“Good.” Darius sounded relieved. “You have great organizational and people skills. I was wondering if you’d be willing to be involved as more than the nurse.”
“What do you mean?” Eve pushed back her excitement. He could be talking about a lot of different things.
“I’d like you to run the charity, be the director.”
She stared at him, her mind racing. This was more then she’d dreamed when she’d first brought the suggestion to Kayn about Sophia. Would her having to work so closely with Darius get in the way of their growing relationship? Or would she have to choose? She picked her words carefully.
“Remember, I’m a nurse. Are you sure you want to leave something so important in my hands?”
“I think it’d be good to start small. You’ve done two of these now, and Kayn said you had some excellent suggestions on the plane coming back from Ireland. My mom has said that your mother is the queen of organization, and I know you used to help her with the scholarship fundraisers. We can hire whatever help you need, but I like your vision for the program.”
“This is a much bigger responsibility than I’ve considered. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Whatever role you play, the charity headquarters will be in Boone.” Darius lifted her hand and pressed it to his lips.
Her heartrate that had finally calmed down after the kiss spiked, and Eve had to work to keep her voice steady.
“And why is that?”
“Because—”
“Mrs. Campbell was looking for you, Eve,” Joe said, striding into the room. “She said your grandfather is ready to see you.”
Eve’s heartrate went crazy for a very different reason now. She and Darius rose.
“I guess I might as well get this over with.” She gave him a quick kiss before asking Joe, “Which direction?”
“The housekeeper’s waiting for you in the hallway.”
Eve took a deep breath, wishing Darius had had a chance to finish what he’d been about to say.
* * *
“What doyou think of all this?” Darius asked Joe when she’d gone.
“To be honest with you, it feels like one of the Gothic novels my mother liked to read. A single woman is called to the side of an ailing grandfather she hasn’t seen in years, or in this case, never met. The house is full of people who could be trying to manipulate her.” Joe met Darius’s gaze. “I don’t like it, and I’d feel much better if we left right now.”
“I cannot believe for one minute that her father would ask her to come here if there was the slightest chance she could be in danger.” Darius felt sick at the thought.
“I’d feel better if I understood the motivations for inviting her here.” Joe scanned the gardens outside of the solarium. “Have you met her cousin?”
“No. She and I have been waiting here until she was summoned. Have you?”
“No, but I overheard some servants talking about him.”
“Nothing positive, I assume from your tone.”
“You’re right. I told our driver to let me know if he overhears anything too, but he said the ones he’s talked to so far have been standoffish.”
“Well, I think Eve’s father was lucky to get out of this place and miss all of this.” Darius glanced at the door, wishing he could have gone with her to offer support.
“True enough. The drama aside, this place has a lot of potential,” Joe said, scrolling through his phone.
“How so?”
“She called it a farm, but it’s more what we in the US would consider a ranch with cattle and sheep. But it looks like there are five homes associated with the property in addition to the farm buildings. Besides the water features, there’s also a forest on one end.”
“Where are you finding this information?” Darius came over to see what the bodyguard was looking at.
