Eva dimpled. He was sure that she’d gotten away with everything that she’d ever wanted with those dimples. She put her finger to her puckered lips. “Shhh, Nash is trying to keep a low profile after last night. Isn’t he so cute, ladies? I mean, what you can see of him. Bad boy’s trying to retreat into his cave after saving his fair maiden.”
“No,” he groaned. Making him out to be the bad boy was not going to win him Emily. She didn’t understand River’s sister at all.
“Hmm, well, we’re going to let y’all go now,” Eva told her phone. “Nash and I are going to have some fun this morning. Let’s see if I can make him forget all about his songbird.”
She clicked off her phone, cutting short her bubbly laughter as easily as a robber taking off a mask. “Relax,” she said in a much flatter tone. “I’m helping your cause… and you’re helping me out with mine.” She tapped his nose, magically turning flirtatious again. “Does West want what you have?”
His nose wrinkled. “Never.”
She huffed out a discouraged sound. “I guess the jealousy angle won’t work then. Has he ever talked about me?”
“Uh… yeah.”Negatively, but she didn’t have to know that.
She beamed at that piece of news.
Nash snatched her phone. Her hand came with it and she laughingly leaned her tan shoulder against his. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t turn that thing on again. Let’s talk like real people.”
“I’ll consider it,” she said, “… if you agree to help me. And I’ll throw a bonus into the deal—I help you, too.”
She kept pushing that. “I work better on my own.”
“Believe it or not,” she said, “I hear that a lot, but you’re sooo wrong!” She got out the horse radish sauce and started to slather it on the bread. She handed it off to Nash. “Pile on the meat. You’re a growing boy.”
Lizardman let out a whimper and dove for the food. Giggling, Eva caught the puppy and fed him rolled up pieces of roast beef. So that’s how she won everyone over? Everyone except West, of course. Lizardman grew limp in her arms. Nash wasn’t about to reject her food, either.
Watching her suspiciously, Nash generously smothered the sandwich with every amazing tidbit he found in her picnic basket. The first bite made him melt. He’d always been a fool for food. Probably why Kylee Morningstar had always gotten through his defenses. His twin, Porter, had been safe from her wiles.
He broke into a smile, just imagining Porter here instead. His twin was way more cautious than he was. He’d be on his way home to Harvest Ranch long before this.
Eva found a chocolate-covered strawberry and brought it to Nash’s mouth. “Try this. It’s amazing.”
“Eva!” He could feed himself, but she must think he was a helpless baby because as soon as he swallowed the bite of sandwich, the chocolate strawberry found its way onto his tongue. An explosion of flavor hit his taste buds. Yeah, that was really good, and she needed to stop before she created a monster.
“You didn’t answer any of my texts,” she accused. “You’re not the type to kiss and tell, are you?”
He let out a sound to show that he didn’t want to talk about it, though it sounded a little too helpless to his ears. She followed that with a sympathetic click of her tongue. “You need to call her up and take her on a hot date and just ‘wow’ her. Show her a good time like you did last night.”
“I don’t have her number,” he admitted.
“You… don’t…?” She giggled. “Okay, you really are helpless, aren’t you? Here’s the thing, you have to get her toneedyou like I need West.”
That was very confusing. “I don’t get it. Why do you need West?”
“I don’t know. It just happened. When a girl looks at a man and she just thinks—he’s strong; he’s smart; he’s powerful… he can protect me. That’s when magic happens.”
“I think she wants a different kind of guy than you.”
“No… honey, all girls want that guy. I mean, maybe they’re less aware about it than I am, but we want a man that can take care of us—mentally, physically. When we need something, he’s there to cherish us, and in return? Well, we’re very, very grateful.” She made a kissy face in the air. Nash couldn’t help it. He grumbled out a laugh. That didn’t sound like West at all. “Hey!” She shrugged at him. “If I’m going to be your sister someday, I should give you sisterly advice.”
She wouldneverbe his sister. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re way too good for West.”
She brightened. “That’s sweet, but I’m going to save him.” She winked. “He’s too beautiful not to save.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and worked on unscrewing her diamond earring from her ear. “This earring, Nash, is what I’m going to call a leave behind… so I want you to put it in West’s Porsche, okay?”
“Wait. Why?”
“Yeah, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, where’s my earring’ to West, and then I’ll have a reason to come over, and I’ll look and look. And West will see red… because who was in his Porsche with me? Clever, huh? You’re such a good friend.” She dropped the earring into Nash’s palm.
“I’m not working for you.” He returned the earring. “If you want to trap West into a marriage that you’ll regret, that’s on you.”