The last time Lind had been sitting in this café, he had been miserable. Alec had been sitting across from him, telling him that he should really snap out of it and get Eve out of his head. Now it was Eve who sat across from him, sipping vanilla latte from a huge mug.
Lind knew all about overwhelming, all-consuming feelings, but they were generally dark ones, rough emotions like anger and pain and hatred. He knew nothing about how good feelings could also be overwhelming. He knew nothing of the bubbling joy of simply spending time with a woman whom he was in love with. He was learning about it now.
Back when he was nursing his broken heart—or rather, attempting to drown it in alcohol—Lind had dreamed about ordinary. He had dreamed about doing something absolutely meaningless with Eve, like hanging out drinking coffee. He had dreamed of an everyday life. They were shaping it now, slowly but surely, and they were doing it together.
Togetherness was also something Lind wasn’t familiar with. He was used to counting on himself and himself only. He had never had a relationship to speak of. Sexual relationships, sure. Emotional relationships? Not so much. But he was learning that, too, and he was really enjoying this learning curve.
Eve, he learned, wasn’t that much more experienced than him when it came to sharing herself on an emotional level. She had spent her life guarding herself against others, too, in a different way than he had. The result was that they were both learning, and he liked that they were both out of their element and finding their swimming fins together.
“What should we bring tonight?” Eve asked suddenly.
Lind looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“To your friend’s house. What should we bring? Do they drink wine?”
Lind shrugged. “I guess. But you really don’t have to bring anything, you know?”
“I want to,” Eve said. “It’s only polite.”
Lind grinned. “Whatever you say, princess,” he teased.
“Jerk,” she said, punching his arm playfully and instantly leaning over to sweeten the blow with a kiss.
Lind kissed her back as passionately as it was decent to do in a public place, and then he finally released her.
“Red wine is fine,” he said as an afterthought.
Eve nodded. “Good.”
Lind felt a pang of nervousness at the thought of the night that awaited them. Alec was finally out of the hospital. They had their talk and he had decided—God only knew why—to forgive Lind, as had the rest of the Diamondbacks. Once Lind finally admitted to Alec and the others that he was going to give a relationship with Eve a try, Alec had jumped at the chance. The day before, he had given Lind a call and invited him and Eve over for dinner. He claimed it had been Linda’s idea, but Lind strongly suspected Alec had not been so averse either.
A mundane occasion with a woman at his side was also something new.
“Are you nervous?” Eve asked, as if she had read his mind. Perhaps she had, in a way.
Lind grimaced. “A little,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Should I be nervous?”
“You? Why should you be nervous?”
Eve shrugged. “Well…your friend isn’t exactly the easiest person to get along with.”
Lind laughed. “Don’t mind Alec, sweetheart. It’s all an act. He’s a good guy, really.”
“Oh, that much I noticed when he ran after me to try and prevent me from getting killed despite him not liking me very much.” Eve said with a smile.
Lind sighed in relief. Eve had refused to even get on the subject of what happened with Gary for weeks. Recently, she had started to open up, and the fact that she was now beginning to even joke about it was a very good sign.
“Are you worried they might not like you?” Lind asked, noticing the lingering tension on Eve’s face.
Her chocolate-brown eyes widened. “Now I am.”
Shit. “Sorry,” Lind offered, grinning. “Don’t worry; they’re going to love you.”
Eve took a long sip from her latte. “I hope so,” she said, frowning in the most perfect way Lind had ever seen.
He shook his head to himself. Boy, but he was hopeless. He had never been so smitten in his whole life. Everything about Eve drove him crazy. It wasn’t just her perfect body, or her golden hair, or her bottomless eyes—all of which admittedly did not hurt. It was everything about her. It was her character. It was her fierceness, her gentleness. It was her mind and her wit, both so sharp one could cut himself on them if one was not careful. It was her humor. She had plenty of it, and he loved that she made him laugh.
Not for the first time, he wondered how he had ever lived without her. He tried to imagine his everyday life without her in it, and he hated the prospect. It had only been a few weeks since Eve had kicked her abusive boyfriend out of her life, but Lind was already loving the small bits of routine they had managed to establish for themselves. He loved their brunches, for example. He loved sitting with her in cafés and having caffeine and conversations. He loved watching movies with her at night, curled up on her white couch. He loved when they slept together without doing anything else; he loved the intimacy of it. He would never admit this under torture, but he even loved going grocery shopping with her. He loved taking long walks with her, wandering aimlessly.
He loved everything about Eve Robinson, and he was never going to let her out of his life ever again. With Eve, he wasn’t the Viper. He was just Lind. He wasn’t even sure who Lind was exactly, but she was helping him figure it out. And he loved her for it.