The Texas Christmas Gift (15 page)

* * *

E
VE WOKE HOURS
later to find sunlight streaming in through the edges of the blinds. The sight of the naked man next to her was enough to make her groan.

Derek smiled and rolled onto his side. “It’s a good thing we’re not dating. Otherwise, who knows what would happen next, or how we would end up?”

Eve groaned again and tried, without success, to sit up. They’d made love two more times during the night and she felt as physically wrung-out as if she had run a 5k race. Wrung-out and sated. Forearm across her eyes, she stayed on her side of the bed and avoided his gaze. “It’s the holidays.”

Baffled, he kissed the crook of her elbow. “Meaning...?”

Grumpily, she explained, “They always leave me feeling off-kilter.”

His chuckle was low and infectious. “So that’s what that was.”

Determined not to encourage him, Eve tamped down her own amusement. “You know what I mean.” She continued to keep her face hidden, her eyes closed.

Derek rose on his elbow and gently removed her arm. “I know you keep pretending that we don’t have something special, when we actually do.”

Eve averted her eyes and sat up. Abruptly remembering she was naked, she clamped the top of the ice-blue satin sheet to her breasts, and then said, “Physically, yes.” She couldn’t exactly deny that after he’d given her innumerable orgasms through the night. And she’d given him more in return. Still smiling with masculine satisfaction, Derek lounged among the pillows. “Physically and in all the other ways that count,” he corrected.

Deciding to get some clothes on before they both got turned on again, Eve disappeared into the bathroom. She came back wearing a knee-length white spa robe. “Which are?”

Looking like a Greek god who had magically landed in her bed, Derek folded his arms behind his head. “You understand me.”

She didn’t even understand herself! “I wish.”

He stood and pulled on his shorts and then his jeans. Unfortunately for her, he looked just as mouthwatering half-clad as he had naked. He came toward her, still zipping and snapping.

“Seriously, Eve, you always know instinctively what I need. And I seem to have the same innate ability when it comes to you.” He paused in front of her and continued making his case with matter-of-fact ease. “Plus, you and Tiffany get each other the same way you and I get each other. And that isn’t all that common.”

That was the problem—none of this was usual. She’d thought by being intensely physical when they made love, that they would be able to keep their feelings out of it. It hadn’t worked; her emotions were more tangled than ever. And now Derek was doing what he did best—leaping ahead, toward his stated goal—which currently seemed to be establishing them as friends
and
lovers.

Eve released a shaky breath, more sure than ever that, at the end of all this, she was going to get hurt. “I get all that, Derek, but this is still happening way too fast.”

He looked at her, his eyes warm and assessing, even as she struggled to get a handle on herself. “Or not fast enough,” he drawled.

She was saved from having to reply by the ringing of her phone.

She went to get it. “Obviously, you haven’t been checking your messages,” Marjorie said.

Eve knew that tone. She sat down on the edge of the bed, filled with dread, while Derek lingered nearby, watching her with concern. “What happened?”

“Sibley & Smith brokered another sale last night, which puts them ahead of us in the sales race.”

Eve signaled to Derek that he didn’t have to worry about the call. He nodded and slipped out of the room to give her privacy.

With him gone, Eve was able to concentrate on the problem at hand. “By how much?” she asked her mother.

“Close to one and a half million.”

Eve rubbed her suddenly aching forehead. “You’re sure?”

Marjorie scoffed. “I wouldn’t be calling you if I wasn’t.”

“There’s still time for us to move ahead again, Mom. Flash’s condo was finally staged the way it should have been all along. We’re having an open house there this afternoon.”

Her mother sighed, her pessimism apparent. “Even if it sells today it won’t be enough.”

“Astrid and Vanessa are pushing their own properties hard, too,” Eve added, comforting her mother the best she could.

Marjorie’s voice was suddenly tearful. “I thought we finally had it this year.” So had Eve. This was exactly the kind of tension and stress none of them needed, particularly now.

Worried about more important matters than just the sales race, she asked, “How’s your heart?”

“Broken!” her mother cried. “What do you think?”

Well, at least she wasn’t being overly dramatic. “I meant medically, Mom. You’re not having any chest pains again, are you?”

There was another pause. “No. I’m not. My heart is fine, honey.” Her mother spoke again, contrite this time. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

This was new. Marjorie never apologized for venting or anything else. Eve walked out into the living room. Derek was fully dressed and making coffee, giving her a glimpse of what it would be like to have him around all the time. Very nice.

With effort, she focused on the situation at hand. “Are you sure you are okay, Mom?”

“I’m fine.”

Eve relaxed in relief. “I’ll see you this evening, then, for dinner, after the open house.”

They said goodbye and hung up.

“Everything okay?” Derek asked.

This would be a good place to draw a line. To tell him thanks but no thanks. Unfortunately, Eve knew she needed to confide in someone. And right now that someone was Derek.

She went into the kitchen and brought out two mugs, as well as some pastries from the bakery. “My mother is fine, although how long she will stay that way if Vanessa, Astrid or I don’t make another big sale is anyone’s guess.” While Derek listened intently, she explained about the annual Highland Park home-sales race.

He poured coffee for both of them. “Sounds like a pretty big deal.”

Eve added creamer to hers. “It is. My mother has come close before, but she’s never won it, so to have the lead in the competition for most of the latter part of this year, only to lose it right after her heart attack, is devastating for her.”

Derek guided Eve to a stool at the breakfast bar and sat down next to her. “Should you go and see her?”

Eve picked at her cranberry-and-almond scone. “Right now? Heavens, no! The only thing my mother wants me doing at the moment is working on making another sale.”

Derek broke a blueberry scone in two. “I’m assuming you have other leads.”

“I do. I just need to pursue them more aggressively.”
And stop putting so much time and attention into my personal life. At least for now...

* * *

“
Y
OU’RE LOOKING GOOD
,” Eve told her mother in surprise, hours later. Sunday evening, the rehab center cafeteria was sparsely populated with patients and families, but her mom had saved a table for the two of them in a far corner.

Her cheeks pink with excitement, Marjorie smiled. “I feel better. The yoga workouts they have me doing are really helping me deal with stress.”

Eve set out the glasses of decaf iced tea and grilled chicken entrée plates she had picked up in the line, then moved the plastic tray aside. “That’s good to hear.” Although she still worried that her mother would be able to pace herself as directed, when she was finally permitted to return to work.

Marjorie took two small bites, then pulled a small leather-bound notepad and a pen out of her pocket. “As long as I have you here, I have a few reminders.”

Eve paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. “Are the doctors okay with you doing this?”

“Within reason, yes.” Marjorie put on her diamond-studded reading glasses and flipped to the correct page. “First of all, don’t forget the annual black-tie Highland Park Holiday Gala on the seventeenth of December.” The proceeds of which went to a host of local charities.

Because it was something she and her mother typically did together, Eve murmured, “I was thinking I might skip it this year.”

Marjorie straightened in alarm. “Don’t you dare! It’s more important than ever, in the wake of my heart attack, that Loughlin Realty be well represented. I’ve already given my ticket away, but I presume you still have yours?”

Eve swallowed a bite of steamed broccoli. She’d also made a considerable donation on behalf of the firm. “Yes.”

“Good. Then I expect you to go. Next, I know you’re discouraged about the sales race. Astrid and Vanessa were, too, when I spoke with them. But there’s no need to be, because I just got off the phone with Red Bloom.”

Doing her best to keep her manner neutral, Eve asked mildly, “Red Bloom called you?”

“Actually, I phoned him. I asked him to reconsider the Santiago Florres house.”

Eve tensed. Her mother sometimes had the tendency to push too hard. When she did, the results were often not positive. “And?”

“He remains fascinated by the architecture, and turned off by the asking price.”

Eve frowned, frustrated, because her mother could have inadvertently put a kink in the solution Eve was working on behind the scenes. She sat up straight. “I thought you wanted me to handle this, Mom.”

Marjorie gave her a look of innocence. “I do.”

Eve tried not to be hurt by her lack of faith. “Then trust me to do so, Mom.” She sighed wearily. “And in the meantime, there’s something
you
can do for
me.
Concentrate on getting better so I won’t have to spend so much time worrying about you.”

Her mother looked slightly taken aback by Eve’s entreaty. Silence fell and the two women resumed their meals. After a few long, tense minutes, Marjorie finally set her fork down and turned to her daughter. “You can sell the Santiago Florres home to Red Bloom with the right approach, Eve. And if you do...”

“We’ll win the sales race.” Eve guessed where all this was going.

“But just in case neither of those options work out, there is one other alternative,” Marjorie continued stubbornly. “I know you’ve been spending a lot of time with Derek McCabe.”

Probably too much, Eve thought, given how huge a part Derek and his daughter had started to play in her life in such a short amount of time.

“I also know that when he came to us, he originally intended to invest seven to eight million dollars in real estate before the end of the year. I imagine some of that cash is going into the fixer-upper he bought.”

“A fair amount, actually,” Eve conceded.

“But that still leaves a lot of money to invest somewhere else.”

Her mother did not need to tell her there was more money to be made here. Normally, this was an opportunity Eve would be pursuing with all her might. Her growing feelings for Derek, however, made even the idea of taking things back to a strictly business level both unpalatable and upsetting. Although she might not know exactly what they were feeling besides lust and longing, and an increasingly intimate friendship, she was sure she didn’t want whatever this was with him to end. And certainly not for business reasons.

Impatiently, Eve asked, “What exactly are you suggesting, Mom?”

“That you leverage your friendship with him, and use your powers of persuasion to help Derek meet his original investment goals. And in the process, help make Loughlin Realty the winner in this year’s Highland Park sales race.”

Winning top honors appealed to Eve, although clearly not as much as it did to her mother. Using Derek did not.

“Of course, I could call him and broach the topic, if you’d prefer,” Marjorie offered. “Perhaps suggest he use Vanessa or Astrid as the agent, if you’re not able to help.”

Eve ignored the unspoken question: What exactly was stopping her from jumping on this opportunity?

“Thanks,” she said, stifling a beleaguered sigh. She knew the last thing Derek probably wanted or needed was a hard sell from her mother, or the other agents in the office. “But—”
if it must be done, and I wish to heck it didn’t
“—I’ll do it.”

Chapter Eleven

Eve was already waiting when Derek walked into the hotel bar. She had a glass of sparkling water with lime in front of her, a frown pursing her soft lips.

Derek slid into the cozy leather booth opposite her. Like her, he’d spent the day working. Now, at 8:00 p.m., he was ready for a little rest and relaxation.

“I’m glad you called.” Although he couldn’t say he was totally surprised, given what he had received via messenger that afternoon. “It was my second surprise of the day.”

Their eyes locked and he felt the connection between them deepen.

“What was the first?”

The mystified note in her voice made him smile. “The ticket from your mother.”

Eve blinked, then stared at him in confusion.

Derek leaned closer, inhaling a whiff of her hyacinth perfume. On impulse, he covered her hand with his. “For the Highland Park Holiday Gala on the seventeenth?”

The breath stalled in her throat, while her cheeks flushed with color. “Mom sent you that?”

“Along with the suggestion that I might attend with you, if I didn’t want to go alone.”

Eve inhaled sharply. He tightened his grip on her hand, feeling the omnipresent need to protect her. “I take it that it wasn’t your idea?”

Eve glanced away, clearly struggling to remain impassive. “No. I didn’t know anything about it until just now.”

Disappointment moved through him. “You don’t have to go with me,” he pointed out gruffly, releasing her hand and sitting back.

She lifted her chin, for a second putting decorum and expectation aside. The way she looked at him let him know her pride was on the line. “And vice versa.”

He couldn’t blame her for being upset; he wouldn’t want his family setting up social engagements for him, either. On the other hand, this was a prime opportunity for them to be together in another not-really-a-date-even-if-it-feels-like-a-date way.

He let his gaze drift over her, taking in the snug fit of her clothes and the heart on a chain nestled in the V of her black cashmere sweater. Appreciating the fact she’d done something different with her hair again—tonight it was styled in sophisticated waves that tumbled to her shoulders—he grinned at her as if this was no big deal, after all.