Deep River Shifters 4 Book Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  Eva pretended to be shocked. “Surely I didn’t make it sound that way. I wasn’t trying to imply any such description of you.” She beamed at her friend, “I was trying to say it out right. Man, I really need to work on that.”

  Serenity threw her hands in the air, “You two are impossible! Anyway,” her eyes moved to her friend, and there was a question in them, “I don’t remember you ever talking about Ryland. When did that happen? Are you saying I’m a bad friend? So bad that I didn’t notice you had a crush on him?”

  Eva let out a sigh, “You remember that time I tried to get you to watch Take It or Leave It? Ryland played one of the two main male characters vying for the affection of the main character. He didn’t win her heart, and died at the end, giving the couple time to escape.” Serenity was frowning, then shrugged her shoulders. Eva looked at Ryland, “She fell asleep in the first few minutes. To be honest, I don’t think she made it past the opening credits of that one.”

  He looked at Serenity out of the corner of his eye. Serenity still seemed to be trying to remember. Eva put her hands on her mouth, ran them down her chin, and around the back of her neck. There was only one way to remind her about that night, and it had nothing to do with the movie. Serenity was beyond predictable; moving across the country had not changed that. “You were working on that competition to see who could finish a program to track weight loss through steps and pictures of food.”

  “Oh!” Dawning eased her friend’s expression. “That was so much fun; too bad it never made it to market. Could never get the program to do an accurate calorie count from the pictures, and people just lied about their caloric intake. It was so annoying listening to them complain that they couldn’t lose weight when the reason was so obvious. You can say you ate 2,000 calories and walked over 5 miles to balance it out when it is obvious that it was more like 4,000 calories.” She smiled at the memory. “I wonder if I can make it work now. The pictures are so much clearer now, so…” She looked at the four eyes staring at her and realized she had lost the intent of the conversation. “Well, that was some of the best sleep I had had in a long time. Not sure that I slept that well again until—” Serenity suddenly cut off her thought and she looked over at Ryland. Biting her lip, she steered the conversation back to the point she had been trying to make. “Fantastic sleep during a time when things were a little more hectic because of all the advances at the time. Always meant to thank you for it.”

  Eva’s expression was an imitation of annoyance, but her eyes reflected her resignation, something she had long since become accustomed to when dealing with her friend. “I’m so glad I could help.”

  Ryland moved a hand to his mouth to hide a smile. Serenity looked at him. “And what do you find funny about this?”

  It was all the permission he needed to burst out laughing. When he finally stopped, he looked at Serenity. “I’ve never heard of anyone sleeping through that one. They ended up editing out everything except the explosion and gun fights. I mean, I couldn’t sit through it either, but sleep was not what it inspired for me.”

  “Oh,” she gave him a look of apology, “I wasn’t trying to say anything bad about your movie. I’m sure it was fine.”

  “I didn’t care for it, and I’m glad that you didn’t see it. Having you think I was anything like that character would have been problematic at best. I am not the kind of guy who steps away from the woman he loves.” The look in his eyes made Eva feel a little weak in the knees. He seemed to be more similar to many of his characters, and they were almost always so gentlemanly. Serenity had never mentioned any of this—she had described an entirely different person both in the early days and over the last few months. Ryland had seemed more level-headed and similar to Serenity than sweet. Eva’s mind was working through the discrepancies as the conversation continued around her. Leave it to Serenity to drag her back into what was going on.

  “You are just acting. Why would anyone be foolish enough to think you were anything like your characters?” Serenity seemed honestly confused.

  Ryland gave her a look of incredulity as Eva reached out and patted her arm. “Fans only see actors the way they tend to appear in movies. They often think that actors and actresses play different versions of themselves.”

  “Actually,” Ryland pursed his lips, “most of the people you see on screen have elements of their characters, and enough of them are versions of themselves. Cleaned up from reality, but not as different as you might think. That’s why you get so many character actors. Sure, there is some acting, but most actors and actresses aren’t entirely divorced from their roles.”

  Eva nodded as if what he had said was food for thought. Serenity seemed somewhat baffled by the idea. “That makes no sense.”

  The elevator door opened as Ryland gave his girlfriend a shrug and ushered her out the door. Once Serenity had exited the elevator, he motioned for Eva to follow. Eva shook her head and gestured for him to go through first.

  Ryland shifted the bag on his arm. “I have to insist. You are Serenity’s best friend, which means you are definitely something special.”

  Eva’s face hardened a little. “I hope that is the real reason and not my family’s history.”

  Serenity stepped back into the elevator, grabbed each of their arms, and pulled them out. “For God’s sake, you two, it’s just an elevator. I’m not going to stand around waiting for you to out-polite each other. What does it matter who goes first?”

  “I don’t want to be rude.” Ryland looked almost hurt.

  “And Eva, if you didn’t know me so well, he wouldn't pay you any attention if you were the president.”

  “President of what?” Eva rubbed her arm after Serenity released it.

  “President of anything. This country. President of Europe. President of Mars. Wouldn’t matter. Ryland isn’t a movie character, and he only treats people well if he cares about them. Otherwise, he would be somewhat cold and off-putting. I’m sure you remember how I described him the first few times I encountered him.”

  Before Eva could point out that he didn’t know her at all, Ryland spoke up, “She talks about you often, and it’s obvious that you are someone worth knowing. Despite who your family is.”

  “Thank you—hey, wait, what?” Eva was stunned as she processed what Ryland had said.

  “Whose family?” Another male voice caused all three heads to turn to the right of the elevator.

  Serenity beamed as she held out her hand. “Hi, Alaric! Haven’t seen you much at all over the last month and a half.”

  He grabbed her hand, pulled her to him, and gave her a hug. “Yes, far too long. Well, it’s my last few days of freedom, and I have been enjoying them.” He released her and turned to the other two visitors.

  He quickly hugged Ryland, who smiled as he rolled his eyes. “You know, you are still going to be able to do things, just not such grand projects.”

  Alaric released him. “You should know me well enough to know once I put my mind to something, that’s it. And you are wrong, it is a grand project, just not the kind I’m accustomed to. Do you really think that I would simply leave the tech world and all of its pleasures to become responsible? I guess you really haven’t been paying attention to me at all over the years.”

  Ryland gave a little chuckle and shook his head as Alaric turned to address Eva. “Judging by the way Ryland was acting, you must be Serenity’s best friend. Emma?” There was a slight question to his voice.

  Ryland gave him a look of reproach. “Eva.”

  “Oh, right, like Eva Perón or Eva Braun.” He held out a hand and beamed at his new acquaintance.

  Eva’s mouth was a little agape, and she extended her hand automatically. She was trying to mentally process how down to earth the guy seemed to be. He was a tech mogul who had been on the cover of so many magazines, and so many families had talked about him as an upstart back home. In his interviews, Alaric had come off as being more condescending and cold. More than that, his behavior really
did not jive with the way Serenity had described him. According to Serenity, this guy was impossibly intelligent and constantly talking about stuff that would be way over Eva’s head. Then again, that was kind of the way Serenity was, so perhaps they had a weird kind of influence over each other. Eva would never have imagined him as the sort of guy who would hug people, especially one of his students. Simply nodding, her eyes automatically went to the floor and she took a step back as soon as Alaric released her hand.

  “I see what you mean about shy.” He turned his head toward Serenity. “But if she can get accustomed to talking to Ryland, I’ve no doubt she will be comfortable soon enough with me. Come on, I’ll show you around, get you acclimated a bit before the party.”

  Eva threw Serenity a questioning look. Her friend covered her mouth and exclaimed, “I am so sorry! I forgot to tell you that we won’t be heading to my place tonight. Given the distance, we would pretty much just have time to drop off your stuff then come back. I didn’t think you would mind, but I had meant to tell you.”

  “But Ryland offered to take me shopping.” Eva looked confused.

  “Yes, there is a little shopping center attached to this place,” Alaric said over his shoulder. “But I wouldn’t dream of having you pay for anything. So let’s get your stuff in your room, and you two can bounce off to find something for the party. As you might expect, Ryland’s fantastic at picking out costumes for these kinds of things, meaning you can rest easy. I guess that means I will be left to entertain Serenity, which should be easy.” Alaric turned his head to look at Serenity as he walked in front of the group. “Did Ryland give you any hints about what I’m releasing tonight as my final farewell to the industry?”

  “Why are you even asking?” Serenity gave Ryland a wry look.

  Alaric chuckled, “Good, then it will be a surprise. Ah, here we are. This is your room Eva, and Serenity, yours is right next to it. Ryland, if you would drop Eva’s stuff off while I show them around, please. We’ll head to the kitchen in this wing, so catch up there.”

  Serenity leaned over as the two men talked for a moment, “Ryland brought my bag earlier this week.”

  Ryland slowly turned to face her, “I thought you were going to bring your bag because the dress wasn’t ready. It was still being taken in at the seamstress.”

  Serenity’s mouth formed an O. “I forgot about that. Shit.”

  Ryland gave his girlfriend a smile that let Eva know that he had already learned to expect that sort of thing. It was great to see that Serenity’s man was so understanding, but Eva soon realized that she was clenching her jaw as she watched. Nothing about this trip had been what she had expected, and now things were becoming increasingly less predictable.

  “I guess there is only one way to handle this. I'm sorry Eva,” Ryland turned to her, “I will have to take a raincheck. I’m so sorry.” The man’s expression was just like the one he gave to the sidekick before running off with the heroine, and Eva wondered if maybe this was entirely Serenity being forgetful.

  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alaric’s eyes narrowing, but he didn’t say anything as Serenity gave him an apologetic shrug. “Yeah, I guess the surprise will have to be tonight. I really am looking forward to it.”

  Eva realized she was going to have to say something. “Since you didn’t mention anything about a party, you know I don’t have anything to wear.”

  Ryland smiled at her, “I’m sure you will look great in anything.”

  Eva shook her head, “Clearly you don’t understand. If my family finds out that I attended a party for a high profile tech mogul, and one that was his last, do you know what they will do to me? Would you show up to a red carpet event in jeans and a workout shirt?”

  Trying to play it off, Ryland waved, “This isn’t anything official. There won’t be any media here or anything.”

  “Are you going to keep all pictures from being shared on social media? Are you going to disallow pictures of yourself being posted from the evening?”

  The smile slid off of his face, and Ryland turned to look at Serenity for support. Serenity laughed nervously, “You can still go to the shops and find something. It’s not that big a deal.”

  Eva was about to concede the point, although she had no idea where the shops were or what kind of dress she would need for the evening. As long as they dropped her off on their way to wherever they were going, Eva could make do.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Alaric stepped up beside her, his eyes boring into the couple. “I’ll help you get there and find something suitable. I must admit to being incredibly disappointed in you, Serenity. Eva came all the way across the country, and you apparently didn’t tell her anything about what we are doing. Did you tell her about the camping trip in two days?”

  Eva’s head turned mechanically to look at Alaric as Serenity frowned as she answered, “This isn’t class, Alaric. I didn’t tell her about it because she hates camping. I was hoping to work her up to it over the next couple of days, and maybe convince you to take a camper or something so that she has somewhere safe.”

  Alaric sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hands. “Don’t worry, I’m not just disappointed in you.” His eyes fell on Ryland, then he turned on his heels. His head turned to the side, and Eva saw a forced grin. “Come on. There’s really no point trying to get through to either one of them. Best to go see what we can do to make sure you feel comfortable at the party.” He strode toward the opposite end of the hallway.

  Eva gave Serenity a look of alarm. This was not at all what she had expected—being in the company of someone like Alaric, a party, a surprise camping trip, and Serenity’s boyfriend. It was almost like she had walked through a mirror and was being forced to face all of her greatest fears. “A camping trip?” Her voice was faint as she looked at her best friend. “But you know what…” She closed her mouth and found herself fighting back tears. Turning to hurry after Alaric, Eva began to regret her trip out west. Clearly this was the ideal life for Serenity, and it appeared Eva had no place in it. Maybe it would be best just to go home tomorrow. That way nothing else could go wrong.

  Chapter 3

  Common Ground

  Catching up with Alaric, Eva tried to come up with a way to excuse herself. “You know, it’s alright, we don’t need to go shopping.” She couldn’t quite manage to look at him. Not only was she feeling incredibly self-conscious around him, a tear had just trickled down her face and she did not want some stranger to see her in a moment of weakness.

  “It’s alright, I have plenty of time before I’m needed anywhere. And I don’t mind helping you out. After all, you said that you couldn’t attend with the clothes you brought.” His voice was soft, almost gentle.

  Aware that Alaric was walking close beside her, Eva took a couple of steps away from him. “I don’t think I’m going to go tonight. If you give me the address, I think I’ll just call for a driver—”

  “No. I’m afraid that I’m not alright with that.” Alaric patted the top of her head. “There’s a good reason those two are acting like complete idiots. We can talk while we find you something to wear.”

  “Really, it’s fine. I just want to go to a hotel and—”

  “You need the address for that.”

  “Yes.” Eva nodded.

  “I can refuse to give it to you.”

  Eva wiped the tear streaks from her face and looked up into the concerned face of Alaric. “Please, today has been rough enough.”

  “I understand, but—”

  “No, you really don’t. What it took to get out here was—” Eva cut herself off, not wanting to talk about her family. “Well, that’s unimportant. I was groped on the plane, and it has just been a series of rather unpleasant surprises ever since. At this point, I am willing to concede it was a bad idea and go home. If you aren’t willing to help me, then I’ll just look up my address. This isn’t the 20th century, you know.”

  Alaric stopped her and forced Eva to look at him
. “First, you won’t be able to make any kind of outside contact from the inside here. It’s very heavily secured from hacking and other intruders, so most tech won’t work. Second, if you are really insistent on leaving, I will lend you one of my cars and chauffeurs—I’m not letting you leave without any idea of where you are or where you are going. That’s downright dangerous.” Something about the way he said it made it sound like it was more than just the area that was the problem, but he didn’t give her much time to think about it. “But if you leave, Serenity is going to be distraught; she has been looking forward to this for months.”

  Eva couldn’t hide a derisive laugh. “She seems to be doing quite well without me.”

  “Actually, she’s been planning to try to get you to move out here.”

  “And she knows that would never happen. Not with my—” Eva shut her mouth and rubbed a hand over her forehead. She had never been very good at arguing, and Alaric’s sincerity was touching. He obviously cared for her friend, not that a man caring about Serenity would come as a surprise. She looked into the professor’s eyes, “You aren’t in love with her, are you?” The question was out before she could stop it.

  Alaric’s reaction was immediate. Holding up his hands, a huge grin spread across his face. “I don’t see her as a woman, and I very much doubt she sees me as a man. I’m just as inclined to be in love with Ryland as Serenity. Don’t get me wrong,” he shrugged, “she is gorgeous and her mind is brilliant, but in terms of socialization and tact, let’s just say she and Ryland are perfect for each other.” There was a hint of sourness to his voice, but from the way he said it, Eva got the feeling it wasn’t from jealousy.

  A giggle escaped her because Alaric seemed to have a fairly decent understanding of Serenity. Most guys couldn’t see past her exterior or work potential. This guy was analytical of every aspect and found her best friend wanting. It was almost refreshing.