Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(57)

“Come back to bed. I don’t need to be at the hotel until nine.”

“Okay, but just let me…” I continue on my mission.

Curiosity gets the better of him. Knox twists around in the bed to find out what I am doing.

“Are you changing the sheets?” one-eyed, he asks groggily, his face creased with sleep.

“No.” I humph, with Knox still in the bed, struggling to push the sheet far enough up to find what I’m looking for.

“Ah, gotcha.” I dip my head under the Egyptian cotton fabric and take a quick photo on my phone of the mattress label on the bed with its brand name and model.

“There.” I pull it back down, tucking it back in place. “I was taking a picture of your mattress label. I always have a bad lower back with my mattress, but with yours I don’t. Where did you get it from?” I lay my phone back down on the nightstand.

“It’s too early for questions,” he grumbles, closing his eye again.

“I’ll just google rich mattresses for rich people shop, see what search results that brings back,” I jump back in beside him.

“I hate morning people.”

“I’m a morning person,” I sing.

“I knew it. You have to leave or be quiet.”

With no intention of going, I say, “I’ll grab my stuff. Bye.” I roll over, pretending to leave Knox’s Olympic-sized bed.

Knowing his reaction, he pounces on me, surrounding me with his body heat, hooking his thick thigh around mine to hold me in place.

“Stay where you are. You’re my prisoner. I won’t see you now until Saturday night. Don’t move.” He tickles my sides.

He’s quite playful when he wants to be.

Squirming and shrieking in his arms, he tells me to be quiet again. I let his large arms calm me.

My back to his chest, he nuzzles into my neck. “That’s better.”

“I need a cup of tea,” I chirp.

“I’ll get you one later. Go back to sleep,” he mutters.

“I can’t. I’m up at this time every day. I have a natural body clock. Two little people in your life will do that to you.”

“Argh, I remember those days.” He kisses my shoulder tenderly. “Awful.”

“Great fun.”

“Diaper changes.”

“Laughter.”

“Bottle feeding.”

“Snuggles.”

“Everything takes twice as long.”

“Best friends for life.”

“I’ll give you that. But all you do is worry if you’re doing everything right.”

“Watching them grow and learn is magical.”

“Sleepless nights.”

“Not as they get older, Knox.” I tap his hand that’s now squeezing my boob.

“I remember being tired. I juggled Lincoln, distance learning to earn my degree, and working at the hotel. I was constantly tired,” he murmurs against my skin. “Why are we still talking? Go back to sleep.” He pulls me in tighter.

“I can’t.” I wait a few minutes. “Did you really raise Lincoln, work, and study simultaneously?” I never knew this.

“Mm-hmm.”

“That must have been tough.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“What happened to Lincoln’s mother?” I ask with softness.

Stilling behind me, he holds his breath for a moment.

He didn’t expect me to ask. I shouldn’t have asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He moves out of our embrace and jumps out of the bed.

I roll over and watch as he pulls on his snug black trunks.

“Tea?”

I give him a gentle nod. “Yes, please. I can get up and do it myself.”

“No. Stay here. I’ll make it and let Sam out for his morning bathroom break.”

With that, he turns on bare heel and leaves the room.

Goddammit, Eva. Mad at myself, I punch the mattress on either side of me.

Within ten minutes, he’s back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” I say with concern as he passes me the steaming mug of tea.

“It’s okay. But I don’t want to talk about it. Can’t.”

“Ever?”

She must have really screwed Knox over. Or she died. I can’t work it out.

“Maybe one day.”

“Okay.”

“Whatever happened, Knox, I’m sorry.”

Knox scoots back into his bed beside me and takes a sip of his cup of tea, then rests his head against the leather headboard. “It was a long time ago.”

A gnawing sensation grinds in my ribs. Is he not over her?

He needs more therapy sessions.

“Tell me what happened with Ewan. Have the texts stopped?” He diverts the conversation.

So, it’s okay for me to divulge my life story, but he doesn’t want to share his with me?

Double standards.

I’m a girl with very few secrets from him and he already knows my shitstorm of a disaster I’m living through right now.

Before I unfold the last couple of days' revelations to Knox, I sip my morning cup of breakfast tea as I stare out of his bedroom wall of glass overlooking his backyard. He remembered and made the tea just the way I like it—strong with a dash of milk.