“I wonder if she regrets any of it,” he said.

“I think she does,” Eve responded. “That costume I wore tonight? She lent it to me. She had me come over and pick it out from a wide array of really nice costumes she had stored in her attic. Then she got me all fixed up with makeup and a wig.”

“What was she doing tonight?” he asked, curious in spite of himself. If she’d still been meeting them for coffee every Friday, she would’ve been invited to Cheyenne’s party, but he purposely hadn’t extended the invitation himself. Bad enough that he had to see her during work hours. He wasn’t going to include her in his social life, too.

“From what I could tell, she didn’t have any plans, but we didn’t talk about it. She was too upset when I was there.”

“About losing her dearly beloved?” He’d been curious as to how much she missed Skip, if she was sad to have him gone from her life or more distressed about the loss of money and status.

Again, the question of whether Skip had abused Sophia popped into his mind, but he didn’t ask Eve. It was better if he didn’t find out. Sympathy was what had landed him in his current position.

“No, this was about Alexa. Some kid jumped her after school.”

He sat up so fast, the water sloshed. “Which kid?”

“Sophia doesn’t know. Lex wouldn’t say.”

“Did Lex say why?”

“Because of what Skip did, of course. Kids often imitate the attitudes and behavior of their parents.”

He finished his wine. “So his daughter’s being picked on now, too? As well as his wife?”

“I guess.”

He flipped his wet hair off his face. “That’s too bad. It’s Halloween. She should’ve been looking forward to trick-or-treating—not getting beaten up.” And maybe Sophia should’ve been invited to Cheyenne’s....

“It made me feel terrible. Poor Sophia has enough problems.”

“No kidding.”

They remained silent for a few seconds. Then she stood. “Well, it’s getting late. I’d better go.”

He watched as a drop of water rolled between her breasts. “You can’t go.”

She seemed surprised. “Why not?”

She didn’t have her car, for one. She’d ridden over with him. “You’ve had too much to drink, and I can’t drive you because I’ve had too much to drink.”

A sexy smile curved her lips. “And that means...”

He smiled, too. “You’ll have to stay over.”

Her eyes locked with his. “Where will I sleep?”

He gestured to the mother-in-law quarters off to the right, where he suspected his own mother would live when she got too old to take care of herself. “There’s always the guesthouse.” His mouth went a little dry at what he was about to suggest. “Or...”

“Or?” she prompted.

“You could sleep with me.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared at him.

“You’re thinking about it,” he said.

“It’s been a long time since...since I was with a man. I miss it.”

“I can solve that problem.”

“But this is pretty scandalous—”

“Why?” He broke in before she could come up with too many reasons they shouldn’t. “We’ve known each other our whole lives. And we love each other.”

“It’s not that kind of love.”

“Maybe it could be.”

She didn’t seem convinced. “You remember what happened with Callie and Kyle. I’ve talked to her. She’s sorry she slept with him, says it was a mistake.”

“Kyle was on the rebound. He was in no shape to take on another relationship. Then Callie was diagnosed with liver disease and trying to cope with knowing she might not make it through the summer. They weren’t doing it for the right reasons.”

“Would it be any different for us?”

“We’re both ready for a relationship.”

“We’re also a little drunk and sex-starved,” she said with another laugh.

“We have to take charge of our lives sometime, go for what we want. I can’t imagine finding anyone better than you.”

What was he doing? Part of him felt as if he was racing full-throttle toward a cliff just to escape Sophia. But the other part, the more insistent part, said there was no reason he couldn’t love the right woman for a change.

She peered more closely at him. “You’re not talking about just one night?”

“Of course not. I would never use you that way. We could be a couple, couldn’t we?”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips—evidence that he was making her nervous. “That’s a sweet offer. I adore you, you know that. And you’re gorgeous. I won’t pretend I’ve never noticed. But...why now? We’ve known each other for ages, and you’ve never hit on me before.”

“Maybe we’ve both been waiting for love to just come upon us. And maybe it doesn’t work like that, at least not for everyone.”

“You’re looking at the situation pragmatically. We’re getting older. We both want a family. We already have a great relationship, so...why not.”

Using the “we haven’t found anyone else” logic wasn’t the most romantic approach, so he tried to soften it. “I’m just saying...who knows what might develop? Why not give it a chance?”

Her laugh sounded more like a giggle, something he wasn’t sure he’d ever heard from her. “I don’t mind telling you that my heart is pounding like crazy.”

“So is mine.” He reached out to her. “Come here. Let’s see what it feels like to touch you.”

She moved closer, and straddled him when he pulled her into his lap.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Do we fit together well enough? Could we get in to this?”

She closed her eyes and pressed up against his erection. “You feel good,” she admitted. “So good I’m not thinking clearly. What about our friends...”

He dropped his head back as she increased the pressure. “What about them?”

She kissed his neck, tentatively at first but then with more abandon. “They’ll kill us if we wind up hating each other and refuse to be in the same room together.”

“Most of them are married. They have better things to worry about than what we’re doing. Besides, I could never hate you.”

He was afraid that he was going too far in his efforts to convince her. But she was so warm, so soft and pliable. He was dying to lose himself in her body, to do something, anything, to stop thinking of Sophia.

“I couldn’t hate you, either.” She rocked against him, creating sparks of pleasure. He could make love to her without a problem, just as he’d thought. But could he commit to her, as well? Because taking Eve to bed would be different from being with anyone else. He wouldn’t be able to move on afterward, not if there was any danger it would hurt her.

For a second he panicked, realized he’d be trading away too much. He loved Eve, but he didn’t feel the intense romantic attraction he’d experienced with Sophia. That was what passion felt like. That was what falling in love felt like, falling in love so deeply he didn’t care if he drowned. But Eve was a good woman, a woman who deserved to have the husband and babies she wanted. He could give her that, couldn’t he? Maybe, with time, he could feel about her the way he’d felt about Sophia.

Either way, once she untied her bikini top and let it fall, it was too late to back out.

15

Sophia was still worried about Alexa when she arrived at work the following morning. Her daughter had insisted on going to school despite yesterday’s attack. She was afraid she’d fail math if she didn’t. Her grades were slipping, which was no surprise given everything they were going through. But Sophia didn’t feel good about letting her go to class. Late last night, after spending the entire evening with her and not going out for Halloween at all, Lex had finally broken down and explained what had happened. Babette, the girl she’d hung out with most before Skip died, had turned on her. She’d told Connie, a girl who was often kicked out of school for fighting or ditching, that Alexa had said all kinds of terrible things about her. It was a lie, of course, but Connie had exacted her revenge while everyone else stood around, sealing off Alexa’s retreat and cheering the other girl on.