It was a lie. She loved him. But it had seemed too soon. He acted as though he cared about her. Maybe even loved her. But he hadn’t said the words. Neither had she. She had been afraid to say them matter-of-factly. Too worried that he wouldn’t believe her, that she’d been too caught up in the moment and would have said those words without truly meaning them.
Did she? She’d examined her feelings, their making love, until her head had spun. No matter how hard she tried to talk herself out of the idea of loving Donovan so soon, her heart had stood firm and told her in no uncertain terms that she did. And yet she’d still hesitated, too afraid to give voice to the sentiment for fear that he didn’t love her. That he too was carried away by the moment. By everything.
It all seemed too good to be true, and she found herself anticipating the other shoe dropping. She was just waiting for the bottom to fall out and for it all to be taken away in the blink of an eye.
Donovan’s arm tightened around her and he kissed the top of her head. He touched her and kissed her often. Reassuring her, being loving and affectionate, almost as if he realized her fears of it all vanishing.
“You’re quiet tonight,” he murmured close to her ear.
Eve glanced down on the floor where Travis was sprawled on the rug, Cammie nestled against him as the two were absorbed in the movie.
“I’m just enjoying it,” she said simply.
“Enjoying what?” Donovan asked.
She tipped her head up to him, finding his gaze. “You. Me. Us. It’s going to take time for me to get used to it, Donovan. I’m so afraid that at any moment it’s all going to disappear.”
He smiled tenderly at her and then captured her lips in a gentle kiss. “I’m not going anywhere, Eve. I’m here for the long haul. I understand your fears, but in time they’ll disappear. In time you’ll know that I’m keeping you, Travis and Cammie. You all belong to me. But I also belong to you. No one else will ever have the hold on me that you do. Not my family. Not KGI. You come first.”
Warmth seeped into her heart, assuaging the ache that had settled in at the thought of losing him. That it was all too good to be true.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” she whispered. “But I thank God every day that you found me—us.”
He chuckled. “And here I was wondering what I’d done to deserve you and Travis and Cammie. Guess we’ll just both be grateful together.”
Cammie got up from where she was lying on the floor next to Travis and crawled onto the couch, inserting herself between Donovan and Eve. She emitted a sleepy yawn and then promptly cuddled into Donovan’s side.
Eve watched as his face softened and transformed as he stared down at the little girl in his arms. He stroked her curls and Eve doubted he even realized how he looked right now. His gaze so full of love. It astonished her that this man could so readily open his heart to children that weren’t his own. But then he’d made it clear he did consider them his already.
She glanced over to see Travis’s head propped in the palm of his hand, and he was no longer watching the movie. He was watching Eve, Cammie and Donovan. There was such hope—and contentment—in her brother’s eyes that Eve knew she’d made the right decision for them all.
“How are you feeling, Travis?” Donovan asked, seeing the teenager watching them.
There was a note of fatherly concern in his tone that formed a knot in Eve’s throat. Travis wasn’t unaffected either.
“I’m good, sir. I appreciate your concern. What you’ve done for me—us. I’ll never forget it.”