Chapter 34 Eve
EVE
Iwake to the scent of whiskey.
It’s late, darkness blanketing the Manhattan skyline.
I must have fallen asleep reading, because the lamp next to the bed is still bright and the pages of my book are crinkled where my face was smushed into them.
I’m sprawled out decidedly in the absolute middle of the bed, and Ryder, gentle as he is, is doing his very best to squish into bed around me.
I turn so I can see him and he grimaces.
“Sorry, I thought I could manage to not wake you.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to wake me? I haven’t seen you all day,” I say, moving close enough that I can rest my hand on his bare chest. He sighs at the touch, his eyes fluttering closed as he squeezes it.
He shrugs, giving me a small smile. “It’s late. I thought it would be better to let you sleep.”
I crinkle my nose. “You smell like whiskey.”
He rolls his eyes. “Bankers.”
“Bankers make you smell like whiskey?”
He nods. “They kept ordering more for me. And it was good whiskey.”
I purse my lips, snuggling in close to him. “I’m jealous.”
“Jealous? That I went out with the bankers?” He snorts. “Don’t be. That whole thing was a hell of a lot of reassurance. Sana took it upon herself to hardball them on rates and they got spooked. Needed me to smooth things over.”
I kiss his shoulder, debating whether I should make it known that although I loved my day—I went to the planetarium, took a long walk around the park that abated the chill in the air, and had brunch at a trendy place I found off Instagram—I missed him.
I know we came here so that he could take care of work, and that’s what he’s doing. He’s doing it all right now so that we can run back to Sunflower Hill. And wasn’t this exactly what he told me to expect? Late nights, but at least we could see each other at the end of them?
And against my better judgment, I say it.
“I’m jealous that you got to go out in Manhattan and be fancy and drink whiskey with the bankers.
You say ‘bankers’ like you expect them to be boring, but it sounds kinda fun.
Whether it’s just having drinks at a nice place or schmoozing somebody.
I feel like I’m missing out on part of your life. ”
He winds his arm underneath my waist and pulls me close, leaving a kiss on my forehead.
“I can guarantee you tonight was not something you’d be interested in.
So don’t get all FOMO over it,” he says, and I’m about to insist that that’s not the point, when he continues, “but Sana did tell me most of the company is heading to the library gala tomorrow. I was going to ditch to hang out with you, but… if you might want—”
“Yes!” I say, pressing up onto my elbow so I can kiss his cheek. “Yes! Take me!”
He laughs, kissing my cheek and wrapping his arms tight around me.
“Okay, okay. We’ll go. I have to go to work tomorrow, but I’ll have Sana send you a couple stores where you can pick up a dress.
” He pauses, groaning as he runs a hand over his face.
“I guess that’ll be one of the last assistant things I can really ask her to do. ”
I blink. “Did Sana—”
“No, no, no,” Ryder says, shaking his head.
“I made her my COO, so she has the power to make decisions without me. She always made the right ones, just didn’t have any oomph to back up her signature.
I told her to hire an assistant for both of us, but that’ll take time.
” He huffs. “I probably sound like a spoiled kid, all upset that I won’t have an assistant to boss around for a while. ”
I press a kiss to his cheek. “You can boss me around.”
He raises his eyebrows, the hand on my lower back pressing us closer as he kisses my neck. “Yeah? I like that.”
“Yes, but only after you tell me about this party we’re going to.”
“You look so fucking good,” Ryder says for about the twentieth time.
He stopped by the apartment only briefly to pick me up after he was done with work, and after trying his hardest to convince me to skip the party and stare at each other instead, I finally corralled him into the car waiting in front of his building.
And he’s been staring at me ever since. From the moment I came out of the bathroom and asked him how I looked, his eyes have been glued to me. During the car ride and even the short walk inside the building.
Part of me likes it, and part of me wonders if he’s totally forgotten that he’s seen me naked. A lot.
“You keep staring like that, you’re going to burn a hole in my dress.”
He shrugs. “Sounds convenient.”
“Oh, Ryder!”
He tugs me closer, one elbow resting on the bar and the other on my lower back.
His fingers brush along the silky fabric of my dress, a dark blue number that cinches my waist and hoists my boobs on a platter without being obvious about it.
His fingers dip to my ass and I get the distinct feeling he’s searching for a panty line he won’t find.
“This is unfair, really,” he says, leaning away from me to take a sip of his whiskey without knocking into me.
The bar is overrun with people dressed to the nines just like we are.
He runs his thumb along my jaw, resting his hand in the crook of my neck and staring very pointedly at my chest. “You might as well be wearing lingerie. It’s really just… incredible.”
“Ryder, I am literally wearing a full-length dress. The girls look good but not that good. And god, you saw way more this morning.”
He shakes his head. “It’s not about what you can see.
It’s about the hint of what you can’t. Your ass is amazing, but all I get is the littlest hint of thigh with that slit.
Your tits look like they’re just barely hidden beneath silky sheets.
” He grins, brushing my hair over my shoulder.
“And this beautiful face that I’ve never seen in Manhattan before.
” He sighs, throwing an arm around my shoulders so he can pull me close and kiss my temple.
“You’re just a fantasy come true. Sexually, yes, but mostly just who you are. The fact that you’re here.”
I crane my neck so I can kiss his cheek, a feat that’s proving much easier with heels on. “You like me here?”
He nods. “I—” He stops himself. “I love having you here. Sunflower Hill, too.” He gives me a small smile. “I think wherever we are, I love having you with me.”
I abandon my champagne on the bar and dive into his chest for a hug.
And I love that he doesn’t hesitate to wrap me up in his arms and hold me close until I’m done. Like we could stand here all night, blocking the bar and missing the party because all we really care about is each other.
“This must be Evelyn Harper,” says a smooth female voice from behind me.
I know who it is before I even turn around. “Sana,” I say, and she doesn’t hesitate to pull me in for a hug.
“I see the dress worked out well,” she says, grabbing my hand and holding it up so she can see me. “You look great.”
“As do you,” I say, remembering I saw a similar dress while I was trying mine on today. The yellow pops against her brown skin, the fabric swishing around her body as she moves. “If I had to guess, we shopped at the same place.”
She grins at me, turning and grabbing a man in a suit behind her who smiles easily once his attention falls on our group. “This is my husband, Rohan.” She gestures to me. “Evelyn Harper who owns the sunflower farm next to the development Ryder’s working on in Sunflower Hill.”
He nods. “Nice to meet you,” he says to me, and reaches out to shake Ryder’s hand. “When Sana told me about the farm, I looked it up. That’s a really gorgeous place you’ve got there.”
“Thank you,” I say. “You two should come out and visit. We have a barn on the property that’s really romantic, perfect for a little weekend getaway. The sunflowers are dying off for the season, but sometimes I think that makes it better. Fewer people around so you get a little more privacy.”
“That would be wonderful,” Rohan says, his eyes locked in on me. “Sana has been working entirely too hard recently—she needs a break.”
I glance at Ryder, and he only grimaces. “I gave you the go-ahead to hire an assistant!”
Sana rolls her eyes. “He’s just mad I beat him to the executive suite,” she says, nudging Rohan.
“No, I’m proud of you,” he says, throwing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her cheek. “I just want to hang out more.”
She laughs, patting his chest. “We can go to Sunflower Hill whenever you’d like.”
Rohan turns to me, a grin on his face. “When’s your next vacancy?”
I can’t help my laugh. “Well, it’s vacant this weekend.”
“Perfect!” he says. “We’ll see you then.”
When Sana and Rohan take their leave with promises to see us soon at the table, I turn back to Ryder. “We should probably head inside and find our seats too.”
He shrugs. “I get to be a lot closer to you when we’re squished together at the bar.”
And just as I press another kiss to his chin in that place that usually has him curling into me, someone behind us stops to greet him. He kisses my cheek quickly, never one to leave a kiss unreturned, and drops his hands to my hips, spinning me so I’m part of the conversation.
“Ryder, nice to see you,” the man says. He has a few years on us, salt and pepper around his temple and smile lines adorning his eyes. He wears a suit, hand in hand with a blonde woman behind him who seems to be stuck finishing up another conversation.
“Nice to see you too, Ray. Surprised, though. Thought you had a lot of travel coming up recently.”
Ray shakes his head. “The hurricane threw a wrench in that plan. Our flight to Maldives was canceled, so unfortunately we’re stuck in New York for the next few weeks,” he says, as the blonde woman finally extricates herself and joins our conversation. “My wife Angela,” he says to the group.
“Evie,” Ryder says, “who is also only here because of the hurricane.”
“Oh, are you a big traveler?” Ray asks. “We run a small company called Travelers Weekly so we’re normally off exploring somewhere, but we love getting other perspectives. I always say the best way to find your next favorite destination is asking your neighbor.”
My brain breaks.
Travelers Weekly.
I swallow, and Ryder gently nudges me. When I glance at him, his eyes are wide like he’s internally screaming at me to talk up the sunflower farm.
“No, not a big traveler myself. I actually own the sunflower farm in Sunflower Hill, if you’ve heard of it. We rent out a barn to stay on the property, but the whole town is a tourist destination. Very historic, quaint small town.”
“Oh my gosh,” Angela says. “Yes, of course we know Sunflower Hill! And the sunflower farm, obviously. I grew up in Lavender Springs. My parents used to take me there all the time when they got sick of being bombarded by lavender.”
I laugh. “I know the feeling. I’m all sunflowers, all the time. Every once in a while, I head to Lavender Springs to escape it.”
Ryder lowers his voice to say in my ear, “I have to run to the bathroom. You okay here?”
I pat his chest, giving him a small smile. “Yeah, you go. I’ll either be here or I’ll go find Sana.”
He nods, excusing himself politely.
And I turn back to Ray and Angela, deciding to talk up Sunflower Hill while I have the opportunity.