Page 20 of Falling Over You

Was it loving if it wasn’t love?

She wanted to ask. She might be bold when it came to her life, and even her family, but with Theo, she was afraid to ask if maybe he wanted more than this weekend. If he said no, she’d be crushed.

She wasn’t sure her heart could handle that.

Chapter 6

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Theo

Eve was everything he wanted. She was funny and sweet and so damn sexy. She made him laugh and made him think. She challenged him in a way no one had in a long time.

The best part was that she had no desire to leave his cottage. She was just as content as he was to stay inside and enjoy their time together.

He knew that would change when they got back to the city. They both had jobs and she had friends she’d told him all about. Not to mention her family. That didn’t mean they couldn’t spend some of their time locked away, making love for hours on end.

First, he had to convince her to take a chance on him. He had a feeling that would be the hard part. She kept making comments about this being only a week or while they were at the lodge. He’d counter that with comments of things they could do when they went back to their normal lives hoping she’d get the hint.

She hadn’t.

Something was stopping her from taking a chance. He knew this had happened fast, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from pursuing her. If she wanted to take it slow, he would do that.

It might kill him, both the days without sex, and the dates he’d take her on, but he could do it. He could do anything if, at the end of the day, it meant Eve was in his life.

It was Christmas Eve and as much as they both wanted to stay in their sex bubble, they’d agreed to dinner with her family. To even the odds a little, he’d somehow talked Gordon into joining them.

“Are you sure about this?” Eve asked as she brushed her hair. He’d had his fingers tangled in that hair more than a dozen times and knew exactly how soft it was.

“I’m sure.” He came up behind her, taking her in his arms and nuzzling her neck. “I like your family.”

He could see her eyes roll in the mirror. “That’s because you don’t know them well.”

“You know, the sooner we meet them, the sooner we can get back here and into bed.”

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when my family drives you batty.”

They threw on coats since it was snowing, and ran from his cottage to the lodge. They shook the snow from their bodies as they walked down the hallway to the restaurant. As soon as they entered, he had the shock of his life, when her family was standing and shouting happy birthday complete with balloons and signs.

“It’s your birthday?” She’d let him walk into a birthday celebration ambush with her family, instead of telling him it was her birthday.

She sighed, her eyes holding regret. “Because I hate my birthday. Being born on Christmas Eve sucks. I get overlooked every year thanks to Christmas.” She pointed to her family. “For some reason, this year, they decided to actually care that it’s my birthday.”

Before he could tell her that he’d never forget her birthday, and he’d always put her first, her mom was pulling them into the fray of her family. Thankfully, Gordon was there.

“A little warning that it was Eve’s birthday would have been nice,” Gordon said.

“I didn’t know either.” He watched her family fawn over her and wondered how this same family could have ever forgotten her birthday.

His eyebrows raised. “She didn’t tell you. What the hell have you two been doing locked in that cottage?” He put up a hand. “You know what, forget I asked.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said, more to himself than to his brother. “They really seem to love her, but she says they always forget her birthday.”

Gordon looked over at the group who were all shoving gifts at Eve. “I see a lot of families come and go, and I have to agree, they seem like good people. More than once this week, they’ve asked me about you, like they were trying to figure out if you were good enough for her.”

When he got her alone again, he was going to find out what was going on.

“Theo,” Eve’s dad said loudly. “Let’s get you a drink.”

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