Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Miles stayed on the porch and talked through everything with his parents, repeating a lot of what he'd told Clint earlier and going over the details of his relationship with Lily. He explained he and Lily had agreed tonight that they were done and they hadn't had a real relationship in years.

He and Lily had sat on the dock talking for a long time. She'd admitted there was someone she had fallen for, but she was adamant they couldn't be together. She refused to give him a name. He guessed it could be Clint or Walker but wasn't about to pry. His brothers were man enough to step up and pursue her if it was right.

She told him part of the reason she broke down six months ago was in regards to that man, but another reason was a ‘bad situation'. She wouldn't give him any details about the situation and let him go ‘renegade' on her. Having a Navy SEAL boyfriend had protected her throughout school and at the hospital. When Miles had said he didn't want to date anyone else every time they talked about it, she'd been relieved to keep up the status quo.

Lily agreed it was past time they were done ‘pretending to be a couple' in her words. He was relieved he wasn't breaking her heart or anything, but he wanted her to give him more details about the bad situation and let him help. Lily was more strong-willed than even he remembered and she said she would figure it out. He finally extracted her promise that if she was in danger, she'd let Clint know. She acted really off about that, and it made him wonder more than ever if she had feelings for Clint.

There wasn't much he could share with his parents as he'd promised Lily, so the questions went round and round and his mama got more frustrated with him by the moment. He normally wouldn't feel so impatient about it. He enjoyed discussing things with his parents and getting their advice during the rare times he was home.

But Eva had stormed off, thought he was a two-timer, thought he only wanted her because she was famous. He had to get to her, talk this through, and pray she'd listen and give him a chance to prove how loyal he could be. Had those out of this world kisses not affected her at all? He knew that he and Eva had something much more substantial than a physical relationship, but those kisses consumed him.

Mama finally calmed down and his parents both conceded that he was right, he and Lily weren't a fit and Lily should date and move on. They exchanged a look after the words ‘move on' and he wondered if they'd both noticed Walker and possibly Clint's interest in Lily.

"You need to go patch things up with our Eva," Mama surprised him by saying.

"I want to," he admitted, edging toward the door .

"I like Eva. I just always thought you'd marry Lily. Ivy and I have been planning it for years."

"I know you have." He didn't tell her that was part of the pressure he'd felt. It was eye-opening that Lily had clung to the relationship for different reasons than he'd foreseen. He'd have to mention to Clint to keep an eye on her, even if he couldn't tell his brother why. That would bug Clint. It was bugging him.

"It'll take me a spell to wrap my mind around this." She pursed her lips. "If you marry Eva, you'll never move home, will you?"

"Oh, Mama." Miles chuckled and gave her a quick squeeze. "I'm not anywhere close to marrying anyone."

"Whyever not? You're thirty years old, son. I mean, my goodness sakes, what are you waiting for? Any of you boys could settle down and have a family tomorrow. Even Hudson is old enough. It's not as if doctors don't finish up residency with a spouse and sometimes children in tow. Does anyone around here care that I need grandbabies?"

"I care," his dad said, grinning at her.

"Don't you patronize me." Mama swatted at Papa and then she kissed him. It wasn't just a peck, either.

Miles took that as his cue to leave. He rushed through the front door, intent on getting to Eva and somehow explaining everything. Would she ever believe his intentions were true? That she was the right one for him and Lily never had been?

He feared the answer was no.

Easton and Walker were by the stairs.

"You okay?" Walker asked.

"No, it's a mess. But I broke up with Lily and she … had some different reasons for staying together so long."

"Such as? "

"Her secrets to share."

Walker didn't appear to like that but he wouldn't pry. "Where is she?"

"Home, I'd assume."

"Do you think it's too late?" He looked at Easton.

"Yes. Calm down, bro. Give the lady a minute to restructure her future plans from being centered on ‘devastatingly handsome Lieutenant Miles Coleville' before you go chasing after her. You don't want to be the rebound guy."

Miles needed to get to Eva, but he couldn't quite compute that Easton was the one who'd just said that piece of advice. "Did you just …"

Easton shrugged. "I listen to some of the lectures, okay?"

Miles smiled. He sobered as he glanced at Walker. "Keep an eye on her."

Walker's eyes widened. "Tonight?"

"No. I'm saying in general. She's an independent lady but she might need some help."

Walker's head bobbed. He rubbed at his jaw line and looked at the front door like he wanted to make a run for it.

"Come on, bro." Easton grabbed his arm. "Let's go spar for a bit so you can calm down."

Miles hurried up the stairs. Lily had admitted there was someone else, and it appeared Walker and maybe Clint were interested in her. That could get messy. Who was he to say who should be with who? He sure hoped Walker didn't get his heart broken.

Reaching the end of the hall, he stopped. His fist raised to pound on the door, but he stayed it and was able to rap somewhat softly. He waited. No noise inside the room.

"Eva?" he called .

He knocked again. Waited. Had she come into her room? As her bodyguard, he had to make certain. He pulled out his phone and called Easton. "You saw Eva go up the stairs and to her room?"

"Just up the stairs, but I heard two doors open and close, so I assumed she went into her bedroom and then her bathroom."

"Thanks." He pocketed his phone, knocked again and heard nothing. He quickly checked the other upstairs rooms. Empty. His chest tightened. They'd all relaxed because of the drama with him, Lily, and Eva. More than likely, Eva just wasn't answering because she was upset at him, but if there was any chance of danger …

Returning to Eva's door, he knocked louder and then called, "Eva. I need to know you're safe. If you don't open the door, I'm coming in to check."

He waited with bated breath. What if she wasn't safe? They'd had no alerts, nobody getting through the gate, but something crazy could've happened—a person hiding under the frame of a truck or somehow finding a vulnerable spot where they could maneuver over the fence, disabling the cameras, sneaking into the house …

Footsteps approached from inside the bedroom and the door cracked, but not enough to see her beautiful face. He longed to just see her, see for himself that she was all right, that she didn't hate him and think he was some two-timer. He thought he should deserve some credit for not kissing her until he broke it off completely with Lily. It had been a struggle, that was for sure.

"I'm fine," she muttered through the crack.

"I'm glad," he said softly. "I need to see you to make certain you are safe. "

"Fine," she snarled, flinging the door open. She looked upset, vulnerable, and in need of him holding her close. Holding her arms out wide, she shot at him, "All in one piece and no bad guys hiding in my room."

"I had to make sure."

She nodded and dropped her arms, apparently reading him and knowing he wanted to step in and wrap his arms around her.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"No."

"Later?"

"Goodnight, Miles." She shut the door.

Miles stared at the closed door for far too long. She'd shut him out. Out of her heart.

He'd feared when he finally was able to do the honorable thing and break up with Lily face to face, he would have lost his chance with Eva.

Turns out, his fears were more than grounded.

Miles woke early the next morning and went to lift weights. He was back and showered before any movement came from the room next door. He took to pacing in front of the door. He hadn't slept well and had spent most of the night analyzing what he could've done differently, what he could do to fix things now, and praying for some kind of insight because he had none.

His phone buzzed on his hip. He pulled it out. Aiden.

"Hey."

"Autumn was attacked early this morning. "

"What?" Miles stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, clinging to the phone.

"Yeah. Good old Agent Ryken Henderson let himself in, went right into the bedroom, and when he realized she wasn't Eva, he went ballistic."

The door opened slowly behind him. He spun. Eva stood there in a white sundress, her expression guarded. There must've been something in his face because immediately her eyes widened in concern. "What's going on?"

"Aiden. Eva is here. I'm putting the phone on speaker."

Eva edged up close to him, her coconut scent washing over him.

"Eva. Ryken attacked Autumn this morning in your bedroom."

"No!" Eva cried out, swaying on her feet.

Miles wasted no time shifting the phone to his left hand and wrapping his right arm around Eva's waist, pulling her into his side. He couldn't let himself get distracted by how perfectly she fit against him.

"Is she all right?" Eva asked.

"Of course she's all right. She's Autumn Cardon. Even with the jump on her and surprising her out of a sound sleep, a loser like Agent Henderson couldn't defeat Autumn. A few bruises and scrapes and you might need to redecorate your bedroom. She broke a few knickknacks on his skull."

"Oh, thank heavens she's all right." Eva relaxed into Miles.

Miles relaxed too. Autumn wasn't seriously hurt, Henderson would be arrested, and Eva was cuddled against his side. Maybe all his prayers would be answered.

"I spoke with Agent Henderson at length," Aiden continued. "He placed all the blame on Jorge Augilar. We finally found a money trail from Jorge's uncle to Henderson. Apparently Henderson and Jorge had an agreement for Henderson to gain your trust and then abduct you, get you across the border. When Henderson failed the other night, Jorge changed the plan and had an associate put all the hits up on the dark web. Jorge is on lockdown and the requests have been removed from the dark web. We're still not sure who was going to help Jorge escape. Hopefully we'll find them."

Aiden paused. Eva looked up at Miles. There was longing and frustration in her eyes.

"So it's over?" Eva asked.

"It's over," Aiden agreed. "Paul's on his way to retrieve you both. Miles, you can finish your long weekend in my beautiful home. Eva, I am having my people install better security for you. I'd recommend you hire some of my guards, or move to a gated community with guards, but I can't force you to do that."

"I'll think about it."

"That's all we can ask. It's been a pleasure, Eva. Grateful we could be of service."

"Thank you," she said. "Please bill me."

Aiden chuckled. "I'm sure some of my people will take payment, but I don't know about Lieutenant Coleville. You two will have to figure things out. Talk soon." He hung up.

Eva straightened away from Miles and hurried back into the door of her room. She turned to face him. Miles thought that was the opposite of Aiden's advice to ‘figure things out'.

"Well, that's wonderful. It's over." She had a bright, fake smile on her face.

Why those words were a punch to the gut Miles wasn't certain. She meant the hits on the web, the Agent Henderson and Jorge Augilar mess being over. He was sixty percent certain that was what she meant.

"I'll go get ready to fly home."

She shut the door before he could ask if he could extend the conversation—see how she was feeling about her situation, see how she was feeling about the two of them. At the moment, there wasn't a them .

Miles felt his shoulders round as he hurried to throw his stuff into his duffel bag and then waited for her to come out. He waited and waited. Far too much time to stew about everything. Eva was safe. That was most important. They were a mess and most likely he had no hope of a future with her. That was horrific.

Finally, the door opened. She didn't look at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She was wearing a white T-shirt and pink joggers.

She lifted the suitcase from Autumn out of the room. Miles hurried to take it from her.

"Thank you." She brushed past him.

"Eva, please," he said to her back.

She paused but didn't look back.

"Can we talk about this?"

"I'm sure we'll have too much time to talk on the plane." She still didn't look at him as she hurried downstairs.

Miles hefted his duffel bag and followed, leaving her suitcase and his bag by the front door. They ate breakfast with the family. Eva chatted brightly with everyone, said her thank yous and her goodbyes. Mama hugged her tightly and Miles heard a murmured, "Give my boy a chance."

Eva stiffened and pulled back. "Thank you, Mama. I hope to see all of you again. If you're ever in California, please let me know." She turned and strode out of the kitchen.

Miles gave Mama a helpless shrug, grateful she'd tried, but nothing seemed to be getting through to Eva. He'd seen firsthand how brave and resilient she was. Now she was using those skills, and her acting expertise, to shut him out.

Walker drove them to Kalispell and the airport. Eva drew Walker out about roping, even though Miles could've sworn they'd already had this conversation. She told Walker about her dad's ranch and her two sisters, teasing that Walker should go meet her next-younger sister.

Miles stewed about how to convince her she was his perfect fit and see if she returned the feeling. He wanted the chance to talk for hours about everything and nothing.

They'd talk on the plane. He clung to that. Because if he didn't somehow talk this through with her on the plane, he might never see her again. He'd always planned on his future being his military career. Without Eva, he felt like his future was gaping and empty.

Paul swooped down on an Airbus a few minutes after they got to the airport. How many jets did Aiden own? The man was such an enigma and yet made Miles feel like he was his close friend.

It was good to see the tall pilot. Eva gave Walker a hug goodbye and thanked him, then walked over to the jet. Paul lifted a hand to Walker and followed.

"Good luck, bro," Walker said.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna need it." He shook his brother's hand, clapping him on the shoulder. "Good luck to you. Are you going after Lily?"

"I intend to." He tilted down his hat, hiding his expression. " We'll see how it goes. Might be awkward trading one Coleville for another. She'll need some time for sure."

"I hope not. Hope I haven't messed everything up for you as well." He glanced back at Eva and saw her disappearing into the plane.

"Life is messy sometimes," Walker said. "We'll all figure it out. If we're supposed to. Turn to Jesus and it'll work."

"I spent most of the night praying," Miles said.

"Good man. I'm proud of you, brother."

"I'm proud of you too. See you soon." Miles lifted a hand and turned away. He didn't know why he said ‘see you soon'. He didn't make it home often.

Walking onto the plane, he saw Paul standing next to Eva. Paul nodded to him and closed the door while Eva sank into a leather recliner.

Miles walked over and settled into the recliner next to hers. She didn't say anything, didn't even look at him, putting earbuds in and fiddling with the screen that pulled out of the seat.

He prayed for help and waited until the plane lifted off. He only had a few hours.

"Eva, I …" He turned to look at her. Her head was lolled to the side. She still had the earbuds in, and she looked for all the world to be sleeping.

Some guys in his unit could fall asleep that fast, and Eva had been through a lot in a day and a half. She was also one of the most accomplished actresses around. Was she faking sleep?

It seemed the last thing she wanted to do was talk to him. What could he do to get through to her? Had he messed this up so completely that he had no chance at all?

He studied her and kept praying.