His words hit something deep inside me, melting the guilt and fear clinging to my chest. “Really?” I whisper.
He nods, eyes on mine. “Yes. I tried to stay away from you. God knows I tried. But once I got a taste of what this could be… I couldn’t walk away. And now that I have you, I’m not going to lose you. I feel so much for you, Eva. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like this.”
I stop breathing for a second. “Me too,” I whisper.
He smiles soft, real, heartbreakingly open. “I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t plan it. But you… God, you’re beautiful. And your mind? The way you talk about the science behind all the products you sell, the way your eyes light up when you explain something only a few people on Earth understand? That amazes me.”
He reaches up and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering at my cheek. “You laugh at my dumb jokes. You moan over my cooking like it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted. You see me, Eva. And you get me. I tried to fight it, but I fell in love with you before I even realized it.”
My throat tightens as the tears slip down my cheeks.
“I don’t regret any of it,” he adds. “Because all this pretending? It gave me the best thing I’ve ever had. It gave me you.”
I reach for his hand and hold it tightly, grounding myself in the warmth of him. “I love you too,” I whisper, voice breaking. “And I have to confess… I did everything I could to seduce you.” A teary laugh escapes me. “I wanted you so bad. At first it was fun, just a game, but then I got to know you. The real you.”
He grins, squeezing my hand. “So you admit it. You were running a full-blown seduction campaign.”
I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t faking anything.”
We both laugh softly, and I keep going, my voice thick with everything I feel. “You make me laugh. You listen when I start ranting about science and you never make me feel like I’m too much. You make me feel seen. Valued. And also… your body is ridiculously beautiful.”
He smirks. “Ah, yes. It’s the tattoos. Gets them every time.”
I laugh again, tears and joy tangled in my chest, then he leans in and kisses me, deeper this time, slower. This kiss is different. It isn’t rushed or needy. It’s full of love. Full of everything we’ve been holding back. I feel it in every brush of his lips, every slow press of his hand at the back of my neck.
This kiss says, I choose you. I’m yours.
And for the first time all day, I feel whole again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Esteban
She loves me.
She actually loves me.
The words echo in my head, louder than any punch I took today, louder than Noah’s voice shouting at me, louder than the sickening crack of my fist against Brandon Lowe’s smug face. Louder than the thud of the deal falling apart.
Because somehow, after all the chaos, all the pretending, Eva looked at me with tears in her eyes and said she loved me.
And I believe her.
We sit in the truck, still parked beneath the quiet trees of the little park near Town Hall, and I swear I’ve never felt anything more peaceful in my life. She’s curled up against me now, her head resting on my shoulder, her fingers laced through mine like we’ve been doing this forever. Like we belong.
But the moment doesn’t last long.
Eva lifts her head. “What happened back there?” she asks quietly. “At the meeting?”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. The moment she asks, the weight of it all starts creeping back in. “It was a mess,” I admit. “We were waiting in Austin’s conference room. Hunter showed up with his lawyer, and when I saw Brandon, I knew everything was about to fall apart.”
Her eyes widen. “He’s really working with Hunter?”
I nod. “Yeah. He looked surprised to see us too, but not enough to stop him from being a dick. He outed us before I even had a chance to say anything. Told Hunter he used to date you. Then said he saw us together at the coffee shop. That’s when Hunter put it together.”
I look down at our joined hands. My knuckles are still raw. “He asked if we’d been lying to him this whole time. And… yeah, I came clean. Told him it started out as a lie, but that what I have with you is real now.”
Eva doesn’t say anything at first. Her expression is unreadable, but she keeps holding my hand.
