Iris’ words hung in Eve’s mind, messing with her. She knew that Iris was only teasing, but Eve couldn’t deny that she was attracted to Ethen. He would be attractive to just about anyone with eyes, but as she looked into his past she had found herself becoming attracted to the man he was. By all accounts, he was a good man. Despite his wealth and the ease of his life now, he had never forgotten the struggles of his youth. Eve felt like she had found something in common with him. She too had had a hard childhood and had been hurt by the ones she loved most. His attractiveness to her soured only slightly as his best friend was one of those who had hurt her most as a child. Eve was not sure she could begrudge him for his friendship with Charlie. She had loved him dearly too at one point and knew that many others felt the same. He was incredibly charming and kind when he wanted to be, and if that was the only side of him that Ethen had ever seen, she could understand and even forgive their friendship. She felt like she had also come out of the ashes stronger, but without ever forgetting where she came from and why she was the way she was.

Eve fussed with her hair, putting in more effort than she would have if she was meeting anyone else. Her brown hair hung limply around her face and she attempted to give it volume and texture by fluffing it with her fingers, but to no avail. Rolling her eyes at herself, she settled on a ponytail to at least hide her greasy locks. Then she straightened her top, attempting to remove some of the wrinkles. She remembered how perfectly pressed Ethen’s suit had been when they’d first met and raised her lip at her creased shirt. Frustrated, she grabbed her bag with her laptop and headed out the door. She was embarrassed by her own actions; it had been a long time since she cared about what someone else thought of her. She couldn’t stop her mind from slipping back to his gaze on her chest during their first meeting. She wanted him to look at her like that again. In her gut, she felt a tug wanting Ethen to think only good things.

Although she felt attracted to Ethen and thought that he might be a good person at heart, Eve still did not trust him. The mystery of his wife gnawed at the back of her mind. She knew there was something there that she needed to figure out. It was because of this that she wanted to keep her distance. She needed to find out what he was hiding. Mr. Hartley was not going to publish the story without knowing whom her source was. Eve needed to make sure she could vet Ethen to a point where Mr. Hartley would. Ethen was hiding more than just the information Melcor was blackmailing him with. The story of how he got the information was more complicated than a simple corporate spy.

Eve gave herself one more glance in the car mirror before heading into the diner. She looked more run down than she had the last time they met. Her sleepless night and time spent researching him had left her with red, tired eyes. Though Eve didn’t really see it, she was still more beautiful than most and made almost more beautiful by her flaws. As usual, she arrived before Ethen and headed to her booth. Joe gave her a nod in greeting and told one of the waitresses to put on a pot of coffee for her. Eve didn’t recognize the waitress; she had to be a new hire. She knew that one of the old waitresses had left to go to law school after coming into some money. If the new waitress was half as good as the last one, the Sunset Diner should be glad. Eve slid into her spot in the booth, staring at the door.

She waited with bated breath for Ethen to walk through the door. He was late, and that was always a cause for concern. Eve chastised herself for calling him. Though they had spoken in code, if someone had even an inkling of what Ethen was doing they would have figured it out. By calling him she had put him at risk. Eve’s stomach dropped as she realized that she had also put his son at risk. Her impatience had put people in danger, and this wasn’t the first time. Eve bit at the base of her thumbnail, staring at the door. After fifteen minutes her thumb was raw and Ethen was still not there. Her heart beat against her chest, that call could have been the end of not just her story, but the end of Ethen and even herself.

As Eve started to toss her computer back into her bag, the door jingled. She whipped her head up, half expecting that someone had come for her. She was in possession of the information that incriminated Melcor; after Ethen, she would be their biggest target. She let out a breath when she saw that it was Ethen walking through the door. The echo of panic still remained with her as her heart still fluttered erratically in her chest.

“I thought something terrible had happened,” she said as he approached the table. She had stood and begun walking to meet him. He looked a lot more normal than he had when they first met. He had circles under his eyes and Eve could see the beginnings of worry lines creasing his forehead and laugh lines by his eyes. His hair was not styled and sat on top of his head in a tousled mess. He looked like an entirely different person. Before he had not looked like he belonged inside the diner; now he looked like he could be a fixture at the Sunset. Instead of a pressed suit, he wore a simple T-shirt and jeans. Eve was stunned by the transformation. He was even more attractive to her in this version than he had been before.

“No, nothing happened. I was just running late from a meeting.” Ethen smiled and kissed her lightly on the cheek in greeting, taking both her hands in his. Eve recoiled, but something in Ethen’s eyes seemed pleading, so she stayed where she was. The feeling of his lips on her cheek lingered warmly. Ethen was acting strangely, there was no precedent for him to have greeted her so personally. Eve couldn’t imagine what meeting he could have been in dressed so casually. Ethen took her hand in his and led her to their booth. He had her slide into her normal spot, but slid in next to her instead of across.

“How was your day, sweetheart?” he asked. It didn’t take Eve long to realize what was going on. Her eyes darted around the diner, trying to figure out which patron was actually spying on them. Out of the corner of her eye, she could make out a car that was parked with a vantage point into the window where they were seated. Someone was taking photos, and more than likely there was another inside watching them.

“It was a nice day, very productive. I’m glad you made it here safely. I know the roads were dangerous today.” Eve hoped that he caught that she was telling him that she understood what was happening. She had never been a very good actress and knew she sounded stilted and awkward in her delivery. It did not help that driving conditions were in reality ideal given the bright and sunny shining weather of the day.

“They were tricky, but I think I got through them all right,” Ethen replied not missing a beat. Eve studied his face, his delivery was starkly contrasted with hers. Natural, like he would never have replied with anything else, like it was the most natural conversation for them to have. She mused that he would have been an incredibly successful actor in another life.

Eve nodded with a fake smile plastered on her face. She translated what he was saying to her; that he thought he had shaken the tail he had on him but wasn’t sure. “I know you are probably hungry since you waited for me. Do you want to order something?”

“No, I think I should be okay with just a cup of coffee,” Eve said, bringing her cup to her lips. “We can go once I finish.” They needed to make it look real. If he had gone all this way out of the city to meet her, they would have to stay for at least one cup of coffee. Ethen caught her drift and ordered a cup for himself. The two made forced small talk until their cups were drained, throwing in the random ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’ and even ‘babe’ once or twice.

As they left, Ethen kept his hand gently on Eve’s elbow. It was a protective gesture that made her heart flutter. The last time a man had put his hand on her elbow, it was not out of protection. She remembered the finger-shaped bruises that had been left after he’d dragged her from her home. The only other person in her life who had ever protected her was Iris, if she was being generous, she would include her brother in this category as well, but the softness of Ethen’s touch gave a whole new memory to that patch of skin. He guided her to her car door and opened it for her.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. Eve had never gotten the chance to become accustomed to people doing nice things for her with no expectations and for nothing in return. All her life kindness had been give and take, and usually a lot more taking than giving.

Ethen smiled at her as she got into the car. He closed the door once she was in all the way and jogged around to the passenger side. Eve furrowed her brow as he opened the door and got into the car. He held his finger to his mouth to silence her question. He gestured for her to start the car and turned on the radio.

“I’m going to direct you to another location,” he said softly. Eve was surprised by how thorough he was in ensuring that they could not be heard or followed. It was assuring to her that he was being so careful. She felt safe with him and it had been a long time since she had felt safe with anyone. Eve was suddenly taken back to her childhood. She was no more than a preteen, sitting in the driver’s seat, Charlie was next to her in the passenger seat. She was far too young to be behind the wheel of a car. He had decided it was time for her to drive, though it wasn’t legal. Eve had protested. She was terrified of retaliation from their parents should either of them discover that they had taken the car and that she had been the one driving it. They didn’t want her to learn how to drive at all, especially not when she wasn’t even legally allowed to. Charlie had insisted, in spite of this. Eve sat beside him in the car, shaking from fear, but then he turned to her and smiled a soft smile.

“I want you to be able to get away kid if you ever need to get to a safe place. I might not be around all the time, and I want you to be able to get out,” He had said to her. It hadn’t dawned on her until later that he was already planning on leaving, even then.

“You’re always around,” Eve replied in a small voice. “I don’t think I’ll ever get away and as long as you’re around, I’ll be safe,” She smiled at him. Charlie had looked much older than he was for a moment after she said that, but shook it off well and cracked some kind of lame joke before telling her to put it in gear. Eve was surprised by the memory. It was a moment that she had not thought of in a long time, but she supposed it was one of the last times she had felt safe in a car with a man. Cars were dangerous places, they were traps that you could not get out of and she avoided being in them with people she did not know well at all costs because of this. She expected herself to feel unsafe and scared sitting next to Ethen, but she felt warm and safe, despite the fact that they were running from probable danger. Eve shook the memory from her mind and tried to be present.

Eve observed Ethen from her peripheral vision. He was no stranger to hiding from the press, but the level of his preparedness to keep the true reasons for their meeting was impressive. She was full of questions for him but thought better than to ask them in the car. Though she was doubtful her car had been bugged, she was not as familiar with their enemies as Ethen was, and he seemed to think that was a definite possibility. Eve felt a tug in her gut, wondering what danger she had landed herself in. She was not exactly cautious, and often times had gotten herself into more trouble than it was worth but she didn’t want to end up in a box either. If whoever Ethen believed was following them could have put a bug in her car, that could easily escalate to a bomb if the information was dangerous enough. In this case, Eve thought it might be. It exposed more than just one important person of debauchery and would ruin more lives than just one. Their enemies were not limited to those at the Melcor Corporation, but also those they were blackmailing and might have discovered that the information was no longer only in Melcor’s hands.

Ethen took them on back roads. At points, they would circle back before continuing on. Their drive back into the city was nearly doubled in length by the route he had them drive. Ethen continually looked over his shoulder and if he felt a car was driving too closely behind them or had been directly in their wake for too long, he had Eve change course. Without a GPS, Eve would be completely lost driving anywhere, but it was as though Ethen had memorized every road there was. He had grown up around this area, but he was more familiar with the back roads than even a townie would be. Eve imagined that he was wealthy enough to have access to some kind of contact that was also a map directing him where to go. She kept herself awake on the long drive by entertaining ridiculous notions, such as, that once upon a time she might have known the roads in her town just as well. Aside from Ethen’s random directions to turn, the drive was mostly free of conversation, making it difficult for her to stay alert. She had never been a strong driver, despite her and Charlie’s secret lessons, or rather because of them. Eve always tried to make her drives short, a necessary, hence her proclivity for speeding. If she could avoid it by taking public transportation then she would. It seemed to her that Ethen enjoyed driving or at least being driven very much. They may have been running from something, but everything about his body language told her that he was at ease. His right arm hung lazily on the door rest and the other tapped along to the music against his leg. The radio played soft rock that Eve could hear Ethen singing along to, and every once in a while, his voice got loud enough for her to register what he was singing.

Eventually, they made it to where Ethen was directing them. It felt like they had been sitting quietly in the car for hours. The afternoon light had dimmed into early evening. Eve did not recognize the area of the city they had driven to; it was nicer than any she had seen before. As soon as Eve had parked and turned off the car, Ethen ran around to open the door for her. He had the manners of a man who had been brought up right or at least one who could pretend he was. Eve thanked him once more and looked at the building in front of them in awe. It was a strange building made of black brick with sleek windows trimmed to match the dark edifice. The door was heavy metal and looked more like a vault than a front door. It was an imposing building, but there was something beautiful about it, something intriguing. Eve remembered seeing Ethen for the first time, dressed in his perfectly pressed suit. He was much like the house he lived in. Strangely beautiful and intriguing but undeniably intimidating. Eve followed as Ethen brought them to the odd door. He smiled at her sheepishly as he began to unlock it. Eve was agape as Ethen went through both eye and hand biometrics and then entered a code that made the door pop open.

“It may be excessive, but it keeps us safe,” he said with a shrug, though his cheeks had reddened with embarrassment. Eve could not understand why he was chagrined; if she had the money she too would have that level of security. He was clearly paranoid, but it was well deserved. He had a permanent target painted on his back, and it had only gotten bigger since he had stolen the information from Melcor. It would be insane to think that they wouldn’t know that it had been taken and who had been behind the theft. It was a miracle that he hadn’t been caught before the act, but now that it had been done, it was impossible that they had not caught on by now.

“I think it’s incredible,” she said, and she meant it. She could only dream of feeling that safe. It was like a running theme throughout her life, safety and the inherent lack of it. “So, this is home?”

Ethen nodded. “This is home,” he said, a large smile breaking across his face. Eve felt her insides warm at the sight of it and couldn’t help but smile in response. She felt like a teenager on a first date all of a sudden. Though the circumstances did not warrant it, her heart beat against her chest. A foolish part of her imagined the pair of them leaning in for the kiss, their eyes fluttering closed. She could almost feel his soft lips press gently against hers, a faint smile against her own lips. Her fantasy broke as Ethen began to speak again, ushering her through the door. “I’m sorry about all that. I don’t know how, but they followed me all the way to the diner. I knew that you would be smart enough to catch on, and I couldn’t not meet you in case they already knew where you were.” He looked pleading at her for a moment, as though he was guilty of something, what - she couldn’t figure out.

“It was probably my fault,” Eve said with frustration. She had known she was at fault from the second she realized what was going on. By calling him she had easily put him in danger and by default his son, not to mention herself. Eve had rarely felt safe all her life and it was beginning to feel like she sabotaged her safety at every chance she had. As though she had become so comfortable in her peril that she did not know how to live without it. “I should never have called you like that. I’m sorry.” She did feel guilty about it, it was unprofessional and there was no excuse for it. It was a rookie move, one that you could expect from a new journalist, too excited about her story to contain herself, but someone as seasoned as she was, couldn’t justify it.

Ethen shook his head, looking appalled that she was apologizing at all. He frowned at her, his brow furrowing. “I’m glad that you did.” He paused and smiled at her playfully. His mood seemed to change in the blink of an eye like he was an energetic kid with more emotions than he could handle. Eve wasn’t sure that she could keep up. “I wasn’t planning on ever calling you again.” Eve raised her eyebrows at him. Ethen ran his hands through his hair, when she first saw it, she had just seen brown, but now Eve could see that it was more chestnut, a rich brown with subtle blonde hues. He let out a nervous almost shaky breath as though he wasn’t sure how she would react to what he was going to say. “I had kind of hoped that I could give you the drives and then be on my way.”

“Then why did you agree to meet me again?” Eve blinked at him, feeling once again like a teenager, remembering her imagined kiss. She unconsciously bit her bottom lip as she followed him down the entrance hall.

“I don’t know,” Ethen said with a shrug turning to face her momentarily. He walked them into the kitchen. He motioned to the stool at the island for Eve to sit. She smiled and sat at the marble-topped island while he pulled a couple of glasses from the cabinet. She waited patiently for him to continue, knowing that although the pause was long, he still had not finished his thought. “I don’t think I would have if it were anyone else.”