A moment later he returned, sliding her glass across the table before taking the seat catty-corner to where she sat at the head.
“Feel up to eating?” he asked when she didn’t dig in right away. “Did the medicine make you queasy? I have medication that will settle your stomach and ease the nausea if you need it.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine. I was just enjoying the smell. It looks delicious.”
She picked up her fork and delicately cut into the wedge of lasagna. He watched her eat, watched the fork disappear into her mouth and fantasized about kissing that mouth. Then he shook his head and dug into his own food. He wasn’t the least bit subtle about his perusal of her. He wasn’t scoring any points in his bid to make her trust him by leering at her like some crusty old man wanting to get into her pants.
He gave her a moment to eat, not wanting to potentially upset her and cause her not to finish her meal. By the looks of her, and from what he’d seen of their trailer, he knew she’d missed far too many meals already.
It was only when she slowed and then finally set her fork down with a sigh, only a few bites left, that he put his own fork down and reached over to slide his hand over hers.
She tensed but didn’t pull from his grasp, a fact that gave him great satisfaction. But her gaze lifted, seeking information from him with that silent stare.
“Eve, we need to talk,” he said gently.
She flinched, but didn’t look away, instead facing him bravely, resignation written in the lines on her face. He hated that look. So defeated. Confiding in him wasn’t conceding defeat, and he didn’t want her to look at it as failure on her part to protect her siblings.
“I don’t know how much I can tell you,” she whispered.
He tightened his hold on her hand, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “You can tell me anything. Everything. I need to know it all so I know what we’re up against.”
Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement and she looked at him in utter bewilderment. “You said we.”
The confusion in her voice made him ache. Clearly it baffled her that he’d included himself in her problems. Well, she’d better get used to it, because he was inserting himself.
She shook her head as if to clear her senses. “You aren’t up against anything, Donovan. I am. I can’t involve you with my problems. It isn’t fair. You don’t know me. You don’t know Travis or Cammie and you don’t know what their father is capable of.”
Well, they were getting somewhere at least. With those words, she’d confirmed Cammie’s statement that it was her father who’d hurt Eve and who had likely done something to hurt those children. Something bad enough to make Eve cut and run, sacrificing everything in her bid to keep them safe. It also confirmed his suspicion that Eve, Travis and Cammie didn’t share the same father. Which left her mother as the blood tie. Unless Eve had lied about Cammie and Travis being her siblings, something he didn’t believe. He’d seen the love for them shining in her eyes. Had seen how fiercely protective of them she was.
“What did he do?” Donovan asked, trying to keep the anger from his tone. She needed gentleness and understanding. She didn’t need his rage.
This time her gaze lowered and her head bowed as she stared down into her lap. He picked up her fingers so he could curl his around hers and he pulled gently to get her attention once more.
“Eve, you can trust me.”
She stared into his eyes, hope stirring in the depths of hers. Just as quickly, she shut it down and her gaze dimmed, vanquishing the brief light that had shone just seconds before.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Donovan. You’ve been very kind. But I can’t afford to trust anyone. There’s too much at stake. All it takes is one wrong decision on my part, one wrong move, and Travis and Cammie suffer as a result.”