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I sit her on the counter, marveling at her small, unsure smile. Holding her face, I get as close as I can. “Who has the power, Ava?” I whisper.
My question exasperates her. It won’t when she sees my point. “Youdo.”
I shake my head mildly, and she withdraws slightly. “You’re wrong.”
“I am?”
“You are.You’rethe one with the power, baby.”
She doesn’t look like she agrees. “But you always insist it’syouwho holds the power.”
Yes, and just the mere fact I bang on about it so much should be a clue. “I like you stroking my ego,” I quip flippantly, and she’s laughing again, filling my heart with happiness.
“Are you joking?”
“No.” Her amusement disappears, and she’s quickly mystified, scanning my face, waiting for what comes next. “I hold the power over your body, Ava,” I say, not quite believing I’m exposing my weakness. “When those beautiful eyes are full of lust for me,that’swhen I hold the power.” And to demonstrate, I touch her gently on the inside of her thigh, and as predicted, her back straightens, desire floods her eyes, and she’s clinging to me. Perfect. I kiss her gently. “See.” And step back, losing all contact. “The power’s yours again.”
I watch as she slowly comprehends what I’ve said. As she finally understands. I’m at her mercy. And I absolutely do not mind telling her. “That’s why you fuck me senseless,” she says, biting down on her lip. “Give me the countdown and demand I kiss you when I’m mad.”
I laugh under my breath. Bang on the money. “Watch your mouth,” I say softly, with no scorn at all, smiling like a crazy man. Because, and it’s been proven endless times, when it comes to this woman, I am definitely, certifiably fucking crazy.
“You’ve completely exposed yourself.” She laughs over her words. “I’m never going to let you touch me again.”
My body folds in an instant, and the laughter that comes out of me is the richest, most genuine laughter I’ve ever heard from myself. My eyes pinch with tears, my stomach aches, and when I’ve finally composed myself, I find her watching on, delighted. She loves me laughing. And I fucking loveher.
“Well, Mr. Ward,” she says, casually. “Given how much sex we have, I’d say you’re the majority shareholder of power in this relationship.”
“Baby.” I chuckle, off again, fighting for breath through my amusement. “We willneverhave enough sex.”
She grins. “That makes you a very powerful man then.” And she seems absolutely fine with that.
I sigh, lost in her beguiling brown eyes. “Oh Jesus, Ava. I love you so fucking much.” I cup her cheeks in my hands. “Kiss me.”
“Feeling weak?”
Oh, the sass. “I am.” I tempt her, moving closer, a miniscule dash of contact, and she folds, kissing me deeply, giving me back the power, if only for a moment.
“Better?” she asks.
“Much.” I have never been so content. “Come on, lady, we have a date.” I get her down off the counter and quickly check my watch.Shit. They’ll be waiting in the stairwell. I rush to get her bag and turn off the music, and it occurs to me that I haven’t thought about how the hell I get Ava to come back up to the penthouse once we’re downstairs. Maybe I leave something behind. Ask her to come get it?Stupid. I would never do that. I’d put her in the car and come back myself. “Ready?”Think, think, think.
“Oh, let me show you the message.” Ava starts rooting through her bag.
“What message?”
“The one sent from John’s phone.” She quickly has her phone facing me, and I can see she’s holding her breath. Nervous. I look at the screen. And withdraw. She wasn’t imagining anything. She wasn’t mistaken. That’s definitely John’s number. And the message?
He’s fine, but you should probably come.
I was definitely not fine. Ava definitely shouldn’t have come. John would agree on both counts.What the fuck?“I’ll be dealing with this,” I say reluctantly. Fuck, this isn’t good. I don’t even want to consider the carnage on the horizon. I put Ava’s phone down, feeling my mood dipping. I mustn’t let it. Not tonight. But tomorrow?
I’m about to walk us out when Ava’s mobile starts dancing across the marble, and I instinctively look. Ruth Quinn. “Who’s that?” I ask. It’s a knee-jerk question, because Ava looks complete exasperated as she collects her phone to answer.
“A new client. A pain in the arse new client.”
A client? No. I’m not about to let more clients get in the way. It’s her day off. I take Ava’s phone from her and put it back on the worktop. “No work today. Are you ready for our date?”
“Yes.” Her smile, her delight. She is so ready, in her element, happy we’re doing normal couple things. Except we’ll never be a normal couple.
