Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
“Ye—”
“You sure?” Drew asks, putting himself on my other side, both close.
I look between them. “I’m fine.”
Drew snorts. “Yes, you looked totally fine as you hustled Ava through The Manor with steam gushing out of your ears and your fists balled ready to punch something.”
I roll my eyes and lean over the bar as Mario approaches. “A very small one of your specialties, Mario, and I mean very small. In fact, leave the alcohol out.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Sam laughs.
“Fuck off. You want a drink?”
He holds up his beer, and I look at Drew, who starts looking across the top shelf. The hard stuff’s coming out. “Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish, on the rocks.”
“What the fuck?” I breathe, my eyes going to the top shelf, scanning it. “I have that?” In my bar?
“Yeah, you have that.”
“Well, fuck me,” I say over a laugh, shaking my head. I return my attention to Mario. “Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish for Drew and a beer for Sam.” I look between my two mates. “Not heading upstairs yet?”
“No,” Sam sighs. “We were waiting to make sure you and Ava came out alive.”
“Small misunderstanding.” I take the Scotch from Mario and put it in Drew’s hand. “And now we’re back, so what’s stopping you?” My head turns back and forth between them, curious of the atmosphere I’m sensing. “Well?”
“So what was Ava upset about?” Sam asks, a blatant attempt to divert the subject.
I relent, if only to humor him. Is he stalling? “She heard a few members in the ladies’ discussing something.”
“You,” Drew says.
“Me,” I confirm. “Then she found out that it was Sarah who freed me from the cuffs. She thought it was John.”
“Why’d she think that?”
I shrug, having some water, looking across to Ava and Kate, who are close, talking. “Assumed, I guess.” I pull my eyes away from my girl, back to the boys. “Excuse me a minute.” I slide the drinks along the bar, pick Kate up, move her to the side, and put a glass of water in Ava’s hand. “Drink,” I order, jolting when Kate gives me a slap on my shoulder. To my utter surprise—and appreciation—Ava does as she’s told and downs the water before holding out the empty, looking at me with high brows, aware of my surprise. I swap it for the fake cocktail. “See how easier things are when you do as you’re told?” I don’t give her a moment to refute that, turning back toward the boys, unable and unwilling to detach my hand from her knee.
“Sam’s right,” Drew says.
I frown. What did I miss? “Right about what?”
“Sarah,” Drew goes on. “You’ve got to cut those ties, mate.”
“How did we get onto Sarah?”
“She’s in love with you,” he goes on. “Ava must see it. Women know that kind of stuff. And God help you if she finds out you’ve slept with her.”
“She knows,” I sigh, making both men recoil. Women know that kind of stuff. Isn’t that right?
I leave the boys, turning back toward Ava. Kate’s had her long enough. I’m sure she’s got all the gory details of our row in my office and why we were rowing.
I kiss Ava, remove her from the stool, and take her place, putting her between my legs, her arms over my shoulders. She regards me, slightly curious, as the rest of the room regards me, slightly surprised. Couldn’t give a fuck. Ava needs this.
I ask her if she’s okay, and she tells me she’s perfect. I’ll be perfect too once I get her home. Kate aims a camera at us, and it occurs to me that there are no photographs of us together. Not one. Hundreds of Ava on her own, but none of us together. It’s not an opportunity I’m prepared to pass up, so I fling Ava back in my arms and ravish her. This picture is going to be one of my favorites. I know it. “Smile for me, baby,” I mumble against her throat, but she doesn’t smile. She does something even more beautiful than smile. She pulls back and looks at me like I’m the only thing in this world that matters. And then she kisses me, and I get my fill for a few moments before freeing her of my lips, taking a second to appreciate her drowsy eyes and dazed face, before putting her back on her stool, filling her hand with the fake cocktail, and turning toward the boys. “You two still here?” I ask, looking between them.
“Not for long. She wants to dance,” Sam says, his eyebrows high. “Before we dance.” He surrenders his drink and grabs Kate.
“Ava, dance,” she shrieks, and I deflate, quite sure I don’t want to put myself in the middle of the prelude to Sam, Drew, and Kate’s night, and pretty fucking certain Ava doesn’t either.
I take one step toward Ava, set on convincing her we should leave, when I spot Chris, the prick of an estate agent, approaching.