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“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“What good would it do to tell her?”
“I’ll tell you what not telling her will do. One of these days, something will slip, someone will talk, and she’ll find out. I don’t care how well you think you’ve buried everything. And if she does find out like that, you’re fucked.”
Adam had had enough.“You worry about drawing up an ironclad agreement and getting it signed.”
“I’m already working on it. But do yourself a favor and think about what I said, OK?”
“You done?” Adam gave him the dirty look he’d perfected in childhood, deployed when Ian would not shut the hell up. No wonder he’d ended up a lawyer.
Ian glared back at him, but his lips betrayed a tiny smile. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Adam threw down a seven of diamonds.“Let’s play some Speed.”
•
Eve
Eve looked out at the palm trees zipping by as the black Mercedes SUV accelerated on Florida’s Turnpike.
“Where are we going?”
“A place called Sixty Vines. My sister is picking up my parents from the airport and bringing them straight there for brunch.”
She looked up at the blue sky and the white, puffy clouds that looked like cotton candy.
It was so strange to be in Florida again, although the Larssen family version was so different from her own. Theirs was a luxurious gated community with mansions and lakefront properties. Hers had been tiny two-room starter homes with barely any yard and malfunctioning air conditioning. That these people had accepted her so readily told her a lot about their love for Adam. He had brought her with him, so they had welcomed her with open arms, without reservation.
“What about Ian?” she asked.
“On his way to the house to change. He just finished playing golf at the club. He’ll drive there by himself.” Adam checked his watch.“They should be landing any minute.”
Eve was in awe of his big family and, even more, of their closeness and support of one another, something she’d never had.
She turned her gaze to Adam. His left hand gripped the wheel, his right holding hers.
He’d held her hand a lot these past few days.
He also held her a lot.
Last night, although they’d only gone to bed to sleep, he’d pulled her close, chin on top of her head, something that was becoming a natural thing for him to do. She’d drifted off in his arms. That happened often lately, and oftentimes, she woke up that way too. Sometimes, she wrapped herself around his back, inhaling his familiar scent, feeling that all was right with her world.
It was a new and very comforting feeling. She’d never relied on another human being in her life. That required trust.
She slanted him a glance. Sensing her gaze on him, he looked over at her and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Jannie and Ian really like you. I know my parents will like you too.”
This time, he hadn’t read her mind. He thought she was uncertain about his family, when she had been wondering about him.
Did she trust Adam?
Yes, she realized. She trusted him completely.
She smiled back at him.“What’s not to like?” she quipped.