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My gaze devoured her hourglass figure, the swell of her hips, and her long, shapely legs. When I finally forced myself to stop ogling her and look at her face, I was struck by the crystal-clear blue eyes staring back at me. And when I saw the spark of desire in them, it took all of my self-control not to pull her to me and kiss the fuck out of her.
Only the knowledge that my girls were not far away—and that this woman was probably a con artist who wanted my money and was using my daughters to get at it—kept me from acting on my impulse.
Honestly, if she was a gold digger, it was unlikely she needed to dig very far before men gave her everything she asked for.
“Ava?” I grunted. My voice was harsher than I’d intended because my mouth had gone completely dry.
She flinched, and I felt like an asshole. But I tried to remind myself that it could all be an act. Then she cleared her throat and threw her shoulders back, attempting to wipe the fear from her expression. An odd sense of pride swelled inside me at her determination not to be intimidated.
“Yes. Um, Roan, I assume?”
I nodded and took a step back, moving to the side and giving her silent permission to enter my home. Despite my better judgment, I didn’t clear the space completely, forcing her to just barely brush up against me as she moved past.
“Where are the girls?” she asked as her eyes scanned her surroundings. Her voice was a mixture of excitement and awe. The problem was, I didn’t know if it was in anticipation of seeing my daughters or possibly getting her hands on my money. Although, there wasn’t a calculating gleam in her eyes that I often saw in the jersey chasers who were only interested in my wealth and fame.
I gestured down the hall. “In the den.”
As Ava hurried in the direction I’d indicated, I watched her sexy, heart-shaped ass sway for a minute before breaking out of its trance and quickly catching up to her. I hadn’t warned the girls that Ava was coming because I didn’t want them to be disappointed if their aunt didn’t show—something that had frequently happened with their father. And if she did, I wanted to see their immediate reactions to her. Being surprised made it a lot harder to hide your true feelings. Granted, Daisy didn’t really understand what was happening, but her response to Ava would tell me a lot.
When we reached the next door on her left, Ava practically bounced into the room, her gaze sweeping the space until landing on Daisy. Ava’s smile lit up her whole face, and my breath caught for a moment, stunned by her beauty. But her genuine delight had my shoulder muscles releasing a little of my tension.
“Daisy-bell!” Ava exclaimed as she crossed to the bouncy chair. Daisy’s head popped right up, her hazel eyes wide as she searched for the owner of the voice. When she spotted Ava, her mouth curved into a grin, and she stretched her arms out, flailing them happily.
“Av! Av!” Daisy chirped.
As soon as she was within reach, Ava scooped my little girl into her arms and spun her around, making Daisy giggle with delight.
“Aunt Ava!” Cassidy practically screamed and jumped off the couch, running full speed at her aunt.
“Slow down, sweet cheeks,” I said loudly as I swiftly moved to stand behind Ava in case they crashed and tumbled backward. But it seemed Ava was no stranger to the reaction because she moved Daisy into one arm, then squatted down, keeping her balance steady and throwing out the other.
“Oomph!” Ava grunted as Cassidy plowed into her. But she wrapped her niece in a hug and shot to her feet to steady herself. “I missed your hugs, Cassie-bear,” Ava sighed as she squeezed both of my daughters to her chest.
Lucky girls…
“We missed you, too!” Cassidy squealed before smacking a big kiss on Ava’s cheek. “Guess what? I got a new pack-pack! Want to see it? Not for school, though. I’m too big for diapers. Auntie Iris got me the pack-pack. Want to see my toys? Want to see my room?”
Ava laughed and carried both girls with her to the couch where she plopped down. “Slow down, Cassie-bear. You can show me all your cool stuff. I can’t wait. What else have you been up to?”
I moved to a chair at the end of the couch closest to Ava and sat down, simply observing their dynamic. The girls chatted—well, to be fair, Cassidy did most of the talking, but Ava was clearly enjoying it—for around a half hour, and in that small amount of time, I came to the conclusion that Ava was as sweet as she seemed. Intelligent, loving, and sexy as fuck.
“Oh!” Cassidy exclaimed. “We’re going to the zoo tomorrow!”
Ava gasped. “The zoo? How fun!”
“’Member when we went before?” Cassidy asked, bouncing in her seat as she looked over at me. “Daddy! Aunt Ava took us to the zoo yesterday! Um...we was supposed to go with…um…” She broke off and scratched her head, staring at me in confusion.
“You other daddy? Darren?” I offered. I hated referring to him that way, but I knew it wasn’t healthy for me to speak negatively about him to the girls.
Cassidy nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t come, but Ava took us, and we ate popcorn and saw the monkeys.”
Ava’s smile dimmed for a moment, then she wiped it away and beamed at Cassidy. “Of course, I remember! But it was several months ago, not yesterday,” she corrected with a chuckle.
“Oh, right! Daddy, can we have popcorn tomorrow? And can Ava come see the monkeys?”
Ava turned to face me with a concerned expression. “Um, I’d love to, but if you’re having some daddy-daughter time, I completely understand.”
In the time that she’d been here, Ava had turned my world upside down. Everything I’d assumed about her was obviously bullshit. The girls clearly loved her as much as she loved them. Just in that small amount of time, I could tell that she was kind, intelligent, and sexy as fuck. I decided right then and there that we were going to keep her. And I wasn’t above using my sweet daughters to convince her.
