Eva stood outside the old coffee shop where she spent every day of her high school with her friends. Today felt like years ago. She gazed in the window and saw most of the people she'd spent years with already gathered around the same tables. Now, she turned and stood with Brandon. He was everything she dreamed about and never found in a man, and like all men, he wanted to escape. She refused to cry over this. Instead, she steeled her spine and said, "We'll stay for twenty minutes, and then let's go home."
"We can stay longer, if you want," he said, though his voice was empty of any emotion.
"No." It was better to take a cold shower and tell herself that her hormones were out of whack today. Brandon wasn’t the guy for her and she didn’t need one. Soon, she’d be a mom and that was all that mattered. "We both have a busy day tomorrow and if it's our last day as a pretend couple, then I want to make sure we have a good time."
He lowered his head. "Eva, don't look so sad."
Darn. She had vowed not to cry, but her cheeks were wet and it wasn't raining. She quickly brushed her tears away. "I'm not sad. I just cry easier these days. Don’t take these tears seriously. I don’t"
Perhaps the extra tears and how her voice became weaker went against what she said. He came closer. "This is what we talked about."
"And I'm grateful for the job and for our time together." Grateful was a good word. She had no right to want more, even if his kisses surprised her. Brandon Campbell was in a different league and they both knew it.
He looked in the window. "It's strange that everyone thinks we're a couple."
"I wish..." that we were a real couple. She'd not finish that sentence out loud. She was done chasing men who didn't want her. Her daughter deserved a mother who respected herself. She didn't have to pass on the abuse she went through and acted on.
"What?" he asked near her ear, and her skin grew goosebumps. For a second, she wished for a kiss.
The sense of being his wasn’t right. She told herself to stop. She shook her head. "Never mind. Let's go inside and pretend to be happy."
"Eva, wait." He reached out for her wrist and stopped her.
She turned toward him and ignored that his touch made her warm with anticipation. "What?"
"What if it wasn't pretending?" he asked, his brown eyes had sparks of life.
This wasn't all in her head? Her heart grew faster. "What do you mean?"
His voice was steady. "I've thought more about our day as a date than acting a part, and I'd like to see where this goes without faking anything."
The sense of home and belonging overwhelmed her. She lowered her head as new tears of happiness formed. "I'd like that, but I will still help you on set."
He brushed her tears off her cheeks this time and held her closer. "Me too, and I want you to stay with me until you've sorted out what happens next. You cannot go back to where I found you."
Between them was real and honest, then. She licked her lips and let the cedar scent of him calm her. "Let's celebrate Christmas together. How is that for a start?"
"Perfect." He looked over her and toward the window again. "I think your friends are wondering why we're still out here."
Her cheeks still wet, she stood on her tip toes and lowered her eyelids. "Let them see this."
Her lips met Brandon's, and once again, it felt like they were alone in the world. His kiss empowered her and she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on as he kissed her back.
Eventually, their kiss ended, but she stayed in his arms while he led her inside.
Brandon walked them to two seats next to his sister and Michael. Calliope asked them, "What were you two talking about?"
Brandon shook his head and stared at Michael. "How my parents died holding hands, and it's caused my sister's romantic tendencies."
Calliope rolled her eyes. "Hey, I object."
Eva joked, "Your brother is a sweetheart, so it probably affected him too."
A huge grin grew on Calliope’s face and she placed her hand in Michael's. "And it made my brother date a lot of women who weren't worth his time. You are the exception, Eva. The fact we can have a discussion at all is a good thing."
Eva's pulse raced as she thought about Brandon on his own. She turned her attention toward Penny and Jay and asked, "So, how was the honeymoon?"
Penny stayed close to Jay, but she had a huge smile on her face. "Amazing. We needed to get away without our mothers' involvement. Now we're pregnant, we hope things will settle down."
Eva realized her baby would now have her own best friend. "You're pregnant!"
Penny nodded, "Yes, with twins."
Brandon leaned forward and said, "So, you and Eva are having children at the same time."
Alice blinked and stared at Brandon with new interest. "Wait, you and Brandon?"
Not everyone at the table knew everything. In time, she'd tell her friends, but now was not the time. She tugged her ear. "Umm, it's a complicated story. We're giving ourselves time to breathe and adjust."
"Once your baby arrives, everything is going to change. I'm happy for you, Eva."
Right. Penny and Jay would demand the best of everything and her baby, if she was going to stay with Brandon, her baby should have the best too. She lowered her head because that thought proved she shouldn’t be with Brandon. He deserved love.
Eva asked, "Do you have a good doctor to recommend? I'm looking for a better one these days."
Penny said, "Sure, Jay's cousin recommended Oliver Bentley. He's been super great to us and we have no complaints."
Oliver Bentley. She took out her phone and wrote his name as a note so she wouldn’t forget. Tomorrow, she'd make an appointment. "Perfect."
"I'll text you his contact info." Penny said and took out her phone. A moment later, she had his phone number.
Without looking at Brandon , Eva stood from the table. "We have to get going."
Brandon jumped out of his seat and followed her but took his time saying 'goodbye' to everyone.
Penny said, "Talk to you later, and Merry Christmas, Eva. You deserve to be happy."
Friends were important. She needed to keep them, but she also needed Brandon. "See, I kept my promise of twenty minutes."
They walked to his car in silence. Before they drove off, he asked, "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the night?"
She slipped her platforms off her feet. "Anything?"
"Yes," he said while he drove onto Biscayne Blvd.
"I’m boring."
He thought she wanted to go out again.
She let out a sigh. "Go home and put my feet up. Tomorrow we have a busy day, and spending a few hours with you and my feet propped up is my dream."
He glanced at her toes and saw her bare feet. "Your feet hurt?"
"They're killing me," she answered.
He steered them toward the highway that would bring them home. "So, this doctor you intend to see has the same name as my car."
She lifted her eyebrow and joked, "Who knows, maybe your car is a Transformer."
He winked back. "So you do know pop culture. I thought you Broadway types were always serious, wearing black and discussing how the rest of us don’t understand true art."
"Misconception, though we're serious half the time," she answered, before her phone rang. She opened her pocketbook and looked at the display. "Chris is calling."
Brandon's face darkened. "Don't answer."
"I think I should," she said. Until today, she hadn't heard from Chris. She’d received the wedding invitation that let her know all about how much of a liar he was and she’d left a voicemail about her pregnancy. Now he'd seen her and called? Perhaps he had his head on straight concerning her daughter. "Hello?"
"Eva, we have to talk," Chris said fast.
It was why she answered. She twirled a piece of her hair as her heart whispered Brandon was the better man for her. Her finger intertwined with Brandon’s. "What is there to say?"
"I want my baby in my life."
Boom. Her heart felt like it was thrown on the floor and run over by a car. She stopped playing with her hair, felt a cold dagger that pierced her skin, and sat straighter. "Chris, you're having a baby with Roxanna, I believe her name was. Your almost wedding was quite illuminating because I saw how you told Calliope that you love her and want to be with her even after that revelation. My baby deserves the best—not leftovers."
"Roxanne had a miscarriage."
Well he at least spoke to his other baby mother. Roxanne had interrupted Calliope's wedding to Chris with her announcement. Eva had intended to sit there and watch in silence in Mexico. Like the bride, she never knew Roxanne existed until that moment either. "I'm so sorry for her."
"She made me want to be a father."
At least someone got through to him. For a second, she glanced at Brandon, who steered her onto his street.
"Look, Chris, you lied to me. I don't want you around."
"Our baby deserves to have both parents."
Chris would never be any sort of father to her daughter, and it was best to not let her baby ever get disappointed. "My baby deserves to have people in her life she can depend on. I have to go."
"I want my baby, and I have money to bring this to court."
She hung up the phone and her heart raced. What if he took her to court and proved that she was unfit to be a mother? She closed her eyes and tried to tell herself to breathe.
Brandon parked the car in his garage and placed his hand on her knee. "What did he want?"
Once the garage door closed, this time no memories flashed and she felt safe enough to answer. "My baby. I can't let that happen."
"He won’t get you or your baby. Can I ask one question?"
One question more wouldn't kill her. She swallowed and tried to stay calm. "Yeah."
"I know you said Chris lied to you about Calliope, and I believe you, but what did you ever see in that guy to begin with?"
Inside the dark garage and in the car, she felt the truth come up to her heart, like it was a mouth cleanser for her soul that made her breathe easier. This was also why Brandon would eventually leave her too. "I have bad taste… I'm a magnet for unreliable men."
"So, I'm a step up?" he said, and leaned over her to unlock her door.
Once again, she could taste the salt of his kiss on her lips, though he hadn't kissed her. If Brandon was the one she was tied to for eternity, then she'd be happy. "You're in a class all by yourself."
"Good. I hate competition," he said, and opened his car door. The second he flipped on the light, she followed him inside the house.
She was his, if he truly wanted her. He closed the door, and for tonight she let herself hope this was possible. Brandon was the best man she’d ever known.