Page 74 of Yours, Forever

I gulped. She gazed at me with heat in her eyes. Like maybe she wanted me, too. The idea had me getting harder, faster, and I had to take a slow, deep breath to control myself.

She held in a breath of her own and brought her eyes back to the video. "We're having what looks like a coherent conversation." Her voice came out strained. She cleared her throat. "Your lawyers were right; we were sober enough through all of this part. We must have been drinking a bit, but we didn't get drunk until we'd made the decision."

I thanked whatever powers that be that her brain had followed a path away from the napkin, even if the cost was a stiff cock and more pining that I knew what to do with.

"I agree." I bit my lip. "It was merely liquid courage."

Even if it might have shown me signs I still saw today.

Eva turned her eyes to me again. "That morning at the hotel—I remember thinking that. Liquid courage."

"We were getting married after all."

"We were signing off on being in each other's lives for a few years, without knowing each other." She smiled.

Her phone pinged, but she ignored it. I did, too. I was too focused on the fact that she still talked about us being together for longer than eighteen months. It didn't help much with my boner situation, or how difficult it was to hold back and not beg her to reconsider the kissing rule… but it gave me hope.

I leaned my head against her headboard and watched her. "I don't regret it."

"Me neither. Even if I had to put a third of my clothes in boxes to make room for your suits in my closet."

"You're the best. Thank you." I grinned. "Now can I call my realtor and ask about the Venturelli house?"

She didn't respond right away. She bit her lip, eyes unwavering on mine. All she did was nod.

"Excellent." I kissed her face, letting the moment stretch. "We're just going to check it out, okay? No commitment yet."

"All right."

"Good night, darling."

I almost made it out of the room, when an impassioned word broke the silence.

"Fuck!"

I turned to her, eyebrows high on my forehead.

She held her phone in her hand, and stared at me with panicked eyes. "My mom is coming to town tomorrow and spending the night."

"Mierda."

Chapter 22

Eva

Max was out ata meeting, I worked a shift at rEvalution with Ale, and my mom was assumed to be in a car on her way to Laguna Island.

The last statement had me in a bad mood. I didn't like that my mom was on her way. At all. If she hated this place, why come for a visit? I didn't need to hear it, or see it, or entertain it. Yet that's exactly what I would do, because she was my mother, and I didn't have it in me to tell her to go away.

At least, I could trust she would go away all on her own. Eventually, she would tire of Max as well, leave us alone, and she and I would go back to our random, awkward three-calls-a-year.

An uncomfortable undercurrent prickled in the lower layers of my skin.

"Woah. Those are new." Ale pointed at my engagement ring and wedding band.

My hands stilled in the middle of refilling the artisanal chocolates at the counter. The blue crystal shone stronger than any other. It was a bright spot in the middle of my dark mood.

I held back a sigh. "I haven’t been wearing them, but since my mom is visiting…"