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Chapter Thirty
Emily woke up to the door creeping open in the early hours of the morning. She shot up in bed in the midst of Lizardman’s berserk barking and yapping. The puppy raced to the door, growling, until suddenly, he went quiet.
Emily’s heart lodged in her throat. Before she could call for Lizardman, Eva Trout stepped out from the haze of morning shadow in a slinky little blue dress that could pass as ’50s lingerie. She kissed Lizardman against his bulbous black nose. “Hey, cutie!”
The dog wriggled in confusion in her tight grip, then wagged his tail.
Eva set him back down, peering at the bed. “Nash,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, but I had to see you.” She stopped short when her eyes found Emily. Her voice suddenly rose to a higher pitch. “Hiiieee!” She waved like she was greeting a sorority sister. “I’m so sorry. I literally guessed that Nash would take the smaller room, but uh… here you are.”
Well, this moment felt trashy.
“Itishis room,” Emily admitted. Wait, why was she confessing to anything, and what was Eva doing here? A seduction gone wrong? But Eva had a thing for West—that’s what Nash hadtoldher. Her heart quickened and for one horrid moment she wondered if this meeting between them was planned.
Don’t jump to conclusions. You always jump to conclusions!
Emily tried to fight through her naturally suspicious nature—it was why she’d had so much trouble trusting anyone before this. She couldn’t be that woman anymore, especially after giving her heart to Nash. He deserved more than that. She cleared her throat.“There was an… uh… emergency, and…” She stopped herself from talking about the cameras. Why was she explaining herself to this woman anyway? It wasn’t any of Eva’s business, and still she tried to come up with a plausible reason for being here. “I had allergies… and my room was um, not working, and Nash offered his.”
“Oooh, say no more,” Eva shook her head with a smile that seemed both seductive and pouty, probably because her lips were so big. “Wow, the superstar life, huh?” She popped out her hip, looking sassy. “Hey, I’m the last one to judge.”
She had it all wrong. Emily took a deep breath, trying to get her wits back—they were stuck in murky dreams where she’d found camera after camera in the house. She’d dug them out of the walls in a root system of tack weeds… and still she couldn’t get to them all. Strangely, Nash had planted them there.
Emily shook her head free from those nightmares to face a new one. “What are you doing here?” she asked Eva.
“Nash has something of mine.” Eva flung open the closet and started to go through the pockets of any clothes that she could find. She glanced back at Emily. “I’m really enjoying your bad girl story arc, but… I’m super mad at Nash for not following through with his side of the bargain. What a jerk, right?”
“His side of the bargain?” Emily asked. Why did she feel like a parrot all of a sudden?
“I get it,” Eva said. “He’s busy with work. My daddy needs this land so they can drill for oil.”
“Oil?” Eva was wrong. Nash was appraising Millie’s land for cattle ranging, right? Oil would make this land worth way more.
Eva put her fingers to her lips. “Shhh, it’s a secret. If Millie thinks we’re buying the land for oil, she’ll jack up the prices.”
Emily’s stomach lurched. Nash had saidnothingabout this. What else was he keeping from her? She clutched at her comforter while all of her worst fears took root.
“Ah, there it is!” Eva slid out a dangling diamond earring from Nash’s jacket. Emily felt sick at the sight. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Eva asked. Spinning to Emily, she winked. “Sorry for the rude awakening. Byeeee!”
“Wait.” Emily held out a hand that seemed strangely steady to stop Eva from leaving. “Why does Nash have your earring?”
“Ugh, long story, but I need it for a party tonight… my friend gave me these so I can’t very wellnotwear them. You know how it is. He’d be so hurt, but the truth is… well, my heart belongs to another.”
No, don’t cry.Emily felt like she was gasping for air. She might be half asleep and still drowsy from her allergy medicine, but she wasn’t an idiot. Eva didn’t come all this way for an earring! Nash was lying about Eva Trout. The girl had a thing for Nash, not for West… and what if Nash returned those feelings? And what was this about oil? He was cheating Millie! He was cheating them all.
She fumed, ready to pull out this woman’s hair.
“Relax, I’m not after your man,” Eva said, reassuringly. “If I was, he’d be mine already, but well, we could be sisters someday… ya know… if Nash were the marrying type, which he’s not.”
He wasn’t?
Eva Trout might know. Her little speech had both eased Emily’s fears and deflated her, possibly on purpose, but Eva seemed to know a lot of things about Nash that Emily hadn’t.
The irony wasn’t lost on her. Emily refused to take down her walls for anybody, and now that she did, she’d made an exception for someone whose true character she was still getting to know. Had that been charm or sincerity that she’d sensed in Nash? Why would he play with her while she bore her heart to him? Why? Why would he do that?
He wouldn’t do that, would he?
“The thing is that I’m marrying West…” Eva announced.
Emily jerked in surprise. One, Eva was way too young for West—she was probably Cole’s age, maybe younger than the Slades’ baby brother, and secondly, she still didn’t understand how anyone could be into West, and thirdly… she could concede that Nash had been truthful about Eva, at least.
