Max
Sunlight streams through my taupe curtains and forces me to pry my eyes open against my will. Beside me, sleeping peacefully, the covers have slid off Avery’s naked body revealing the smooth skin along the curve of her sexy ass hip. The sight elicits a grin. Last night, I kissed across that very spot and dug my fingers into the delicate and sultry skin.
There’s only one word to describe last night—in-fucking-credible.
Avery is the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed until I inhaled her. She’s alluring, carefree, comfortable, and confident. She’s funny and witty, down to earth and easy going. She’s the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever experienced. Most women try too hard, some trying to be what they aren’t, and it makes the energy around us dull. But Avery? She doesn’t have to try. It all comes naturally to her.
Quietly, I slip out of the bed, slide into a pair of shorts and head into the kitchen to make coffee. Before we fell asleep last night, I made sure to ask if she liked coffee instead of assuming like I did with wine. Lesson learned.
I hit the button and grab two mugs from the cabinet before making my way to the curtains and opening them, letting the sun brighten the room.
I’m pouring the coffee when the elevator chimes and in struts Zach’s cocksure self. “What’s up, man?” His brow quirks high as he eyes me. “Thought you’d be ready to hit the gym by now.”
“Shit,” I exhale. “I forgot all about it.”
Narrowing his eyes, he studies me. “Have a good night?”
Zach already knows. He’s got an uncanny capability to sense when I’ve gotten laid and it’s annoying as fuck.
“Nothing much,” I reply, lifting a shoulder.
He glances to the second mug. “Must have been a pretty good night if you’re making tw—”
His words stop short as Avery rushes out of the bedroom, fully clothed with her hair pulled into a ponytail and makeup barely a remnant from last night. When she spots Zach, distress splatters her face, her eyes flash wide and she skids to a halt. She glances between us.
“Good morning,” I break the weirdness. “I made coffee.”
“I…” she looks back to Zach with worry.
A chuckle rumbles from his throat and he flashes an easy smile. I already know the bastard’s brain is piling on ammo to pester the hell out of me with an interrogation about her. “I’m Zach.” He tips his chin.
“Avery.”
Zach cocks his head to the side. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
Her lips tighten as she shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Have you ever worked as a bartender around here? Stripper maybe?”
Avery snorts, adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder. “Never been a bartender. And most definitely not a stripper. I’d fall off the pole even if my hands were duct taped to it.”
I laugh.
“I’ve got to get going,” she says, taking a few unsure steps toward the exit.
My chest cramps, deflating with disappointment. I am definitely not ready to see her go just yet. “Would you like coffee to go?”
She scrunches her nose. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
After she says a quick goodbye to smugface Zach, I walk her to the elevator and hit the button.
I twist her to me and claim those perfect soft lips. “I wasn’t ready for you to leave,” I whisper, feeling like a schmuck.
“Thank you for last night. It was…” she beams, “wonderful.”
“Understatement of the year,” I say. “I’ll call you later.”
She stretches, placing a peck kiss to my jaw. “Please.”
I watch the doors shut her in before going back to the kitchen where Zach is helping himself to my coffee. His left brow twitches. “Oh, dude. I’ve seen that look before. How long have you been seeing her?”
I snatch my coffee and park my ass in the recliner. “A couple of weeks.”
“When’s the last time you brought someone here?”
“It’s been a while.”
He chuckles as he sits on the couch. “Alright, dude. Spill it.”
“I like her.”
“I see that. She’s different, huh?”
“Seems to be.”
“You two on the same page?”
My view shifts to him. “I’m rolling with it day by day. We seem to be though.”
“Just her?”
Code question for: I’m a nosy bastard and I want to know the level of seriousness you are.
“Just her, for now.”
He rests back on the couch and tosses his ankle over his knee. “It’s about damn time you find a single and settle down. You’re the last in the herd, man.”
“I didn’t say I was settling down. It’s too early.”
He hums. “That’s what your mouth says.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Jade,” I tell him.
His face falls. “She knows?”
I burn him with a grin. “She does.”
He grunts. “The hell? Bros before—” He stops, ponders his thought and shakes his head. “I’m like your brother, been through years of bragging rights, yet your sister knows first? Where’s the pact? You’ve got my wife keeping secrets from me.”
“Brotherly love overcomes the bullshit she feels for you. Blood’s thicker than water.”
“Dick defeats the brotherly love bullshit.”
Dammit. I laugh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Shut the hell up about that.”
He stands and stretches. “Get ready and let’s hit the gym. Unless you worked out too hard last night and are going to pussy out on me today.”
“Give me twenty. I need a shower.” I say, leaving him to stand in the living room with a nosy and creative mind.
Last night, I slept like a damn log. After incredible sex with Avery and then a few hours at the gym with Zach busting my balls for details, I was spent. I slept deeply and wonderfully.
I woke this morning the same way I fell asleep—her scent wrapped into my sheets and a raging hard-on. I rectified the situation in the shower with it feeling nothing remotely close to her pussy, regardless of the image of her hips bouncing off mine.
Once I arrived at work, I dived into work to keep from giving in to the urge to text her. She’s a light switch—on and then off. One minute she sends signals that she’s all in, the attraction sparking and the chemistry high, and then the next minute she seems to clam up and pull away, disappearing behind an invisible wall of guarded uncertainty. It’s not the typical hot and cold bullshit women normally play to lead you on. I don’t believe Avery’s purposefully trying to confuse or frustrate the hell out of me. I think I petrify her. The exact thing she does to me.
I’m looking over the monthly party schedule Jade brought me the moment my ass hit the chair this morning. It’s full and it has pride swelling inside me. Before I built the expansion, I was lucky to have ten parties a month. But after the winery was mentioned by a celebrity wine connoisseur, the business it brought was an onslaught. The room wasn’t adequate, only able to fit medium sized parties at best. The daily wait went from fifteen minutes to hours. The party room filled up forcing us to schedule several weeks out. I had no choice but to expand.
“Sir?” Isabella stands at the door with her hair in a slick bun sitting on top of her head. “You have a visitor.”
“Who is it?” I ask not expecting anyone.
Instead of telling me, she takes a step to the side and Avery strolls in carrying two cups of coffee and a smile that’s infectious.
“Since I had to rush out yesterday, I thought I’d be nice and bring you coffee considering I couldn’t stick around for yours.”
“Thank you, Isabella.” I dismiss her and then rest back into my chair, lacing my fingers. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
Her nose wrinkles as she sets the cups down and reaches into her purse, pulling out a handful of sugar packets and creamer cups. “I have no clue how you like your coffee. There’s different flavors.” She lifts her shoulder.
“You’re enough to make any morning great.” That blesses me with a glimmer in her eyes.
As she sits, she crosses her legs, the rips and holes in her jeans showing off the smooth skin beneath them. “I don’t have long. I snuck out.”
I waste no time heeding the warning. I get up and shut my office door before pulling her back to her feet. “I’m glad you did,” I say and then claim the very lips I’ve been craving. Slow and easy, savoring the coffee flavor on her tongue.
She looks completely sated when her beautiful grays flutter open. “I really just wanted a kiss. I used the coffee as an excuse.”
I tilt her head and kiss her again, this time harder and more eagerly, showing her just how badly I wanted to taste her again. I breathe her in while pouring my infatuation into her.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door just seconds before Jade pushes through. “Why the hell would you shut…Oh.” She freezes.
Avery tenses under me, ripping her mouth from mine and snatching her hands to her sides, as she drops her head.
I crane my neck, irked, and removed my hands. “Jade. Give me a minute,” I grit.
Jade’s head bounces as she nods frantically. “Yeah. Sorry. So sorry,” she rushes as she retreats. Except I’m far from being that lucky. She pauses. “I’m the sister, by the way. Nothing else. No worries.”
I drop my head back, lifting my face toward the ceiling and looking for a miracle. “Seriously, Jade. Give me a damn minute.”
She squares her shoulders and glares at me. “We planned a meeting. How was I supposed to know?” Jade stands with spiteful curiosity.
I’ve not said much to her about Avery other than I’m seeing her. Just like Zach, she’ll probe for details, but not about my sex life. No. Not my sister. She pushes for me to fall in love, giving me every piece of advice she can think of to make it happen because “I need a good woman in my life.” Personally, it’s nothing I care to discuss with either of them.
Avery peers up to me from under her lashes. Her face is painted with chagrin. “It’s fine. I need to get back to work.” Her voice is soft.
Exasperated that my damn sister has ruined my moment, I exhale through my nose. “Avery. This is my infuriatingly nosy sister, Jade.”
Jade’s lips tic, clearly triumphant to get her prying way.
Avery takes a deep breath and twists around to Jade. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” Jade says. I’m forced to swallow a spiteful comment and grit my teeth. “We had a meeting and he doesn’t like it when I’m late. Besides, he never shuts his door.”
“A clear sign you shouldn’t just barge in,” I gruff.
Jade rolls her eyes before smiling back at Avery. “It’s really nice to finally meet you. Max has told me a little about you. I hope to see you around more.” All her happiness toward Avery diminishes when her view switches to me. Her face hardens. “I’ll be in my office when you’re ready.”
She shuts the door behind her.
“That sucked,” Avery titters. “I meet your sister with my tongue down your throat. Fabulous first impression.”
I run my hand over her shoulders, down her arms, and clutch her hands. “You have the ability to make me forget everything around me.”
Enamor flickers back at me. “I have to get going before my humiliation causes me to feel like I’m doing the walk of shame. I’m telling you. Before too long your employees are going to think you’re running a brothel.”
“With only one woman?”
It makes her smile.
“Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
Apprehension glazes over her expression. “I’m…” she sighs and shakes her head. “During the week is really hard for me. I’m a family girl and I do a lot with them. It also doesn’t help that my brother is my neighbor and protective like a father-figure.”
“So much he doesn’t allow you a dating life?”
“Not without asking a million questions. I don’t like to share my private life when I’m not ready to share it.” She pauses. “Just like you and Jade.”
“I’m pretty damn protective over her, but I stayed out of her dating life,” I counter, omitting the part where I lost my ass on Zach.
“Yeah, but your parents are alive. Ryan had to serve as a parental figure for a little while.”
It shuts me the fuck up. I kiss her cheek. “I’m sorry I said anything. Can you stay with me this weekend?”
She stretches and places a delicate kiss on my jawline. It’s simple and sweet, and I’ve come to relish them every time she does it. It causes something weird in my chest, but I swallow the feeling.
“I can try, but if I do, promise me I can take a shower in that amazingly big shower of yours.”
I chuckle. “If that’s what keeps you coming over, I’ll gladly stay out of the way.”
She pats my chest, blessing me with an alluring grin. “Enjoy your coffee.”