Chapter Seven

 

 

 

AVERY

 

For the second time, Avery woke up with Dina in his arms. He looked forward to the rest of their lives together, to every day waking up with her lying next to him. The love he felt for her overflowed his heart. Words weren’t enough to describe the emotions he felt for her. She was amazing. And she was his.

He thought about their night together, how they made love. With Dina there were so many firsts. Of course, he’d had sex before, but making love? He had never quite understood the phrase until last night.

The way they looked into each other’s eyes as their bodies moved together. The emotion and passion that lingered in the air. It was surreal. It was love.

Avery told Dina to stay put while he went downstairs to grab breakfast. He was fairly certain he was going to keep her in bed all day. Spooning, napping, making love. Neither of them had any other plans to the contrary, so staying in their pajamas or, better yet, naked sounded like as good idea as any.

Avery was just coming down the stairs when he heard a knock at the front door. Shelby hadn’t told them about any upcoming visitors and everyone else either had keys or knew where they hid them.

As he approached the door, he saw a man in a suit. Mountain Meadows was a bit off the beaten path for salespeople. He didn’t want to answer the door and have to tell the guy he wasn’t interested in whatever he was peddling, but the guy had already seen him. It was too late now to ignore him.

Avery was shirtless and wearing a pair of pajama pants, but he didn’t care. It was barely nine. What did the guy expect?

The guy looked him up and down when he opened the door. Avery didn’t like the sneer he gave him so he stood up taller allowing the man to take in his full height. If he wanted to act like a dick, he was going to give him reason to.

He narrowed his eyes at the stranger and said, “Can I help you?”

“Maybe I’m mistaken. Is this Mountain Meadows Bed & Breakfast, or a private residence?”

The dude was rubbing him the wrong way. It was one thing to be standing here in a skinny suit, but it was another to be looking at Avery like he should be washing his car.

“It’s the B & B. Do you have a reservation?” Avery asked, trying to be polite. He didn’t want to scare off any of the Dorsey’s potential guests.

“No, I don’t.” The sneer continued. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Who?” he asked.

It was then that Avery heard two voices.

The dickhead in front of him said, “My girlfriend,” while the voice behind him called out, “Tad? What are you doing here?”

Avery let the door swing open as he turned around slowly to see Dina coming down the stairs wearing his t-shirt. Her bare legs took the stairs quickly until she was standing next to Avery.

“Girlfriend?” Avery said, staring down at her.

She shook her head. “It’s not what you think.”

“Well, what is it?” Tad said, digging his fists into his hips. “What the hell is going on, Adina?”

Holding up his hand at the douche, Avery took a deep breath before he continued. “Yell at her again and those might be the last words you ever speak.”

Tad took a step back, but that didn’t stop him from talking. “Adina, I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to talk. You need to come home with me.”

Avery had heard of people having a broken heart. He never really knew what that meant or how it felt, until now.

He was silly to think that he could have really gotten to know Dina in such a short time. Hell, he didn’t even know her real name. But, damn. It hurt. His chest felt like it was being crushed. His heart felt like someone had taken a hammer to it. Whatever love he felt for this woman, this gorgeous woman standing in front of him with her beautiful red hair flowing down her shoulders and her stunning green eyes looking up at him… whatever he felt for her…it was a lie.

She had a boyfriend.

What else had she kept from him?

She reached out to him, but he pushed her away.

Avery couldn’t even look at her, he was so hurt. All he managed to say was, “I gotta go.”

 

 

 

DINA

 

Dina pulled on her hair. Had that really happened? She couldn’t comprehend what the hell was going on. She had just spent the most beautiful night of her life with Avery and now he was gone, and Tad, of all people, was standing in front of her.

“Just go,” she told him as she turned to run up the stairs to Avery.

Tad grabbed her hand and swung her back to him. “Oh, no you don’t.”

“If you don’t take your hands off me, I will scream and Avery will come back and pummel your ass.”

Immediately, he let her go. “Fine, but you need to hear me out.”

The last thing Dina wanted to do was listen to him. She had spent the last year of her life listening to him at the office and at home. The two of them were about as compatible as a Dodger and a Giant fan, but they had trudged along for the lack of anything better to do. They had to spend so much time at work together that it was easy and convenient to do so after-hours. And now, here he was, ruining everything.

She walked out onto the porch and Tad followed her. She didn’t want Avery to hear what was going on. She wanted to be able to tell him herself. This whole thing had taken her by surprise and turned into a huge cluster fuck.

The look on Avery’s face had killed her. He looked like he was in pain and he didn’t need to be. There was nothing going on between her and Tad. He needed to know that. And apparently, so did Tad.

“No, I don’t. As far as I’m concerned, you should have gotten the message loud and clear, Tad. I quit the firm and I quit you. What don’t you understand?”

“It’s not what I don’t understand, Adina. It’s what you don’t. And it’s called a contract. One that you signed. And one to which you are bound.”

She wanted so much to slap the smug look on his face. He was enjoying this. He wasn’t here because he was hurt or he wanted her back. He was there because of the firm. They must have received her request and they sent him to do the dirty work. Those bastards. As if she hadn’t given them enough in the last decade, they wanted more.

 

 

 

AVERY

 

That just happened. Tears stung his eyes, but he held them back. He had never cried over a woman, and he wasn’t about to start now.

Avery pulled on a pair of jeans, stuffed his feet into a pair of flip flops and yanked a shirt over his head. He had to go. He couldn’t be there with Dina. With Tad.

He just needed out. Even if that meant he had to pass Dina and Tad on the way.

The sound of voices could be heard but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He figured out why when he came barreling down the stairs and saw them outside on the porch. Thankfully, there was a back door. He could disappear without her noticing.

The last thing he wanted was to talk to her.

Ironically, it was also the first thing he wanted to do.

 

 

 

DINA

 

With one quick glance at the papers Tad had stuffed into her hands, Dina knew she was up Shit Creek without a paddle. She had no choice. She had to go back to Los Angeles.

“You could have called, you know.” Dina sneered at him. “You didn’t need to come here.”

“And miss all this?” he said, rolling his eyes after he looked around. “I can’t believe you want to leave our life to live like Little House on the Prairie. This isn’t you, Adina.”

She stepped closer to him, and raised her voice. “You don’t know anything about me or this town. You’re not welcome here so just go.”

He didn’t argue. Instead, his head tilted back and laughed as he made his way to his Mercedes.

If Dina never saw him again, it would be too soon.

Unfortunately for her, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She had to get out of her contract. The big city was no longer her home.

But, Hope Falls was, so she needed to fix this.

 

 

 

AVERY

 

“That can’t be true,” Katie said. “There is no way Dina has a boyfriend.”

“Why not?” he asked. “And oh, her name is Uh-dina, remember?”

“Do you want me to slap you?” she asked. “Now sit down before you pace a hole in my carpet.”

He rolled his eyes, but he did as he was told.

“So her real name is Adina, who cares?” Katie sat down beside him and punched him in the arm like she always did. “Boys are stupid, you know that. Do you think I go around introducing myself as Katherine?”

Probably not, but he wasn’t going to admit that.

“The only time I do is when I’m uncomfortable or nervous.” Katie leaned into him. “Dina felt at ease with you from the beginning. Not to mention, she’s not the one who introduced herself, remember?”

Avery thought back to the night he met her. Katie was right. It was Levi who interjected, calling out Dina’s name.

It was a minor detail but one that had him feeling a tiny bit better about the situation.

“Now, tell me again,” Katie said. “Did she say this guy was her boyfriend?”

“No.” He hated that he sounded mopey, but he couldn’t help it. He felt mopey.

“Did she look happy to see him?”

“No.”

“Did she look like she wanted to see him?”

How many more questions was she going to have?

“Well, did she?” Katie asked.

Avery shook his head. “No.”

“Then what in bloody hell is the problem? I swear this has romance novel written all over it.”

“What does, sweetheart?” Casey said as he came out of the bedroom, looking like he had just showered.

“Thank God, you’re done.” Katie patted a space on the sofa right next to her. “Babe, tell our friend Avery about the all is lost moment.”

“The what?” Avery asked, looking up at her like she was mad. He always knew Katie was a little off, but he didn’t know how crazy until now. The girl was certifiable. What the hell was she talking about?

“Here’s the thing,” Casey said. Holy shit, he’s in on it, too, Avery thought to himself. “I’ve learned a lot from my lovely lady. One thing in particular is that communication is key. You can’t just assume shit and run. You have to stick around and get past that all is lost moment you’re feeling. Whatever it is, it’s just a misunderstanding that you’ll work out. At least, the characters in romance novels always do.”

Avery held up his hands in surrender. “What in the hell are you two talking about?”

Casey chuckled. “It’s simple, man.”

Avery stared at him, still at a loss.

“Do you love her?” he asked.

He wasn’t confused about that. It was the only thing he was sure of. “Of course I do.”

“Then talk to her.”

 

 

 

DINA

 

Dina didn’t knock on Avery’s door when she got to the top of the stairs. She walked right into his bedroom, calling out to him.

He didn’t answer.

She looked in his bathroom and he wasn’t there. She even looked under his bed, feeling desperate. He wasn’t there either.

And he wasn’t in her room or any other part of the house.

He was gone.

With one quick glance at the wall clock, she knew she didn’t have time to go after him. She had to get in her car and get to the office before the bosses left for the day. She wasn’t going to wait another minute to talk to them. She needed this shit sorted out yesterday.

The next fifteen minutes flew by with Dina on autopilot. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, put her hair in a bun, and got dressed in record time. She wasn’t wearing her Jimmy Choos, but she was on her way to work. There wasn’t anything in her contract that prohibited her from wearing Skechers and yoga pants into the office.

Dina stopped in the hall, looked into Avery’s bedroom and stared into the emptiness. Then, she looked back at her own bed where they had made love the night before. Where they had expressed their love and shared their aspirations for their future. Together.

Every feeling soared right back into her heart, into her soul. They had made love. It was amazing. The earth-shattering kind of love that Katie probably wrote about in her books.

For a minute, Dina got angry. This should not be happening. She should still be in bed, with Avery’s body pressed to hers. With his strong hands pressed against her bare skin and his wet lips kissing her from her head to her toes. She wished that she could go to him, to hug him, to kiss him and tell him everything was going to be okay.

Nothing had changed in the last twelve hours. She still felt as strongly about him as she had the night before. She was sure he wasn’t able to turn off his feelings that fast. She just needed to be able to talk to him. To explain what happened. But, she had to go.

Before she left, Dina went to the desk in Avery’s room and scrawled out a message on a notepad. She tore the sheet off the pad, dropped it on his pillow, and left.

It wasn’t until she was on the road that she made a call.

“Hi, Katie,” Dina said. “I need your help.”