Page 39 of Love Without Control

With an upward curve of my lips, I assured him, “Oh, that, Robert…thatI can do.”

Chapter 13

WhileRobertandEviewere out back in the salon, Jamie was working with me to tone down what she called my “thick New Yawk accent.”

“You’re doing well,” she said. “Just remember, they speak a little slower down here in the south so let your words dawdle a bit more on your tongue instead of talking ninety miles an hour.”

“And you’re sure I can’t sayfuhgeddaboudit?” I teased, and she laughed.

“Absolutely not.” Her head tilted toward the back door when we heard it open. Two sets of footsteps—one heavy and one light—made their way toward the living room. “I guess they’re done. I’m excited to see what Evie looks like.” I was too. They’d been back there for hours.

Robert walked into the room and swept his arm out as he stepped to the side. “Ladies and gentlemen—or Damiano—I present to you… Eden.”

My eyes narrowed into a squint. I almost darted my gaze around to look for Evie until I realized she was standing right there. “Evie?” I asked, and her eyes met mine.

“Eden,” she corrected. “That’s the name I chose.”

“I get it,” Jamie said, standing and striding a circle around her. “Evie… Eve… the Garden of Eden.”

“Yes, is that dumb?”

“Not at all. I love it. And this look! Whew, girlfriend!” She did that Z-snap thing girls do. “You are one hot tamale, Eden.”

Meanwhile, I was simply gawking like I’d never seen a woman before.

Gone was the pretty girl next door, and in her place stood a goddamn vixen. Her hair was short, dark, and messy, a thin streak of lilac on one side of the fringe that draped over her forehead.

Her eyes, now brown due to the contact lenses, looked rounder somehow with the new hairstyle. They softened the edgy visage just enough to compel a man to want to treat her like a princess while bending her over any nearby flat surface.

She. Is. Stunning.

Her eyes found me, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip almost shyly. “What do you think?”

She was seeking my approval, and she damn well had it. When I opened my mouth, my tongue forgot how to form actual words, and I ended up mumbling a bunch of vowel sounds. “Uhhh, I, ahhhh.” Clearing my throat, I said, “It’s fine.”

Her gaze fell to the floor, and I knew instantly that I had fucked up. She was enduring all these changes, and all I came up with wasit’s fine?

Before I could rectify the situation, the doorbell rang. “That’s probably the pizza,” Jamie said, checking something on her phone before heading for the door.

“Why don’t you have more security here?” I asked Robert. “Like gates or cameras.”

“We have cameras. You just can’t see them,” he replied. “That was what Jamie was checking on her phone. One of the tricks of staying under the radar is not holing yourself up in a fortress. Shit like that makes people suspicious. To the outside world, we’re just a normal couple in a normal house.”

I nodded. That made sense.

We settled at the dining table for dinner with three different pizzas laid out in front of us. “I’ve been informed by my husband that the pizza in Florida is subpar when compared with New York pies, but this is the closest he’s found,” Jamie said, reaching for a slice of pepperoni.

“It’s tolerable,” he grunted, taking three pieces that were fully loaded. I did the same. Evie—no,Eden—snagged a slice of what looked like meat lovers.

“So, we have Eden’s new name. Now we just need to come up with something for Damiano. Have you thought about any D names you like?” Jamie asked, turning her green eyes on me.

“Not really. I’m open to suggestions,” I told her, taking a large bite. It wasn’t like home, but it was decent.

“I have some suggestions,” Eden piped up. “What about Dillweed?”

I choked on the bite I’d just swallowed, pounding my chest with my fist as my eyes watered. Once I recovered, I turned my face slowly toward her. “Dillweed?” The little wildcat had the audacity to smile at me.

“You don’t like that one?” she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at me. “What about Dickhead, Demon, or Dracula?”

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