‘Three.’ I’m stalking my prey, closing in, watching as she backs away from me with a teasing smile on her face. ‘Two,’ I growl, picking up speed, laughing on the inside when she turns on a squeal and pelts off up the stairs. ‘One,’ I shout, taking them three at a time and bursting into our bedroom. She’s standing on the far side, a can of squirty cream in one hand, a jar of chocolate spread in the other. And she’s gloriously naked, except for the seductive smile she’s wearing.
‘Do your worst, Mr Ward.’
‘Zero, baby.’
I start and jerk awake, frantically scanning my surroundings.
‘Jesse?’
Ava comes into my vision, standing at the end of the bed in her dressing gown. ‘I must have dozed off again.’ I scrub at my face with my palms, wondering how I could be so tired after such a good night’s sleep.
‘I just spoke to Kate. She wants us to meet them for dinner tomorrow night.’
I can think of nothing worse than putting myself in front of people and trying to smile. I just want to hide away in our little manor until things are back to normal. I’m on the cusp of suggesting we do exactly that, but Ava speaks first. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing her.’
Of course she is. Ava’s best friend is one of the only people she recognises. And that fucking stings like a fuck-off-big Portuguese man-of-war. ‘Great.’ I smile through my false enthusiasm.
‘I’m going to take a shower.’ She edges towards the bathroom, pointing to my phone on the bed. ‘The kids rang while you were asleep.’
‘Did you answer?’ The thought of her staring blankly at my phone while it rang, their faces on my screen, is unbearable.
‘Of course I answered.’ She seems almost offended. ‘They’ve been fishing today. Dad caught a ten-pound bream. Jacob sent the pictures through.’
I reach for my phone, keen to see their faces. And I bark out a shot of laughter when Jacob appears on my screen, a huge fish hanging from his hand, an even bigger grin on his face. And then there’s Maddie, eyes wide, looking at the bream like it could be a great white. ‘Look at them.’ My heart swells as I turn to Ava, her smile as bright as mine.
‘Jacob looks so much like you in that picture.’ Ava’s comment has me focusing on my boy once again. She’s right. He does, more so than usual. ‘Handsome,’ she adds.
I shoot her a look, and she shrugs, a little shyly. ‘And Maddie looks just like you. Beautiful.’
Her lips twist a little. If she dares challenge that . . . ‘It’s quite scary, don’t you think?’
‘What? How similar they are to us?’
‘Yes.’ She wanders over and looks down at the screen with me.
‘Not scary,’ I counter, looking up at her with a wide smile. ‘They’re lucky fucking kids.’
She laughs, a genuine bend-over, stomach-clenching laugh. It’s a sight to behold, and it has me grinning from ear to ear. ‘You’re so pigheaded.’
‘So I’m told. Now get that gorgeous arse in the shower. I’ll take you somewhere special after your therapy session.’
‘Actually, I was thinking of calling Elsie about her offer. Yoga might be the kind of thing I need. All this therapy is useless. I hate it. It just makes me feel crap and hopeless.’
I get her point, completely. I hate seeing her looking so disheartened each time she’s left a session. But . . . ‘We have yoga classes at the health club,’ I remind her. ‘If you want to do it, I’ll get you on the classes.’ That way she’ll still be close by.
‘Yoga in a studio with thirty other people?’ She wrinkles her nose at me. ‘It’s not really the relaxation I had in mind. Elsie’s classes sound far more therapeutic. One-on-one. What do you think?’
‘I think yoga is yoga.’
She gives me a roll of her eyes and heads for the bathroom. ‘But Elsie has this spiritual thing going on.’
I grimace as I get up and follow her. ‘You’re not going to go all hippie on me, are you?’ I grin when she tuts dramatically. ‘Though if you want to stop wearing bras during the day, I’m down with that.’ Seizing her from in front of the mirror, I whirl her around, her gasp of lusty surprise like music to my ears.
‘I’m being serious.’ She tries to force me away, and my disposition is quickly slighted as a result.
‘So am I.’ I tug her back. ‘If you want to do yoga, we have a perfectly good health club for you to do it at. It makes sense for you to be at the club.’ Perfect fucking sense.
‘So you can keep an eye on me?’
‘Exactly.’
Her eyes narrow, pissed off. ‘I assume I had a life beyond you before the accident,’ she says, pointing a pout my way. ‘Or did you keep me nailed to your side permanently?’
I scoff. ‘I wish.’
‘I’m going to yoga at Elsie’s well-being centre, and you can’t stop me.’
She want to place bets on that? What’s wrong with our club, if she wants to practise yoga? And what if her memories come flooding back while I’m not with her? Lord knows, if she suddenly remembers everything, it could certainly bring on a panic attack. I’m about to reaffirm my refusal to let her go, but I pull back, reminding myself that my life is practically hanging in the balance. I can’t make her remember if she’s not talking to me, and that’s what’s going to happen if I deny her this. Softly-softly. Patience.
‘Fine.’ I spit the word out with force. ‘But I’m taking you and picking you up.’
‘I’d like to drive myself.’
I laugh, loud and sharp. She’s testing me now. ‘Don’t push me, Ava. I’ve agreed to yoga. That’s as much as you’re getting.’ I push myself into her front and squeeze her tight. ‘End of.
‘I’m driving myself.’ She pushes her hips into my groin. ‘End of.’