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“I’m having a piece before I go,” Ave responded, matter-of-factly.
“Go?” Marin felt her face heat with anger. “What do you mean ‘go’?” Except she had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what her cousin meant.
Ava dumped the slice of cake onto a plate and walked over to one of the tables where she snitched a dessert fork. As she put a forkful of cake into her mouth, her eyes slid closed.
“Mmm.” A look of pure delight swept over her face. “Toffee.” Ava’s eyes were bright with tears when she opened them. “You made my favorite. For me?”
“Of course I did.” Marin stomped her foot, the high heels she wore making her wobble on the plush carpet. “And I squeezed into a pair of Spanx to fit into this damn bridesmaid dress for you, too!”
Her cousin sighed as she slid into one of the chairs and speared another piece of cake. “You could say this is actually your fault.”
“My fault?” Marin was so incredulous she could barely find the words.
“Last night, the president filled the family in on all the details of your adventure,” Ava said around another mouthful of cake.
“My ‘adventure’?” Marin’s body began to shake. “Is that what you call getting kidnapped and nearly killed—multiple times? Say nothing of the fact that my ‘adventure’ was allyour fault! If you hadn’t demanded that I bring a date to your stupid wedding, I never would have given the creepy guy a second look and he never would have known I existed!”
Ava wore a serious expression when she looked up from her plate. “I didn’t say it was a good adventure. But it changed you forever. You can’t possibly look at life the same way after going through that. Life is short, seize the day, live for the moment, and all that. Right?”
Stunned, Marin sank into the chair next to her cousin’s. “Something like that,” she said softly. Except Marin hadn’t exactly seized the day. Instead, she’d pushed the man she loved away.
“Life is too short to marry someone just because he’s convenient,” Ava explained, finally. “So, I’m seizing my day.”
Marin picked up a fork of her own and nabbed a piece of cake off her cousin’s plate.
“That’s all Richard is to you? Convenient?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Rich is a wonderful guy. He’s my father’s protégé, so I know he’s smart and hardworking. But if I married him, my life wouldn’t change all that much. I’d still be the same old Ava. Only then I’d be living in a different house with a different last name and a different man sheltering my life.” Ava blew out a breath. “He’d be the perfect husband for any woman. Just not for me.” She looked at Marin resolutely. “I’m not sure I’m invested enough in a relationship with him to kill another man in order to save Rich’s life.”
The cake caught in Marin’s throat and she coughed. “Since when is that a requirement for a woman to marry a man?” she choked out. “Besides, you don’t have to love someone to save their life. It’s just the decent thing to do.”
Ave shot her the look she always gave Marin when she caught her in a lie. Then she put her fork down carefully. “Rich wants a society wife who’ll stay home with the kids,” Ava whispered. “What happens if I want more? What if I decide life with him and our children isn’t enough? What’s to stop me from just picking up and leaving?”
Marin’s heart squeezed tightly. “So that’s what this is all about.” She reached over and took her cousin’s hand. “You’re not your mother, Ava.”
“How do you know?”
Her cousin’s words dumbfounded Marin because, really, she didn’t know.
“You see,” Ave said stubbornly. “That’s why I have to go out there and live a little. Away from the protective cocoon of this family. And my father’s Mini-Me. You followed your dreams. And look what happened. I want an adventure that will define me, too.” Her face took on a faraway look. “And maybe I’ll find that perfect guy who gets me like your Secret Service agent gets you.”
“There’s a world of difference between someone getting you and them wanting to give up a part of who they are to spend their life with you,” Marin replied, blinking back tears.
“That’s because I’ve been hit in the head with a hockey puck too many times and I needed to have it spelled out for me.”
The sound of Griffin’s voice behind them startled Marin and she jumped up from her chair. She turned to see him in his all too familiar pose, leaning nonchalantly against one of the room’s pillars. Her mouth dried up at the sight of him in his tuxedo. The stark white shirt against his dark skin gave him that pirate look that made her knees feel like Jell-O. Every time.
“Griffin,” she croaked.
“That’s Griffin?” Ava murmured. “Hot. Damn.”
He stepped away from the pillar and walked over to their table. Marin grabbed the back of a chair for support.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He gestured to his tuxedo. “I promised you an evening of chivalry, dancing, and meaningful glances. And I always make good on my promises. Especially for someone I owe my life to.”
Sighing lustfully, Ava rose from her seat and sauntered over to Griffin.
