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That was the most frustrating thing about this. He hated that his brother even came up in this at all. After being cowed into proposing, West was so blinded by her riches that he’d never see the true gem in front of him. He’d never willingly let her go.
And to tell Eva all of that when she couldn’t figure it out herself? It would be like calling her an idiot, and she wasn’t—she was just tenderhearted and manipulated by his jerk of a brother.
“Thisreallyisn’t about West,” he said. Let her decide for herself who she loved, even if she rejected him. Horribly. This was the most vulnerable thing he’d ever done, but now his mouth had a will of its own and opened to share how deeply he cared about her. “It’s about us.”
“You could’ve fooled me.”
“I’m trying to tell you that I’m in love with you,” he said.
She shifted beside him. “I don’t belie—” her voice cracked, “I don’t believe you.”
Oh, this kiss is happening now.
He found her waist and dragged her onto his lap. That was the easy part in this darkness. She let out a breath, taking his shoulders to steady herself. Her knees ran into his arms. His fingers went to her chin next. He found her neck instead.
Interesting.
He’d think he was blundering this, except she was melting into him like they were one person. Despite the fact that the night had wrapped them in this frustrating blackness, nothing would stop him from showing her how much she meant to him. He carefully traced her soft skin with his fingertips, past that familiar jawline until he touched her lips.
There they were, smooth, full, perfect.
He bent forward to claim that kiss.
Her mouth opened with a quick intake of breath, even as his lips connected with hers. The sparks rushing through them were just as mind-blowing as the first time—more so, because now he’d gotten to know the sweetness of her soul.
Relief filled him as her hands tightened over him. She’d been holding back as much as he’d been, and now he couldn’t get enough of this smart and delectable woman.
They belonged together.
Eva’s responsive lips surprised him. He felt her hope and longing, even as his own resolve to be the man she needed hardened through his veins. All thoughts of his scheming brother were thrown from his mind as he got lost in every wonderful thing that made upher.
He definitely had a sense of where she was in this cellar now, not that it stopped him from touching her. She was soft, feminine. His lips moved over hers.
“West…!” She planted her hands against Cole’s chest and drifted back from him. “He won’t… I’m not sure how… don’t tell him yet…”
He froze. Cole wasn’t the kind of guy who sneaked around, especially with his own brother. Never mind that it was West they were dealing with. “Break it off with him,” he told Eva.
“I need to talk to him…”
He slid his hands over her arms to find her wrists and then her fingers. He caught them in his. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I don’t know. I mean, it’s West, but–but I don’t want to hurt him like this.”
Hurt him? Maybe his pride, but did he even care about Eva?
She was a saint to even consider his feelings. Her kindness was one of the many things that Cole liked about her, but was it causing her to second-guess this? He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the quickening of her heart, like a bird ready to take flight, and still she didn’t go anywhere.
“Oh, Cole!” She sniffed. He jerked upright. Was she crying? “I wanted your family to love me. I didn’t want to tear you apart.”
He was quick to reassure her that would never happen. “No, no.” He ran his thumb over hers. “No one will blame you for anything. We’ll be fine.” Eva was, at best, a trophy to his brother, and at the worst? An albatross around his neck. In the end, he’d swallow his pride and move on. “West will be mad for maybe one hot minute.”
And if things got bad? Cole would take full responsibility for everything that had happened here—he’d face his brother’s wrath; Eva’s daddy; his momma’s disappointment. All for her. He found Eva’s lips with his finger, feeling their tenderness before he followed that with another kiss.
He tasted the salt of her tears and groaned. “Don’t cry, Eva. I’ll take care of everything.”
“It’s just that you’re so amazing,” she said in a watery voice, “and I should–should never have come here.”
Oh, she definitely should’ve come. How to convince her of that? “For one second, block out West,” he said, “and tell me whatwehave.”
