Eden

The feeling that I’m being studied wakes me up. My heart stops for a panicked beat before I remember that I went to sleep with Donovan in the bed with me, which means he’s the one staring at me. He woke me up in the middle of the night and took me again, slow, deep, and so, so good that I thought my bones might just melt. My last memory is of him letting out a sound of disbelief when I immediately started drifting off when it was over. “That’s normally the man’s job,” he’d laughed. I was too tired to explain that it was his fault for blissing me out so much.

Opening my eyes, I smile drowsily when I find him sitting on the edge of the bed, clad only in his boxer briefs. Fully dressed he’s hot as hell. Nearly naked, he’s an inferno. Only when I look back up to his face do I realize he looks stressed. Shit. If he’s having morning after regrets I am not going to be happy. My body is tense as I sit up, wincing a bit when I feel how tender I am from last night. The physical reminder that he’s been inside of me is something I know I’ll be feeling for the rest of the day, if not for several days to come. Forcing myself to focus on the situation at hand I narrow my eyes and pin Donovan with a stare.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” he assures me. “I’m just frustrated. The last thing in the world I want to do right now is leave you—”

“Then don’t,” I say, my voice a bit screechy even to my own ears.

“Just listen, Angel. I just got something back on the feelers I put out on your dad. I finally found him.”

My mouth goes dry as my heartbeat speeds up exponentially.

“You did?”

This is… unexpected. I’m equal parts hopeful and terrified at the very same time. If he’s found him now is the time when I’ll find out one way or another what the future holds. Either Dad wants to fix his relationship with me or he’s done being a parent. I know there’s no middle ground.

“I did. He’s in a fleabag no-tell motel just outside of Atlantic City.”

My eyes widen at that because my parents met in Atlantic City. Once they left, they never went back and he always maintained that he hated it there. The situation between us being what it is I have no idea why Dad is there.

Looking at Donovan, I can see that he’s truly not thrilled about leaving.

“You don’t have to go,” I murmur. “I can tell you’re unhappy and I know it’s a lot to ask—”

He raises his hand to stop me from continuing. “I need to do this for you. I’m only unhappy that it’s happening right this second. I don’t want you to feel like I’m doing a runner on you by leaving after what happened last night.”

“You’re truly not tempted to run?” I ask.

He shakes his head emphatically. “Last night showed me once and for fucking all that there’s no goddamn point in running from you anymore, Eden. You’re stuck with me now… until you want to run.”

I look him straight in the eye and say, “I won’t be running, Stretch. You didn’t chase me off with all your prickliness, I’m sure as hell not going to bail now.”

The look of relief that passes over his face warms my heart. It’s so clear now, I’m not sure why I didn’t see it before. He really cares.

“Should I go with you?” I ask.

He shakes his head as he pulls me into his arms. “What I do is not always pleasant. I don’t think shit will hit the fan with your dad, but the truth is I won’t know for sure until I’m in the situation. He’s gone to a lot of trouble to stay off the radar—I don’t want you there if he gets hostile or aggressive. If shit gets bad I can’t have you caught in the middle.”

I can’t imagine my dad going nuts, but then, I never imagined he’d clear out my bank account and disappear, either. Now that it’s closing in on a year of no contact with my father, I have to admit that I don’t know him nearly as well as I once believed I did. Realizing that Donovan is right, I nod my head against his shoulder.

“I understand.”

“I want nothing more than to stay and make love to you all day but I have to go,” he murmurs against the top of my head. “As far as I’ve been able to tell up to this point, your dad hasn’t stayed in any one place for long enough for me to catch up to him. I’m afraid any delay will leave me—and you—coming up empty handed.”

That my dad has gone to such great lengths to stay hidden scares me to death. If this is all because he’s hiding from me, it’s going to break my heart.

“If you want to get dressed you can walk me down to the garage. I left my truck in there last night.”

With a nod I get up, grab some underwear, a tee, and a pair of sweats before I head to the bathroom. As nervous as I’m feeling about my dad, I can’t contain a groan of dismay when I see myself in the mirror. The artfully tousled and curled hair from last night is now an absolute train wreck and my eye makeup has left little black circles beneath my eyes. I really should’ve washed my face before I fell asleep because this morning after look is haggard as hell. I’m a little surprised he didn’t run from this alone.

After quickly using the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth, I head back into the bedroom. Donovan’s dressed and ready to go but I can tell he doesn’t want to leave. Going to him, I wrap my arms around him and hug tightly.

“Thank you for doing this.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me, Angel. All I care about is making this right for you.”

It takes me a second to answer because I have to swallow past the lump in my throat. When I can speak, I tell him the truth. “Don’t put that on yourself. Only my dad can do that—and no one can make him do it. If he isn’t willing to see me, that’s that. I won’t give up hoping that he’ll want to pick up the pieces, but I’ll never force it I’m not wanted.”

His eyes are sad when he nods. “For someone so young, you’re very smart.”

Seeing the opening to lighten the mood, I smile up at him. “That comment makes me think you’re a lot older than I am, Stretch. Exactly how close to the nursing home are you?”

He gives me a wry look as he shakes his head. “I’m only thirty-three, so I feel confident I’ve got at least seven good nursing home free years ahead of me.”

“Something to look forward to,” I deadpan as I stand on my tiptoes and purse my lips. Leaning in, he kisses me softly but deeply before pulling back.

“Walk me down to the garage before I say fuck it, throw you down on the bed, and blow everything else off for the next seven years.”

Laughing, I slide on my sneakers and then take his extended hand. “No bag?” I ask as we walk outside and turn the corner to head out back.

“No need to pack—I keep a bag in the truck with a few days’ worth of clothes just in case.”

I nod but stay silent as we continue toward the garage.

“You know my cousin is going to descend on you like a locust today, right?”

“Oh, one hundred percent,” I laugh. “And you know that your parents—and probably Margie—are going to come after you at some point today, right?”

He snickers. “It’s already started. Woke up this morning to a text from my mom telling me she really thought I had smoother moves than that.”

Squeezing his hand, I smile. “I thought it was pretty smooth.”

“Even though it was all because of bullshit?”

That pulls me up short. “Huh?”

“I was all torqued up last night so I wasn’t thinking straight, but after you passed out on me my brain started working again. There was no blind date, Shortstack. Julie did all that to get me to show my hand, and my mom and aunt helped her do it.”

Thinking back over everything that happened, I see it now. I look over at him with concern and ask, “Are you mad?”

Stopping at the door to the garage, he pulls me into his arms. “No, I’m not mad. Nothing anyone did would’ve made a difference if I didn’t want you the way I do. All things considered I feel like I got off lucky. Knowing my cousin I’m sure she had a whole list of things to do if last night didn’t work. Her heart is big and her need to fix me is strong. Once she realized I had feelings for you all bets were off. She has no filter and she wouldn’t have stopped until I surrendered.”

“She’s a little intense,” I offer.

“Yeah, just a bit,” he snickers.

Leaning down, he lays a kiss on me that has me feeling weak in the knees. When he lifts his head, I make a sound of annoyance.

“I’ll call or text you as soon as I get there.”

“Oh! Let me put my number in your phone.”

He gives me a look. “Julie put it in there days ago.”

I should’ve known. “Of course she did,” I sigh.

Dropping another quick kiss on my lips, he steps back. “Be good while I’m gone.”

When I get back to my room I head for my purse to pull out the tunic and leggings I wore last night at dinner. Since they were only worn for about two hours I’m going to hang the tunic back up. Hefting the purse onto the bed, my eyes widen as they settle on the thing at the very top of the bag—which is an unopened box of condoms.

Holy crap. We didn’t use anything.

I’m sprawled out on the couch trying to avoid thoughts of Dad while I watch my favorite decorating goddess, Joanna Gaines, do her magic. I’m waiting for Julie to show up, because she texted me within ten minutes of Donovan’s departure to announce that she’ll be coming over as soon as she finishes having breakfast with Morrow at the diner in town. I’m just thankful she gave me enough warning to allow me to shower, make myself presentable, and get my bedroom tidied up.

Hearing her knock on the door, I hurry to open it. She looks me over from head to toe before giving me a shit-eating grin. “Someone got so, so lucky last night,” she announces as she walks into my room. I don’t respond to the taunt as I trail along behind her, my attention on the white plastic bag that’s giving off the distinct odor of bacon.

“Did you bring me food?” I ask hopefully.

“Of course I did. I always remember to feed my bitches.”

After setting the bag on the table, she gestures for me to sit. “Sheila put utensils in the bag so you’re good to go.”

Opening the bag, she pulls out a white Styrofoam container, a container of orange juice, and a packet of silverware, all of which she slides across the table. “Food of the gods. Great for curing hangovers or adding a little pep to your step after a night spent in pound town.”

I make a production of opening the container of food in the hopes that she’ll get the hint and hush up.

“Just tell me—are you still a virgin?”

Looking up from the glorious bounty within the container—two pancakes, six pieces of bacon, two eggs over easy and a little pile of home fries, I give her a look. “What do you think?”

She bursts out laughing and throws her hands in the air as she lets out a woot woot. “I think that V card is all gone. Goddamn I’m good.”

“A legend in your own mind,” I deadpan as I look down to grab a piece of bacon.

“I’m just so fucking happy I could do cartwheels.”

“Not in here you’re not,” I tease.

She laughs and assesses me in silence for several seconds. “Are you happy?”

Swallowing my bite of pancake, I nod. “Absolutely.”

“Then the stress I’m sensing is just about your dad?”

Pushing away all thoughts of unused condoms, I nod. “Donovan didn’t want me to go because he said sometimes things get out of hand. I want to believe my dad will be chill, but since he disappeared without warning I no longer know what to expect from him.”

“I know it’s hard but when it’s all said and done the only thing you can do is pray for the best and wait. No matter what happens I’m here for you—and obviously so is Van.”

I can only pray he’ll be here for me if the lack of protection results in pregnancy.