“Are you real?” Ava heard herself whisper as she flexed her fingers and her nails dug into his cotton covered muscles. His chest twitched beneath her touch causing her to immediately take a step back and drop her arms to her sides like she’d touched a hot stove. She’d just groped tall, dark, and dangerous.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be upset about her copping a feel. His grin remained in place as his brow creased above his glasses. “I’m sorry. You seem so familiar. Have we met?”
Okay. Obviously, their past hadn’t made as much of an impression on him as it had on her. She’d deal with the blow to her ego later, right now there were much more pressing matters to address.
“Sort of. I’m pretty sure you saved my life.” For some reason Ava may never know, she pulled her shirt off her shoulder to reveal the scar she had from her bullet. As soon as she did, she wanted to do a face palm. This was not show and tell. So far in this interaction she’d felt him up and was now exposing her shoulder like she thought she was Mae West or something.
But instead of addressing her odd behavior, she just bulldozed her way through the rest of the explanation. “Seven years ago, I was in a store and there was a robbery. You jumped in front of me and took a bullet for me. I tried to find you. I wanted to thank you. They wouldn’t tell me who you were or give me any information at all.”
Ava could feel herself getting emotional. She felt more in this moment than she had in years. She realized then that she’d been sleepwalking through life and she was awake now. Wide awake.
* * *
Asher couldn’t believethat he was actually face to face with the woman who had been in the bodega. Pieces started clicking into place in his mind.
Brewed Awakenings. He’d known that name sounded familiar, now he knew why. It was what the gorgeous girl in the bodega had said. He’d done his best to block that day out of his memory because it represented so much loss in his life. But as he stood in front of this woman memories began flooding back to him. He felt like he was transported back in time.
He’d been deep undercover in a drug smuggling and human trafficking ring. The convenience store that the incident occurred at was actually a front for a rival crew to the group he was entrenched with. He’d been charged with keeping eyes on the back door to make sure no one came up from the basement.
When he’d moved to the rear section, he’d seen a young woman talking on the phone and he’d heard her say, “Brewed Awakenings.”
The first thing that he’d noticed about her was how attractive she was. Her light brown hair had been pulled up on top of her head and there were stray strands sticking out. She had full lips but her bottom lip had an extra pout that had made him think inappropriate thoughts, like what it would feel like to pull it between his teeth and nip it. Her light eyes were large and surrounded by thick, dark lashes and her skin was glowing and smooth. She was wearing an oversized blue NYU sweatshirt that should have made her appear shapeless but somehow showcased her petite curves.
Asher remembered having a visceral reaction to her unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. From the moment he’d laid his eyes on her he’d felt drawn to her. He’d moved farther down the aisle and that’s when he’d heard her say, “Penile gold mine.”
It was a phrase he’d never heard before and it had piqued his interest. Not only because of the vivid images that had populated his mind of people mining for dicks. But also, the juxtaposition of the words coming out of the fresh-faced, girl next door.
He’d gotten distracted, for just a moment. But that was all it took for things to escalate in the front of the store.
The plan had been for him and Jay to rob the place to send a message. No one was supposed to get hurt. But things hadn’t gone as planned.
Jay was trigger happy, and he’d jumped the gun. Literally. He’d shot the owner and then when he realized that there was a woman in the back of the store, had turned the gun on her.
Asher had jumped in front of her and taken the bullet in his chest. Unfortunately, the bullet had hit her, too. It had gone straight through her shoulder and he was looking at the scar that remained on her fair skin.
This development also explained why he’d felt the connection with “ponytail” when he’d walked into JT’s Roadhouse and their eyes had met. It was the same way he’d felt when he’d seen her seven years ago and they’d locked eyes next to the chip aisle.
“I can’t believe that it’s really you,” she spoke in a whisper as she stared up at him in awe. He wasn’t sure if she was saying it to herself or to him.
“How have you been?” he heard himself asking the lame question, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.
Her lips turned up in a small grin that spread to a wide smile. The sight caused warmth to infuse his chest and a funny feeling to settle low in his belly. “Um, well, I’ve been alive. Thanks to you. You saved my life.”
It was the second time she’d made that claim and both times it made him feel uncomfortable. All he’d done was his job. The bare minimum of his job, actually. He’d felt guilt for years over her being injured in the first place. He was no hero. He’d thought he had the situation under control, but he hadn’t.
He’d blown his cover and endangered an innocent bystander. He shouldn’t be thanked for that. And he sure as hell didn’t deserve the hero worship that was in her aquamarine gaze.
“I’m so sorry that you were shot.” He dipped his chin indicating the scar on her left shoulder.
She released the collar of her shirt concealing the visual evidence of her injury.
“Don’t be! You saved my life,” she repeated for now the third time.
He was experiencing a juxtaposition situation of his own. He loved staring into her mesmerizing blue-green eyes, but he hated the way she was looking at him with hero worship. That wasn’t him. Heroes didn’t check out on their marriage. Heroes fought for their family; they didn’t let their family move to a different state to play house with another man. They didn’t sit on the sidelines while their daughter was being raised by that man.
He was no hero.
“I was working undercover. I was just doing my job.”
