In all the information dump, Darius had forgotten to wonder where Eve’s fiancé—real or fake—currently was.
And why Eve herself was inhisbed.
Thankfully, Theo kept his answering streak going.
“Miss Myers’s room is next door, and Mitchell Keys was in there sleeping last I saw. She said that he knew where she was when she came in here an hour or so ago and that it was okay.” That sheepish look came back. “I worried about her getting into bed with you and also that Mr. Keys would be mad, but Miss Myers told me something that made Winnie give me The Look. You know, the don’t-ask-any-more-questions look. They fell asleep not too long after that.”
Darius noted the boy’s cheeks had reddened again.
“She said somethingto you, the pragmatic one, that made you think it was okay for her to hop into my hospital bed while webothare injured and one of us in engaged to a very rich, well-connected man?” Darius had a hard time with that one. Winnie he could see letting it slide because she had, no doubt, picked up on the fact that Darius and Eve were close.
Orhadbeen close.
But Theo?
He usually took a lot more convincing. Which was why Darius wasn’t surprised or all that offended that the boy had followed them the day before.
Now he shrugged a little and nodded to Eve.
“She said you were hers,” he said, matter-of-factly. “And between us, she was very convincing.”
THE YOUNG MANnamed Theo had a nice voice that would have been good for narrating books or hosting podcasts. At first, Eve accepted his whisper-talking in tandem with Darius’s deep drone like it was white noise.
Which was good, considering she felt she was still in need of a mighty nap.
Only when that white noise became words she could follow did she remember where she was.
And who had finally woken up.
Excitement nearly made Eve open her eyes to detail out as much of Darius as she could before slinging a barrage of questions his way. How was he feeling? Did his shoulder hurt? What about his side? Did he want water? Did he need a doctor?
She managed to keep the desire to a thought only.
She liked Theo for what he had done, but Eve still wasn’t ready to let him into the secret.
The secret she was finally ready to tell Darius, despite swearing to keep him and anyone else out of it.
While the two men spoke quietly at her side, Eve took a chance and moved slightly. When no one reacted, she used her hand’s new position to place her thumb against Darius’s leg. She applied a quick three pulses of pressure.
The man didn’t move a muscle.
Did he not get the hint?
A few moments passed by, Eve readied to do it again, but Darius apparently had understood the assignment.
“Hey, why don’t you go ahead and take Winnie home?” he said when their conversation paused. “I know for a fact that those couches are uncomfortable as all get-out, and since I’m clearlyokay now, there’s no reason for her to suffer on it and for you to do the same on a chair.”
There was some initial pushback at the suggestion. That pushback doubled when Winnie herself was woken. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to leave, but eventually Darius won out with a compromise. They would leave for only a little while, get some sleep and be back as soon as visiting hours started again.
No discussions happened past that.
Theo and Winnie said hushed good-byes before their quiet footfalls finally left the room.
The second the door closed, Eve opened her eyes.
It was no surprise that Darius was already looking at her.
“Climbing through windows and climbing into beds,” he said. “I’m almost scared to see what habit you’ll pick up next.”
