Chapter Twelve
S imon’s bare feet, crossed at the ankle, rested on the coffee table in front of them. Eva sat, feet tucked beneath her, knees pressed to his thighs. Her head lay in the hollow of his shoulder; his cheek resting against the top of her head.
Empty coffee cups sat near his feet. Eva absently traced around the buttons on Simon’s shirt.
Her voice was soft in the quiet room. “Thank you for being here. I don’t know how that would’ve gone without you.”
Simon’s arm around her back tightened. “I’m here for you, Eva. No matter what. I hope the prick has finally figured out that you’re done.”
Eva looked up into those intense blue-grey eyes. He looked like he actually meant it. Wonder at this amazing man overwhelmed her. She lifted her mouth to his.
Simon cupped her jaw so gently her stomach somersaulted. She opened her mouth and touched the tip of her tongue to his lips. A soft moan from him opened his mouth and erupted goosebumps all over her body. She clenched the soft material of his shirt in her fist.
A clearing throat and a happy, “ Mummy! ” had reality blasting in.
Eva jerked back, heat racing into her face. There was no way she could wiggle her way out of this one.
Her mother stared at them, her eyes showing her surprise, tinged with humour. She motioned to the hallway behind her. “I let us in.” She glanced at Simon, who had sat up and was straightening his shirt. “If I’d realised you had company, I would’ve called first.”
Simon sent her mother a smile. “It’s okay, Mrs Adams.”
Matty barrelled into the edge of the sofa, Narnas clenched in one small fist, and climbed up between her and Simon. She tried to grab him, but he wriggled, giggling and squirming, and landed in Simon’s lap. She tried to wrangle him back to her own, but it was a losing battle.
“Oma watch Bluey!”
Emilia laughed. “We watched what feels like a million episodes. There’s only so much blue dog you can see in one sitting and not go loopy.”
Eva looked at Simon, who’d twisted to face them all, his butt in the corner of the sofa.
“Sorry,” she said softly, trying to catch his eye.
Simon looked up at her from where he’d been watching Matty squirm all over them both. A small smile lifted his mouth. “Don’t be. It’s okay. I’m good.”
Matty didn’t seem to notice—or care about—the tenseness in Simon’s body. He shoved his toy up into Simon’s face and grinned.
“Narnas hello!”
Simon leaned back and laughed, shaking his head. “Hello, Narnas.”
Matty spun and plonked himself between them, talking to his toy. Eva sent a pleading glance in her mother’s direction, and she swooped in, grabbing Matty, and swung him out, tickling his ribs. Matty squealed in delight as she held him sideways under one arm.
“Let’s go get your bag into your room, hey? I think Narnas might be tired and needs a nap.”
“No nap!” Matty squeaked and squirmed. Emilia placed him down and he ran off down the hall toward his bedroom.
Her mother held up Matty’s overnight bag. “I’ll just go pop this in his room for a minute.” She turned to follow her grandson. “I’m coming, Matty! Narnas better be ready for that nap by the time I get there!”
A high-pitched laughing squeal and slapping feet on the floorboards were the only indications he was listening.
Eva turned to Simon. “Are—”
Simon leaned forward and kissed her. The taste of his mouth fried all thought as his lips moved over hers.
He pulled back a little, his breath fanning across her lips. “I’m fine .”
Eva opened her eyes to stare into those beautiful blues. She tried to see if he was deflecting, trying to be strong for her sake.
“He certainly is a barrel of energy,” Simon continued. A slight frown marred his forehead and he rubbed at his thighs. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to bring you both along to my parents’ Sunday barbecue. Maybe next week? Or whenever you feel comfortable enough to come.”
His hesitant voice stopped her thoughts dead.
Eva sat back, blinking in shock. “Us? Both of us?”
A slight smile edged onto his mouth. “Yes, both of you. We have a family barbie each week. Not everyone turns up every week, but we all try to get there regularly. I, ah…” He rubbed at his stubbled jaw. “I’d like you to meet them all properly. In a relaxed setting. Matty could meet Finn. I think they’ll hit it off.”
Delight, surprise, and nervousness swirled and morphed through her belly in a big, tangled knot.
“Will they… Do you think it will be an issue, you and me?”
Simon’s brows shot up in surprise. “With my family? Hell, no. Max already knows that I, well, that I like you. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s mentioned something to the others, even if not specifics. Millie will definitely know. He’d never keep anything from her.”
Warmth suffused her entire body at the thought he’d spoken to Max about her.
He’d told his brother.
A huge, soppy smile tried to take over her face and she fought to hide it. Simon wanted her to officially meet his family. As a girlfriend; or, at least, a potential one.
Something as silly as that shouldn’t make her insides melt and go all gooey, but it did. She’d told her mother how she was starting to feel about Simon back after their day together. That Emilia had been incorrect in thinking they were together, and that Simon was still working through grief.
Her mother had smiled, nodded, patted her shoulder, and politely ignored her protestations.
She’d been right, after all.
“I’d love to come to a barbecue. Maybe in a couple of weeks? So I have time to work myself up to it?”
“Whenever you’re ready.” A soft chuckle sounded from him. “They won’t eat you. They might chew a little, and a couple of them will definitely give you heaps. But they won’t be nasty or mean. They’re not like that, and I’d kick their arses if they were.”
Little feet pounding on floorboards caught her attention as Matty rounded his doorway and barrelled down the hall toward her. She held her arms open, and he threw himself at her, giggling.
“Oma said nap. No nap!”
Eva laughed and scruffed his hair. She saw a genuine smile tilt Simon’s mouth at Matty’s words.
Maybe this thing with Simon could work out, after all.