Page 92 of Before Eve

I sit up. “What? Why?”

“I’m sorry. Some last-minute promo thing. But I’ll be at the hotel with the rest of you all by tomorrow night.”

“Oh, okay then.”

He tugs me back down and hugs me close. “Eve, I want you to know I’ve never brought a girl to this cabin before.”

His admission has me completely forgetting everything and focusing on him and me, and a sweet longing for more of everything. He tucks the blanket around both of us and kisses my forehead. Months ago, I would’ve never been able to be here like this. But I love his arms around me. So strong and beautifully intimate.

“You okay?” I ask sometime later. “You’re so quiet. I’m not used to this side of you.”

West trails his fingers down my arm, and it sends a shiver dancing after it. “Just thinking, that’s all.”

“About?”

“You and me. But mostly you. I want to know you, all of you. Inside and out. But I don’t know if there’s anything I can be doing differently. Is there?”

Everything inside of me gentles. “You’re doing a great job.”

“Sometimes it just doesn’t feel that way.”

His confusion makes me wish I could be different from what I am. “I’m doing the best I can,” I tell him.

He nuzzles my cheek with his nose. “I didn’t mean that you weren’t.”

“Just don’t give up on me, okay?”

“Deal. But you don’t give up on me, either.”

I press my hand into his side and pull him closer. “I won’t. I never will.”

West kisses me, soft and tender, like I’m the most cherished thing in his life. I swear every kiss from him seems better than the others. How is that even possible? He shifts a little, tuckingme in even tighter, and I let out a effortless sigh as I simply relax into him.

We continue lying in the hammock, and idly, I stare at the flickering candle illuminating the porch. If I could freeze this moment, I would.

“I can’t wait to make love to you,” he whispers.

“I feel the same way,” I whisper back.

“But just because I said that doesn’t mean there’s pressure. I hope you know that.”

“I do.”

He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Do me a favor?”

I nod.

“Relax and enjoy what we have. It’s pretty damn special.” He pauses for a second. “You said earlier you wanted to talk?”

I was kind of hoping he’d forgotten that. “Yes.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but let’s wait on that talk. Something tells me it might change our course, and I’m not as ready for that as I thought.”

Interestingly enough, I don’t feel relief. I feel even more anxiety. “When then?”

“Soon. In the meantime, I have something to say to you.”

I wait, but he doesn’t speak, and so I lift my head and look at him. Except something’s different. There’s an emotion in him that I haven’t seen before—nerves, hesitancy, excitement, fear… It’s an odd combination.