13
Ava checkedher reflection in the mirror for the dozenth time after changing for the tenth. Asher was going to be here in less than five minutes and it was safe to say she was freaking the freak out.
Thankfully, her clothes had arrived a few days ago so she’d had a few options for what she could wear tonight. She’d settled on a wine colored, floor-length, bodycon dress. She’d worn it once to dinner with her sisters and Viv called it her mullet dress, business in the front party in the back. The front was simple and understated with a scoop neck and thick straps but when she turned around it was backless and it hugged her curves in all the right places.
The Wells sisters might all be different heights and weights, have different eye color, hair color, and very different personalities but they’d all inherited very good genes when it came to their derrières. All four had generous backsides, or as Viv liked to say junk in their trunks, which was accentuated by each of their small waists. Their mother had passed on her hourglass figure to each of the girls, for which they were all grateful.
And that figure was on display tonight thanks to the soft cotton hugging Ava’s rear end and mid-section.
As nerves danced in her stomach, she retouched her lipstick and ran a brush through her hair which she had blow-dried and flat-ironed. It fell to her lower back and thanks to a gloss product she’d bought for her nuptials, was shiny and soft. Hair, check. Dress, check. Light makeup, check.
She knew she was missing something, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. She glanced down at her vanity and the mystery was solved. A few spritzes of her favorite perfume and she was ready to go to her not date.
Ava lowered down on the edge of her bed to wait for Asher to text that he was here. The sole of the tan wedges she wore made a thudding sound as she tapped her foot against the hardwood floor in time to her pounding heart. At loose ends, she picked up the romance novel that she’d bought the week before and opened it up. But after two pages she realized she had no idea what she’d just read so she sat the book down.
Each second that passed felt like an eternity and she decided instead of making herself crazy sitting idly in her room, she’d go out and meet him in the parking lot. There was no reason to keep him waiting. Plus, she feared if she sat with her thoughts, she’d call him and come clean that it had been Viv, not her, who sent the invitation.
The guilt was already getting to her that this dinner was in an ethical gray area. Technically, Blake wasn’t her patient. But she did see her in a professional capacity. And it was more than that. Ava’s relationship with the father daughter duo was complicated. Just a few hours ago, Blake had shared personal information that she was not going to disclose to Asher. Asher had asked her to keep personal information from Blake a few days ago.
This entire situation was messy on so many levels that the right thing to do would be to keep her distance from Asher. But when she thought about doing that, it felt like it would be the biggest mistake of her life.
“Screw it.” She stood and grabbed her jacket and purse and headed out after locking the door.
As she walked down the path, she reminded herself that whatever Viv’s intentions were, this was just a meeting so Asher could go over the results of her labs and she could thank him for saving her life. That was it. There was no reason that she should feel like she was about to throw up.
She took a deep cleansing breath and as she exhaled, she heard footsteps. When she lifted her head, she saw Asher walking toward her. They both stopped in their tracks.
Ava’s eyes were immediately drawn to his physique. He was wearing a dark gray button up shirt and black slacks. His shirt sleeves were rolled up exposing his tattooed, muscular forearms. Ava had always appreciated a man’s arms, which Viv referred to as arm porn. If that was the case, then Asher’s forearms were triple X in the sexy category.
Her eyes lifted to his and she noted that his dark stubble had grown out and was now shaped into a trimmed beard that somehow made him appear even more manly and sexy. Like “arm porn” facial hair had always been a huge turn on to Ava.
She was so distracted by Asher’s four-alarm-fire hotness that it didn’t dawn on her that she hadn’t even said hi until he spoke.
“You look...” Asher’s eyes travelled down Ava’s body and back up, leaving a trail of tingles in its wake. When his eyes met hers again, he exhaled, “Damn.”
The way Asher said damn stole Ava’s breath away and sent a tremor quaking through her body. That single word was hands down the best compliment that she’d ever been given. It wasn’t the word he’d used, obviously, it was the way he’d said that word. She’d never actually felt a compliment before. But she did now. She felt it all over her body.
Hoping to cover up the effect he’d had on her, she smiled. “You look damn too.”
For a split second his jaw tensed and she worried that she’d said something wrong, but then he smiled and her world righted again. “You ready to go?”
“Yep.” She nodded.
They made small talk on the way down the path to where his SUV was parked. He asked how she’d been, she did the same. She asked where Blake was, he told her that she was volunteering for the senior citizen dance class.
When they reached his truck, he held out his hand to help her up into the seat, it felt like second nature to place her hand in his, like they did this every day.
She settled into the seat and was struck by how right it felt to be with Asher again. It was like no time had passed at all since they’d seen one another. The eight days they’d gone without communicating disappeared. It was so strange to feel like she knew the man beside her, when in reality she didn’t know him at all.
“I was going to take Alpine Pass up to the restaurant, unless you knew of a better way to go.”
“I’ve never been there,” Ava responded automatically without considering the ruse that Asher was here under.
“Oh, I just thought since you suggested it.”
“Um, about that...” Ava shifted and turned so she was looking at Asher’s profile as he kept his attention on the winding mountain road. “Viv had my phone when you texted and she was the one who texted you back.”
Ava waited for him to say something, anything. But he was silent for so long she wondered if he had somehow not heard her, which would be impossible since they were a foot away from each other.
