Eva settled in Brandon's Bentley and relaxed her back. The seats were comfortable, they didn't bend her in strange ways like in other cars. It was relaxing. She closed her eyes and let him drive, but she peeked the moment he turned in a different direction from where they came. "Where are we going?"
"Home," he answered, "like we discussed."
"Already?" She had assumed tomorrow. Her palms felt sweaty as she turned her head toward Brandon's profile. His dark hair and dark eyes were striking with his light olive skin and posh suit pants and his blue shirt, not that she wanted him. She tried to wipe her thoughts. Besides, he'd never be interested in her, and seduction was out of the question and off the plate from now until her baby went off to college.
He tapped the wheel. "Did you need anything at your apartment?"
Time. She reached out and brushed her hand on his muscular arm. "Clothes, for one. A toothbrush. A few personal things."
He nodded while he drove. "How long will it take you to pack?"
"Ten minutes," she answered fast, and a second later pursed her lips. So much for asking for time… but then she thought about her apartment. Her broken and old furniture were not the best atmosphere to keep herself from falling. And a nice bed with sheets that weren’t tattered was a dream in her imagination.
On the next street, Brandon turned the car left, and nodded. "Okay. We'll go to your place."
Soon, they were away from the beach and in her neighborhood town of Hialeah, where the streets confused anyone not born in the city. Brandon navigated fine. Once he'd parked in the parking lot outside her home, she asked, "Brandon, are you sure you want me to move in tonight?"
He reached out and brushed his hand on her arm this time. "I want to drive you to the movie set tomorrow and get you into your test shots."
Right. This was a job, not a date. He hopped out of the car while she opened her door. A moment later, he was there and offering his hand. She reached out and used him as a launch pad to get up. Once she was sure her and the baby were fine, she brushed her long skirt down. "What if the director doesn't think I have what it takes?"
"He likes my money. He doesn't get much of a choice." Brandon followed behind her while they made it to the steps. She held onto the railing, it felt nice to know someone had her back if she fell.
Once she'd made it to the top of the stairs, she giggled and thought about tomorrow while she fished out her keys. "I've never played the part of the girl who slept her way to the top or straight out murdered those in her way. This might be fun."
"Didn't you fund your last play?" he asked.
Acting was a safe topic. She opened the door wide and let him follow her inside. This time, her gaze landed on her table, held straight with a few books at the bottom. Brandon was right about this wreck. She sighed. "I couldn't let the play fall down because the producer bailed when I had an opportunity to do it."
"So, you know how a cast reacts when the money wants a small thing done."
Right. This was just business to him. Her mind was a ping pong right now. Business was all she could handle. She walked into her bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush. "Yes. I'm just getting myself mentally ready to be your girlfriend."
"Got it," he said, as he checked out her small collection of classic plays from Hamlet to Death of a Salesman.
She walked to her bedroom where a ring sound interrupted the quiet. It continued, she called out, "Your phone is ringing."
He followed her. "Let it. Can I help you get your things?"
"No." Her twin-sized bed wasn't made, and she should have washed the sheets. He stood in the hall. Eva threw her clothes from her plastic bin into her bag and called out, "I'm almost done."
In her last act, she went to her closet and tried to get her box off the top shelf. She stretched and her fingers brushed the edge. It was the most important thing she had. Her hands accidentally pushed it in the other direction.
Brandon stampeded in and reached for it. "Don't stretch. Don’t hurt yourself or your baby out of pride. Let me help."
Without much effort, he handed her the box. Her face felt warm and her heart stirred. "Thanks. I need that box."
Without opening it, she brought it to her bag. Brandon asked, "What is it?"
The only part of her life that mattered. She swallowed. "Photos. It's all I ever had of my parents. I want to bring it with me."
"Can I see them?"
No one ever cared enough to be interested. This wasn’t the first time she’d played the part of beautiful girlfriend, but even her last friend she had done this for hadn’t asked her personal questions. The pictures were private. Her pulse raced a little, she nodded, opened the box, and explained, "Yeah, I guess. No one normally asks."
Brandon shuffled the pictures and without hesitation held up one. "This is your father?"
Wow. Perceptive. Her entire body relaxed near him and she leaned closer. "How did you know?"
"You have his eyes."
It would be nice if that were true. Without another thought, she went through the photos in his hand and picked out another. "This is my mother. This was their wedding picture."
His voice was deep. "What happened to them?"
"Car accident three months after I was born."
"Didn’t you have at least one set of grandparents?"
She shook off the instinct to lie and instead told the truth. "No. Neither of my parents had anyone as far as I know because no one came for me."
He handed her the photos again. "Well, you look like your mother."
"I often wonder about them, and I always keep this small box with me, wherever I go." She stuffed the box in her bag and a second later reached for her laptop, the last thing she needed.
Done. Nothing else mattered here. She zipped the bag.
Brandon leaned forward. "How did you get the pictures?"
Eva had spent her teenage years rebelling and evading all of Geraldine's religious demands. "My foster mother saved them for me. She was super religious, but always supportive, even when the state came in and gave her trouble."
"I'm sorry she died." Brandon reached for her bag and she let him. The last thing she needed was to hurt herself.
"Me too. She gave me my butterfly necklace because she knew I loved them as a girl. I have her picture in there, too."
They made their way out of her small studio and she turned to scan the place. It was a wreck. The green couch had a slice in the back of the fabric that she now noticed was visible in the front, too. She'd not miss this place; it had never really served as more than a landing pad for the past few years. Once this job was over, she'd not return here. She blinked and followed him to the door. "This is everything."
Brandon opened the door for her. "Okay. Let's go."
Eva slipped her key off the ring and would email her landlord. She was gone for good.
Without much fanfare, they drove to the beach, and she realized he turned off 395 onto Bridge Street, and that they were heading to the exclusive island. She sat straighter. None of her friends had lived in the star-studded isle that housed the rich and famous. She spotted a few amazing looking mansions, and a few minutes later, Brandon pulled into a two-story one reminiscent of Tara’s in Gone with the Wind. The gates opened to a roundabout that could house twenty cars, and off to the side was a three-car garage. Brandon hit a button to open the garages, and they pulled into the first one.
As they walked out of the garage, the sound of an engine turning off reverberated in her ears. The noise of the car and the dark sparked memories of prom night, Tommy had opened the door and let his friends in the hotel room, and they had used a battery-operated rabbit. She shivered and hugged herself while she slowed down. She was safe, and this was Brandon’s garage. "There is a car in your driveway."
"Calliope." He pointed to the window, and she saw the blonde hair.
Eva had cheated with Calliope's fiancé, even if she hadn't known until she received the wedding invitation from the bride. She ducked her head and felt her body was warm again. This was her own doing. "Perhaps I should wait in the garage."
"No." Brandon gently placed his arm on her shoulder. "My sister won't judge you."
She followed him out. "It's not a family trait?"
"No, she’s the bubbly one." He let Eva’s shoulder go, but offered her his arm. "Calliope’s probably here to check up on me. Come."
She swallowed and stared at the front door. This was the start to the next chapter of her life. She'd make the money and go. She laced her hand around his arm and followed him inside. Brandon put her bag near the second door of a double entryway, and once he'd closed it behind them, he called out. "Calliope, what brought you by?"
Eva's entire body felt like it might shatter. Her palms were sweating again. Without even time to blink Calliope came over and hugged Brandon, and a fraction of a second later, she hugged her too. "Brandon! Eva. How are you?"
The bright-eyed stare of the woman she hurt was like a dagger in her heart. "I'm good."
A slow smile grew on Calliope's face, her head darted while she gazed at the pair of them. "And you're here? In my brother's home?"
Brandon had a fatherly voice when he said his sister's name. "Calliope—"
Calliope flipped her hair and ignored her brother as she took Eva's arm and walked with her. "Brandon's overprotective by nature. Michael says you're still his friend too, so I'd like for us to go out and get to know each other."
Michael, Jay, Sandra, Penny were still her friends, despite how she betrayed all of them at some point. Forgiveness came easier for other people it seemed. Calliope had been a high school acquaintance, but never a friend. Perhaps it would be nice to start over and only make female friends for a while. She kept her head down. "Are you sure?"
Calliope squeezed her arm. "Positive. How about tomorrow?"
Brandon answered. "We have all-day plans."
Calliope waved him off. "Then tomorrow evening, we'll do a double date so Eva doesn't think I'm completely crazy. Then this weekend, shopping?"
Determination ran in the family's veins. Eva held her stomach and felt for her baby. "Sounds lovely. Thank you."
Calliope let go of her and began to walk towards the front door. She stood between the first and second doors. "Okay, well, I should go."
Brandon opened the first one, held it open, and called out. "Wait. You never said why you were here."
Calliope stopped, opened her Valentino pocketbook and handed her brother a stack of papers in an envelope. "I wanted to leave this business plan I received with you to let you decide what I should do."
Without a glance at it, he placed the envelope on a nearby lamp table. "I'll look at it in the morning."
"Perfect. Night." Calliope took off for the door and waved goodbye.
Brandon returned to the double doors, locked them and grabbed her bag. "My sister avoids all discussion about money. She claims she doesn't have the head for numbers, she depends on me to track her trust fund and spending habits and she's starting to depend on her new boyfriend as well."
The white living room had a mirror that looked like it would reflect the sun into the house and a nice white fireplace. He walked her bag out of the main living area and through open aired doors, past a dining hall, and into a Florida room where again the room should catch the sun beautifully. Then, he walked her up the stairs. "It's nice that she has you in her corner. Where am I putting my bags?"
He opened the door to an elegant and light bedroom that overlooked the intracoastal waterways, and beyond that, the Atlantic Ocean, with a huge wraparound balcony. She peeked her head next door and saw a bathroom that was bigger than her apartment, also giving her an amazing view of the ocean from the bath. He dropped her bag on a drawer built inside the walk-in closet. "This will be your room."
When she'd stayed with other men, it was usually in their beds. Having her own room was nice. She felt goosebumps with a zap of attraction toward him, but she ignored the feeling. "This looks great. Thanks."
He leaned against the wall. "My room is down the hall. You can take the hall or the balcony if you need me. Can I get you anything?"
Brandon acted different to every other guy she’d ever met. She lowered her head and told herself to be brave. Her face felt flushed. "Yes. Tomorrow we have to act like boyfriend and girlfriend..."
"And?" He lifted her chin, and she stared into his deep brown hues. Once again, the feeling of being safe hit her hard.
This was it. She swallowed and decided that if she never asked, she'd never find out. "I think you should kiss me goodnight so we don't have an awkward moment in front of anyone tomorrow."
His eyes widened, and she turned her head. He must think her crazy. Here she was, pregnant with another man's child. Her face felt hot, and she was about to melt at his feet. Finally he said, "Fair enough."
She turned toward him, his calloused hands brushed against the soft skin of her cheek. She lost her breath. She closed her eyes and his lips met hers.
For once, she felt like she truly belonged. His lips were harder than she thought, and so much more delicious. Her lips tingled when he stopped, she swayed a little, "Wow." She said.
"Goodnight, Eva." He closed her bedroom door and walked out of the room.
Every other guy would have insisted to come into her bed. She hugged herself and imagined her life if she hadn't been so stupid years ago to say no to Brandon when he’d asked her to the prom. Until this moment, she had forgotten that. Now, all she wanted was a second chance.