19. Side by Side

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"Did Heath hurt you?"Wyoming's first question to me, after all that happened, showed possession and worry for my well-being. That had to be a sign he still cared. I couldn't believe everything he did for me tonight.

"No, just threats. Never physical like how he hit me tonight. And he'd only kept me under lock and key, under guard, for about a month before I escaped. One of his guards forgot to lock the door properly one night. And I ended up here, penniless and alone, the only safe place I knew of that Heath would likely never look."

Side by side, we laid down in my bed, facing each other because I collapsed there, too exhausted to do anything else. I hadn't even removed my red gown yet, and he was still my pirate. Not a dang thing sexy about us now, though.

"Why does he hate this campground so much?" He reached a hand to my locks, twirling it through his fingers, making me wish I'd wore my hair down more often over the past month.

"You wouldn't believe this, but he grew up very poor, with a single mother and two brothers. He had a complex about it, and all his life money was his god, and he chased every penny he could make. All that talk about royalty in our blood; I did the research a couple of years ago when I found out about his affair and discovered the truth about him. And not a spec of royal blood exists in our genealogy."

"Affair?"

"He'd been keeping a mistress on the side for years. I don't know if my mother knew or not. Remember the biography you were reading? He paid someone to write that, to fabricate the lies about him and not dive too deep into really researching the truth." I took in a deep, cleansing breath.

So many details. My head swam, but I continued answering all his questions, sharing everything with him. He had a right to know, since he got dragged into my mess. It was almost sunrise when his questions slowed, and he knew just about everything.

"Do you have money? A job? What'll you do now?" he asked.

I stifled a yawn. "In New York City, I'll have access to my money. Once news of the arrest goes public, Arnault Technologies will experience an upheaval. Someone has to be there to save the company and now that I can return to my regular life, I need to get back and take control of things. I'll instill a new positive direction for our technology and put things in place so it will never fall into the hands of people who can't handle it."

He reached for me, bringing me closer into him, spooning, and wrapping an arm around me. I wanted to cry because I really thought he'd have walked out by now.

"Where is the code, anyway? Hidden somewhere really safe, right?"

I touched my necklace where I'd embedded the code into the bird's picture under the glass. "Yes, very safe."

"You were so brave and alone this entire time. I wish you could have told me everything. I'd have done what I could to help you."

"You did, though, Wyoming. You helped me more than you know." Another yawn, and my eyes drooped. "I'm sorry. I never meant to bring you into any of this mess. If you wanted to leave right now, I'd understand."

"I'm not leaving. I'm here for you. We'll get through this."

"We? Why would you want to keep helping me?"

"Did I ever tell you I love brown-eyed girls?"

He forced a chortle out of me.

"Seriously, though, it's because of our zing."

"Zing? That's a very technical term." I chuckled.

"Exactly. I gave it a lot of thought. I've already made it pretty clear that I'm falling for you, E—Tess. Guess the name will take getting used to."

I didn't enjoy hearing the word Tess from his lips, either; I was so used to being his Eve.

"But I'm not really Eve, although in a way, she grew on me, and she protected me, helped keep me hidden from Heath." I hugged him closer, like my personal emotional support person. His warmth comforted me. "So much has happened, though. I don't think I can go back to just being Tess. But without Eve, I don't know who I am right now. That probably sounds strange to you."

"Not at all, and it makes total sense to me you'd grow over the past year. You had to do things you never had to do before to survive. But there's one thing that doesn't change. Your heart."

He had a point. I changed my name and eye color, my hair and the way I dressed, but the real me resided inside, now a combination of Eve and Tess, the strengths of both. And one weakness—Wyoming.

"I think in time you'll figure out who you are again, Tess."

"Actually, can you still call me Eve? It's my mother's middle name, and I always adored it. I like the way you say it. "

"Eve suits me fine as well." He kissed my head. "There's a connection between us I'm not ready to give up on yet. Do you feel it, too?"

I considered how our connection started in the lake, and that continued even now. My need to be near him, pulled into him, something physically keeping us in touch. But also emotionally. He drew me to him with the way he's here for me now. "I do feel it."

"I have another month before I report back to the office. You'll have things to deal with, but I plan to stick around still. I'd like to spend more time with you. A good foundation is all we need, then, and we could grow from that, right?"

"Day by day, I guess we could figure things out."

"Exactly. For now, Eve, let's get some sleep. I know you're tired."

"Exhausted. Too tired to even take off this dress." I let my eyelids fall.

"I can help with that. Although this pirate is pretty tired, too."

Through slits, I peeked his sly grin. "When we wake up, I'll let you undress me."

"Then I'll make love to you."

"Mm." I moaned in agreement, half asleep.

"By the way. Do you like learning about black holes and taking bubble baths?" He asked an oddly specific question.

"I love them and anything about deep space," I admitted on a whisper, drifting off in the security and comfort of his arms.

"Nice." He tightened his hold on me. "Like I said. We have a good foundation to grow from."