Page 227 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

EVE

I came awake with a start, blinking at the ceiling trying to figure out where I was. It was dark out, but the glint of snow made the room bright enough for me to remember.

Silas’s.

The country club confrontation.

The sex.

The sex, round two.

The sex, round three.

I smelled coffee.

The door widened and Silas came in, backlit from the lights from the hall.

He was naked.

And a cat circled around his ankles.

“You have a cat?”

He looked down at it, tried to scratch it behind the ears and it bolted, streaking off and I heard a flip flap from the other room.

“Sorta. A stray Theo was trying to win over. Even got the guy a cat door.”

I couldn’t help but grin.

He sat on the edge of the bed and handed me a cup. “What has you eyeing me like that?”

“You’re naked.”

He looked down at himself. “I’m glad you noticed.”

“You’re hard.”

“Always with you.”

“It’s a morning thing.”

“It’s extra hard in the morning with you in my bed,” he countered.

I took a sip. “Mmm, that’s my coffee.”

“It is. There’s always a stash of beans in the freezer.”

“We didn’t talk last night,” I said, eyeing him cautiously.

“You want to drink coffee and talk?” he asked. “I liked the other multitasking option better.”

He remembered when we were snowed in.

I squirmed and his lips quirked.

While I wanted more than anything to have Silas lick my pussy, I had so many questions. I wasn’t as desperate for him as I was last night. Okay, I was, but it could wait. While sex with Silas seemed to be the one thing we had no issues with, I had to make things right. About everything else.

I pushed up, put the coffee on the bedside table next to the clock and took his hand. “I’m sorry, Silas. About everything.”

He looked at the floor as if the wood planks fascinated him. “Eve, you don’t–”

I gave his fingers a squeeze and he looked at me. The room was dimly lit, but I could see him clearly.

“I do. In your office, I freaked. Completely and totally lost it. I thought you were taking control. You said we all the time and I’ve never been part of a we before.”

“Me neither,” he admitted. “I’m so fucking proud of you, kitten. Your business. How you got the contract for the inn. For running it your way. For the fucking pink t-shirts.”

“I… I–”

“You never heard that, did you? That someone’s proud of you.”

I shook my head and tried not to cry.

“I want you to succeed. To have Steaming Hotties turn into a phenomenon.”

“Phenomenon?” I scoffed. “That may be a little far reaching.”

I shook my head. “I know a good business when I see one. I wanted to help you. I envision you supplying coffee to all of the James Inn sites. Hell, to all the James Hotels.”

“That’s a lot of coffee and world-class nepotism.”

He shook his head. “You’re my wife. It’s my job to give you everything your heart desires.”

I couldn’t stay still any longer. I climbed from beneath the covers and crawled over to him, wrapped my arms around him from behind.

He laughed as he tried not to slosh the coffee over the brim of his mug. Reaching forward, he set his drink next to mine, then turned so I was in his arms. In his lap.

“How did you get Hyport to sign?” I asked. “I mean, I saw the text you sent Mav, that the deal was dead.”

“Hyport heard us. In my office. All of it.”

I gasped, tried to squirm away.

“No. It’s okay. He… he made me see that I was so driven to buy his business because of my issues with my father. To prove I’m not like him.”

“You’re not,” I told him, taking his face in my hands and making him look at me as I said it. “Even though you got caught watching cam porn that featured your wife.”

He smiled. “I know. I do, now. Finally. I think Hyport is more a father to me than mine ever was. No, I know he is.”

I could only nod.

“He told me he was proud of me, just like I’m proud of you.”

I closed my eyes, kissed his forehead. “We’re so much alike.”

“What? Stubborn? Mule-headed? Blind?”

I shook my head. “We want what’s best for those we love.”

He kissed me. So soft. So gentle.

“That’s all I wanted for you. The best. I got the plumber to fix your sink because it was a problem I could solve for you.”

I laughed.

“And you offered up your trust fund to help close the deal.”

I glanced away, then wasn’t shamed by it. “I needed them to know you aren’t your dad. That if a little more money would sway them, that they could have whatever I could give.”

“You’ve been after that money from the beginning.”

I nodded. “Because I didn’t have control of it. All I wanted was for it to be mine and mine alone. See? We’re totally alike.”

“So now what?”

“The deal is done? You now own the Hyport Hotel chain?”

“We do,” he clarified.

“I don’t want it.”

“Well, I don’t want Steaming Hotties. I have no clue how to make a good cup of coffee.”

I grinned. He was right.

“The first time I saw you,” I admitted. “You were making a coffee.”

He brushed my hair back from my face, frowned. “It was tequila at the bar.”

“Nope. It was right here. Like this. Early in the morning. You, naked.”

He shook his head. “I sure as hell would’ve remembered seeing you, kitten.”

I climbed from his lap and grabbed one of his shirts that had been carelessly tossed over a chair in the corner.

“What are you doing?”

“I have to go.” I walked out of the bedroom.

“Go?” he asked, following me.

I nodded, gave him a smile as I found a pair of his winter boots by the front door.

“I won’t be long.”

“Dressed like that? There’s tons of snow out there!” I had on his dress shirt and oversized snow boots. And nothing else. From the hook on the wall, I grabbed his winter coat which fell thick and heavy to below my knees.

“I’ll call you.”

He ran a hand over my neck, probably debating whether to let me go or tie me up. “Call me? Why are you leaving?”

“Just give me five minutes and it’ll make sense. I promise.”

He didn’t look like I was ever going to make sense.

I cut through the house and went out the back door. The one that was all glass.

“Eve!” he yelled, confused.

I grinned as I trudged through the snow toward my house. To finally, completely, make him mine.