Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(45)

If Ewan breaks the agreement, the next step is a restraining order or an injunction.

It’s a strategic process they have to follow, but the police advised Eva to make sure everything is catalogued legally.

An injunction isn’t something Eva wants to pursue, as she doesn’t want Ewan blaming her for taking the boys away from him.

She’s torn between doing what is right and what feels right as her boys are at an impressionable age and are fully aware of what’s going on. She even made reference to Ewan calling her names in front of Archie. That poor wee mite told Eva he doesn’t want Ewan picking him up from school anymore. He’s frightened too.

If the same thing had happened to Lincoln when he was younger, I would do anything and everything to protect him. I did.

After hearing Eva read some of Ewan’s truly deplorable text messages out loud, I didn’t think I could dislike that guy anymore. Junk punching him with a steel glove doesn’t feel like enough of a punishment.

My grip tightens around my steering wheel.

Check me out, being all protective and shit with Eva and her boys.

Her boys feel like my responsibility now too.

Her commitments keep us apart in the evenings. Something she mentioned in a text message today. She said we needed to navigate that together and work out when we can see each other around her boys’ schedules and her teaching classes.

That was the one and only good thing about Tabby. No responsibilities and at my beck and call. When I called, she came running. Too easily.

What a schmuck I am. However, I did always make it clear to Tabby that I wasn’t interested in anything long term and that I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. But one month led to two, then three, and before we knew it, three years crept up on us in a flash. Three boring-as-fuck years. Sex with Tabitha was always mediocre. Mundane, I suppose. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.

Actually, I know. Easy lay. On tap. Nice legs.

However, the last time we hooked up, four months ago now, I struggled to get hard for her. It was fucking embarrassing.

Since then I’ve ghosted her. Dodging run-ins if I spot her in the street. Sitting on the other side of the table in Castleview Business Circle meetings. Not replying to texts. Avoiding eye contact at all costs.

I’ll say it again. I’m a schmuck.

Although I can pinpoint exactly when I lost interest. It was as soon as Charlie, Eva’s father, informed me Eva was getting a divorce.

It was unexpected news. News I relished in. Which was awful of me too, bathing in someone's misery. But I fucking knew she was unhappy. I knew it was only a matter of time before she realized.

And now, well, now she’s mine. In private. Our secret.

Despite that, I’ll take what she’s offering.

She feels like mine. Like this could be it.

I run my hand down my tired face. It’s been a hell of a long day in finance meetings.

Dance lessons are exactly what I need.

The big-time bonus is wrapping my arms around that sweet woman who did things with me she never has with anyone else. And has a fucking clit ring. No matter how many times I say that to myself or think about it, I still can’t get over it.

Like the jewel in the crown, it’s secretly tucked away. And all mine.

She loves a little sexting too. Teasing me to let me know her pussy piercing tickled when she walked a certain way or was thinking about me.

Eva, my angelic, spicy girl.

She’s a fucking dream come true.

How the hell I’m going to get through an entire hour together at her dance studio without kissing her, I have no clue.

Absolutely impossible.

It’s a schoolboy error; I should have suggested we conduct the lessons at my house instead because the dance studio, at the back of her parents’ sports retreat, is like a lighthouse with its wall of glass and fluorescent strip lighting. You can see that thing from a mile away. Trust me, I know.

I have, occasionally, driven past that way, trying to catch even a mere glimpse of Eva. Or dropping in on Charlie and Edith, Eva’s parents, for a coffee. The retreat is in the complete opposite direction of my house, and I’m not a fan of coffee either. What a truly sad fuck I am.

I push the pedal to metal. Once the turbo kicks in, she just wants to go—she resembles someone I know.

Only two minutes away now, my heart pumps faster. Surging with excitement and apprehension.

Eva, she’s mine for the next few hours.

Just her and me.





CHAPTER 11





Knox

I enter the bright dance studio and I'm greeted by a carnival of noise and vibrant, animated people.

Well, this isn’t what I was expecting.

Because of the pulsating music that’s vibrating through the black sea of flooring and echoing studio, Eva hasn’t noticed my arrival.

I noted from getting out of my car all of the studio blinds were closed so they wouldn’t have seen me pulling into the parking lot outside. I wonder if Eva did that to conceal us.

I stand back and take it all in. Eva and her triplet sisters, Eden and Ella; Eden’s new husband and pro golfer, Hunter King, alongside Ella’s future husband, Fraser Farmer, also a pro golfer, are all huddled together, swaying to music, chatting loudly, and laughing.

Eva, Eden, and Ella each bounce identically dressed babies on their hips, Eden and Hunter’s triplet boys.