Ava leaned against the door frame between the living room and kitchen.
“If you haven’t married her, you’re more of a fool than I thought. Either way, I have no interest in being the ‘other woman.’”
Ava’s voice rose to a decibel that hurt his ears, even more than her failed logic hurt his rattled brain.
Cole strode toward Ava and placed his ringless hands on her shoulders. He leaned down so he could look directly into her eyes.
“I am not married. I am not involved with any other women. I certainly do not have a child. Yet.”
Tears filled her eyes. What the hell had he done to her now? Was she disappointed in the truth?
What the hell had happened to them? Their summer fling had been the best time of his life. She always smiled for him. She never got angry with him. She never accused him of ridiculous things.
“I saw you. At the new development. I saw you with the beautiful woman and that sweet child.” Ava’s voice grew smaller and she could no longer meet his eyes.
He lifted her chin. Her nostrils flared.
“You’re right. I was with a beautiful woman.”
She jerked away from him, anger filling her eyes again. Better than the fear or the tears.
He turned away, strolling toward the couch. He plopped down on the overstuffed cushions and lifted one of the many boxes of chocolate from the coffee table. Removing the cover, he found it full of candies that were bitten in half. He selected one with a white center and popped the sweet treat into his mouth, fully aware that she was gaping at him.
If they were to continue this relationship, she needed a lesson in trust.
Enjoying her stunned silence, he selected another half-eaten candy, this time with a raspberry center.
Ava’s beagle jumped onto the couch and begged for affection. He scratched the dog’s head and smiled as Ava paced the room.
When he stuck his hand in to select another treat, Ava stormed over to him, her delectable thighs bared with every long stride, and grabbed the box of chocolates out of his hand.
“You think you can just make yourself at home?”
“I’m supposed to be on a date with a gorgeous woman, eating a gourmet meal. But since my lovely date has turned into a screeching Fury, I need to find my sustenance elsewhere.”
“Is that why you’re here and not with your… whatever she is to you? Was she too difficult for you to handle? Did she get angry and deny you something?”
She threw the box of chocolates onto the couch beside him. Candies jumped out of the heart-shaped box, littering the furniture.
He picked one up and popped it into his mouth, struggling to contain his smile.
Now that he knew her anger was unjustified, he found her to be quite lovely in this state.
Sparks flew as she moved toward the door, her hips swaying back and forth. Her intent was clear—she was about to order him out. Again.
He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of watching him leave.
He put his feet up on the coffee table, disrupting a stack of mail and magazines.
“Get out of my house.” She flung the door open.
“I’m not ready yet.”
“You’re making a mess. Of my house and my life.”
“I’ll happily clean it up if you’ll allow me.”
She made an indelicate noise in her throat.
“You doubt me?” He swung his feet to the floor and put on his best game face. He didn’t stop until he was directly in front of her. He placed his hand over hers and gently pushed the door closed. She didn’t argue, though he knew she wanted to. An internal struggle played across her face, and he knew her body warred with her brain. She thought he had done something terrible, yet she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
Her floral scent mixed with the potent, addictive scent of her desire. Her pupils dilated. She trembled. Her tongue darted over her lips. He wanted to kiss away her worries. But first he had to prove he wasn’t as big of an ass as she thought he was.
“Ava, the woman you saw was Laura.”
“What a lovely name,” Ava said through clenched teeth. Her eyes filled with tears immediately.
“The little girl is Anna. Laura’s little girl.”
Ava refused to look in his eyes, even when he tilted her chin upward.
“Take your paws off of me.”
“I seem to remember you liking my paws on you.”
She pushed his arms away, but he grabbed her arms.
“That was before I—”
“Before you knew I had a foster sister?”
Ava dropped her hands to her side, and he released her arms. He enjoyed the look of surprise sweeping across her vividly expressive face. Her mouth remained parted, but no sound emerged.
A blessed improvement over her earlier shrieking.
“Sister?”
“Yeah. My parents took her in when she was a teen. I was already gone from the house, but she’s family.”
Ava blushed. Cole placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Tiana never mentioned her to you?”
“No,” she squeaked.
“I haven’t married, nor have I had a serious relationship.” Since you. “I assure you that when I do get married, I’ll never take the ring off. I take my commitments seriously.”
Her expression softened. Would she believe him?
He smiled as he thought of how upset she had been at the prospect of him being “taken.”
She felt something for him. She must. She wouldn’t have been nearly as upset if she didn’t.
His heart raced. He needed her.
Without taking time to process his next move, he held her arms, lowered his head, and, as she opened her mouth to protest, he took advantage of the open field. His tongue met hers in a passionate dance. She couldn’t deny their attraction. Their chemistry. Their need to be together.
Her body sagged into his embrace as her hands moved to clutch his back.
He had broken through her resistance.
Score.
With one hand resting on her waist and the other on her cheek, he pulled away enough to admire the contrast between his dark skin and her porcelain complexion, reddened by his kiss.
She reached up and pulled his head back to hers, leading the kiss this time.
He moaned.
Her body reacted in kind. Her hips pressed forward to cradle his erection. He parted the top of her robe with one hand, quickly encompassing her breast. His rough thumb teased a gasp out of her as he circled her erect nipple. She moaned into his mouth as he continued to tweak and caress.
Her back arched, forcing her body closer to his. He squeezed her ass, kneading as she pushed on his shoulders, urging him on.
Finally, they were on the same page.
Ignoring her disappointed whimper when he removed his mouth from hers, he immediately made amends by kissing a trail down her neck, over her bared shoulder. The creamy texture of her skin drove him wild.
She nearly fell when his mouth replaced his hand on her breast. Her hands in his hair encouraged him.
“Get up here,” she ordered. How could he argue with that command?
Cole scooped Ava into his arms, his lips never leaving hers. He carried her to the couch, sitting beside her as he placed her with her back resting against the toss pillows. He brushed the stray pieces of candy to the floor, then wished he had let them melt into Ava’s warm skin so he could have licked them off.
Later, he promised himself.
Lost in the act, he couldn’t tell whose moans were whose. He shifted his hips to adjust himself more comfortably at the juncture of her thighs. Though he remained fully clothed, her heat burned through his jeans.
He had to feel her up close.
She must have read his mind, because her hands began to frantically pull at his tie. He pulled it over his head, tossing it aside as she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. She touched his chest, branding him as hers. Her exploration was bold, he
r eyes stormy and full of need that matched his own.
Her hands worked their way over his stomach, reaching for the button that separated them from their destiny.
He hadn’t felt this much passion since…
He couldn’t think of another time. Except four years ago when he had been with her.
Lost to the world of her touch, mesmerized by her moans, he groaned when she took him into her hand.
And then something strange registered in his mind.
Ava’s moaning. It had gone from a sexy, husky, mating sound to one that sounded almost like…
Howling.
He opened his eyes to peer down at her. A bright blue light flickered along the wall of her living room. He moved his hand to cover hers, stilling her eager exploration. She squeezed and he closed his eyes, but he could no longer block out the sound of her dog howling. Cole pulled Ava’s hand away from him—the most unnatural thing he had ever been forced to do—and noticed the dog standing on his hind legs with his front paws against the door.
“Go to your bed!” Ava ordered her dog, then tried to pull Cole back down.
A loud knock penetrated the fog of their lust.
“Please don’t stop.”
“I don’t want to.” He kissed her again, swept away by the fire in her eyes and the invitation in her body.
Another knock rattled the door, and something pulled at the rear of Cole’s pants. He tore himself away and glanced back to see the dog standing with his paws on the couch, his teeth firmly entrenched in Cole’s pants.
The knock came louder this time, and with it a loud shout.
“Ms. O’Connor. Police. Please open the door.”
Ava blinked rapidly and darted up in her seat.
“We’ll have to open it with force.”
Chapter Six
Police shouting through the door had a sobering effect on Ava. Cole helped her to steady herself as she stood. Her knees still suffered from Cole-induced weakness, and her body continued to scream for release, even with the threat of the police kicking in the door.
She bit her lip as she tightened the belt on her robe.
Ava opened the door a crack to reveal two uniformed officers at the front door, batons in hand. She recognized them from the safety program they conducted at her school just a few weeks prior.
“Officer Jenkins, Officer Wright. Is something wrong?”
“Is everything okay here?” Officer Wright tried to peer around her.
She blocked his view as subtly as possible. She preferred for her business to stay her business.
“Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”
“We received a report from your neighbors. They were worried about all the commotion over here. They say a man came to your door, they could hear shouting from the house, then they said the voices got quiet and the dog started howling. We came to investigate.” Officer Jenkins gestured to the flowers strewn over the walkway. “Looked like there might’ve been a struggle.”
Ava’s face turned to hot coals. She glanced around the officers to see some of her neighbors standing at the edge of the walkway, housecoats hanging over slippered feet, curlers in hair.
Humiliation swept through Ava. What would they think of her now?
Clearly there was no way out of this. The whole neighborhood would know exactly what was going on behind her once-closed door.
Ava ran a nervous hand through her mussed hair, wondering where her clip went. Her gaze dropped to the officers’ feet.
“Look, Ms. O’Connor. If there’s a problem here, just let us know and we’ll take care of it.”
“I’m fine, really. I have company. Not an intruder. Thanks for checking in, though. I’ll get my pup to quiet down.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the officers pushed the door open, clearly misinterpreting her nervous demeanor.
She winced when she looked where they were looking. Cole leaned against the doorway that led to the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest, shirt still open, a smug, kissable smile on his face.
The officers surveyed the room. Ava groaned at the pillows on the floor, the indentations on the cushions, and Cole’s tie draped carelessly across her coffee table.
She observed the very male exchange of the officers nodding their heads to Cole, understanding what they had interrupted.
She’d have to pack her bags and move. She’d never be able to face the people in this small town again.
“Awful sorry, Ms. O’Connor. We, uh, you know. Just get the dog to settle down and carry on. I mean, uh, sorry for the interruption,” Officer Jenkins stuttered, his ruddy complexion getting redder in the process.
There were no words.
Cole sauntered toward the door, all male pride and swagger.
“We’ll do that, Officers. Thanks for stopping by.”
Ava lifted her eyes enough to see Cole nod his head in a friendly gesture toward the men at the door. She couldn’t explain the sudden urge she had to strangle him.
He found this humorous. Of course he did. He didn’t have to deal with the repercussions and the death of a good reputation.
He looked like he just won the danged lottery.
Had he no shame?
Apparently not. The door was still wide open when he moved toward her and tipped her chin up to gift her with a kiss. Her elderly neighbors let out a collective sigh as Cole slipped his lips away from hers.
Her body shivered at the loss of contact with Cole as he moved into the front door. She smiled when he waved to her neighbors.
The heavy weight of embarrassment lifted from her body.
The crowd clearly loved him.
Why wouldn’t they?
He could charm the housecoat off any one of those women.
Who cared if they knew what they were doing? Those very women out there loitering on her front walk had regaled her with plenty of tales of their own risqué behaviors.
And they were constantly barraging her with questions about her previously non-existent love life, so now maybe they’d lay off trying to find her Prince Charming. She was running out of excuses for them.
Mrs. Reynolds hobbled over to the steps and called Ava down to her level.
“I’m sorry, dearie. You never showed up with the groceries, and then with all the other signs, I thought something was wrong. If I had known it was your special friend visiting, I never would have called Roy and John.”
Ava clapped a hand over her mouth. The groceries. Darn it!
“I’m so sorry about the groceries! I never made it there and forgot to tell you. I promise I’ll go right after work tomorrow.”
“There was nothing on that list that was an emergency. Now you go take care of that man of yours. He’s waited long enough.”
Would the humiliation never end?
Cole pulled her back through the door, whispering in her ear that she should say goodnight and then releasing her to walk away. Chills ran down her arms and her spine.
“Go get him! Grr.”
Heat rose again as Cole stared at her.
“You heard the lady. Come get me.” Cole stood in the middle of Ava’s living room waiting expectantly, a cocky grin on his face. Ava smiled saucily at her neighbors, closed the door, and swayed her hips in what she hoped was a seductive manner as she strolled toward him. When he was within her reach, she reached out and tickled his ribs, then sidestepped around him into her kitchen. She laughed as he backed her into a corner. When she felt her backside hit the counter, she knew she was a goner.
Cole closed in on her, placing his hands on the counter, forming a jail around her. Her giggles ceased as his lips hovered closer to hers. An increasingly familiar shiver ran down her spine. She swore there were sparks in the minute space between their lips.
His hand slid up her thigh as he held her steady with his other arm. Mesmerized by his determined eyes, she didn’t consider stopping him.
His lips captured hers at the exact moment his hand met hi
s target. His kisses slowed as he fumbled around under her robe.
“What have we got going on down here?”
Before she could stop him, he whipped open her robe and stared at the mess Opal had made of her previously natural landscaping.
She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could disappear. She crossed her legs, but his hands moved to her thighs. When she opened her eyes, he was still looking.
“Is this a new style? Don’t pull away, I want to see.”
She couldn’t speak.
To say she was mortified would have been an understatement.
“Looks like, what do they call that? A Brazilian? Yes, a Brazilian over here, but then…”
“It’s a yin-yang, okay?”
He arched a brow and looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek. She pushed his hands off her thighs and ducked under his arm, hopping off the counter. She readjusted her robe and pulled the belt tighter.
“A yin-yang?”
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well you should. I don’t lie.”
He stepped toward her with that predatory look she found difficult to resist. Who was she kidding? She found all of his looks difficult to resist.
“You lie about not wanting me.”
“You sure are full of yourself.”
“And you want to be full of me, too.”
“I do, huh?” I do, dammit!
“I can make that happen.”
“Sorry, I have a bet to win.”
“I already won that. You want me.”
I do!
She shook her head. Or at least, she thought she did. She meant to. She certainly didn’t intend to nod.
He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her in to feel how much he wanted her.
Bear ran into the room, suddenly frantic. His wagging tail created a breeze, and his tongue fell out the side of his mouth.
“You want a treat?” Ava used Bear’s interruption as an excuse to get some space. She knew she was falling into dangerous territory with Cole, and she wasn’t ready to go there.
“Will that work for me, too?” Cole smiled.
“He does actually remind me of you.”
Stay (Healing Springs, Book 2) Page 6