“Oh, wow. So, you never actually proposed?”
“No. I guess not.” Asher had never considered that he’d missed out on that milestone.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, your non-proposal was still better than mine.”
“Did he ask you on a jumbotron?” Asher just threw out the cheesiest proposal he could think of.
“No.” Ava chuckled. “I wish. No, Ian took me to a restaurant on the water and said that he’d taken care of ordering. When we sat down the server brought us two seafood platters and I found out later that the ring was in the lobster tail. The problem was, I have a shellfish allergy. Which Ian knew because when we were fourteen we went to a seafood festival and I tried calamari and had to be rushed to the E.R. So, I asked them to take my plate away and wanted to order something else. He argued that I should eat the lobster, I told him I couldn’t because of my allergy. He said he didn’t really think I had an allergy. We ended up fighting until he just grabbed the ring and handed it to me in frustration and told me that I always ruined things.” Ava shook her head and looked back out the window. “Not exactly the proposal I dreamed of as a little girl.”
“What proposal did you dream of?” Asher heard himself ask.
A whisper of a smile lifted on Ava’s lips. “I remember when I was eight, we were in Hope Falls for vacation and my mom and sisters and I hiked up to the waterfall and while we were there a guy got on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes, she cried, he cried.” Ava chuckled. “Even my mom cried and she didn’t know them from Adam.” Ava sighed. “It was the most romantic thing I’d ever seen.”
Three things struck Asher as he sat and listened to Ava. First, Ian was even more of an asshole than Asher had given him credit for and Ava deserved a hell of a lot better than that prick. Two, the woman sitting in front of him deserved to have her dream proposal. And three, he could see himself getting down on one knee and being the man to make that dream come true.
The last realization scared the living shit out of him. He’d found out years ago that he wasn’t a good husband and he’d promised himself he would never put anyone else through what he’d put Jenna through.
“Can I get you anything else?” the server asked as he approached the table.
“Just the check.” Asher clipped.
The server pulled out the check presenter and Ava went to reach for it but Asher beat her to it.
“No!” She shook her head. “I asked you to dinner.”
Asher slid his credit card into the plastic pouch and handed it back to their server. “Actually, Viv asked me to dinner.”
“At least let me split it with you.” Ava pulled out her wallet and began pulling out cash.
“No,” Asher said firmly then softened his tone. “It might be old fashioned, and I know that Blake would probably call me the patriarchy, whatever that means, but please, let me take care of this.”
Asher could see that Ava was battling with whether or not she should insist. Thankfully, after a few seconds her chin dipped and she brushed a hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear. “Thank you.”
As they left the restaurant and drove back to Mountain Ridge, the conversation didn’t pick up again. They rode the entire drive back in silence. Asher wasn’t sure what cat had Ava’s tongue, but on his end, he was trying to process the strong emotions that spending the evening with Ava had inspired in him. His head, heart, and hormones were all royally fucked.
By the time they got back to the resort and Asher walked Ava back to her cabin, he was on edge and feeling completely at loose ends.
He stepped up on her porch, for a moment she paused and he thought she might invite him in. As much as he didn’t want this night to end, he knew that it had to for two reasons. One, he had to go pick up Blake. And two, if he walked into that cabin with Ava he was pretty sure something would happen, and since nothing could happen, it was better to avoid the situation all together.
“Thank you for tonight,” he said as she got out her keys.
“Me?” She looked up at him. “Thank you. You drove, you paid. I know this wasn’t a date but it was…”
Amazing. Incredible. Perfect. All of those adjectives were on the tip of his tongue but instead of using any of them he said, “Nice.”
He noticed a flash of disappointment in her aqua-marine gaze before she licked her lips, in what his brain was sure was a nervous tick but other parts of his body in the southern region were interpreting as an invitation. “It was nice,” she agreed before unlocking her door. “Thanks again.”
“Goodnight.” Disappointment flooded through him as he walked back down the steps of her cabin.
He’d never wanted anything as much as he’d wanted to kiss Ava on that porch. Self-control had never been an issue for him, neither had focus. She made him want things he shouldn’t want. She made him distracted to the point that he could easily lose himself in her. And that’s something he couldn’t afford to do.
Ava was dangerous. And if he was smart, he’d stay away from her. Which would be a lot easier to do if they didn’t live in a town the size of a postage stamp.
