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She smiled wistfully. “Okay damn good. But I like you Kade, not your money just you and sex would only make me fall in love with you and I know neither of us wants that.”
Kade knew she was right but at the moment his body was in charge. He wanted to be the bastard the world knew him to be and seduce her, he could do it easily here under the moonlight after a kiss so hot it knocked his world off its axis. But he couldn’t do that because he liked her too.
Dammit.
“Your fiancé is quite a peach Kade, Helena is quite taken with her.”
Kade looked at the relaxed features on Bruce’s face. The man was completely at ease as though deciding to sell his life’s work was no big deal. But he too felt a sense of ease as Ava’s jasmine scent wafted over to him. “Yeah she’s the best.” His gaze wandered over to where she sat laughing with Helena.
“Talented too,” Bruce said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Yeah she is. How do you know?”
Bruce laughed, the deep lines in his face evidence of a lifetime of laughter. “She did anniversary shots for Helena and I two weeks ago and,” he leaned in close to whisper, “she did those sexy boudoir shots of Helena. I saw them yesterday and about died on the spot.” He fanned himself and leaned back full of mirth. “Hotter than hell, son.”
Kade shot another glance at Ava who caught him staring and smiled. She scooted back over and laid her hand on his thigh. “If you fellas are done taking over the world, I have a surprise for you.” She waved for the waiter and looked to Helena, “Since your anniversary is tomorrow I wanted to give you something special to honor your 35 years together.” The waiter placed a cupcake tower in the middle of the table and Helena squealed. “I made you red velvet cupcakes to remind you both of your humble beginnings and a champagne crème frosting as a sign of how much you’ve achieved.”
Kade watched in awe as Helena practically leapt over the table to gather Ava into a hug, a few stray tears rolling down her face. Even Bruce, stern and hard-assed Bruce had a watery gaze as he reached for Ava’s hand and kissed it. “You are the sweetest thing,” he said with a hand to his heart.
“Nonsense,” she waved away the compliment. “What you’ve achieved is amazing. I hope to have that one day. Now, let’s dig in!”
And they did, dig into the cupcakes like they were the last food items on earth. Tons of moaning and groaning came from their table until finally everyone was satisfied. “You ought to let her loose in the bakeries Kade, you’d be bigger than any donut shop in the nation.”
He said nothing at what those words meant because right now they meant nothing, not until they were printed on paper and browsed with a fine tooth comb by overpriced lawyers. “You try to take the camera from her hands Bruce, just you try it.”
It was another incredible dinner and without a doubt, it was all thanks to Ava. “They loved you,” she whispered as they waited for the valet to bring his car around.
Ava shrugged. “They’re very nice people. Can you believe they’ve been married for 35 years? That’s amazing. You should have seen them during their photo shoot, kissing between frames and couldn’t keep their hands off one another. It was so sweet.”
Her words made him cold. “Soliciting them for business, Ava?”
She stiffened at his words and his tone. “No. Helena called and asked if I could do it. I couldn’t say no, could I?” She took a few steps away and bit her lip. She couldn’t believe after six weeks living together he would think she’d do such a thing. This is what she got for treating him like a friend. For caring.
The ride home was silent and tense. Kade kicked himself for ruining a great night with his insinuations and insecurities. He knew she wouldn’t go after his clients, potential clients, for business. But he was so used to women using him the accusation came naturally. “Ava, I’m sorry.”
She stayed facing the window, watching the night scenery go by. “Don’t worry about it, Kade.”
He knew he should have kept his mouth shut.
Days later and Ava was still fuming over Kade’s careless words. How could he think she’d try to drum up business over dinner. She had pretty much been avoiding him since that night. She woke up later than usual to miss him in the morning and she ate dinner early and left a plate for him at night. They hadn’t spoken aside from his hasty apology in the car and she preferred to keep it that way.
She was in too deep with Kade Steele. The time they spent together when they didn’t have to—hiking, concerts, dinner and movie nights—had done the one thing she couldn’t abide. They had made her fall in love with a man guaranteed to hurt her. He’d already done it with his words but once this was over, this charade, she would also lose Bruce and Helena whom she bonded with during those photo sessions. It was okay, really it was. She’d known from the beginning that nothing would come of her time with Kade, she was expecting it. What she hadn’t expected was to like him, to love him.
So she decided she wouldn’t think about it. Instead she would spend the day searching the grounds with her camera. After breakfast she made her way to the rose garden, where she spent more than an hour capturing the rainbow of roses, some with the sunlight glinting off the morning dew others in full bloom showing off their color to spectators. She went deeper into the property to check out the manmade pond she’d seen on one of her early morning walks. She took really great shots, a frog on a water lily, a salamander on a slim tree branch and moss growing on a tree.
She was satisfied with the shots she’d taken so far. Her hope was to sell these prints, along with others of Rainbow Springs landmarks and landscapes in her shop. It would provide additional income and give her an excuse to get out in the world and take photographs.
“I’ve been calling you all morning. Where the hell have you been?”
Ava didn’t acknowledge his anger and she didn’t turn to him. But she did answer, “You’re looking at it Kade. I’ve been here at your house all day.”
His house. He heard her words and he knew they were meant to distance them and he guessed he deserved it. “Where’s your phone?”
She shrugged, lining up a shot of a cricket on a fallen white rose petal. “In the guest room, I suppose.” She captured a few shots before it hopped away. “Is there something you need?”
“How long are we going to keep this up?”
“I imagine Bruce will make up his mind in the next month,” she answered, purposely misunderstanding him.
