“If you could do anything? Be anything? What would it be?” Dylan wanted to know.
“You can’t make my dreams come true,” Eve warned. “If something is important to me, I’ll find my way without you or anyone else to help. Understand?”
“Hands off,” he said. “I promise.”
“I want to go to college,” Eve said. “I was never in one place long enough to enroll. Even if I stayed put, I didn’t have the money. Student loans are out of the question because I refuse to go into debt. Besides…”
“What?” Dylan prompted. He didn’t want Eve to stop before she told him everything.
“I’ll be twenty-eight soon. A little old to go back to school.”
“No such thing as too old,” Dylan said. “Do you know what you want to study?”
Eve shook her head.
“All I want to do is learn.” She smiled. “Go to class. Take a little of one subject. A little of another until I discover what interests me.”
“Find your passion.” Dylan understood.
“You know what scares me?” Eve sighed. “If I finally get to college, after years of dreaming, what if I’m not as smart as I think? I might fail every course.”
“If Tanner can graduate law school and pass the bar, you can be a Rhodes Scholar.”
“What did you just say?” Eve’s mouth fell open. “Tanner passed the bar? When? No. Different question. Does he work as a lawyer?”
“Tanner passed the bar seven years ago.” Dylan paused. “Yes, seven is right. He was offered a position with a big law firm down in Tacoma. He said no. I can’t tell you why. Preferred taking off with his friends at a moment’s notice.”
“You supported him all these years?” Eve asked.
“I stopped giving Tanner money after he graduated.” Dylan shrugged. “My mother is a different matter. The money she receives from me is hers the second I deposit it into her account. Occasionally, she tells him no”
“What does Tanner do?”
“Mooches off friends. Let’s drop the subject of my brother. I used him as an example of why you will succeed if you go to college.” Dylan squeezed Eve’s hand. “I believe in you. You should enroll.”
“Ah,” Eve sighed. “I’m so comfortable. Let’s stay here for a little bit. Close our eyes. Just be.”
Dylan nodded. He promised not to push Eve. He would keep his promise. She shared her dream with him. For now, that was enough.
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EVE KNEW THE moment Dylan lifted her into his arms. She dozed off but woke as he carried her up the stairs to her room. He placed her in bed, pulling the covers to her chin.
“Sleeping on the sofa is fine,” Dylan whispered. “You’ll be more comfortable up here.”
“Thank you,” she said without opening her eyes. “Kiss me goodnight.”
“Of all the times to ask.” Dylan chuckled. “You’re lucky I’m a man with a strong moral code or you would be in trouble.”
Eve felt the brush of his lips on her forehead and sighed. She always wondered if there were any honest men left in the world. She found her answer. His name was Dylan Montgomery.
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CHAPTER TWENTY
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DYLAN LIKED TO dream. Lately, he especially enjoyed when Eve played a main part in the images swirling through his subconscious. Now was a perfect example.
The setting was his bedroom. The morning sun streamed through the purposely curtainless windows. He liked to wake early and preferred natural light as his alarm clock.
Simple and clean. White walls. White sheets and comforter. The light-colored hardwood floors. Everything reflected Dylan’s tastes. What he liked most, was the sight of Eve kneeling on his bed.
Bathed in sunlight, almost glowing, Eve wore a flowing white nightgown—and a smile.
“Dreams are the best,” Dylan said as a happy sigh drifted across his lips.
“Are you dreaming?” Eve asked. She placed a hand on his. “Am I?”
“Maybe we’re in each other’s dreams,” Dylan reasoned. “I don’t mind.”
Eve stretched her body out next to his. She ran her finger down the bridge of his nose and over the tip. When she reached his mouth, she lingered, tracing the curve of his bottom lip.
“Wouldn’t you prefer the real me to a dream?”
“Are you?” Dylan’s heart pounded like a drum in his chest. “Are you here? Or are you just another fantasy?”
“Last night we slept together, remember?”
“On the sofa.” Dylan nodded.
“You carried me to my bed. As you set me under the covers, I waited, hoped, for a kiss.” Eve sighed. “You brushed your lips across my forehead. Then, you left.”
Dylan was wide awake. Eve was real. Sometimes wishes do come true.
“Did you want me to stay?” When Eve nodded, he said a silent prayer of thanks. “We made a deal. I won’t touch you unless you ask.”
“When I agreed, I didn’t think things through.” She took his hand in hers. “I was shy.”
“You?” Dylan scoffed. “Since when?”
“I’m not a virgin.” Eve shrugged. “But my experience is limited. I don’t know how to seduce a man. Never met one who made me want to learn.”
“Do you want me, Eve?” Dylan asked, reminding himself to breathe. If he passed out now from lack of oxygen—if he ruined the moment—he would never forgive himself.
“The first time I saw you, I hated you with a passion I didn’t think possible.” Eve laughed at the memory. “The second time, I wished you to the farthest reaches of hell.”
“So much for my winning personality,” Dylan said with a wry smile.
“You did win me over,” Eve insisted. “How could I not want a man who was sweet and loving toward Daisy? A man who helped me shovel manure to the detriment of his precious sneakers.”
Dylan smiled at the memory.
“Tell me more,” he demanded.
“You were a pain in my backside from day one.”
“The point is to extol my virtues, not my faults,” he reminded her. “When did you start to want me?”
“Hard to pinpoint
