He knew from the moment that he'd picked her up off the sand at Hamanaptra that she was a woman he could fall in love with.
Jonathan had been right when he'd said Evelyn had gotten under his skin because she had. She'd also worked her way into his heart and for Richard Alexander O'Connell that was unfamiliar territory. Women were the fairer sex and not to be taken seriously because they were never serious, except when they wanted more than a good time. It was when they got serious, that he would always use any number of convenient excuses to extricate himself from a particularly possessive female.
But that was before he came face to face with Evelyn Carnahan at the Cairo Prison. That encounter, so she could ask him about what she'd thought was a puzzle box had not only saved his life, but had changed it as well.
It had been difficult to say goodnight to her after dinner the night before, but Rick knew it was the right thing to do. After they had danced together, he had had to face the realization that he fallen deeply in love with her. Never had another woman fit so well against him, as though she was meant to be there. And as she'd rested her head on his shoulder and he'd held her hand against his heart, he could feel the rapid beat of her own against his chest.
He didn't know what time Jonathan had come back aboard, but Rick had heard him fumble for his door key before he'd made several attempts to find the keyhole. When he had, Rick had heard him stumble into the room before he closed the door. He didn't hear anything more after that and figured Jonathan had probably passed out.
He had tried to sleep that night, but the Sandman never came because all he could do was think about Evelyn. Fate, or maybe it was Jonathan, had given him a real chance to be with her and he wasn't about to damn well waste it. He was fairly certain that she was in love with him because she had finally called him Rick, and she was sober.
There was a small buffet for the layover passengers that morning outside along the deck. He'd contemplated waking Jonathan, but figured that he'd have a whale of a hangover and wouldn't want to eat anyway. Besides, once he was up and around Rick knew that he and Evelyn wouldn't have much time alone together.
He'd also thought about asking Evelyn to come with him, but as he stood in front of her cabin door he lost his nerve. So he headed down to the deck alone where he proceeded to pick up a plate and began to fill it full. He hadn't eaten much the night before because he had spent the time with Evelyn talking and listening to her tell him about her parents and about their adventures in Egypt.
He'd told her about his parents dying unexpectedly in an accident after they'd traveled to Egypt. His father had brought he and his mother along on a business trip and when the authorities couldn't locate any other family, he'd ended up in an orphanage in Cairo. It had been an experience that had forced him to grow up faster than he should have had to and as soon as he was old enough, had left the orphanage behind.
He'd never stayed in once place for very long and that had struck Evelyn as quite odd. Having roots had always been important to her, whether they were in Egypt or England. Traveling to different dig sites was always an adventure, but to know that there was a place to return "to hang your hat" as her father had always said, was the part of the trip to look forward to.
When he'd filled his plate with everything he wanted, he scanned the tables to find a place to sit and to his surprise Evelyn was already seated and it looked as though she had spent the better part of her meal reading rather than eating.
"You are going to finish that, I hope." He smiled as he approached her and when she looked up her face turned pink. "You didn't eat much last night." And he sat down after she motioned to the seat across the table from her own.
"You didn't either." She answered as she closed her book and put it down. "Is Jonathan still asleep?"
"I didn't hear anything when I passed his door, so it's a safe bet that he's still out cold."
Evelyn frowned. "It was awfully late when he finally came back."
He nodded. "I heard him and he was having some trouble unlocking his door."
She looked surprised. "You were still awake at that ungodly hour?"
"I didn't sleep much either. Too much to think about." He admitted with a self-conscious smile.
"I suppose we should talk about all of that."
Rick looked at her with curiosity. "I'm not sure what there is to talk about. We danced, I kissed you, we had dinner and talked before we said goodnight."
She smiled shyly. "And as I'm sure you recall, I kissed you back and called you Rick." Evelyn hesitated on his name.
"So what's bothering you?" He wanted to know.
"I'm not exactly sure. We didn't do anything and yet I feel as though we did." She admitted.
He wasn't sure how to ask, but it began to dawn on him that she didn't really know how he felt about her. "Are you saying you wish something had?"
Her face flamed red. "Oh my goodness, no! That wasn't what I meant at all. I guess what I'm trying to ask is after what happened last night and the fact that you decided to travel back to England with Jonathan and me, was it with the intent of pursuing me?"
Evelyn Carnahan was one of the most independent women that Rick ever met and he sensed that it couldn't have been easy for her to ask such a question. So he reached across the table and took one of her trembling hands in his. "Evie, I thought you already knew that." He said softly.
She flushed at the use of her name. "I suppose I suspected it, but I didn't want to be disappointed."
He knew the time had come to tell her how he felt about her and maybe to find out what it was she felt for him. "I decided to do this because I thought you were worth the risk. And the fact that somewhere between our first trip to Hamanaptra and having to high tail it back to Fort Brydon I fell in love with you."
There it was.
"Now, you can tell me right now that you don't feel that way about me and I'll get off this ship before it sails and head back to Egypt. I've got plenty of friends and a lot of contacts that I can do business with. So just give me the word and I'll get out of your life."
Evelyn had a look of surprise on her face and he wasn't sure what it meant.
"But I don't want you to get out of my life." She told him and her big, blue eyes had never seemed bigger or bluer. "The fact is, I wasn't sure how you felt about me and it didn't make sense for you to be making this trip with us. I'd had this pesky feeling that I might be falling in love with you but I wasn't sure if it was because of everything that had happened."
"We did go through a lot." He didn't like where this was going.
"Yes we did, but you didn't let me finish. That was actually one of the reasons I wanted to return to England, to get some perspective as it were. But the farther away we got from Egypt, Hamanaptra and the memory of Imhotep and Anck-su-namun I knew that what I had begun to feel for you had nothing to do with that."
He still had no idea how she felt and it was making him crazy. "Evie..."
Her smile was like the sun breaking through the clouds. "Rick, what I'm trying to say so badly is that I love you too. I finally realized it when we were dancing last night. It was the most wonderful feeling to have your arms around me because it made me feel safe. The way I did after the Med-jai came through the camp that night."
For possibly the first time in his life, Rick O'Connell was at a loss for words.
"Jonathan tells me that I tend to get a little long winded." She said self-consciously.
"I wouldn't say that. You just say what you think and it's not something a lot of women do." He squeezed her hand gently. "If you're done eating, why don't we take a walk around the deck? Your brother isn't going to be up for hours I'm sure and that will give us some time alone."
"All right." She agreed with a smile before Rick stood up and came around to pull her chair out for her. She stood up next to him and with her book in one hand, he took the other and they began a leisurely stroll around the deck.