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EVANGELINE
Every day, I find myself in the company of one of the Everharts, but this time I don’t dread seeing them.
“Eva, come here, I want to show you something,” Ryder says, catching me as I exit the kitchen after cleaning up breakfast.
Ryder shows me his phone, where he’s got a little video pulled up. When he presses play, I watch as a kitten sneaks up to someone videoing him on the side of the road, and then an entire litter of kittens follows behind, emerging one by one from the long grass like a veritable army.
The sight completely melts my heart. I feel almost teary at the image of all those kittens, trusting some man they don’t even know, understanding that he is safe and he will protect them.
“Are you alright, Evangeline?” Ryder asks.
“I’m fine,” I say with a sniffle. “Honest. It’s just so cute.”
Ryder visibly relaxes. “Someone sent it to me, and I thought it would make you smile,” he tells me. I’m touched by the thought that he wanted to see me smile.
He gives me an intense look. “You look beautiful when you’re smiling. I should make you smile more often.”
My cheeks turn pink at that, and he leans in, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. “Let me walk you wherever you’re on your way to next.”
“I was just about to go clean Oliver’s study,” I tell him.
“I’ll go with you,” Ryder says. “I’m heading near there, anyway.”
We walk together up to Oliver’s study, Ryder chatting with me about his work at their club downtown.
After Ryder leaves and I’m in the middle of cleaning Oliver’s study, he pops up unexpectedly.
“I’ll be done shortly, sir,” I tell him, stepping to the side in case he needs something from his desk.
“Actually, it was you I was looking for,” he admits, pulling something out from behind his back. “I found this book and I thought you might enjoy it.” He holds it out to me, and I take it, examining the cover. It’s a fantasy romance about a shifter finding his human mate at a moonlight masquerade.
“Wow, this looks so good,” I exclaim, smoothing a hand over it. “I can’t wait to read it.”
“I’m glad I grabbed it, then,” Oliver says, a smile on his face that shows his dimples. “You’ll have to tell me if you like it.”
“Definitely,” I agree, already mourning the fact that I’m going to have to wait to start reading it until later tonight.
“How’s the baby?” he adds, glancing at my belly, which is just barely hidden by my uniform dress now.
“No movement yet,” I confess. “So, I’m guessing things are fine in there for her. She’s too small for me to notice anything, anyway. She’s only the size of a peach.”
“So tiny,” Oliver agrees. “But she’ll be growing fast.”
“I feel like I’ve already started to experience some symptoms of the second trimester,” I confess. “Just earlier, I almost started crying at a video of some kittens getting rescued.”
Oliver hid a smile and nodded. “That happens, I hear.”
I relax, realizing he’s not going to make fun of me for being emotional. “So, when do you leave for work again?” I ask, knowing that Declan’s been having Oliver travel around to deal with stuff relating to the family business.
“Not until next week,” Oliver said. “I don’t need to be anywhere right now. I can stay here and have some downtime.”
For some reason, this makes me strangely happy. I’ve been feeling a craving deep down for their company lately, worse since the afternoon I spent with Theo and Ryder.
“So, I’ll see you around the estate, then?” I ask, trying to hide how happy I am at this news.
“Definitely,” Oliver says, then impulsively, he pulls me to him for a kiss. We break apart and look up at each other, but Oliver just smirks and leaves the room.
The next day, I’m working on dusting some bookshelves on the third floor when I hear footsteps approaching. “It’s just me,” Theo calls out. I look up to see him carrying a basket on his arm. “Come with me,” he says. I follow, curious about what’s happening.
