One With You Chapter 9
Cary shows Eva a sketch of a potential wedding dress, but she whines about it’s not right and time is running out. They have a very detailed discussion about why this dress is wrong, and Eva gives some vague explanations of what she wants out of a dress. As positive as I am that you are desperate for me to quote this section, I’m going to forge ahead, quoteless.
Eva gets to thinking about when she’d like to have kids with Gideon, and her reasoning is sound:
“Ha! Maybe in ten years.” That sounded about right to me. Ten years of having Gideon to myself. Time for us to both grow a little more, smooth things out and find our groove.
I am not saying that people shouldn’t wait ten years to have a child, but I find it pretty funny that Eva thinks it will take them at least ten years to have their relationship work smoothly. Probably not inaccurate, though. Oh, and before you start worrying that this is a sign that Eva will be pregnant by the end of the book, fear not, this doesn’t happen.
Eva and Cary discuss her upcoming bachelorette party, but she’s far more concerned about Gideon’s bachelor party in Brazil. Brazil is so sexy and sensual! Why can’t Gideon have his bachelor party at a McDonalds in Time Square instead?
What would my husband do when his friends paired off with beautiful babes? Sit by himself and nurse a caipirinha? I didn’t think so.
Gideon wouldn’t cheat. He wouldn’t even flirt; it wasn’t his style. He hadn’t even flirted with me in the beginning and I was the love of his life. No, he would dominate the room, looking dark and dangerous and untouchable, while an endless tide of gorgeous women frothed around him.
How could he possibly be unaffected by that?
Okay, so Gideon isn’t going to cheat but he’s also not going to sit alone and drink while his friends hook up with people? So what is she expecting him to do in that scenario? I feel like the logical conclusion is that he’ll play Candy Crush on his phone or go back to his hotel room if all of his friends are so hell-bent on celebrating Gideon’s bachelor party by ignoring him and hooking up with hot ladies at the club. I mean, I get her apprehension, but I don’t get this train of thought. If he’s not going to cheat, feeling flattered by the attention would be basically the only way Gideon would be affected.
This fuels Gideon and Eva’s conversation for the rest of the night. Gideon is relieved Eva is still jealous because when she recommended he hire Deanna, Gideon thought she was losing interest (the fuck?).
Realizing he was at least partly serious, I stopped trying to get away. “I told you I didn’t like the idea of you hiring her.””
“Not right away you didn’t. You recommended I seduce her like you’d tell me to pick up a bottle of wine on the way home from work. At least when I mentioned Rio, you tensed up and sulked about it.”
“There’s a difference—”
“Between actively seducing a woman I’ve fucked before and agreeing to a bachelor party I didn’t plan? Absolutely. And it makes no sense why you’d be okay with the first one and have a problem with the second one.”
Okay, but like where did Eva actually suggest he SEDUCE Deanna? She obviously meant charm her into accepting the offer.
Eva’s response actually kind of makes sense (as much sense as it can make in this ridiculous situation):
I glared. “Because one is a business transaction in a controlled environment. The other is a last hurrah for sport fucking in the one of the sexiest cities in the world!”
Yeah, an above board business transaction. Super professional that Gideon is meant to flirt his way into getting Deanna (who would be a total moron to accept the offer because Gideon suddenly turned on the charm in the most transparent situation) to accept a job so she won’t ghost-write Corinne’s book.
“Listen, ace.” I sat on the coffee table. “It was a spontaneous thought that came to me because I was worried about you.”
Gideon’s face softened. “Angels rush in. I get it.”
I hope Gideon continues to substitute “angels” in other famous sayings. “Speak of the angel!”; “An angel a day keeps the doctor away.” “Curiosity killed the angel.”
As they continue to talk about how obsessed they are with each other, the scene takes a turn for the very weird as Eva has an intense fantasy about her husband at a club in Brazil:
Then I saw him through someone else’s eyes, my husband sitting just like that in a crowded Brazilian club, the silent demand for sex pouring off him in waves of heat and need. It was just who he was, an intensely and insatiably sexual creature. Was there a woman alive able to resist the challenge of him? I hadn’t met one yet.
[…]
“Your mind’s on me, so you’re hard. And if you’re sitting like this, with your legs spread, they can see how big your cock is and how ready you are to use it.”
If i saw a man sitting alone at the club manspreading with an obvious erection, my reaction would not be I MUST SEDUCE HIM FOR HE IS READY TO WIELD HIS HUGE PENIS it would be to immediately find the nearest bouncer.
This very sexy fantasy of Lonely Man at Club With Prominent Erection leads to some steamy sex between our heroes.
Later, Eva wakes up and Gideon isn’t in bed. She finds him brooding, and he asks her very suspicious questions like, “Would you tell me if someone you loved was doing something illegal…nope no reason…just wondering innocently.” Somehow THIS doesn’t lead to an argument, Eva’s just like, “Nah! I’d tell you.” No concern for why he’s asking.
Gideon drops the subject and doesn’t tell Eva what’s going on with her mother. Instead, they go to have more sex.
The next day, Gideon and Eva have an argument about their future sleeping arrangements. Eva doesn’t want to sleep in separate beds, and she’s decided to have their designer draw up different plans for their room. Gideon is furious that Eva didn’t talk to him about this. Given everything that’s happened between them, I’m also surprised she wouldn’t have a discussion with him about this first.
We also continue to long-standing tradition of everyone who comes into contact with Eva or Gideon wanting to bang them:
“Watch out for Blaire. He wants you.”
I sat back. “He finds me attractive,” I corrected. “And he’s a natural-born flirt.”
Gideon’s eyes took on a dangerous gleam. “Has he been hitting on you?”
“Nothing unprofessional. If he crossed a line I’d fire him myself, but I think he probably finesses all his female clients. I bet it’s good for business.” I smiled. “He cooled his jets when I told him I was getting used to your stamina and didn’t feel like I needed a separate bed for sleep anymore.”
His brows shot up. “You didn’t.”
“I totally did. I can sleep when I’m dead, I told him. In the meantime, if my husband wants to hit it with me a half-dozen times every night and he’s as skilled as he is at doing it, who am I to complain?”
I guess that’s one totally not awkward way to handle the situation and not at all seem like you’re trying too hard to prove something.
At the end of the chapter, they discuss the issue of sleeping separately, and decide that love will help them get through everything.