Flawed Perfection (An Eve Sumptor Novel) (11 page)

To her surprise, Adam laughed. “Is that what you’ve been waiting for?”

“I have. I waited for it last night. Now, I’m sitting here, my coffee is getting cold, I need to go wake our daughter up and get her ready for Lexie, and all I can do is think about when you’re going to react to all of this.”

“This is my reaction, Eve.”

“Adam, you made me
beg
for forgiveness the last time I kept something like this from you.”

“Oh, I’ll make you beg, again, and I’ll definitely punish you. But, that will be when we have more time. As for now, this is my reaction.”

Eve’s pulse picked up quite considerably when Adam told her he’d make her beg. Seriously, Adam’s “punishment” in bed was
almost
worth getting shot at. Still, he was just too damn calm for her to believe this was it.

Adam rose from his chair, bringing her with him, and wrapped his arms around her.

“I got the call, then I saw you with blood all over you, and I was pissed, Eve. So pissed I wanted to say things to hurt you as much as I was hurting. Then I saw that you were already hurting. Your life has been full of pain, beautiful. I don’t want to be a part of that pain.” He kissed her temple. “Just don’t keep anything else from me, yeah?”

Eve took Adam’s face in her hands, and brought his mouth to hers for a mind-blowing kiss. In that moment, with her kissing him like that, Adam could forgive Eve for anything.

“I’m glad you didn’t go in to the gallery today, Eve.” Lainey took party favors out of bags, and stacked them on the table.

“Adam asked me not to. After everything that’s happened, I owed him at least that.”

Lainey glanced over at Eve. Her mood had been off today, rightfully so, Lainey thought, but still not like Eve. Lainey wondered if Adam was more upset than Eve told her.

“Are you two doing okay?”

“We’re fine.”

“Eve, you know you can talk to me, right?” Lainey didn’t want Eve to think just because Lainey was having these feelings, Eve couldn’t come to her about Adam.

“I know.” Eve stopped unpacking bags and sighed. “He was pissed at me. Seriously pissed, and I don’t blame him. But, he stopped. Just stopped being pissed. I guess I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Did you ask him about it?”

“Yes. He told me that I had too much pain in my life, and he didn’t want to be a part of that.”

“That’s sweet, Eve.”

Eve made a sound, and went back to the bags. Bella’s birthday party was two days away, and Eve was glad to have something to occupy her mind. She wasn’t used to stepping back and letting others take care of things for her, but what more could she do for the gallery? It was still being cleaned up, the pieces evaluated or restored and Harris and James were working on the Branson connection. All Eve could do now, was wait. Not her best attribute.

“You don’t think it’s sweet?” As Eve thought about how she was going to steer clear of the gallery for however long, Lainey wondered about Eve’s ambiguous murmur.

“I do.”

“But?”

Eve blew out an exasperated breath, debating on how much she want to tell Lainey. Then she remembered that Lainey was the one other person she could be completely honest with, and know she will not judge. Eve peered out the kitchen door to make sure Lexie and Bella were not in ear shot. When she saw them engrossed in an educational game, she looked back at Lainey.

“I broke down, Lainey. I couldn’t help it, could do nothing to stop it. I just fell to my knees in front of him and broke down. I can’t help but wonder if that’s why he stopped being pissed. Perhaps he thinks I’m losing it.”

“Oh, honey.” Lainey’s heart broke a little hearing Eve talk about losing control. “He doesn’t think you’re losing it. Adam just understands you’ve been through more than your fair share of shit.”

Eve couldn’t help the burst of laughter. Lainey wasn’t one to curse a lot (unless she was mad), so when she did, it tickled Eve.

“I know, I’m just not used to him seeing me like that.”

“You’re married, Eve. He sees you, and loves you, for better or worse.”

Eve’s eyes cut to Lainey, again. “That’s basically what he said. You would think that almost two years in, I’d get that.” She knew she should believe in that, but that person who broke down is not who Adam married. He married a strong woman. Not some weak, emotional woman. It just wasn’t a pleasant feeling for Eve.

“You’ve held your emotions in for so long, Eve, that I’m sure it’s going to take a while to feel comfortable letting them out.”

Before Eve could respond, Bella tottered into the kitchen towards Eve, her arms lifted.

“Mama!”

Eve bent and scooped Bella up, wrapping her in her arms. “Hi, baby girl. Are you hungry?”

“Sorry, Mrs. Riley! I was putting up the game, and she just ran off! Fast little bugger!”

“Not a problem, Lexie. Have you had lunch?”

“No ma’am. I was going to wait until after I fed little Bella here.”

“Would you like a sandwich?”

“Oh! Ma’am, I can make something! I don’t want to take you away from anything.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m going to make something for Bella, Lainey and myself. I can certainly make you something. Do you like turkey?”

Lexie blushed shyly. None of the families she had ever worked for were interested enough in her to be more than cordial. She wasn’t sure how to react to Eve’s kindness.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Lexie? Please, call me Eve. I think you’ve worked for us long enough to be on a first name basis.” Eve smiled warmly at her, and watched Lexie tentatively smile back. “Is turkey good for you, Lainey?”

Lainey grinned, and nodded. Eve’s compassion never ceased to amaze her.

After lunch, Eve put the finishing touches on the guest list for Bella’s party. The list included Lainey’s boys, the other young ones Lexie teaches, Henry, Trudy and Stevie, Mikey and his mother, Pauly and his family, Billy and his wife and kids—much to Adam’s disappointment—Charlie and his wife, and, to make things even more interesting, James and his family. Eve’s eclectic group made her smile, and wonder if she was the only one who had an FBI agent, a police captain and a criminal coming to the same party for a little girl turning one.

“What are you smiling at?” Lainey loved seeing Eve smile.

Eve handed Lainey the list, and knew she saw the same oddness.

“Well, it will certainly be an interesting first birthday party,” Lainey giggled.

“Maybe I should rethink this whole thing, and have a simple little get together with you, Jack and the boys,” Eve teased.

“I believe you’ve already given the deposit for the ponies.”

Eve laughed, but Lainey was actually right. Yes, she hired ponies. So incredibly silly, she knew, but she did it nonetheless. Adam didn’t even try to talk her out of it. Eve thought he secretly wanted the ponies for his little girl, too. Hell, he wanted everything for his little princess, which is exactly why he agreed to buying her a tiny tiara.

“You think I overdid it on the party.”

“No.”

“You should work on that, Lainey. It was not convincing at all.” Eve winked at her, tapping her on the nose before walking past her.

Lainey watched Eve post the guest list on the refrigerator, and couldn’t help but smile at the “art work” that also took up residence there. Bella may be one, but she was certainly Eve’s daughter. Those finger paintings had the makings of masterpieces. Of course, Lainey was probably as biased as Eve was when it came to Bella, but that didn’t detract from the cuteness of the little drawings.

Lainey was also a little surprised by the amount of things on Eve’s fridge. Everything had always been so neat, so pristine when it came to Eve, that seeing a bit of chaos was just odd—and endearing. It made Lainey’s heart beat a little faster for Eve. Crap.

“What are you thinking about?”

Lainey cleared her throat, thinking quick about how to answer.

“Um. How long do you think it will take to get back to the gallery?”

Eve eyed Lainey. That was certainly not what she was thinking, but since they weren’t alone, Eve wouldn’t push it.

“I don’t know. I’ll get in touch with Charlie later. Then, I’ll call James and see what he has to say.”

“It’s killing you, not being there isn’t it?”

“It’s killing me to stand by and do nothing. But, I have more to lose now.”

“How long will you stay away?”

Eve thought about Adam. He, of course, would want her to stay away until some kind of progress is made. But, she didn’t know if she could do that. The gallery was her baby. She wouldn’t let it be taken away from her again.

“I’ll talk it over with Adam.” Lainey’s look of surprise made Eve smile. “I’m working on it, Lainey.”

Eve sat in bed, leaning forward to rub lotion on her legs. She turned her head just in time to see Adam walk out of the bathroom dressed in black pajama pants that rode low on his hips. He was shirtless, and Eve couldn’t keep her eyes from trailing down his six-pack, down to that perfect V dipping into the bottoms. She breathed in through her nose, and could smell the crisp scent of him. Setting her lotion on the bedside table, she crooked her finger at him.

Adam grinned. His grin broadened when Eve changed positions, laying propped up on her elbows, with her legs towards him, spread. She was wearing one of his white t-shirts and white panties. He didn’t think she could be any sexier. Well, maybe if she were completely naked, which he had every intention of making happen. Soon.

He climbed the platform to her, bending to kiss her from her thigh to her belly button. Adam pushed the shirt up over her breasts, taking a nipple between his teeth.

Eve moaned in response, threading her fingers through his hair to hold him there.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, nuzzling his cheek to her breast. He moved up, feathering kisses on her neck, tugging her earlobe into his mouth. “
I love you
.”

The words were just a breath in her ear, but they burned a trail straight to her heart. “
I love you, baby
.” She turned her head to meet his lips in tender kiss. Their tongues touched, and Eve felt herself melt into him. He was being gentle with her. In the back of her mind, she wondered if it was because of what happened the night before. But, when he lifted her arms above her head, pushing her shirt up until she was free of it, she forgot everything else.

He got up on his knees, hooking two fingers into her panties, he slid them down over her hips. She raised her legs in front of him, to assist him. After throwing them to the floor, he traced his hands from the inside of her ankles, down, spreading her legs as he went.

She used her toes to grab onto Adam’s pajama bottoms, and tugged at them. “Take them off, baby.”

“Soon.”

He dipped his head to taste her, but she stopped him by grasping his face in her hands. Her eyes fixed on his.

“I want you inside me, Adam. I need to feel you.”

He saw the raw need burning in her gaze, and wanted nothing more than to give her everything. In a quick motion, the bottoms were discarded, and he moved between her legs. Adam put a hand between them, touching her.

“You’re so wet, beautiful. So ready for me.”