CHAPTER SIX
Eva could barely concentrate on the bowl of heaven in front of her. Dinner—and the man next to her—demanded her full attention. The idea that some astrological apocalypse could be heading for town? It was fascinating like finding out that witches or vampires were real. And speaking of fascinating, there was Donovan Cardona. Still in uniform, still sexy as hell. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was about him that was so appealing. Sure, he was gorgeous. And manly. And had the whole do-right thing going on. But there was something else. Something steady and reliable and so solidly good about him.
And when she spelled it out like that, it didn’t sound sexy, she thought, mentally editing her description of him. Eva didn’t like it when things couldn’t be defined by words.
Donovan’s knee brushed hers under the table and derailed her thoughts. He fumbled his wine glass and shot her a heated look that Phoebe and Franklin missed.
Her heart tripped, and Eva straightened in her chair. There was no way in hell it was possible. There wasn’t a shred of possibility that Sheriff Sexy was attracted to her. Granted, he’d seen her boobs, and they were pretty fantastic. But the rest of the package? She was a walking, falling down disaster. Donovan would go for someone tall and lithe and infinitely graceful. Like Taneisha, the marathon-running model of sweetness and perfection that Eva wanted to hate but couldn’t.
God, they would have beautiful children.
“Pathetic,” Eva muttered under her breath. Even in her own fantasies she was marrying off her heartthrob to other people.
“What’s pathetic?” Donovan asked quietly, leaning in.
“Uhhhh, oh politics today. I mean can’t we all just agree we want everyone to be healthy, safe, educated, and not poor?” Eva shoved a forkful of salad into her mouth to prevent the necessity of answering any follow up questions.
She was generally an excellent liar. After all, she was the only sister never to be caught sneaking home after curfew. But a few run-ins with the good sheriff, and she couldn’t even string a plausible fib together.
“Forgive Eva, Donovan. She lives in her own little world half the time,” Franklin said with an indulgent wink in her direction.
“My world is lovely. Thank you very much,” Eva said, snagging her wine glass, grateful that no one actually knew where her little world had led her.
“We were discussing the Halloween Carnival,” Phoebe told her.
“Ooh! A carnival! That sounds like fun. Unless of course the whole planetary alignment thing turns out to be true. Then it would probably be a nightmare.”
Donovan gripped his spoon like it was a weapon. “I guess I’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
A man cocky enough to think he could realign planets? Eva liked that.
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Eva begged off dessert, already thinking about the time she’d need to spend in Gia’s yoga studio burning off her dad’s damn bread. Plus, she didn’t want to have an awkward exit with Donovan. She’d had enough of those encounters today and didn’t need to add fumbling with her car keys and accidentally backing into the big oak tree in the front yard to the list.
He’d been a nice addition to dinner, the handsome sheriff. He was clearly close with Phoebe, and his presence had added a sense of history to the cozy scene. Eva was still getting used to seeing her father happy, deliriously so.
When her mother had abandoned their family, Franklin had done his best to hide his pain from Eva and her sisters. He shopped for prom dresses and tampons. He made every parent-teacher conference and soccer game. He’d consoled them when boys had broken their hearts and cheered with them at graduations and weddings.
He had found a solid, loving partner in Phoebe, and there were few things in the world that gave Eva more pleasure than listening to her father’s new wife laugh until she couldn’t breathe at one of his admittedly corny jokes.
She dug her keys out of her bag and—in juggling the plastic container of leftovers and her oversized purse—dropped them on the ground.
“Crap,” she muttered. Stacking purse and leftovers on the roof of her car, she blindly felt around on the ground until her fingers brushed her oversized keyring.
“Aha!” She rose triumphantly and smacked her elbow off her side mirror. “Son of a—”
“Car trouble, ma’am?” Donovan’s shadow, cast from the porch light, fell over her.
“No, officer. Everything is just fine.” Nerves played over her skin as he took another step closer.
“Have you been drinking, ma’am?”
“You sat next to me and watched me drink exactly one point five glasses of wine, Sheriff. And it’s dark out here, so let me verbalize the fact that I’m rolling my eyes at you in case you missed it.”
“I’m going to need you to walk over and back to that tree. Straight line, please.” The serious sheriff was playing with her. And that only made Eva want to play right back. She sauntered first, then strutted, and when she reached the tree, she got a running start and landed a perfect one-handed cartwheel followed by a curtsy.
“Smartass,” he teased.
“Shameful. Wasting the taxpayers’ money interrogating poor little old me,” Eva tsked, tugging her ponytail back into place.
“I get the feeling that an interrogation with you would get me nowhere,” he predicted.
“I have no idea what you mean by that.” She knew exactly what he meant by that.
“You’re sneaky. You’re distracting. I bet you lie really well.”
“And you can tell all this from dinner with my parents?” Eva asked.
“I like that you call Phoebe your parent,” he said, switching gears, his voice softer.
“If I could have handpicked a wife for my dad, it’s that woman in there,” Eva said pointing back at the house.
“They seem happy together. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”
She smiled up at him. “I was just thinking the same thing about my dad. I love seeing him like this. It’s like all his dreams finally came true.”
“It’s a shame that you don’t feel like you can open up to them,” Donovan said casually.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eva’s guard came up with her chin.
“Can’t even admit that you got taken out by a cabinet door.”
“Oh, that.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “And, hey! Who’s the sneaky one now?” Eva crossed her arms.
He grinned at her, and even in the dark, it was blinding.
“Fine. It’s just yet another oops in a long line of distracted accidents that only serves to reinforce their opinion that I’m the klutzy baby of the family.”
“You are the baby,” he reminded her.
“I’m the youngest. There’s a difference. I’m still an adult. I just don’t pay as much attention as I should. I’m in my own head too much.”
“So they think you need a keeper.” His tone made it clear that he agreed with her family.
“If anyone needs a keeper, it’s Gia. She can’t find Lydia’s diaper bag or her car keys on any given day of the week.”
“Gia has a keeper. Beckett. Who do you have?” Donovan’s voice had that rough edge to it that sent delicious chills up her spine.
“I’m still interviewing for the position,” she told him, looking up through her lashes. They were closer than she realized. She could just reach out and touch him…
He leaned in, stopping just inches from her face. Her breath caught and her body revved in anticipation.
“Good to know,” he said quietly. And just when she thought he was going to kiss her, Donovan reached for the door handle and opened her car door. “Drive safely. Good night, Evangelina.”
Oh, sweet Jesus. Her full name from those sinfully perfect lips? She was pretty sure her underwear had just incinerated. She was just going to melt into a puddle of lust right here in her parents’ front yard. She let out the breath she was holding and carefully slid under his arm and into the driver’s seat. “Good night, Sheriff.”
He shut the door once she was in place and watched her pull down the drive. Eva waited until she was sure he couldn’t see her before smacking her head against the back of the seat. “That. Was. Hot.”
It was only nine, she thought, looking at the dashboard clock. With inspiration like this she should probably put in a few more hours of work.