He flashed a shockingly pretty smile. “Which means yes.”
“Oh, bugger off, the lot of you. I have to go.” She snagged her car keys and opened the door.
“Er, hang on a second,” Zaf said, his eyebrows shooting up in alarm. “Didn’t you run someone over the last time you got behind a wheel?”
Eve glared. “The second to last time, actually.”
“Still, though. And aren’t you in a rush?”
“Yes, which is why I’d appreciate it if you’d—”
“All right,” Red interjected, pushing off the wall—did the man do anything other than lean?—and strolling past her out of the door. “This is easily sorted,” he said as he approached the gleaming blue Triumph parked innocuously on her parents’ gravel driveway. “All things considered, Eve, how’s about I give you a lift?”
Chapter Twenty-One
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jacob growled.
Tessa shot him a look from the driver’s seat. “Don’t you curse at me, Jacob Wayne. I’m a lady.”
“I think he’s cursing the traffic, actually,” Alex piped up from the back seat.
“Yes,” Jacob gritted out. He’d assumed that was obvious. It had been over an hour since he’d left the B&B in Mont’s hands, yet they were barely eighty miles closer to the address Eve had left on file, an address belonging to one Chloe Brown.
Jacob’s original plan had been to get up bright and early this morning, jump in his car, drive or possibly fly to Chloe’s house, get Eve’s whereabouts from her—or, ideally, find Eve in the guest bedroom—and then . . . er . . . fix things. He was still a little hazy on that part, but he had the necessary passion and determination, and he was also going to grab some flowers on the way so he could get down on his knees and apologize as profusely as she deserved. Seriously. He was going to apologize so goddamn hard, and then some more, and then some more, just to really emphasize the point.
Well—that had been the plan, anyway. But things had gone horribly wrong from the moment Mont had pointed out Jacob shouldn’t drive himself with a fractured wrist, and it had all gone downhill from there.
“Then again,” Alex continued thoughtfully. “Maybe he is cursing at you. You never can tell, with Jacob.”
Jacob turned to glare at her. “Why are you here again? I’m quite sure it takes one Montrose to drive a car.”
Alex grinned, looking unnervingly like her brother. “I’m here in case you break down, Jake.”
“Bullshit. You’re here for the drama.”
“Who, me?” She pressed a hand to her chest and pasted on an expression of shock. “God, man. Have a bit of faith.”
Tessa giggled.
Jacob let his head fall back against the seat. “I’m going to die of frustration before I ever see her again.”
“Was that a sex joke?” Tessa asked.
Alex snorted. “Save those for Eve, my guy.”
“Maybe he’s practicing.”
“Ha! Maybe he’s—”
“I appreciate you driving me, Tess, I really do,” Jacob said, “but would you two please shut the fuck up?”
“Woo. Touchy.” Tessa smirked, hit the brake for the thousandth time in the last ten minutes, then pulled up the handbrake. In front of them, what looked like a mile of cars sat bumper to bumper in the late morning sunlight. It was, Jacob thought dully, a beautiful day. Pity he wouldn’t be able to enjoy it after his head inevitably exploded.
“You’re thinking about Eve again, aren’t you?” Alex prodded. “You ever consider, I don’t know—calling her?”
Well, there was a diamond fucking idea. Except . . . “I’m trying to be romantic. You know, like in books. She’s into that stuff,” he mumbled. “Anyway, you know I’m better in person.”
“Oh, yeah. Good point,” Alex allowed.
“I think it’s sweet,” Tess said. “I think she’ll be thrilled.”
Jacob’s heart leapt. “Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Unless she hates your guts for sending her away, in which case she might laugh in your face and tell you to jog on.”
Jacob’s heart sank. “Oh.”
Tess winced. “Oh my God, Jake, no, that was a joke! I’m sorry. I was joking.”
Unfortunately, the situation she’d laid out seemed all too likely. But Jacob couldn’t see a world in which he didn’t try his fucking hardest for Eve Brown, and if that meant setting himself up for the most brutal rejection of his life, well. He supposed he’d just have to deal with it.
“Leave him alone, Tess,” Alex ordered, leaning between their seats. “Hey, do you hear that? Wicked purr.” She squinted at the road. “Is that a Triumph?”
“Alexandra,” Jacob said, “I truly could not give a fuck.” But he saw the Triumph—couldn’t miss it, a flash of blue on the other side of the road, steered by a lanky bloke in leather, winding through the traffic with enviable speed. Still, when the temporary traffic lights on that side turned red, the bike had to stop just like everyone else.
Jacob sighed and screwed his eyes shut. Maybe he should call Eve. Because with every second he spent not fixing things, all he could think about was the look on her face when he’d pushed her away. And if he thought about that too much, his heart might break as surely as his goddamn wrist.
* * *
Red’s motorbike turned out to be an excellent idea, because on the way to the Lake District they hit unbelievable traffic. Eve squeezed her eyes shut, took shallow breaths to minimize smog inhalation, and tried not to die of nerves.
Grand gestures were supposed to be executed immediately, otherwise one got all tangled with violent emotion. Like the growing fear that words might not be enough, and the urge to see Jacob now, now, now, anyway.
Then, out of nowhere, she did see him. Jacob, that is. She looked up through the visor of her helmet as they reached a temporary traffic light, and on the other side of the cones sat Jacob’s car, with Tessa at the wheel and Jacob himself in the passenger seat.
“Oh. My. God.” The wind whipped her words away. Which is why, instead of screaming for Red to pull over properly, she pinched him in the ribs. Then she screamed. “Pull over pull over pull over pull over pull—”
The lights turned to green, but instead of racing away, Red guided them steadily to the edge of the road and kicked off the engine. “What?” he demanded as he yanked off his helmet. “You dying or something?”
Eve barely heard. Her braids spilled over her shoulders as she removed her own helmet and shoved it at Red before getting off the bike. The other lights would change soon and then Jacob would be gone. He couldn’t be gone. She pinned her gaze to the sharp lines of his profile, the glint of his glasses and the sheen of his perfectly neat and tidy hair, and ran—
Except no she didn’t, because Red grabbed her wrist in an iron grip and yanked her back. “Eve! Would you watch the road? If I let you get hit by a car, your sister will fucking garrote me.”
She spun around to scowl at him. “I was watching! Sort of.” She really hadn’t been.