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I frown. “Why?’
“He’s taken that girl out. The one Ava works with.”
“The one who looks like she’s got a stick up her arse?”
“More like a tree trunk.” Sam stops me from getting in my car, his hand on my shoulder. I know what’s coming, so I get in first.
“I’ve asked her to the anniversary party,” I say, and his head retracts. “Therefore, I have to tell her about The Manor in the next two weeks.”
He nods. “You’re doing the right thing.”
“Am I?” I haven’t a clue what I’m doing these days.
Sam shrugs. “What elsecanyou do?”
“Keep my secrets.”
He laughs. “The Manor is a pretty big fucking secret to keep.”
The Manor has nothing on the rest of the surprises I have in store for Ava.
Nothing.
Sam completely bypasses the fridge when we enter the kitchen, heading for the kettle and flicking it on. I roll my eyes at his back as he goes about making tea, plonking myself on a stool, spinning my phone in my grasp.
“Chill the fuck out, will you?” he says without turning away from the worktop.
My hand stills. “I’m fine.”
He laughs, squeezing the tea bags and dumping them in the bin. “Sure.”
I get up, restless, and start pacing the kitchen, glancing at my Rolex. She’ll be in a bar by now. Drinking. Being admired. “How’s Kate?” I ask out of nowhere. I need to distract myself or there’s a high possibility of me tracking Ava down and making sure she’s okay, and we all know that won’t go down very well.
Sam turns, two mugs in his hands, his head slightly cocked. “Do you actually care?” His eyes follow me as I make another circuit of the island.
“Of course I care.”
He huffs, slipping the tea onto the counter. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate, mate. Or, alternatively, royally fuck it up.”
I halt pacing, chewing my lip incessantly. “Fuck it up how?” I need to stop asking dumb questions.
“I can see you’re a heartbeat away from hunting her down.”
“Would that be a bad thing?” Maybe she’ll be pleased to see me? Maybe she’ll make me finish off what I started in her bedroom.
Or maybe she’ll punch me in my stupid face and swear like a trooper.
“Sit,” Sam orders, pulling up a stool beside me, getting close, like he senses I’m a flight risk and needs to be nearby to tackle me to the floor when I try to escape. I drop to the stool on a sigh. Then get back up when the most brilliant idea comes to me. I start pacing again, pulling up my contacts. “What are you doing?” Sam asks tiredly.
“Making a call.” I dial, putting the phone at my ear.
“I strongly advise against it. Don’t suffocate her.”
I dazzle him with a mammoth smile. “I’m not calling Ava.” The call connects as Sam frowns. “Jay,” I say, and realization catches Sam. His head goes straight into his hands in despair. I ignore him. This might be the only thing that gets me through the night.
“Ward? What can I do for you?” Jay asks.
“You working tonight?”
