Page 13 of Before Eve

Fun and lighthearted. I’m anything but, yet I want to be that way…someday.

“Plus, you seem a little lonely and sad. If anyone could use a friend and a hug, I’d say it’s you.”

He thinks I’m sad and lonely? That’s horrifying. “I don’t need you to be nice to me.”

Just when I’m sure that I’ve irritated him, the corners of his lips curl up in that great way I’m quickly learning they do. “You’re real, and that’s not easy to find in this business. Also, you seem oblivious to my charm, and have I mentioned your great blue eyes?”

He thinks I’m real? That’s a laugh.

“You’re one of those natural girls. Though you should go back to your real blond. That red doesn’t suit you. That is I’m assuming you’re a blonde under all that?”

The red wasn’t meant to “suit” me. It’s meant to hide me.

“You make me want to share my gum with you again, and I don’t just share with anybody.”

A nervous chuckle fizzes around and comes out gravelly. “You’re definitely unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”

“I’ll take that as a total compliment,” West says on a bow and I can’t help but smile. I would’ve never thought I’d find it so easy talking to him.

He checks his phone. “We’re leaving for Memphis within the hour. Better get those great legs moving.”

With a wave, I jog toward the hotel’s door.

“Yep, great legs!” he calls after me, and I shoot him a playful look over my shoulder.

I never shot anyone a playful look before. I can’t believe I’m really flirting, and that thought has me smiling all the way to my hotel room.

CHAPTER 7

Anne is watchingTV when I let myself in.

“Damn, girl. Look at you all smiling. What caused you to be so happy this early in the morning?”

I roll my eyes, and she giggles.

Anne has been my roommate now pretty much since I ran. In my old life, I always had my own room. Sometimes it still strikes me as weird when I see Anne in my space. But she’s been amazingly laid back about it all, even at night when I sometimes wake her with my screams. It’s mortifying to have my psyche laid bare for her to see. But when I wake panting and feeling so alone, I sense her there and settle a bit.

And while she has no problem stripping naked in front of me, she also has no qualms about my need for complete privacy. Like now, as I get everything I need to shower and change and lock myself in the bathroom.

But as I strip, restless energy zips through me. I take my ball cap off and think of West’s comment about how the red doesn’t suit me.

The red serves its purpose. I’ve got a new name, new look, and I’m working as a roadie. Grayson would never expect Indie Fest. Never.

“Eve!” Anne bangs on the door, and I nearly slip on the tile. “One of the guys just texted me. We’re leaving for Memphis in ten minutes. Make it a quick one!”

“Okay!” I yell and hurry through my shower.

“So, listen,” Anne starts as soon as I emerge. “I was thinking about West and how you need to get up on that.”

Ignoring her, I shove everything inside of my duffel and zip it up.

We grab our stuff, and she opens our hotel door. “Dude, even I’ll get up on top of that. He sexes his way through the gals, but no one’s ever said anything bad about him. I mean, if you’re going to do a guy that’s been around, it should be him. He’d treat you right—as in he knows what he’s doing with a gal’s body.”

I have no idea what to say to all of that, and while everything she’s saying is more than interesting, she knows I would never “get up on that.” Frankly, just thinking of the actual act makes me sweaty. It would require a lot of being in each other’s personal space, and…he would see the scars on my back.

“Let’s talk about something else,” I suggest.

She winks at me. “No prob.”