Avery
After a morning of the guys shooting the shit over their coffee, the office is finally quiet and I can get to work. With the mess cleaned and cleared, I know where to start and know my day isn’t going to be hard.
I’m in the middle of entering invoices into the system when the front door chimes. Mentally, I count the seconds before someone enters my office—the only door off the lobby. I rush, finishing the last digits, and push away from my desk. I’m looking down at my skirt, straightening it as I round the corner and glance up.
My breath rushes out of me. “Max!” I yelp, slapping a hand to my chest. “What are you doing here? Ryan should be at your place.”
His view flicks to the flowers sitting on my desk. “I know. He told me you were here today.”
“Oh. Um. What can I help you with?”
“I’d like a date.”
There’s no please. It’s not a question. Nothing. Just a simple demand. And I’m fighting off a short circuit it’s caused. “You drove here just to ask me on a date?”
He smirks slyly, his lips full of confidence. “Considering I wasn’t sure you received the flowers that contained a card with my phone number on it, yeah.”
God, he’s sexy as sin. A smile plays on his lips as his jawline flexes. He stands with his hands in his pockets, his broad shoulders relaxed. He exudes confidence and is deliciously attractive. So much more than I remember.
There’s electricity splintering the air around us, my body highly aware and vibrating on the inside. If he’s this damn sexy with clothes on, I bet he’s magnificent without them.
As he soaks me in, he leaves a sizzle on my skin in his wake. My chest feels heavy under his stare, my knees weakening.
I swallow, fighting off the desire he’s triggering. “You think flowers and a card automatically warrant a call back?”
His lips stretch tightly, and his eyes darken with arousal and smugness. “No. But what you’re feeling does.”
There’s no damn way he knows what my body is feeling. “And what’s that?”
Slowly he strides to the flowers and runs the backs of his fingers across the petals. My cheeks heat up from jealousy, wishing my skin was getting to experience the feel of his touch. He glances up from under his lashes and smirks like he knows I’m at war with myself.
He straightens himself. “Chemistry. Attraction. Insurmountable desire,” he says as if he’s privy to my body.
Surprised, my lips part. He’s one hundred percent right. My body’s a traitor, turning on the “vacant for too damn long” sign, and he spotted the glow.
Tilting my head, I smirk. “Are you saying that’s what you feel?”
I need air.
A ghost of a smile tugs the corners of his lips. I’m quickly realizing that smirk has powers. Rip my clothes off and throw myself at him powers. Dangerous powers. “Why would I be standing here if I didn’t?” His tone is smooth with charm.
I’m left speechless while my mind computes what he just said.
“You’re very evasive, Avery.”
My name from his mouth—low, sexy, tempting…
I’ve got to collect myself.
“So, Cinderella. Would you like to have dinner with me?”
This pull is baffling yet exhilarating and it’s leaving me bare with excitement, wanting so much more. It’s nothing I’ve ever experienced. “When?” I hear myself say.
“Tonight.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
His eyes tell nothing. “Then when?”
Every Saturday, Ryan and Miranda take Maddi to the park to give me time to clean the house. Over the years, I learned she wins the award for the best surface cleaner around as I end up finding random things stuffed in odd places.
“Saturday. But a lunch,” I quickly add. Not only is it the only time I have, it’s safe to say I won’t be tempted to surrender to an Avery special.
His lips tic, but never raise into a full smile. Thoughts of nibbling on them cause my heart to flutter and my stomach to dip. “Where would you like me to pick you up?”
“From the parking lot where you choose,” I say simply.
His left brow raises. “Sierra’s at noon?”
“I’ll be there.”
I’m finally able to take a breath as air rushes into my lungs when he leaves. Holy shit this man…
My nerves are shot and have been since last night. After talking to Raven for an hour in hopes of calming myself, I tossed and turned for the most part of the night. Every time I closed my eyes, Max was there, standing with his hands in his suit pockets and piercing me with a look of seduction. Ridiculous. Even in my thoughts, he’s able to give me butterflies. Once I was finally able to fall asleep, Maddi woke me up at the butt crack of dawn for something to eat, only to awaken my nerves along with me.
I passed the time watching a few episodes of Maddi’s favorite show about a girl and her best friend hosting their own internet show and running into all types of issues. Then when my legs finally itched to move and I couldn’t sit still any longer, I pulled out some paper and had her coloring. It’s cathartic for the mind. With each stroke of crayon, I slowly forgot what the day held as I listened to my little girl talk about her future.
Even though she’s only seven, she dreams of becoming a clothing designer. She loves to draw dresses and blouses, and although right now they resemble something you’d see in a Disney movie, I hope she’s able to reach her goals. Besides, she does better than me. All my stick figures wear triangles with ruffles.
Before taking Maddi to Ryan’s, I filter through a barrage of questions on my attire. Maddi knows I’m not just sitting around the house, and I’ve done my very best not to lie to her. I don’t need her to get her hopes up about me getting a boyfriend—something she often tells me I need. Yup. My life has boiled down to a seven-year-old telling me how to live.
My nerves rattle my bones as I pull into the parking lot of Sierra’s and spot Max standing under the archway. Part of me wants to slam the gas and burn the hell out of here in a blaze of smoke and glory. The other part—the one that’s not a nervous wreck—wants to run to him and throw myself into his arms…and beg him to take me home.
“Hey,” I say coyly.
His white button up shirt flexes against his muscles as he shifts, giving me a better look at just how built he truly is. His chest is large and narrows to a slender waist with a flat stomach. Yeah…my girly bits are ignited.
When he grins, it’s light and more carefree than I’ve witnessed from him. And it looks really, really good on him. “Hey. Glad you made it.”
“I told you I’d be here.”
“You also led me to believe you’d stay.”
I puff a giggle, peering up to him. “Ouch.”
He laughs as he pulls the door open. The fabric on his sleeves tighten, revealing arms full of strength and power. His cologne is a gentle scent, mixed with spice, sweet, and sandalwood. And I want to run my fingers through his hair and pull him into a kiss.
By the way my body is reacting, you’d think I’d never seen a hot man before.
After the waitress takes our orders and leaves, it’s just him and me. He’s across the table watching me with a predatory gaze. And I’m high-strung, freaking the out on the inside.
“How long have you worked for your brother?” he asks.
I almost laugh. “Off and on since he started the company. Right now, I’m helping in the office while his secretary is out on maternity leave. You said your sister works for you, right?” I shift the conversation back to him.
He nods. “She’s been with me for a few years.”
“A family business?” I ask, genuinely interested. Ryan has always tried to get me to work with him, but I have no desire to…nor the time.
“It is. I had worked for my father since I was eighteen and at twenty-three he signed it over to me. My sister wasn’t quite on board with working for the family, but after many years of annoying the hell out of her, she finally smartened up and joined me.”
“Your winery is absolutely beautiful.”
He takes a sip of his drink. “So, do you have another job since you’re working for your brother part time?”
I know this silent interview. He’s testing me to see if I’m only out for his money. I get it and understand it more than he’ll ever know. But the last thing I want to see is that switch when I tell him what I actually do for a living. It never fails. It’s like my small-time fame will bring them some sort of celebrity status, which is ridiculous. When I was younger, I was obtuse to it and it left me with hurt feelings and the life squeezed out of my heart. It made me weary of everyone’s intentions because, let’s face it, guys totally suck.
“I work for a snowboarding team.” It’s not technically a lie, right?
“Sounds interesting. What do you do for…?”
Shit. “I help with marketing.” I purposely skirt around the other part of the question, praying he doesn’t know the ins and outs of how snowboarding management works. “I’m more than likely not your type.”
It piques his interest and he raises a brow. “And what would my type be?”
“Someone as sexy and handsome as you are.” I allow my flirtation to make it to my eyes. “I’d say a beautiful model or an actress. Someone just as stunning.”
“You think I’m sexy, handsome, and stunning?”
I chortle. “That’s all you got out of that?”
His laugh is deep and it sets off a slurry chain reaction. His smile shifts his strong jaw, lighting up his face and shining into his eyes so they crinkle at the sides. Butterflies explode in my stomach and I can’t help but to grin back.
“No. I heard you tell me you don’t think you’re just as beautiful, if not more so, than any actress or model. And to answer you, there’s too much drama and politics within the entertainment world. I’m not interested in big time names. I watched from the sidelines as one of my best friends lived that life and then got burned in the end.” He shakes his head. “I’ll pass on that.”
“That’s like judging a book by its cover. Not everyone will be like her.”
He rests his forearms on the table. “You’re saying you don’t look at the cover before buying the book?”
“You know you have to.”
“Precisely.” He settles back into his chair. “And who said it was her fault?”
I lift a shoulder. “Considering you said it was your best friend, I’m only assuming the bad taste in your mouth wasn’t left by him. If so, then you really need better friends.”
He’s about to say something when he’s stopped by the waitress setting our plates in front of us.
“Tell me more about you, Avery. You’re very enigmatic,” he says when she leaves.
“Tell me what you want to know because if not, I’ll end up telling you exactly how boring my life is.”
His smirk is going to be the golden ticket into my panties. “Have you always lived here?”
“Concerned that you may have missed me in the streets?” I tease flirtatiously.
“Yes,” he says.
“I’ve lived here my entire life minus a year and a half.”
“Where’d you go for that year and a half?”
“You’re very interested in me,” I avert from having to replace the truth with a lie.
“I am.” His voice drops to a smooth baritone as he levels me with a titillating stare.
My stomach dips as warmth moves across my body in a rush. Trying to hide what he’s doing to my body, I tilt my head and arch my brow.
He leans closer. “I’d like to get to know the woman who gives me a hard-on by simply dancing with me.”
Heat claws up the back of my neck and reaches my cheeks. I can’t help but smile a little silly. “Surely I’m not the only one who has ever done that.”
“Not fully clothed.”
The response makes me bark a laugh.
He glances down at his hands resting on the table, shakes his head, and then casts the most delicious gaze on me. “Please tell me you were just as aroused, so I don’t feel like a virginal creeper.”
I roll my lips between my teeth to contain my laughter. “I had to hang my panties out the window so they could dry.”
He chuckles. “If that’s not what happened, don’t tell me. I’d like to keep some dignity.”
I can talk shit with the best of them and I don’t mind blowing up an ego where it’s due. “Trust me. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
He scrapes his teeth along his bottom lip. Whatever he’s thinking, whatever he’s forcing himself not to say, whatever dirty thoughts are crossing his mind, he stays quiet. But even without words, the way he’s eating me alive with his eyes is enough to spark burning desire deep within my core. My want for him is intoxicating. Like one lick of his throat or taste of his tongue and I’ll be drunk for days.
We fill in the pauses between bites with light conversation—learning about one another and just random talk. I don’t know if he could sense my nervousness, but somehow he’s managed to mute it. Our talk is simple, not too deep, and mostly about random things or his winery. When he talks about it, his eyes shine and there’s no denying it’s his pride and joy. That’s where he’s most comfortable. That’s where his heart is…wine.
After our date dwindles down, he pays for the meal, and walks me out of the restaurant toward my car.
“I’d like to see you again,” he says.
“You’re quite persistent,” I quip, glancing up to him.
“Yes. Despite all your hot and cold signs.”
Ouch. I drop my view to my feet and catch a strand of hair falling, tucking it behind my ear. “I don’t mean to be. I’m standoffish, but I have good reasons why. I’d say I’m sorry, but honestly, I’m not.”
He bends, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. It wakes my body up, vibrating and burning with desire. “Quit fighting what your body is telling you.”
“And that is…?”
His smirk is charming. “Oh, how I’d love to be the one to show you.”
I cock my head. “You think you know my body after one lunch date?”
He moves his mouth beside my ear, his lips brushing the skin. “Avery, your body is begging for me,” he whispers thickly, and dammit, it causes a shiver to slide down my spine. He stands straight. “There’s the cold. If I hadn’t been listening to your body, I’d almost believe the resistance out of your mouth.” He arches his brow almost daring me to refute, but I don’t. He’s absolutely right. “Can I take you to dinner this week?”
I cave. “I’d like that.”
Satisfaction relaxes his eyes. He opens my car door. “Ball’s in your court. You have my number. Call me.”