Page 71 of Second Chance with the Half-Elf
Evie stands just beyond the rope fence, camera in hand, hair braided back but wild at the edges like the wind can’t help itself. She’s got that grin—the one that says she knows exactly what she walked into and she’s not sorry about it.
“You planning to flex your way through the whole repair, or should I come back when it’s decent?” she calls.
My mouth twitches. “You’re the one holding the camera. Feels like a trap.”
She steps closer, already snapping a few wide shots. “You work well with old wood.”
“It listens better than people.”
“Doesn’t talk back, either.”
I glance at her, one brow raised. “You calling yourself difficult?”
“I’m calling myself impossible,” she says. “But you knew that.”
I chuckle. “Wouldn’t want you any other way.”
The words come easier now. Still low. Still slow. But without the barbed wire behind them. She walks around the bow, circling, and I keep my hands busy just to keep from reaching out.
She stops just shy of the stern, lowering the camera. “You always this good at fixing things?”
I grab a rag. “Only the ones worth fixing.”
Our eyes lock. Long enough that something quiet and hot curls in my gut.
She’s close now. Not quite touching. Just… near.
“You sweat pretty,” she says, and the smirk on her lips is pure trouble.
I lean against the railing. “You flirtin’ with me, Eves?”
She pretends to think about it. “I mean, the view’s decent.”
“Decent?”
“Fine,” she says, stepping closer. “Better than decent. Top tier. Possibly swoon-worthy.”
I tilt my head. “You don’t strike me as the swooning type.”
“I’m not,” she says, her voice low now. “But I make exceptions.”
The air goes still between us. Not tense. Just… charged. Like the moment before thunder.
I watch her eyes flick to my hands, to the line of my jaw, then back.
“You came for pictures,” I say, because it’s the only thing I trust myself to say right now.
She lifts the camera. “I came for you.”
That one lands.
Hard.
I don’t move. Don’t breathe.
Just… feel it.
Let it settle in a part of me I’ve kept bricked up too long.
