“I wouldn’t let her.” Dylan rotated his right shoulder and grimaced.
“What happened?” Eve felt a twinge of concern. “Are you in pain?”
“FYI, if you play football long enough, you deal with aches and pains every day.” Dylan shrugged, then winced. “I tore a ligament season before last. The injury healed but I get the occasional twinge to remind me not to get complacent.”
“Why would you deliberately torture your body?” Eve seemed genuinely perplexed. “You’re an intelligent man. There must be better ways to make a living than moving a ball from one end of a field to the other.”
“I’ll give you points for knowing the basics of the game.” Dylan let out a good-natured laugh. “Tell me if you ever want to learn the finer points.”
“Weird ball, tight pants, big, scary men. Right?” When Dylan shrugged, Eve did the same. “How much finer can you get?”
“Got me there.” He opened a bottle of water. “I’m surprised you didn’t have more luggage. One duffle bag takes the concept of traveling light to the extreme.”
“You brought ten suitcases on a four-day trip.” Eve snorted.
“Don’t exaggerate. I only brought three cases,” Dylan said.
“Extra-large.” Amazed that one man needed so many changes of clothing, Eve shook her head. “What a dandy?”
“We live in the twenty-first century,” Dylan exclaimed. “Who uses the word dandy?”
“I do, slick,” Eve said with a snort of superiority. “Try upping your vocabulary. Unless you like sounding like a cliché.”
“Did you just call me a dumb jock?” Incredulous, Dylan shook his head. “Wow. You are something.”
“Thank you.” Eve beamed.
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment.”
“Up yours,” Eve said with a rude gesture just in case Dylan needed a visual aid.
“Excuse me?” Sara cleared her throat, her expression wary. “I apologize for interrupting. We’re about to take off. I need to collect your drinks.”
“You frightened the flight attendant,” Dylan said as he buckled his seatbelt. “Hell, you frightened me.”
Eve stuck out her tongue. Then, she flipped him off again—with both hands. Yes, the gesture was juvenile but very satisfying.
“Do you know what happened to the last person who flipped me the bird?” Dylan asked, his voice low with an ominous timbre. “He didn’t walk straight for a week.”
Ignoring him, Eve opened her purse, took out her earphones, and hit play on her phone. Before she closed her eyes, she couldn’t resist one last glance Dylan’s way. A frown marred his handsome face and he seemed lost in thought.
Had she gone too far? Should she apologize? Sorry, when delivered with sincerity, mattered.
“Dylan?”
“Hm?”
“I shouldn’t have used a rude gesture.” Eve cleared her throat. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” His dark eyes glittered with good humor. “I’m not upset. Though you might want to watch yourself around Daisy. She copies everything you do.”
“Daisy.” Eve sighed with relief when she saw the little girl hadn’t stirred. “You aren’t angry? Really?”
“I like sparring with you,” he said. “Keeps me on my toes. Why? Did I hurt your feelings?”
“Me?” Eve shook her head. “I worked at a logging site for three months. Ever heard the saying, he swears like a lumberjack? I can tell you from firsthand experience. Those guys are hardcore.”
“Aside from your crude hand gestures, I don’t remember hearing you curse. Unless crap counts.”
“I know some colorful phrases,” Eve said “I simply choose not to use them. Especially around Daisy.”
“Remind me now and then. The last woman I lived with was my mother. Fourteen years ago.” Dylan’s eyes widened. “Compared to you and Daisy, I’m an old man.”
“How can you put me in the same category as an eighteen-month-old toddler,” Eve demanded. “You may have a few years on me, Grandpa, but some of the things I’ve seen would make your hair curl.”
“I keep forgetting.” Dylan shook his head. “Why did your mother throw you out?”
“The summer before I started my junior year in high school, I had a job at a local restaurant waiting tables.” Eve smiled at the memory. “The money was good, salary and tips. Before, I had other jobs and always gave what I earned to my mother. For once, I wanted to keep half for myself.”
“Seems fair,” Dylan said.
Where others were concerned, Eve didn’t think the word fair existed in her mother’s vocabulary.
“When I stated my case, my mother gave me a choice. Turn over the money or leave her house. Then, I could support myself.” Eve thought about the situation. “Technically, she didn’t throw me out. I left in protest.”
“Either way, you were sixteen.” Dylan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I can’t imagine.”
Eve often went months without thinking about her mother. Even when she was little, they weren’t close. The best way she could describe their relationship on a good day was that of roommates who tolerated each other.
Never physically or verbally abusive, her mother’s personality was cool, bordering on frigid. Eve used to wonder how she was conceived when there were no men around during her childhood, nor did her mother show any interest in the opposite sex. Immaculate conception seemed highly unlikely and whenever Eve asked, she was shut down with a noncommittal shrug.
“I don’t think my mother was sexually assaulted,” Eve told Dylan. “I’m sure she would have told me. My mother loved a good guilt trip.”
“Jesus, Eve.” Dylan’s fingers flexed, biting into his leg. “How can you be so blasé?”
“For me, everything I’ve told you is old news,” she explained. She nodded toward a still sleeping Daisy. “Watch your language.”
“Sorry.” Dylan rubbed his neck and sighed. “Would you like to find your father? I could hire someone to track him down.”
Eve shook her head.
“He might know about me—that I exist. Maybe he doesn’t. Either way, at this point in my life, I would be…” Eve searched for the right word. “Uncomfortable. Rather than
