Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series) (7 page)

She called Gwen to tell her about the latest development but was only able to leave a message when she got a voicemail. Looking at the envelope still sitting on the counter, she grabbed it and went into the living room, sinking into the soft couch with her bottle of wine. She starred at the envelope, making a decision to rip it open when her cell phone rang with an unknown number. She answered the phone, curious about who could be calling her now, to hear one of the sexiest voices she had in a while.

“Hello, is this Eva?” his slow drawl sounded like a smooth glass of whiskey.

“This is she.”

“This is Aaron’s brother, Conner. Aaron said he talked to you about the bathroom renovations that your mom was in the process of doing?”

“He was telling me about it today. I told him that it was fine if you finished the renovations.”

“Great! When do you want me to start?”

“Whenever you want to. I don’t know what your schedule looks like but I will be here for the next couple of days at least.”

“Your mom was the next one on my list, one of the reasons that I had Aaron get in touch with you today. I can actually start tomorrow morning if you want. I have all the supplies, and it will only take me a few weeks.”

“Weeks? Do I need to be here the whole time?”

“Not necessarily, but it definitely makes the process smoother. Although I have all the stuff there, there may be a couple of decisions I still need you to make.”

“You have got to be kidding me! Aaron said this was going to be quick. He knows I am leaving soon.”

“I’m not kidding, but it is actually not a long process considering everything that goes into it.”

“So you say now. Fine.” She was aggravated but resigned. Of course there was something else she would have to deal with.
Thanks, Mother.
“When can you start?”

“How ’bout I come by tomorrow? We can start in the morning.”

“Can’t wait,” she answered sarcastically. She just wanted to be done and gone, back to her life.

“I will see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks!” She threw the phone on the other side of the couch and cursed her luck. Two months—hell, two weeks ago—she would have said that she was at the prime of her life, and now it was all going to hell. All because that damn woman decided to make her presence known, something she neglected to do in real life. Now she was stuck in this house for the next couple of weeks, where everywhere she looked had images of her mother and memories of her mother’s own life, which she decided to take and make her own. Frustrated with the sudden change of course her life had taken, Eva went upstairs to lie down for a bit, leaving the letter on the couch.

A
aron typed furiously, trying to finish the brief so he could leave for the night. Sometimes he loved his job, but tonight he just wanted to be done with the paperwork quickly. He glanced at the clock again, noting the time. He couldn’t get Eva off of his mind, and although he had only met her a couple of days ago, he really wanted to get to know her better. She turned down his offer of dinner yesterday, but that just meant he would have to find another way to get her to go out with him. And he needed to find a way to get her to work through the issues with her mother.

“Not staying my ass,” he muttered as he organized his files and cleaned off his desk. She wanted that house so damn bad; she was just scared to reach out and take it. The fact that Aaron was attracted to her made him all the more willing to help her figure out what was going on with her mom and convince her to stay. He loved helping people, one of the main reasons he became a lawyer. She seemed so lost the other day when he mentioned her mom, he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t see someone that was hurting and not help; it wasn’t in his nature. But he knew to back off when he saw it, and she had been sending those vibes when he initially asked her if she needed help.

Indecision plagued him as he left the office for the evening, stuck wanting to be there for a girl who didn’t want him. It caused an almost psychical ache inside of him, and his attraction to her didn’t help the situation. He figured a summer fling never hurt anyone, especially after he felt those marvelous breasts pressed again his chest during their kiss yesterday. He wasn’t usually so forward, but if she didn’t like it, he figured she would have told him to back off, which she didn’t. If anything, she pulled him closer.

Pizza
, he thought, as an idea finally came to him. If he brought her dinner, she would have to let him in. Who doesn’t like pizza? And if he happened to ask her how she was doing, then there was no shame in that. Not to mention he was going to spend some time in her company, which could lead to spending time in the bedroom.

Forty-five minutes later, he knocked on her door with a pepperoni pizza and cheesy breadsticks, hoping this didn’t blow up in his face. She opened the door quickly, and he registered the flash of surprise before she seemed to cover it up with wariness.

“Hey …” She leaned against the open door. “What’s up?”

“Pizza.” He lifted the box higher. “I took a chance and figured you hadn’t eaten yet so I brought you food. We can’t have you starving.”

Her lips curled up at the corners. He considered it a victory that she still kept the door open for him. He saw indecision war on her face and knew the instant good manners won, because she opened the door wider to let him in.

“I hope you have breadsticks in that other box.”

“Of course.” He gestured mock indignation. “What kind of person would order pizza with no breadsticks?”

“Just checking,” she said as she walked into the kitchen and he followed. “Sit down. I’ll get us some plates.” Aaron sat down as Eva got the plates and drinks. She looked at him as she handed him a glass. “So what else brings you here?”

“Dinner.” She cocked her head and looks at him pointedly. “Ok,” he said, raising his arms in defeat, “I had an ulterior motive besides bringing you pizza. First, I wanted to apologize. I truly am sorry about everything that I have said that implied you are nothing but a spoiled brat out to get your mother’s inheritance. I was coming over to talk to you about your mother. I figured since I knew her really well I could help you.”

She grabbed a piece of pepperoni pizza from the box, sitting down across from him at the table and taking a bite. “Help me what? I told you yesterday that I needed to sort this out myself so I can go back to my life. Stuff has just been a little crazy right now, and if you can’t tell, I don’t do crazy well. But that’s ok, I will get it situated.”

He seemed to mull it over between bites. “I get that stuff is a bit chaotic for you right now, but that is why I want to help you.”

She put down the pizza, brows furrowed as she watched him chewing. “But I’m telling you I don’t need it.”

He brushed her off. “Why not? I am more than willing …”

“What is with you?” she interrupted. “Why do you keep trying to fix this?” She gestured the house with her hands.

“I can’t help it. I help people. It’s what I do. Ask anyone in my family, they’ll tell you I’m always the person to turn to in a bind. Let me do what I do best.”

“And how do you suppose you are going to help me?” she sneered. He was getting on her nerves, and Eva didn’t know what he thought he was going to do. All she wanted to do was pack up her mother’s house, figure out why she gave her up, and go back to her home.

He leaned in toward her, speaking softly to defuse her irritation. “Well, going through the house with you for one. Digging through your mother’s things to find answers for you, or anything else you need to help adjust and get everything situated.”

“I don’t need to get situated. All I need to do is get the stuff packed up and go home.”

“I didn’t think that was set in stone?” She looked at him like he was crazy, and Aaron thought he may have been a little zealous in his attempt to help.

Green eyes flashed with added irritation as she threw her hands in the air, done with the conversation. She wanted him to shut the hell up and leave her alone about the whole thing; it wasn’t any of his business anyway. She had known the guy less than a week and he was already attempting to take over. “Of course I am going home. This has always been the plan. It was supposed to be a weekend trip, but as you can see that has not happened. I am going to stay as long as I need to, but I will definitely be gone before the new school year. This was just a temporary situation. And I don’t know why I am talking to you about this because you shouldn’t be so worried about this.”

His gawked at her, mouth open and arms outstretched, baffled about why she was so upset. “Look, I saw a problem. The fact that you are having such a hard time with the situation about your mom, I felt like I could fix, and I volunteered my services.”

She smirked at him, the pizza all but forgotten. “Is that before or after you felt like it was best to kiss me?”

Aaron continued to gawk at her, not believing she would bring that up in the middle of this. What does kissing her have to do with anything? “Well, I will admit, I am attracted to you, but my offer stands regardless.”

She waved her hand, ignoring what he said. She wanted the conversation over, didn’t care how she ended it, and wanted him to leave her alone about her mother. “Whatever. Are we always going to argue?”

If she wanted the conversation to be done, he would let it be done. His original purpose was to get her to like him, not antagonize her. Deciding to test the waters, he waggled his eyebrows. “Some say fighting is foreplay.”

“Well …” Her face got red and he realized he had shut her up.

He stared at her pointedly, trying to let her know that he was serious.

Not sure that she wanted to go there with him, Eva asked, “How about we table this discussion and just agree to disagree?”

He picked up his pizza again, completely unfazed, and winked at her. “Only about the house, not about the other.”

She shook her head, laughing in disbelief at his audacity. “I am not having sex with you!” Even if she did think he was really hot, there was no way she was going to give in to him just because he was coming onto her. Strongly.

He knew he could make her change her mind, and the fact that the kitchen became fraught with sexual tension only belied his confidence. The only sound to be heard was the chewing of pizza, but Aaron knew if he didn’t fix it, he could lose the girl before he had a shot at her. This always happened with him. He tried to offer friendly suggestions but always ended up getting yelled at. The problem was he couldn’t help himself; he immediately went into fix it mode. The problem was that a lot of people, like Eva, didn’t necessarily want his assistance.

“Look,” he implored, “I wasn’t trying to make this awkward. I was just trying to help and point out the fact that we are both attracted to each other.” She harrumphed, but he knew she agreed when she didn’t argue. “I know we said to drop it, and I didn’t mean to make this a weird situation. I say we change the subject and try to move on.”

“That works for me. Why are you a lawyer?”

“I’m sorry?” he asked, because her abrupt change in subject had left him confused.

“You said to change the subject, I’m changing the subject!” He could tell he was going to have his hands full with this one; she was really feisty and didn’t seem to take his shit.

“Well ok.” He laughed softly, adjusting himself, her little snit making him hot. He hoped that she didn’t notice what was coming up under the table. “I was just taken aback by the question.”

“Well I really am interested.” She seemed to soften, and he took it as the opening that he needed.

“It kinda goes back to my Mr. Fixer complex. Despite what you may think about lawyers, we really are problem solvers. People come to us when they have a problem with the law, whether criminal or civil. I like to think that I make people’s lives a little easier.”

“Why Highland Creek? Did you never want to move to a bigger city?”

“I did that for undergrad and law school. I went to Chapel Hill for undergrad and continued there for law school. It was fun to be near Raleigh and Durham, but my heart has always been with Highland Creek. I knew I wanted to come back and open a practice here, to handle the little stuff that occurs in a small town, not the rat race that could occur if you practice corporate or criminal law. Plus, my family is here, and I could never move away from my family permanently,” he finished sheepishly, not knowing if the mention of family would upset her, given the reason that she was there.

“I think it’s great that you and your family are really close. We are too. Although my younger brother and sister have been away at college, we still maintain constant contact. My mom and dad made sure of that. I call my step-mother my mom,” she answered the question she saw in his eyes. “She has been there since just before my fourth birthday, and all my good moments have been with her and my dad. She has been there when it counted, and I know that this whole situation is hurting her and my dad. I was really close to both of them, but I haven’t really talked to them very much since this happened and I’m sure she thinks I’m mad at her. I wasn’t very nice to my parents when I found out.” She stared into her drink, looking ashamed about the fact that she had been mean to her parents.