"Sounds like a cop-out to me."
Eva shook her head. "No. No, it's not like that. I don't want to leave. I love him. I love him more than I did before you were born, and there's not much I wouldn't give to stay here with him."
"Then stay." Elena wasn't crying, but her voice sounded thick with coming tears.
"I said there wasn't much. But I won't give myself. I won't settle. I did that before, and I'm not going to do it again."
Elena licked her lips. "But it's Daddy."
"Oh, baby," Eva said, as she lifted the duffel onto her shoulder. "Whatever Tyree Johnson is to me, I swear he will always be your daddy."
A tear trickled from her daughter's eye, and Eva forced herself to stay strong. She leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'm going now," she said, then hurried into the living room and toward the front door, intending to go down to the street and wait for her ride share.
Instead, she opened the door and found Tyree.
"You're leaving?"
Eva turned, shooting a frustrated glance toward the bedroom. And toward the daughter inside who'd been fiddling--apparently texting--on her phone.
"We both know it's best, Tyree. And it doesn't have to be goodbye. We can talk later. But you need space."
He stepped into the apartment, forcing her to either hold her ground or take a step back. She stepped back. It was just too damn hard to think when he was that near.
"Don't tell me what I need. Especially when what I need is you."
"Do you?"
"Eva..." His voice sounded ripped. Like by just asking the question she'd broken his heart.
She drew in a breath, determined to remain firm. "Fine, maybe you don't need space, but I do. I need time. I think we both do."
He took her hand, and she felt it swallowed up in the warmth of his strong grip. "Please, Eva. I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either," she said, then saw his shoulders sag with relief. "But I'm not going to settle anymore, either." She drew in a breath for courage. "I have a career I love back in California, and I want a man who loves me. Who isn't afraid to love me completely."
She touched her fingertips to his face. "I don't know if that's you or not, Tiger. I'd like to believe it is. But you won't let yourself love me. Not fully. Because you think it's dishonoring Teiko. You're a big man, Ty, with a big heart. Did you ever think there's room in there for the both of us?"
"Eva, please."
But she just shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. I have to go home. Tell Jenna I'll call her. I can come out and do all the calendar shots right after Mr. December is chosen. I'll make it work. And Elena can do the publicity shots and I'll clean them up in Photoshop for her."
He rubbed his eyebrow, his expression pained. "Don't go. Can't we--"
"There's no we," she said gently. "There can't be a we until you figure some things out."
She kissed him gently on the cheek. "I love you," she said. "For that matter, I never stopped loving you. And I never will. But right now, I have to go."
Chapter Eighteen
Over two million people lived in the Austin metropolitan area, but with each passing day without Eva, the town felt more and more empty. Hollow.
Tyree sighed. It wasn't the town, he thought, as he stood at the front window of The Fix and looked out at the dense crowd of people out for a good time on a Saturday night. It was her. Because any place without Eva was a cold, empty space.
Frustrated, he pulled out his phone, just as he'd done every few hours for the last three days. This time, though, he was finally going to call her.
Except when he dialed, it was Elena's number.
She answered on the first ring. "Hey, Daddy. You okay?"