“So who is he?”
Eve looked up sharply. Alan had been pleasant almost throughout the whole dinner, making conversation and letting her enjoy the food, which was indeed worthy of some of the best restaurants out there. He asked the question point-blank, catching her entirely by surprise in-between spoonfuls of a to-die-for dark chocolate mousse.
“Excuse me?” Eve blinked, genuinely confused.
“You heard me,” Alan said. He was looking at her sternly, his green eyes dark and suspicious. “Who is he?”
“Who?” There was simply no way Alan could have found out about Lind, but Eve’s heart began to race nonetheless.
“The man who was with you while you were gone.”
Eve put her spoon down slowly. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “There was no man.”
“I think there was.”
Eve watched him carefully. His handsome features were set in determination. She knew then that Alan wasn’t going to budge. “Why?” she demanded. She forced herself to keep her emotions in check. If she flared up, she would only let him know that she did indeed have something to hide. “What makes you think that?”
“You disappeared for a month,” Alan said, “then you came back and you were a whole other person. Yes, I’ve noticed,” he added when she gave him a surprised look. “This other Eve is distracted and acts like her life is a too-tight dress. You’re distracted. You hate your job…” He hesitated. “You hate me.”
Eve winced inwardly. She wasn’t in love with Alan, and she had not even been attracted to him since Lind, but she didn’t want to hurt him. “I don’t hate you,” she said, and it was the truth.
“You don’t love me, either.”
“Well, do you?” Eve retorted. She bit her lip as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She had never asked that question out loud. She had always known that their engagement was a convenience engagement, but neither of them had ever admitted it.
Alan’s green eyes flashed angrily. “What’s that supposed to mean? I asked you to marry me, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” Eve admitted. “But did you do it because you love me, or because it’s the logical thing to do?” The damage was done; she may as well get it all off her chest.
“I want to marry you because I’m in love with you,” Alan said, anger laying somewhere underneath in his voice.
Eve met his unnecessarily outraged look straight on. “Don’t lie to me, Alan.”
“How dare you?” he suddenly exploded. He stood abruptly to his feet. “You disappear into thin air for a month, and then you come back and accuse me of not loving you! Me? Not loving you? I’m not the one who ran away, sweetheart.”
Eve stared at him in dismay. She had not be prepared for this outburst. “What are you getting so angry about?” she said after a moment’s shock. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“Are you?” Alan retorted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Eve, but you’re moody as hell. Wherever you were for that whole month, it seems to me like you wish you were back there. And I’m a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. Now, who is he?” The question was asked through gritted teeth.
Eve had never seen the jealous side of Alan before, and she had to admit that she wasn’t a fan. She stood, too. “There was and there is no one,” she said, her voice and eyes hard. “I think you should leave now.”
Alan watched her carefully for a few still, furious moments. “Very well, I’ll go,” he said in a dangerously controlled tone of voice. “But this isn’t over, Eve. You’re hiding something, and I don’t like it.”
Prickled, Eve drew herself up to her full height. “Frankly, Alan, I could not care less what you like right now.”
For a moment, he seemed on the verge of vomiting all of his anger forward, but instead he held himself back. He turned and stormed out of the kitchen. A few moments later, Eve heard the front door open and close. Suddenly terrified that he would change his mind, she sprung forward and hurried over to lock it, turning the key angrily as far as it would go. She leaned back against the locked door and took a few deep breaths to get her own anger back under control.
She didn’t bother to clean up in the kitchen. Instead, she turned off all the lights and went to bed, hoping for an uninterrupted, oblivious sleep.