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“I don’t know whether I should thank you for putting up with that or throttle you for putting me in this position in the first place,” I say. We pause outside his car and for a moment I’m struck by how almost-perfect this is...emphasis on thealmost.
The suburb I grew up in isn’t fancy. The houses are very ’90s and the Maserati sticks out like a shining Christmas bauble among forgettable Fords and Holdens. But the late spring air is mild and honeysuckle-scented, and the evening sky has that lovely purple tinge to it, with only the first few stars popping out to sparkle the night away.
This is how I imagined my life would be one day—a gorgeous man, family dinners, long, languid pauses as a prelude to kissing.
“Your grandmother is hilarious.” He grins and the smile is so genuine it makes my heart ache. I always thought there was something sexy about a brooding guy. But Daniel has shown me the true beauty of that same man offering you a glimpse behind his walls. “I would have dinner with heranynight of the week.”
“You can have her,” I joke. “One grandma going cheap.”
“Your family is great, Ava. You should be thankful.”
“That’sveryeasy for you to say when you’ve only seen the good bits.”
He slings an arm around my shoulder and pulls me close, leaning against the side of the car and holding me tight. “Youhavegood bits...which is more than I can say.”
“I love my mother and grandmother, I really do. It just feels like sometimes they don’t really know me. Or what I want. They’re trying to foist their ideas of marriage on me when they needn’t bother. Iwantto have a relationship and get married... But I want it to be for the right reasons and with the right person.”
“So not soft Anthony with the bad hats, then,” Daniel teases.
“God no.” I shudder. “The fact that my mother thought that was the best I could do... It’s insulting.”
“Ah yes, well now you have a man with good bone structure and nice muscle definition.” He chuckles and pushes the hair back from my face.
“Don’t forget an ass firm enough to bounce a tennis ball on,” I quip, trying my hardest not to let the swirling worries get to me.
What’s going to happen when Daniel and I call things off? How can I come back here and explain to my mother that...it’s over? That it was all a lie. I can’t tell her that, can I?
The thing is, selfishly, that’s not the main thing I’m worried about in breaking up with Daniel. I’m worried aboutme. I’ve grown closer to him than any other man before and, in some sick twist of fate... I feel like I’m falling for him.
Seeing him tonight, charming my family and doting on my grandmother and being the wonderful man the rest of the world can’t seem to recognise... I want that life. I want him. Not as a means to an end. Not for now.
But for real.
“Maybe we should hurry home so you can test that theory,” he says, lowering his head to mine and capturing my lips in a searing kiss. He tastes sweet, like the fruity red wine and chocolate brownie we had for dessert, and his hands are hot and greedy.
I feel my body anticipating him, my hips flexing toward his where he’s already growing hard against me. My hands thrust into his hair as I kiss him back, pouring all my worry and lust and my wishes and fantasies into this kiss.
“Fuck, Ava,” he growls against my neck as I rock against him. “We need to get you home now before I give your neighbours anything more to gossip about.”
“Yes, take me home.” I gasp as his hand finds my breast and squeezes, his lips trailing fire over my jaw. “I’m all yours.”
He looks at me with blackened eyes and need tightening all his muscles and I know, in that instant, that I am totally and utterly ruined. Walking away isn’t going to be easy. When he leaves, he’ll take a piece of me with him.
And I might not ever get it back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Daniel
WITHALLTHEconfusing shit swirling around in my head, the frustrating, negative things that I face all day in the office... Ava is my bright spot. When I left work earlier today I was wrung out and hollow. The deal with Livingstone is moving at a snail’s pace, and it’s taking all my concentration to inch it forward.
Ordinarily, I’d be like a lion snapping my jaws and roaring until I had what I wanted. But with every day that passes, work feels like a waiting room until I can get to the “real” part of my day.
The part with her.
With Ava in my arms I’m alive and refuelled and I feel like I can take on the world. I know those are red flags. I know it and yet...
I’m powerless to resist.
