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“Everything is fine,” I say, wanting to mean every word.
“All right, my client is walking in now. Talk soon.” Asher clicks off, and I struggle to meet Ava’s gaze.
“What did Ash want?”
“I let him know earlier about us going to the police station. He was just checking in.”
Ava begins reaching for me again, and I grab both of her wrists and hold her back before she can take another step. “No, we can’t do that again.”
“Why? You were clearly interested a few moments ago.”
I shake my head. She had no idea how badly I wanted her. My body was fighting my mind.
“Trust me, we don’t want to do something we will end up regretting.”
I release her hands and move away to my desk. I peer over to where Ava remains standing. She has her arms crossed and is shaking her head.
“Something you and Asher seem to forget is I’m a grown woman. I can decide who I want.”
She didn’t have to remind me she was grown. I could see, I could feel every curve and hear every sigh telling me how badly she wanted me.
I couldn’t go there, no matter how much I wanted to try.
“You know that us being together would be a mistake. I’m not the husband type. I’m not even a boyfriend type. If you and I started, things could end badly. I’d be devastated to lose Asher’s friendship. Actually, your whole family is the closest I have to feeling like I’m a part of one. And I won’t jeopardize that.”
She relaxes her hands at her sides. “So, what does that mean? We just ignore our feelings?”
I close my eyes, nodding. I wish to take back every word I just said to her, but I have to be the logical one here.
“Fine,” Ava says in a tone letting me know we are not fine.
How are we supposed to spend all our time together when she can’t stand to look at me?
The next two days are awkward as hell, to say the least. Ava took my words to heart and is now completely ignoring me. Instead of feeling like I’m protecting Ava, who I’ve known her whole life, it feels like another protection assignment where the celebrity or VIP is so aloof and unfriendly that security and staff are just wallpaper to them.
Ava carried on as if I wasn’t there. Only speaking to me if I spoke to her first, or if she needed to let me know she was going somewhere.
No more jokes or even mild flirting. Ava treats me like a stranger now, and I despise this feeling.
It’s my own fault though. After the incident in the office, I am the one who expressed the need to act more professionally, and Ava took that to heart. Much as the silent treatment was killing me, I knew it was for the best, though my body didn’t know it.
I swear Ava has been torturing me by walking around her apartment in clothes that expose more and more skin. All frilly, lacy articles. Too many ideas run through my head, and oftentimes I have to turn my back or look away from her.
Like most New York apartments, the space is small, and Ava was everywhere.
I was thankful for today’s outing where we’d be surrounded by other people, giving me more to do and more to look out for. And not concentrating on Ava’s proximity.
“Ready to go, Ava?”
“Just one more thing I need to grab,” she calls out from her bedroom.
Another ten minutes pass, and I wonder if Ava is playing games with me. Is her petty side coming out after the tryst in the office?
“Okay, I’m ready,” Ava says, walking toward where I’m standing by the front door.
Though she only has on a cardigan and jeans, the sunlight streaming through the windows of her apartment make her look ethereal.
Like a goddess walking towards me.
