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“I hope not. Hope I haven’t messed everything up for you as well.” He glanced back at Eva and saw her disappearing into the plane.
“Life is messy sometimes,” Walker said. “We’ll all figure it out. If we’re supposed to. Turn to Jesus and it’ll work.”
“I spent most of the night praying,” Miles said.
“Good man. I’m proud of you, brother.”
“I’m proud of you too. See you soon.” Miles lifted a hand and turned away. He didn’t know why he said ‘see you soon’. He didn’t make it home often.
Walking onto the plane, he saw Paul standing next to Eva. Paul nodded to him and closed the door while Eva sank into a leather recliner.
Miles walked over and settled into the recliner next to hers. She didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at him, putting earbuds in and fiddling with the screen that pulled out of the seat.
He prayed for help and waited until the plane lifted off. He only had a few hours.
“Eva, I …” He turned to look at her. Her head was lolled to the side. She still had the earbuds in, and she looked for all the world to be sleeping.
Some guys in his unit could fall asleep that fast, and Eva had been through a lot in a day and a half. She was also one of the most accomplished actresses around. Was she faking sleep?
It seemed the last thing she wanted to do was talk to him. What could he do to get through to her? Had he messed this up so completely that he had no chance at all?
He studied her and kept praying.
Chapter
Fifteen
Eva suffered through the minutes, not even distracted by the movie playing on the screen and through her earbuds. She couldn’t even tell what the movie was and keeping her eyes shut didn’t help. She tried to breathe slow and easy. She could feel Miles’s gaze on her.
They movie finished and she thought they had to be getting close to home.
She could keep her distance with Paul in the car, say thank you and goodbye, and never see Miles Coleville again. Her gut stirred with longing, and she had to focus on her ‘sleeping’ pose. She was an actress. She’d held odder-looking and more uncomfortable positions for a lot longer than this, but she hadn’t been an emotionally overwrought mess.
She should probably give Miles a chance to say his piece, but she couldn’t do it. A spell-binding look from those blue eyes, a touch from his magical fingers, and she’d fall into his enchantment. He’d make her feel special, he’d light her up with his kisses, and he might even pretend to love her until he met someone more famous.
She could see it now. Miles would look exceptional in his suit and she’d be on his arm, feeling like she was special and Miles was head over heels in love with her. They’d be at an exclusive party she usually hated going to by herself, but with Miles, she’d be happy to go anywhere. Then he’d notice somebody—a beautiful actress, influencer, or politician. Bermuda Venus or Jezebel Noir. Those two would drool over a real man like Miles, a military hero, a tough cowboy. Miles was too classy to act on their invitations with Eva right there on his arm, but before long, he’d move on, just like every guy she’d dated since she left home.
It was ironic that Miles could stay devoted to one woman for thirteen years and then suddenly shift his loyalties. Eva couldn’t sort it out in her mind. She feared he’d been infatuated with her as a star and assumed that meant they had a connection.
What was her excuse, then? She knew they had a connection. It blew anything she’d experienced with any other man out of the water. His touch. The way his blue eyes mesmerized her. Those kisses. Enchanting. Out of this world.
She touched her fingers to her lips and sighed with longing.
Her earbud was removed. The movie she’d been pretending to sleep to had shut off a while ago.
“Eva.” Miles’s husky voice was too close to her ear. His unique bergamot and pineapple scent made her pulse speed up.
Opening her eyes and pivoting to get a bit of space and focus on him, she sighed louder. The bow in his upper lip, his intriguing blue eyes, the shadow of a beard on his firm jawline. Why did he have to appeal to her on every level?
“Have we been in the air long?” she asked brightly, pretending she had been asleep.
“Two and a half hours,” he said, studying her. His blue eyes were wounded. Well, she was more wounded. He’d kissed her like the world was going to end minutes after kissing his girl. He’d dumped poor Lily because of Eva. That hurt too. She didn’t want to be the cause of breaking up relationships. Everything hurt.
“Eva, will you listen to me?” His voice was patient and his eyes begged her to let him explain.
“Miles, it’s … whatever.” She put up a hand to shield herself and thought she sounded like a valley girl. She took out her other earbud and set them aside, studiously avoiding looking at him. “We had a little fling. I’m over it.”
She shifted in her seat and closed her eyes, praying for strength. Her acting skills weren’t even helping. She couldn’t go through the heartbreak again, and with Miles … it would be a million times worse. She should hardly know him. Instead, she felt like he’d been created for her.
