, but we’ve made it to the third date.” Donovan winked. “I’ll pick you up at seven. You can wear that if you want.”
He ambled out, leaving half a dozen women staring after him.
“What. Was. That?” Summer demanded, slapping Eva’s shoulder with every word.
“Oh, my God. I don’t know! Did he just ask me out?”
“Yes!” Gia said, grabbing her by the arms and jumping up and down.
“Holy shit. So, I’m not hallucinating?”
“Nice job, Tits McGee,” Joey chimed in.
“What did I say? Oh, my God. Am I going? Am IdatingDonovan Cardona?”
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In light of the new development, brunch plans were abandoned and everyone followed Eva home. Gia raided the fridge in the main house and returned with bacon, eggs, Aurora, and Lydia. Eva started a fresh pot of coffee while Aurora poured herself a bowl of fruity-o’s into one of Eva’s mixing bowls.
“Your mom is going to freak,” Eva whispered to her niece.
The little redheaded pixie grinned. “She’s distracted. I’ll eat half before she even notices.” To prove her point, Aurora carted her bowl off to the little sunroom next to the living room.
Emma and Summer, the born organizers, shuffled everyone into stations. Eva was relegated to drink pouring when no one wanted to let her near a knife or the stove. She was a good cook. Really good. But accidents did have a tendency to happen. And for every perfect London broil she served, she had a bandage covering a cut or a burn.
Seeing as she’d had the foresight to stock her fridge with orange juice and the bottle of champagne she usually saved for completing a manuscript, Eva decided the occasion called for mimosas. She doled out plastic cups to everyone and enjoyed the sounds of female companionship. In all her moves, she’d made dozens of acquaintances but few lasting friendships. Here in Blue Moon, she had family and friends always willing to drink mimosas and talk about men.
Summer, an absolute failure in the kitchen, called Lydia-sitting duty and crawled after the baby on her adventurous trek around Eva’s living room. The little girl’s belly laugh drew “awhs” from everyone present.
A bark sounded at the front door, and Joey opened it. Diesel, Gia and Beckett’s huge “puppy,” stumbled inside. He had a silver coat, blue eyes, and feet that were still too big for his body. His tail wagged hard enough that it swiped the mail off the entry table and onto the floor.
“Hey, buddy,” Eva said, squishing his doggie cheeks in her hands. Diesel liked to keep her company during the day when his family was out. He gave her a sloppy kiss and ran into the living room to slobber on the green-eyed Lydia under the coffee table.
