Today, Avery was going to start over, get her life back on track. She wasn’t ready to deal with Cindy yet, so going to the store was out of the question. She could pop over at Celini’s and see if he had any work for her. A good stakeout, busting a cheating husband or wife, was exactly what she needed. Or maybe Celini had an insurance fraud case she could sink her teeth into. They were always fun.
A state police cruiser pulled up in front of her house and stopped. Avery smiled as Kevin unfolded his large body from the car and strolled up her drive. Surprisingly eager to see him, she went to the front door and opened up it before he rang the bell.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite police officer,” she said with a smile.
“I think I like the sound of that,” Kevin replied, shooting her a bright grin. “Thought I’d stop by and check on ya.”
“Come on in.” A wave of anger punched through her stomach, stealing her breath. Oh no, hell no. He didn’t get to demand she stay out of his head and then tiptoe through hers when he wanted to. It didn’t work that way. Before closing the door, she scanned the street but saw no sign of his truck.
“Everything okay?” Kevin asked.
“Yep.” Ridge pulled back, his presence faint but there. Too bad for him she felt vindictive today. “You going to work or on your way home from work?” She led him into the living room and sat down next to him on the couch.
“Between shifts, actually. I’m covering for a friend. He and his wife had a baby two days ago.”
No wonder he looked so tired. “Can I get you some coffee, something to eat? Wanna stretch out here on the couch for a while?”
“That all sounds great, but I’ll take the coffee.”
“When do you go back?” she asked, heading to the kitchen.
“I have two hours,” Kevin answered on a yawn. “Thought I’d go home and grab a quick shower.”
Avery poured his coffee and returned to the living room. “I have an idea. How about you stretch out here and sleep for about an hour or so and then you can use my shower.”
“I couldn’t do that,” he answered, sipping his coffee.
“Why not?” Did she have “lunatic” or “soul-sucking demon” tattooed on her forehead? He couldn’t stay away from her a few days ago and now he didn’t want her hospitality. Men were quickly becoming a pain in the ass that she really didn’t want to deal with.
“I don’t want to stir anything up between you and Gates.” Kevin sat his coffee down and scrubbed his face with his hands. “The man has enough issues without me adding to them.”
Oops. That would teach her to jump to conclusions. “You don’t need to worry about that,” she told him, hugging a small pillow to her stomach.
“I don’t wanna be the one to come between you.”
“Too late for that.” She clutched the pillow tighter, silently cursing herself for allowing the pathetic sadness to creep back in.
Kevin eyed her suspiciously. “He cut and run already?”
When she didn’t answer, Kevin shook his head. “I figured he’d hang around for a month at the very least. You okay?”
“I’m fine. We had a misunderstanding.” At least that’s all she could come up with. “Doesn’t matter.” Really, it didn’t. Saying that a couple million more times might actually convince her too.
Kevin reached out and took her hand in his. “Why don’t I believe that?”
Damn it, his warm, gentle touch and compassion crumbled her thin veil of confidence. Emotions bubbled and roiled until she couldn’t contain them anymore and they spilled out like a tsunami. Tears burned in her eyes, her chest ached, her stomach churned and before she could stop herself she burst into tears. “I lost the only two men in my life I cared about.” Kevin cringed slightly. “Oh, I didn’t mean I don’t care about you,” she blabbered. “I do, honestly. You’re a great friend and I don’t deserve you.”
Kevin smiled a little as she hiccupped a sob and snot dripped from her nose.
“Look at me, I’m a fucking mess. No wonder every man close to me takes off.” Between the tears and nose juice her face was soaking wet. She thought she’d gotten this all out of her system.
Kevin rose from the couch, disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a wet towel. Tenderly he cleaned her face, kicked off his shoes and settled on the couch.
“Come here.” He held out his arms. “I’ve got big shoulders.”
Avery didn’t hesitate. She crawled over, snuggled up against his side and buried her face in his chest. Kevin stretched out, tucked the pillow behind his head and held her as she cried.
“I’m going to mess up your shirt,” she muttered as her tears sank into the material.
“Got another one in the car.”
“Of course you do.” Snuggling in closer, Avery let the tears fall until she couldn’t produce another if her life depended on it. Kevin’s chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm beneath her cheek. Glancing up, she realized he’d fallen asleep.
Choosing not to disturb him—and, okay, she didn’t want to move away from his warmth and comfort—Avery closed her eyes. Just a few minutes of sleep, that’s all she needed. When she opened her eyes again Kevin was gone and she found herself lying on the couch alone.
It shouldn’t surprise her—alone seemed to be the one thing she did right. After sitting up and stretching she noticed his shoes were gone and the house was quiet. He must have left and gone home to shower. Speaking of showering, she needed one badly.
As she climbed the steps she realized she felt a little better. There didn’t seem to be as much ache in her chest as there had been earlier. Spilling all over Kevin must have done the trick.
Reaching the bathroom, Avery opened the door and found herself standing directly in front of one very wet, very naked and incredibly well-put-together Kevin. “Wow,” she gasped, unable to look away from his sculpted abs, narrow waist and—“oh, wow”—thick, heavy penis. “Wow.”
Her body didn’t react as if she wanted to jump his bones or anything, but hell, he had a body that needed to be appreciated. “Shit!” she squeaked, letting her gaze roam from his chest down his torso and then lingered on the package between his hard thighs.
“Your gene pool must be incredible,” she said without thinking. Kevin’s cock twitched and thickened as it started to rise slightly. Now, this should have been a red light, a blaring alarm screaming get out, look away, run for the hills, but no, Avery ignored all those signals. She found herself wanting to see what he looked like aroused.
“Ah, Avery?”
“You should be sculpted and put on display in the center of a museum so women from all over could appreciate you.” Had her brain fried? Why were these things coming out of her mouth? It wasn’t like he was sexier than Ridge, or more muscled, just different.
“Either take your clothes off,” he said in a husky voice, “or back away and shut the door because in about thirty seconds things are going to get very tense.”
Tense, yeah. Didn’t want tense. Why weren’t her legs moving?
“Avery!” Kevin barked in frustration.
His harsh tone snapped her out of her lusty haze. “Oh, sorry, I’ll just, um, I’ll be downstairs. I thought you left,” she said, reaching for the doorknob. “Oh, wow,” she sighed once more and then pulled the door shut.
A riot of foreign emotions swirled inside her and they weren’t hers. Jealousy, anger, inadequacy, so many she couldn’t name them. Obviously her shock and excitement bled over into Ridge and he was having a temper tantrum. Good. It served him right.
Avery skipped down the steps high on the fact that, one, she’d seen Kevin naked, two, Ridge didn’t like it, and three, she’d seen Kevin naked. It was almost like the time she and Cindy had gone to the male review in the city, only better. Kevin could rake in the money with that body.
She swore a rumbling growl vibrated through her body and laughed. “Oh, shut up.” Ridge didn’t have any right to be angry. He’d walked out on her again onl
y this time he’d made it clear he wanted the ties severed or muted if at all possible. What better way to get started. Not that she’d actually seduce Kevin. She liked him, really liked his body, but they didn’t have the connection she needed. Ridge didn’t have to know that, though.
“You do wonders for a man’s ego,” Kevin said, buttoning his shirt.
“I am so sorry,” she said, spinning around and laughing. “You caught me by surprise. I thought you’d left.”
“I caught you by surprise. I was the one standing there with all my wares hanging out.”
At least he could laugh about it with her. A faint pink hue colored his cheeks, but his smile beamed with humor.
“And what magnificent wares you have. Tell me something, Kevin. Why in the hell are you still single? I can’t imagine a woman hasn’t sunk her claws deep into you by now.” It didn’t make sense.
Kevin shrugged. “Haven’t found the right one yet. Unless you’re applying for the position.”
“Don’t tempt me,” she muttered, stepping in front of him and straightening his tie. “You deserve so much better. How awful did I sound up there?” she asked, giggling like a schoolgirl.
“I don’t know. I thought you said all the right things.”
They burst into a full-blown laughter attack together and when Avery’s stomach muscles began to ache, she cupped his cheek. “You’ve certainly given me something to think about.”
“Good.” Kevin leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “I have to get back to work.”
Avery walked him to the door and as he stepped outside, he stopped, turned and grinned. “I have no problems being your arm jewelry, boy toy, or whatever they call it these days. I’ll take it. Keep that in mind.” He gave her a wink and then strolled to his car.
Was it her imagination or did he walk a little taller, hold his shoulders back a little straighter, and was that a swagger in his step? “Have a good day,” she laughed and received a little salute in return.
She didn’t pay any attention to the black sedan rolling down the street at a snail’s pace, or when it came to a stop just past her house. She paid it no mind after Kevin left and she walked out to her mailbox, returned and set her alarm. Everything seemed fine as she headed upstairs.
The only thing she noticed was Kevin had sparked a fire low in her belly and only one person could give her the raging inferno she needed to burn it out. Now what the hell did she do? Frustrated, she strolled into her bedroom and plopped down on her bed. She needed to do something to relieve this ache between her legs or else she wouldn’t get anything accomplished today.
Avery slipped off her shorts, tugged her shirt over her head and stretched out on the bed. The sheets felt cool against her heated flesh and when she reached between her legs and stroked her clit a fine sheen of sweat popped out on her forehead. It would have to do. She sure as hell wasn’t going to beg Ridge to help her.
Desperate, Avery closed her eyes and pictured Kevin’s glorious naked body as she rubbed, tapped and teased her clit. She pictured Kevin reaching out to touch her, his large hands warm against her skin as his cock jutted from between his thighs. Her blood simmered but didn’t reach that full explosive intensity that she craved.
Using her free hand, Avery cupped her breast, rolled and plucked at her nipple, hoping it would help. As hot a picture as Kevin made it did little to inspire her body to explode. Desperation had her fingers working faster, pinching, rolling, stroking, all for nothing. Slowly Kevin’s image transformed. The hands reaching out to her weren’t his. The naked body standing in front of her and stroking his fully erect cock wasn’t Kevin either.
Ridge. His face came into full focus. Avery’s heart skipped a beat mid-flutter and her body erupted. Her orgasm came from nowhere, coiled her muscles and filled her with a completeness that stole her breath. Through it all Avery tried to replace Ridge’s image with Kevin’s but it wouldn’t happen.
As her body sputtered out its last week spasm, Avery sat up, fisted her hands and pressed them to her eyes. “No!” she shouted into the silent room. How would she move on if her mind and body wanted only one man?
* * * * *
Three days. Three fucking days Ridge had sat inside this house fighting the need to drive down the road and knock on Avery’s door. Not once in that time had he heard or sensed anything from her. He missed her, damn it.
Of course, he hadn’t done himself any favors throwing the ultimate tantrum the other night. On top of missing her, the guilt of his behavior ate him like acid. She didn’t deserve his anger. Well, maybe a little bit, but not the full blast he’d spewed. Just when he decided now would be a good time to go over there and apologize, he was mentally bitch-slapped.
Excitement, awe and wonder. It wasn’t long before a vivid image formed in his head, one that made him stagger and nearly drop to his knees. She was looking at Stone. Naked. Fucking naked, for God’s sake. Stone was in her house buck-ass stripped bare and Avery was looking at him. Jealousy roared to life as he picked up the kitchen chair and tossed it across the room.
Then, just like that, everything disappeared. Avery shut the door so fucking hard he couldn’t even pick up a breathy sigh. What the hell had happened after that? What were they doing? The quiet nearly drove him insane as he paced around, slamming his fists into walls and conjuring every scenario possible in his brain.
Stone had his hands on her. He knew it. Stone was touching, kissing and caressing silky flesh that belonged to him. Only he’d tossed her away and she didn’t belong to him.
After what seemed like an hour of brutal torture and silence the first tingling of pleasure hit. He thought at first she and Stone were engaged in sexual foreplay and holy hell his anger spiked so high he thought blood would soon start pouring out his ears, eyes and nose. He stomped around the house, overturning what little furniture he had as adrenaline and fury mixed together in a lethal combination. His vision narrowed to a fine pinpoint tinged with red and a huge gaping hole opened in his chest, leaving him lost.
Then her frustration leaked through. Standing perfectly still Ridge fought for calm and reached down that thread of connection until he was snug inside her head. She was alone, pleasuring herself after seeing Kevin naked. She was hot, horny and needed release but it wouldn’t come and he knew why. Envisioning Stone wasn’t doing it for her.
Satisfaction swelled in his chest. He hid there in her subconscious, waiting, listening and staying as quiet as possible. He shouldn’t be so smug. He had no right to. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from releasing his cock and stroking it until he was so hard he could pound nails. Avery fought the image he projected into her brain, him reaching out to her, needing her, wanting her.
God, he wanted her. He wanted her more than he wanted to breathe. He was helpless against it. Gripping his cock he remembered how her hot, slick body clenched around him, drawing him further and the unfathomable pleasure that filled his mind and body when she came.
He came hard and fast, the pleasure-pain tearing at his body as he felt Avery shatter too. The pleasure was short-lived. She cried out inside his head, tormented with the fact that she might never be able to seek pleasure with anyone. Guilt came rushing back, deflating his ego and cock. What had he done?
Ridge tucked himself back inside his jeans, stumbled to the living room and flopped down on the couch. He needed to get his head together. Stone’s words rang in his ears. Claim her or back off. Backing off meant never interfering with her private life again, even if was just a fantasy. Could he do it?
Chapter Fourteen
“Yeah, Cindy, I’m fine,” Avery said for the tenth time since her friend had called. “I need a few more days.” She gripped the phone hard as her gut churned and her nerves seemed to unravel.
“Why don’t you come down to the shop and we’ll have lunch together?”
Avery rolled her eyes. “Not today. Soon, I promise. I just need a little more time.”
Cindy huffed on the other end of
the phone. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re avoiding me.”
Avery arched an eyebrow at the snotty tone. “You know better than that.”
“You’ve changed, Avery. You used to tell me everything and now you don’t tell me anything. I want the old Avery back. I miss her.”
Avery bit down on her lip to keep from saying something she shouldn’t. “You don’t walk through hell and come out the other side unchanged, Cindy. I’m not even sure I am on the other side yet.”
“The only hell you’re in is the hell you’ve brought upon yourself with that useless Ridge Gates,” she snapped. “I told you to stay away from him. If you would have listened to me everything would be fine, just like it was before.”
Anger simmered in Avery’s chest. “What is it you have against him, Cindy? What did he do to you to make you so bitter?” This childish behavior had worn thin and, damn it, she was tired of hearing Cindy tear Ridge down. “Ya know what, I don’t give a damn. If you can’t say anything decent about him, then don’t bring him up again. I’m sorry, Cindy, I have plans for the day and need to get moving. I’ll talk to you later.”
Avery disconnected as Cindy spat and sputtered on the other end. She tossed the phone on the bed, cursed several times under her breath and briefly thought about packing a bag and getting the hell out of town for a while. It would do her good. Removing herself from all the negativity might help clear her mind.
Running wouldn’t solve anything, though. How many times had Cale said that to her over the years? Avery ran her fingers through her hair, fighting the well of hot, stinging tears threatening to spill. Cale. God, she missed him. Her insides quivered as a full-blown aching hole opened up inside her chest. She gasped for air as her legs gave out from under her and she flopped to the floor, jarring her spine.
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