Trisha glanced at him and nodded. “It’s probably for the best. You can protect her better than I can.”
“I think we should plan another time to get together,” Patrick said. “You need to get settled, and Eve looks exhausted.”
“I’d like that,” Trisha said and smiled at Eve. She hugged her again and then turned to the door. “I’m so glad I finally got to talk to you. I hope to see you soon, sweetheart.”
Eve couldn’t get any words past her tight throat, so she stayed quiet. A long moment passed after the door closed before she turned to face Patrick.
A slight trembling started in her hands and moved outward. The man she’d already partially fallen in love with stood cold across the room and didn’t attempt to come to her. He’d said she was going with him, but he didn’t sound happy about it.
“Listen, I … think … I can make other arrangements…”
Patrick’s scowl darkened as he made his way to her. He gripped her upper arm and started pulling her out of the room. They were both silent as they made their way outside to the car. On the way back to Patrick’s, Eve sat silently, not sure what to say. She desperately wanted him to say something to her. She became more depressed as the miles passed.
She tore from the car the second they pulled into the garage and raced up to her room. She ignored all the boxes and bags from the department store website they’d bought clothes at the day before. After she crawled into the closet to the way back, she pulled her knees to her chest, laid her head on them, and cried.
Sobs ripped from her until she was gasping to breathe. She balled her hands tightly, puncturing her palms with her nails.
“Eve,” Patrick yelled out in the hallway.
She made herself smaller and tried to be as quiet as she could. She jerked when her bedroom door was thrown open.
“Eve, goddammit, where are you?”
She whimpered as her body started to shake uncontrollably.
Chapter Fourteen
He opened the closet door. The breath caught in his throat at the sight of Eve huddling in the corner like a beaten animal.
She flinched when he took a step toward her and stopped. He crouched down and rubbed a hand down his face. He knew he was mostly to cause for her upset at the moment. How could he explain the terror he’d felt when he witnessed Eve and her mother together? He felt the life he’d dreamed of with Eve was sliding away.
He knew Eve looked to him for support, but he couldn’t make his legs move. He guessed if he got close enough, he’d snatch Eve up and run with her. Instead, he’d fucked up and hurt his girl.
“I…” he started to say.
“I want to go…” Eve interrupted. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable and feel like you have to take care of me. I can be with my mom until I figure out what I want to do.”
He cursed savagely, making her flinch again.
“I don’t know how to explain the way I feel…”
“You don’t have to,” Eve said.
“If you interrupt me one more time, I’m going to spank your ass red,” he said with a growl.
She gasped and stared at him like he’d gone mad.
He sighed. “I thought the second you saw your mother, you’d walk away from me.”
She opened her mouth but slammed it shut when he growled.
“The fear started last night and just got worse as the hours ticked by. I just about lost it at the day spa when Darian told me he would have your mother waiting for you at the office. I wanted to snatch you up and run. That’s why I wasn’t there to pick you up. I knew I’d just keep driving.”
Eve reached out a hand.
Patrick grabbed it, sat, and pulled her into his lap. He wiped the tears from her face with his thumb. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, baby girl. I let my fear of losing you blind me to the fact you needed me. It will never happen again.” Several moments passed. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
She tipped her head back. “I’m a