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She hadn’t seen him for one whole week. The only proof she had that he was alive and doing well was Bronte posting pictures and updates onto the shelter’s Instagram account. There were countless videos of Gavin bathing or playing with dogs in the stories and it did something to her insides. Ginny knew that even though her body ached to have him again, her heart was torn.
When she’d been staring into his eyes talking abouteverything, she didn’t tell him that they needed to talk about what went down twelve years ago. That first attempt had been disastrous and their second opportunity turned into a fuck fest. They’d scratched the itch, now they needed to clear the air. And Ginny needed to remind herself that no matter how beautiful Gavin Rhodes was, she could not get sucked into his vortex again.
Broad shoulders and tapered waist were encased in a light gray long-sleeved Henley that hugged him nicely. As he lifted a bottle of water to his mouth, Ginny saw the muscles ripple along his back. His dark jeans were fitted to strong legs and Ginny licked her lips at how amazing his ass looked.Calm that vagina, Virginia.
“Should have known you’d be the reason for the disruption,” she said as she stepped into the office.
Gavin turned, winning smile already on his lips, until his eyes dropped to the gold heart resting on her clavicle. She saw the way his chest expanded with a deep breath, but he didn’t tear his gaze away. Ginny had held onto that box fortwelve yearsand never opened it, because for so long she’d been afraid of what she’d find inside. Then the morning after the fundraiser, she’d decided to organize her closet and chest of drawers to distract herself.
And the velvet box had dropped out of her bag of period underwear.
Sitting on the floor of her bedroom, Ginny had stared at the box for hours while Copper swatted and played with it. She’d asked herself what good would come of opening something that had been sitting there for so many years. But at the same time, Ginnywantedto know what young Gavin got her as a symbol of his love. With Copper curled up in her lap, Ginny had closed her eyes and opened the box. She used the tips of her fingers to trace the contents and only then did she look.
A small gold heart was attached to a thin gold chain. It was so simple, but it still did the trick of expressing Gavin’s feelings for her so clearly.
She’d set the box aside, still open of course, and returned to clearing out her closet. Ginny continued to glance at it as she made piles of her clothes—donations, second hand stores and keep for one more year—but she didn’t touch it again. Until she’d run out of things to distract her. Then she’d slipped it around her neck and felt all the weight of the last few weeks—and years, if she was being honest—bear down on her. She’d sat on the edge of her bed andcriedwhile Copper wove between her feet, mewling and trying to figure out why Ginny was so miserable.
“You kept it,” Gavin whispered and Ginny nodded, pressing her lips together.
He didn’t need to know that she’d been so distraught over finding it. Clearing her throat, she moved around her desk, uselessly gathering papers. She could feel Gavin’s gaze move over her orange lacework camisole tucked into her black midi skirt with large orange flowers.
“Fuck me,” he said, voice low and raspy. “You look incredible.”
His words caught her off guard and Ginny’s head snapped up to find Gavin brazenly checking her out. That night, he’d spent a lot of time following the shape of her body with his hands, paying special attention to her wide hips and thick thighs. It felt different when he was doing it with his eyes, because even though she was fully clothed, she felt naked under his gaze.
Inhaling and exhaling noisily, Ginny put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”
“To thank you for last weekend.”
“You already thanked me.”
“I didn’t want to throw her under the bus, but Cedar really missed you.”
Ginny tilted her head and fought back a smile. “I missed her too.”
He smirked, dropping his eyes to the chaos on her desk. She took in the messy state of his hair—it was slightly overgrown and looked like he’d been finger combing it—and the light scruff dusting his cheeks and jaw.
“I also missed you.” The words were barely a whisper, but given that there were no other sounds in the room, she heard him. “And wanted to see how you’re doing.”
Ginny stopped rearranging her desk, hands flat on the paperwork scattered across the surface and she waited until Gavin lifted his head to look at her. His green eyes were clear and she knew right away that he was being serious. This wasn’t some kind of trick he was playing on her, Gavin was genuinely there because he missed her.
“You look surprised.”
She nodded and dropped into her chair. “I appreciate you coming by, but you could have texted or called?”
“Those are good ways to get ghosted and I wanted to put you on the spot.”
“Asshole,” she muttered, but smiled when she saw Gavin’s mouth twitch. “I’m doing good, thank you for asking.”
“Yeah, you look good too.” He seemed to be unable to stop staring at her and Ginny liked the way it felt.
“I always look good.” Ginny smoothed a hand over her skirt and crossed one leg over the other as Gavin sat down. “How’s things at the shelter? Any more adoptions or donations?” Because even if she and Gavin hadn’t been talking, Bronte had been updating her. The number of exclamation marks the blonde used should have broken her keypad by now.
“Tons. All the highest bidders came in to see their animals, some even followed through and adopted a few. We’ve never had a shortage of people coming in to see the animals, but it’s been a little ridiculous. The volunteers did more work this week than since they joined us.”
Ginny smiled, loving how happy and excited Gavin sounded. When she’d told Juniper she was helping Gavin, it wasn’t with the intention of actually doing the event. But then the more she got to see how passionate Gavin was about the shelter and his work, she knew that it had to happen. It was the fastest turn around she’d ever worked, but it had turned out so good, she was glad that the results of it were being seen.
“Then all that hard work and forced time spent together was worth it.”
