Silencing Eve

whispered in her ear. “I thought you were dozing.”
    “Maybe. I don’t know. I tried not to sleep. I didn’t want to let go.” Her lips moved across his cheek. “I didn’t want to let you go.”
    “I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly. “I’ve got you, and I’m going to keep you.” His hand gently stroked her hair back from her face. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you since I came back. You haven’t been listening, you stubborn woman.”
    “I’m listening now.” She nestled closer. “I am stubborn … and scared. I think I must have loved you since the moment I saw you all those years ago. You took my breath away. All that charm and charisma and you were so damn Greek-god beautiful.”
    “Beautiful?” He made a face. “Your artistic tendencies must have blinded you. I’m no Greek god.”
    “No, maybe not. According to the myths, Greek gods weren’t always very kind or sane or unselfish. Not like you.”
    “I’m not unselfish. Not where you’re concerned. I want to reach out and grab and hold. I hope I’m sane, but it’s easy to be kind to you, Jane.”
    “Is it? You’re wrong, you know. I’m hard to love. No one ever loved me before Eve came into my life. A few of my foster parents pretended for a while, but something always happened, and they sent me away.”
    “Stupid bastards.” He cleared his throat. “You were better off without them.”
    “I think so, too. Because then Eve came.” She raised herself on one arm and looked down at him. “Look, I don’t feel sorry for myself. I didn’t mean that, Trevor. I’m a very good artist, and a good person, and I’ll make damn sure that we have a great life together. I just wanted you to know that I don’t have any illusions about being the easiest person in the world to live with.”
    “Just so you do live with me and don’t walk away again.” His lips brushed the tip of her nose. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
    “Never again, Trevor,” she whispered. She lowered her cheek to the hollow of his shoulder. “I was lying here thinking. Do you know what I want most in the world, no, the universe?”
    “Whatever it is, I’ll get it for you.”
    “We’ll get it together. I want to be back at the lake cottage. I want to sit in the porch swing with Eve and watch Joe making barbecue down by the lake. I want to see you strolling down to talk to him and look back at me and smile.” Her lips brushed his collarbone. “Family. And you part of it.”
    “I think we can manage that. Though Joe will have to teach me to barbecue. Anything else?”
    “We watch the sun go down. And then we say good night to Eve and Joe and we go home together.” She could feel a tightness in her throat. “And we talk the way we did tonight, not holding anything back.”
    “Do we make love?”
    She laughed huskily. “Of course, that goes without saying.”
    “Oh, I think that should definitely be said. We do it so well.”
    Yes, they did, she thought dreamily. They knew each other’s bodies and how to make them respond. Their passion tonight had been slow, hot, sweet, heady. Completely satisfying. “I agree. I didn’t mean to make such an important omission.”
    “Understandable. It wasn’t the focus tonight.”
    She had a sudden thought and raised herself to look down at him again. “Why wasn’t it the focus? Was it because of Caleb? Did what he did tonight interfere with—”
    “Hush.” He kissed her and shut off the words. “It was necessary. Did I like it? Hell, no. But nothing you and Caleb could do together would interfere with what I feel for you.” She opened her lips to speak, and he put two fingers on her lips. “And the reason that sex wasn’t the focus was that it’s always there for us, and it’s always magic. The focus tonight was on the miracle.”
    “What miracle?”
    “Commitment. Barbecues and porch swings and family.” He kissed her gently. “Dreams. Love ever after.”
    Love ever after.
    Oh, yes, she did love him so much. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
    And Ever After.
    If she was to keep from crying, she had to make a joke of it. “Ever After? It sounds like something from a Disney movie. That’s schmaltzy, Trevor,” she said huskily. “Nice, though.”
    “I like the idea of Ever After. It means that all the things that have gone before are just the beginning, that all the mistakes and the happy times we’ve gone through are only building blocks.” He kissed the tip of her nose.