by Jamie Pope
“You’re so good, it’s sickening.”
“I’m not that good. I do it for selfish reasons.”
“You are good. I have no underwear on and I’m in your bed and you stopped yourself from making love to me, even when I told you I would, that I wanted to.”
“I can still make you feel good. I just need to use my other hand. Switch sides with me.”
“No.”
“You want me to use my mouth instead?” He sat up. “I can do that.”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “I didn’t mean that, but I do like that. You are seriously good at that. I meant that I could do something just for you.” She rolled him onto his back and kissed his chest. “Maybe I can use my mouth and hands and do some other creative things that will blow your mind.”
“Blow my mind? Somebody is feeling a little cocky.”
She looked down at the erection tenting his underwear. “I’m not feeling a little cocky, but you’re looking a lot cocky.”
He threw his head back and laughed as he grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her. “This is why I can’t get enough of you.”
“Kiss me again.”
“I won’t be able to stop.” He kissed along her jaw.
“Good, because I think I might have changed my mind.”
“No think. No might. Be sure. I’m sure.”
She might fall for him. Really fall for him. She didn’t want to, but if she let this go further, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop it.
It was going to go further, because his mouth was pressed to his and his hand was on her cheek and their bodies were lined up just right.
“Ava.” She heard her name called and broke her kiss with Derek.
“I don’t want to stop yet.”
“Did you hear that?”
“No. I was too focused on the woman beneath me.”
“Ava.” She hadn’t imagined it. Her name was being called from outside the house, and she recognized the voice.
“Shit. It’s my big brother. Get off me!” She shoved Derek off her and yanked down her dress, not sure where her underwear had gone.
“Relax. You’re an adult. He can’t punish you.”
“He already thinks I make poor life choices. He’s not going to be thrilled that I’m in bed with a man so soon after my wedding was canceled.”
“You think I’m some kind of dumb mistake.”
“I just think you’re dumb. Not a mistake.”
“You’re really taking a shot at me right now?”
“Yes.” She kissed his mouth and ran down the stairs and out of her house just as Carlos was making his way across the lawn to Derek’s.
“Elias, she’s over here.”
“Elias is here?”
“Yeah, why the hell were you in Derek’s house?”
“Because he’s my neighbor and I was dropping off a package?”
“Were you dropping one off or receiving one?”
“Carlos! I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Your lips are swollen. Your dress is rumpled, and you look like you’ve been rolling around on the floor. Oh, and you’re not wearing any shoes. Plus, I heard you have been seen in town with him a few times.”
“He’s my neighbor! And I haven’t slept with him. But even if I did, it would be none of your damn business because I’m single and he’s single and—”
“Is he good to you?”
That question made her pause. “What?”
“Is he good to you?”
Ava sighed. “Yes. Very much so.”
“It’s fine with me.”
“What?”
“Get your ears checked, Ava. I said whatever you two are up to is fine with me. You know I hated Max and I don’t think you should spend any more time hung up on him.”
“I don’t think so, either.”
“Where the hell were you?” Her twin emerged from her house and met them in the driveway.
“I was with Derek. Do you have your doctor bag with you?”
“I have a first-aid kit. Carlos picked me up from the ferry. It’s in the car. Why?”
Derek’s front door open, and he came out of his house, thankfully fully clothed. But Ava would be lying if she said she didn’t miss the sight of his beautiful body. “This is why.” She went over to Derek, grabbed his good hand and pulled him over to Elias. “Look. I’ve been trying to get him to go to the hospital.”
She extended Derek’s hand to show Elias.
“Damn, Ava!” Carlos frowned at her. “What were you two up to?”
“There’s nothing going on, you ass face! He hurt his hand working.”
“It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one she verbally abuses,” Derek said, grinning at her. “But she’s right. I cut it making a chair.”
“This is a nasty cut,” Elias said. “We need to flush it to make sure there are no particulates inside.”
“Do you think he needs stitches?” Ava asked, seeing that his wound was still angry-looking. She felt guilty that she had gotten him all worked up instead of seeing to his hand first.
“I have liquid stitches in my bag. I think you’ll be fine with that, but you might want to go to the hospital anyway and see what they say.”
“No. You sew people up for a living. I trust you.”
Elias nodded. “Come inside. Carlos, can you grab my bag out of your car? Ava, go inside, grab your bottle of peroxide and meet me in your kitchen.”
Elias had spoken with such authority that everyone moved without question, and before Ava could realize what was happening, her brothers were bonding with Derek.
Chapter 11
Derek stood on the beach down the road from his house with his cousin Hallie. Somehow this day had turned into a party. In a small town it was hard to find families that were not connected, and his family and Ava’s were no different. Hallie was married to Carlos’s brother-in-law. The two men worked together, and when Elias suggested they fire up the grill, it was Carlos who picked up the phone and invited him over.
“So...” Hallie said with a grin.
“So...” Derek said back to her.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Not much. I got the list of vendors for the founder’s day celebration this morning. We’re still looking for a band to play the night of the dance. I’d hate to go off-island, but I think we might have to.”
“Don’t do that.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“Don’t do what?”
“Mayor me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
He did. “I don’t.”
“Don’t play coy. You can’t even hide it. It’s one thing to be seen all over town with her when you have never even been seen on a date with anyone. But it’s the way you look at her, Derek. My God.” She touched her heart. “It makes me want to cry.”
“Stop being so dramatic, Hallie.”
“She makes you smile.”
“She’s funny,” he countered.
“She makes you happy.”
“We’re friends.”
“You’re in love with her.”
He paused briefly at her words. Love? No. He had never been in love. He wasn’t planning on falling in love, and if he was, he wouldn’t fall for someone like Ava. “Now you’re being ridiculous. I like her. That’s not a secret. She’s gorgeous and sweet and smart. It’s hard not to like her.” As soon as he finished saying that last sentence he realized how it directly contradicted his thoughts.
Why wouldn’t he want to fall in love with a beautiful, sweet woman?
Ava and Elias walked up to them before Hallie could say any more. The twins were both wearing the
ir bathing suits. Ava was wearing that same pinup-girl two-piece that he had once peeled off her. He remembered every detail of that night. He dreamed about it. And then there was this morning. Her underwear was still on the floor in his bedroom and every time he looked at her today, he knew that her bottom was bare beneath her dress. He had to physically stop himself from running his hand over her behind just to feel what he knew wasn’t there.
“I love your bathing suit, Ava,” Hallie said. “It’s adorable.”
“I like it, too,” he said to her when she got closer. He felt a punch to his arm that sent pain all the way up his shoulder.
He looked over to Elias, who was stoned-faced. “Stop looking at my sister like that. This is the third time I caught you staring.”
“Don’t hit him!” Ava gave her twin a shove and wrapped a protective arm around Derek. “He’s already injured, you jackass. And it’s none of your concern how he looks at me. Maybe I like it.”
“Yeah, but the rest of us don’t need to know what you two like, and we certainly don’t need to see what he’s thinking.”
“You’ve become a stuffy prude lately.”
“A stuffy prude?”
“Yes, Doctor. Humorless, not as fun.” Ava frowned at her brother. “Heal thyself.”
“I’m humorless? Everyone thought you were an ice princess when you were with that last guy, and now you have the nerve to say that I’m humorless.”
“Yup.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
Elias shook his head. “Come on, Hallie. Let’s go see what the adults are up to.”
“I’d rather see you fight with your sister. My husband is a twin. I enjoy watching him and his sister argue, too.”
“Twin sisters.” He shook his head again. “Always starting something.”
Hallie laughed, and they both walked out, leaving Derek and Ava alone for the first time since they were in his bedroom that morning. Ava was pressed against him, one of her arms loosely wrapped around him. He loved the way she felt around him and next to him and beneath him.
“You didn’t have to defend me just now.”
“Nobody gets to pick on you but me.” She picked up his bandaged hand and kissed it. “I like picking on you. It brings me joy.”
“You know they all think we’re a couple now.”
“It’s because of the way you look at me. Damn it, Derek. I felt like my skin was on fire.”
“I can’t help it. Everything you do turns me on.”
“I want to tell you to stop it. It’s damned inconvenient to be this turned on all day, but I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because no one has ever looked at me the way you do, and it makes me feel good.”
“I can’t help it. You are the most beautiful woman in the entire state of Florida.”
“Sometimes the only thing I think I have to offer anyone is a pretty face. It was the only reason Max wanted me.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.” She titled her head and studied him for a long moment. “It’s really bugging me that you aren’t going to that gala. You’re getting into heaven already. You don’t have to be that humble.”
“I’m not being humble. I didn’t tell you the entire truth before because I was too focused on getting you naked. That isn’t the first time I’ve received that invitation. I’ve known about it for a while. I don’t want to go, because I don’t want to run into my father. I know he has been involved with the organization that’s throwing the event for years.”
“Now I really think you should go to show him how amazing you are.”
He pressed his lips to hers, not caring who saw them or what they thought. “You think I’m amazing?”
“Of course I don’t, but other people seem to think so. You can get dressed up in a gorgeous tux and walk into the room, looking confident and sexy.”
“You think I’m sexy?” He grinned at her and bent his head to kiss her again. It was longer than the last kiss, and she shut her eyes and went pliant.
“Stop trying to distract me,” she said when he broke the kiss. “I’m trying to talk to you.”
“Ava, I don’t own a tux. I don’t even know where to get one. I don’t need to prove anything to my father.”
“How many people who look like you or me get honored for their brains, for the good work that they do instead of shooting a basket or hitting a ball? My brother is a baseball legend. Drafted right out of high school. Do you know his biggest regret is not going to college? He’s been taking online classes.”
“I didn’t know that, but that’s great. I’m happy he wants to pursue an education, but I’m not sure what that has to do with me.”
“Nothing was handed to you when everything could have been. You could have been an entitled, egotistical jerk, but you worked your way through school. And for this town for free. You’re always kind, and you give away your time and expect nothing in return and I’m proud of you. It might be meaningless but I want you to get a stupid plaque and I want you to hang it on the wall and I want that little symbol to be a sign of all the things that you do for everyone else. You don’t do anything selfish! You don’t do a single thing just for yourself, and for once I want you to stop being such a damn saint and get the applause and take it all in. Be indulgent.”
She stomped away from him then, leaving him somewhat bewildered. Ava was wrong. He was selfish and indulgent, and he often did just think about himself. Every moment he spent with her was proof of that. He always kept his affairs private, he never spoke about the women he had been seeing and he sure as hell never brought them to the island. He didn’t want talk of his love life to overshadow his work on the island, but with Ava he didn’t give a crap about any of that. He didn’t care that she had just gotten out of a long-term relationship. He didn’t care whether or not it was the right time or if she might still have some lingering feelings for her ex. He just wanted to be with her, hear her voice, smell her scent and have her near.
And for the first time in his life, he didn’t give a damn about what anyone thought about it.
* * *
A few days later Derek drove to his mother’s house. On his way to fix the thing she had called him about a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t like him to put things off. But he had been on such a high lately with Ava that dealing with his mother would bring him down, and he didn’t want to feel that way. Still he knew he couldn’t avoid her forever.
She was home. Her car was the only one in the driveway, and he heard the faint sounds from the television. He knocked on the door, feeling awkward every time he was there, like this wasn’t his childhood home. There was no welcoming feeling, no familiarity, no warmth spreading through him as he waited to be let in.
The door opened, and his mother stood there in a slinky dress and bare feet. Her face was made up. She was a beautiful woman, and he knew it was sexist and small-minded of him to wish she covered up, but he did. She had been dressing like this his entire life. Whenever she did show up to school functions, it was always in sky-high heels and tight dresses and other clothes that looked like they were meant more for Miami nightlife than small-town island living.
He had to endure endless jokes about how sexy his mother was from his classmates. His first fistfight was about her. His last fight was, too. But it was with one of her boyfriends, who got a little too rough with her one night.
“Hello, sweetheart.” She was surprised to see him. “I’m happy to see you.”
He nodded his head. “I got your message. I thought I would stop by and fix the bathroom door. You’re alone?”
“Yes. I was just starting dinner. Would you like to stay?”
He nodded. “Just show me what needs to be fixed and I’ll get on it.”
It didn’t take him long to fix the few things that ne
eded tending to in the house. It was more work than she had originally asked him to do. She kept finding things that needed his attention. He was fine with that because the more he worked, the less awkward conversation they would have to make.
He finished up and headed to the kitchen to see her plating the meal she had just cooked. “Sit down, Derek.” She motioned to the table. “I’ll serve you. It will be like old times.”
He could count on one hand the times she had served him dinner. Special occasions, like when she felt incredibly guilty about something. The last time had been when she missed his first swearing-in ceremony. He took a seat at the small table and noticed a pair of designer men’s sunglasses there.
“Are you still seeing that guy you introduced me to at Hack’s?”
“Yes!” She beamed and got a dreamy look in her eye. She almost looked like a teenage girl. “He’s a wonderful man. He treats me like a princess. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. He could be the one.”
He had heard that before. More times than he could count. It always ended in heartbreak. “That’s nice, Mom. I’m happy for you.”
“What’s going on with you? Anything new?”
“We’re finalizing the details for the founder’s day celebrations. You should bring your friend to the dance.”
“I will. He gets a kick out of that cutesy little stuff.” She set a plate down in front of him.
“The entire town is involved. All the proceeds go to charity. I don’t think it’s so cutesy or little.” She always did that, put this island and everything that went on in it down. She had been dying to get out of here her entire life, but when things fell apart, it was the only place she could return to that always welcomed her back with open arms.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure it’s going to be very nice. I know you work very hard on it every year.”
He nodded, not wanting to argue with her. They never argued. Maybe that was the problem. He just swallowed stuff until it became a rock-hard ball of anger in his stomach. He could never come out and tell her how he really felt. “I’m being honored. The Business in Action Coalition is giving me an award. There’s going to be a gala in Miami in a few weeks.”