Eve pursed her lips. Aspen was right, but she really hated to take advantage of her kindness more than she already was. “Are you sure you want to drive me everywhere?”
“Of course. It’s all part of the Aspen Collier-West plus-one service,” Aspen replied with a thoroughly charming wink. “And, I mean, come on. There’s no reason for you to waste money on a rental when I’ve got a perfectly good SUV out front.”
Eve prayed Aspen didn't notice the blush she felt warming her cheeks as she murmured, “If you’re sure…”
“Totally sure.” Aspen held up a finger to indicate her call had been picked up as she said, “Hey, Patty. I need you to delete a booking from your system.” She laughed huskily at the other person’s response. “Whatever, man. Just help me out here, huh? Should be under the name Eve Morrison.” After a beat, she said, “Cool. Thanks.” She smiled as she pocketed the phone. “All set. Let’s get your bag and get out of here, hey?”
Eve nodded and took two steps after Aspen before she jerked to a halt as her thoughts latched onto another wrinkle to this haphazard plan. “Oh no.”
Aspen turned to her with a frown. “Hm?”
Eve’s pulse picked up. “Michael and I were supposed to stay at my parents’ house,” she explained in a rush. “Well, I mean,housemight be selling it short, it’s more like a manor, so we won’t be, like, bumping into them all the time or anything,” she rambled, “but…”
Aspen nodded as she connected the dots. “Okay. So I’ll stay with you.”
“Yeah, but, it’s just one room. The rest of the guest suites have been given to people from their VIP list. Michael and I were just going to share the bed since we do it all the time when we crash at each other’s places anyway.”
“That’s fine.”
“Really?”
To her credit, Aspen didn’t even hesitate. “Sure. We’ll just need to swing by my place so I can pack a bag.”
Eve gaped at her. “You’re seriously okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Aspen affected a comically thoughtful expression. “You don’t, like, kick in your sleep or anything, do you?”
“No, but—”
“Do you snore like a freight train? Gonna try to smother me in my sleep?”
“What? No!”
Aspen smirked. “I was just kidding. But I do need to sleep on the right side of the bed.”
“That’s fine. I prefer the left, but—”
“Eve.” Aspen placed a light hand on her wrist, and her expression was kind as she asked, “I promise that I’m cool with this—but are you? Seriously, if you’re not, we can totally come up with some other story to explain my attendance.”
Eve knew that she should say no, but as she stared into Aspen’s warm brown eyes, she found herself selfishly desperate for the support that shone in their variegated depths. “Okay.”
“Okay…we’re pretend dating? Or, okay, we’ll come up with something else?”
Eve drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Holy shit, she was really going to do this. “Dating.”
Aspen grinned and held out her arm. “Okay. Cool.”
Aspen glanced at Eve as she parked her immaculately restored, dove gray 1978 Land Cruiser in front of her garage and killed the engine. Nestled on two acres on the bank of the Roaring Fork River ten minutes from the city, the property was Aspen’s refuge from the world. The house was too big for just her, honestly, but she’d fallen in love with the graceful, curving lines of the roofline and the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the river out back at first sight, and hadn’t even left the property before she’d put in a cash offer to buy the place.
Her decision to go all-in for Eve had been much the same. Not necessarily in a love at first sight type of way—though Eve was even more beautiful than the picture Michael had shared suggested, with pale, cream-colored skin dusted faintly with freckles and eyes as bright and clear as a summer’s day—but just in that she knew in her heart she was supposed to be at her side to help.
To some, the speed with which she’d gone from reluctance to bullheaded determination somewhere between Michael’s call and midway through her conversation with Eve might be strange, but she hated bullies, and her heart ached at the haunted look that’d shadowed Eve’s expression when she’d talked about her parents. Even now it lingered, dimming the light in her brilliant, beautiful blue eyes. From what Michael hadsaid on the phone, she’d had a hint that the situation would be rough, but watching Eve shrink into herself as she told her about her parents cranked Aspen’s protective instincts up to eleven.
She could handle asshole exes. And even shithead parents.
What she couldn’t handle was watching a beautiful, obviously accomplished woman doubt her own worth.
I will do everything in my power to bring that spark back to her eyes, so help me god,Aspen promised herself as she cleared her throat softly to get Eve’s attention. She smiled gently when troubled blue eyes turned her way, and inclined her head toward the front door that was tucked into a wall of curved glass beneath a two-story tall, arced roofline. “Michael calls this my Hobbit Hole.”
