Nathan smiles at me, a dark glint filling his eyes, like clouds gathering before a storm. “You don’t have to. For you, Eva, I’d do this and more. Your family is important to you. So it’s important to me. Alejandro will have a job by the time he’s released. Don’t you worry.”
He takes my hand and lifts it to his lips. He blows a soft kiss on each of my knuckles.
My heart is racing as his kind words settle in my chest. I know that the last tiny remainder of my resistance to Nathan is about to dissolve. And for the first time, I don’t even try to put up a fight. I’ve gone through all possible excuses of why I need to battle against my feelings for him. Nathan has shattered each of them with his kind persistence and his honesty.
I was wrong to build up walls and blindly believe that, just because my mother had such bad luck with my father, I was destined to the same fate. Life doesn’t work like that. People can’t be put into categories of right and wrong based simply on the size of their wallet. Nathan has proven to me that a billionaire can have a real, gentle soul. His words about my family are more precious to me than anything else he could have said. They’re proof that we are going somewhere together.
Somewhere that isn’t a short-lived fling or a distraction.
From now on, I want to be able to feel about him the way I do so that I can be courageous enough to answer the voice in my head. Because I know what I want from Nathan. I want the same from him as what I’m feeling for him. Love.
Yes, I love Nathan.
I’ve fallen in love with him. And I’m not going to stop myself from diving deep into this precious feeling. Not now, not ever.
Chapter 28
(Nathan)
“Here you go, my dear boy.” Eva’s grandmother smiles at me and puts two giant, steaming enchiladas onto the plate Eva helped her prepare for me while I played pirate war with her siblings. She tops them with avocado and cilantro and plenty of sour cream for good measure while adding, “Big men like you need this to build muscles.”
Eva leans close to me and whispers, “If you were a young girl, she would still sell this dish to you the same way. But don’t worry, her cooking is yummy.”
Abuelita points the spoon at her. “What are you gossiping about?”
“Nothing.” Eva gives her an innocent smirk. “Just saying how you’re the best cook in this town.”
“Well, that’s kind of true.” Abuelita nods. “Even at Church events, the people can’t get enough of my burritos.”
“I’m sure they will be delicious,” I say, and my phrase earns an appreciative glint from Eva’s grandmother. My comment wasn’t just to collect points with Abuelita, though. The fragrance wafting around us is so mouth-watering that the question will be whether I can hold myself back from devouring the whole pan of it.
“I’ll get some water, and we can start.” Eva straightens and walks to the fridge.
As I follow her slender figure, I can’t stop thinking how much spending an evening at Eva’s house is very different from what I’d expected. I thought I’d feel like an outsider when she invited me to dine with them after returning from Alejandro. After all, I’ve met her grandmother, Juan, and Espie only once. But as we sit in their cozy kitchen, my shoulders are relaxed and I’m completely at ease.
Eva comes back, puts the bottle on the table, and hops down on the chair beside me. The pavement creaks with her sudden movement. It must be even older than I guessed if her light weight can extract such noises from it.
Eva shoots me a smile, the warmest and brightest I’ve ever seen from her. “Is everything okay, Nathan? You look a tiny bit caught up in your thoughts.”
“All is great. I’m just amazed what a nice experience a family meal can be.”
Abuelita’s wrinkled forehead creases more as she arches her brows at me. “Oh, my dear boy. Don’t tell me you don’t take time for proper dinner, either. Your brother, Murphy, men—ouch!”
She hisses in pain and her eyes dart to Eva.
Eva beams innocently at her, but there’s a weird intensity in her glare as if she’s trying to transmit a message to her grandmother.
“What happened?” I ask.
Abuelita shakes her head. “Nothing worth mentioning. Just a bit of rheumatic spasm in my elbow. Almost as if someone poked me with a fingernail.”
“I see. Aunt Marjorie suffers from that, too. You were saying about my brother?”
“Just that he once came to our church’s meeting. An agreeable gentleman, indeed.” Abuelita forks a bite and pops it in her mouth.
Juan and Espie begin telling jokes and soon we all have trouble concentrating on the food from the gurgling laughs. But we still manage to clean our plates, and in my case, there is still an extra portion of the incredible enchiladas.
After we’re all done with the main course, Eva serves us dessert. The churros with chocolate dip manage to quiet the children long enough for us to exchange a few words.
“Eva.” I lean in close to her, while her grandmother is busy wiping the kids’ chocolate-mustaches clean. “You remember that I made us stop at my office to get something before coming here?”
“Yes, of course. You said you needed some files you want to finish reading tonight. Why?”
I clear my throat. I’ve waited so long with inviting Eva to the ball. What made me choose this hectic moment when her entire family is present I can’t say? Unless I’m hoping for the backing of her grandmother. Abuelita seems to harbor enough goodwill toward me that she might help convince Eva to attend this event in the dress I bought for her.
“I lied to you about the files. That’s not what I went
