Page 15

CHAPTER 15

March 7 th

8:51 A.M.

Ava had allowed Teresa and Chelsea to talk her into working from home, so she had more time to rest, and it would be easier if she needed to take a break. In the end, though, it hadn't been cutting out the traveling time that had convinced her to stay home, and it wasn't even that she was enjoying being surrounded by all her things, although both were true.

It was that she could be alone with Nathaniel.

Which was silly of her, especially given that he’d been odd ever since they got to her place yesterday afternoon, but she wanted this time with him, craved it even.

Perhaps it was because he’d been acting off since they got there rather than in spite of it.

Something was going on with him, and she wished he’d open up to her about it and talk it through. While she might not have all the answers, she could at least listen and offer support if that was what he needed or possible solutions if he wanted them. Whatever it was, she wanted him to let her in, even just a little bit.

The chances of that were higher if they were alone together.

Unfortunately, she’d missed out on most of their alone time the day before. By the time she took her bubble bath and then snuggled up under the covers in her big, beautiful bed her exhausted body and mind gave out. With the knowledge that Nathaniel was in the living room, a protective barrier between her and anything that wanted to hurt her, Ava had been able to crash long and hard.

It was late when she woke up, and the others were home. They’d had dinner together, but she’d still been tired so she’d gone right back to bed after dessert.

“You sure you don’t mind me doing a little work?” she asked as she pulled up her legs and tucked them under her, setting her laptop on her lap.

She planned to log into Prey’s system from home and help to go through the long list of people who had been on the boat. The more they knew about them, the better their chances of finding out who was running the ring and where they were hiding. It was a long and tedious task that would require running in-depth background checks on all of them, but it was something she and her team were used to doing, and she was confident they would find enough scraps of information to put together to find what they needed.

“You do what you need to do,” Nathaniel replied.

“What are you going to do while I work?” It wasn't fair of her to get lost in her computer while he sat there staring into space. Just because he wasn't technically a guest, he was there to do a job, he was still kind of a guest and she liked having him close.

He’d certainly filled enough of her dreams.

Only in her dreams he was freer, happier, the weight she saw hanging heavily on his shoulders was gone.

Could she help him find that version of himself?

Would he even want her to?

Nathaniel Trevino was a hard guy to read. Sometimes, she was sure he liked her, wanted to get to know her, thought she was pretty, and was as anxious to strip off her clothes and have his way with her as she was to strip his off and have her way with him. Other times he looked at her fiercely like she was something important that needed to be protected at all costs.

But other times she could have sworn she saw in his deep chocolate brown depths that he was almost … afraid of her.

Afraid wasn't quite the right word, but he looked at her as though he didn't deserve her and yet she knew that wasn't the case. She didn't tend to see people as deserving or undeserving of love and affection, everyone was entitled to those things, and unless you were a terrible human being, you should have at least one person who loved you. Ava was absolutely certain that Nathaniel was not a terrible human being, after all, he’d chosen a career that put him in danger as he fought to rid the world of evil.

“You know, Aves, the polite thing to do is listen when someone answers a question that you asked them,” Nathaniel said, and she blinked and realized he was staring right at her with amusement dancing in his dark eyes.

“Oh, right. Sorry about that. I was just … totally zoning out and thinking about something else rather than listening to you,” she finished, realizing there was no way she could pretend that wasn't exactly what had happened.

“I said,” Nathaniel started with exaggerated patience that made her giggle, “that Prey logged me into their system as well so I can help out as best as I can. I might not be a computer genius like you and the rest of your team, but I can at least do something to help.”

“Course you can,” she agreed. In fact, she was positive that Nathaniel had a whole range of skills that he was able to use to thrive in any given situation. “We can bounce ideas off each other as we go if you want, me and my team often do that.”

For a moment, Nathaniel looked startled by her offer. Almost like he had expected her to tell him that she and her team had it covered and that they didn't need anyone else’s help.

But this was too important not to have as many people involved as possible.

It didn’t matter that Nathaniel’s job wasn't searching through intel, he had a pair of eyes, an intelligent brain, and plenty of knowledge about how evil worked. He was an asset, absolutely.

“Uh, yeah, I guess we can do that,” he agreed. The faintest tint of pink colored his cheeks, and she realized he wasn't just surprised by her offer but pleased with it as well.

If he were that easy to make happy then things were going to be smooth sailing as soon as she figured out how to read this guy. Whoever said that women were the more complicated sex was crazy, girls were easy to figure out, but guys … they were a riddle for the ages. Or maybe that was just because she was a girl so she knew how most girl minds worked.

“We’ll make a whole lot more progress that way,” she gushed, heading right into rambling mode because she felt a little self-conscious around Nathaniel. After all, he was drop-dead gorgeous, with a body to die for, and he was intelligent, witty, brave, protective, and a really good cook.

What girl wouldn't be weak at the knees in his presence?

“I might know how to source everything the internet has to offer to build a profile, but you’ll be able to bring that profile to life,” Ava continued. “After all, that’s your area of expertise.”

“Pretty sure I'm the brawn and you're the brain here, Aves.” Nathaniel threw in a self-deprecating smile that riled her up.

“Nuh-uh. No way. You are brain and brawn for sure.” There was no way Nathaniel wasn't both, the SEALs might recruit physically strong people, sure, but you also had to be mentally strong to endure hell week, and BUD/s, and everything else needed to be a SEAL.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but?—”

“No buts,” she cut him off firmly. “Unless you want to set me off into full-on ramble mode, and I must warn you, if you haven’t already figured it out, I don’t have an off switch once I start.”

Her teasing had him laughing, and when she patted the spot beside her on the couch, Nathaniel immediately moved to join her, setting his own laptop on his lap. There was a comradery between them that she didn't think was solely because of the time they’d spent together in Mexico. There was just something about them that clicked.

At least in her mind.

Now if she could just figure out where Nathaniel’s mind was.

Before she could bring anything up, because her motto was always to be as direct as she could be, but temper it with gentleness and tact, her phone rang. She might have ignored it, but it was the name of her jeweler on the screen, and she realized that while she was being held captive by the trafficking ring, the deadline to pick up a stunning diamond bracelet that had a broken clasp and was worth a small fortune had passed.

If she lost that bracelet, something she’d inherited from her grandmother, she’d be heartbroken. She’d had a great relationship with her grandmother growing up, and although her mom had tried to get possession of the bracelet, that had been her grandma’s favorite, she’d been unsuccessful. Her grandma had been Ava’s biggest supporter, and that bracelet was the only thing she had left of her.

“I’m so sorry, I have to take this. This jeweler is the best in the business, and she has a bracelet of mine worth almost fifty grand. I was supposed to pick it up weeks ago, but obviously, I couldn’t. I don’t know what I'm going to do if they got rid of it. It’s their policy, unclaimed items are forfeited after ten days, and I’m well past that.” It wasn't the cost of the bracelet, it was that it was her beloved grandma’s. It was irreplaceable even if she had enough money to buy another, which she did not.

“Ava, you’re rambling, and you missed the call,” Nathaniel informed her, which when she looked down at her phone, she realized was true.

With a groan, she shot him an apologetic smile and quickly opened the phone app to call the jeweler back. She would have sworn she saw disapproval in Nathaniel’s eyes, but she wrote it off as her being distracted. After all, what possible reason could he have for being disappointed in her?

* * *

March 7 th

12:22 P.M.

His mood had only continued to drop throughout the day.

It was to the point where he knew he was making it more than obvious that something was going on with him. Not that he’d ever been doing a good job at hiding it but now Ava had even stopped bothering to ask him what was wrong.

The phone call had been the final nail in the coffin.

This morning he’d resolved to do his best to put aside their vastly different upbringings and social statuses and just get to know Ava. When he’d been tossing and turning on her couch last night, so very aware of her all tucked up in her bed down the hall, he’d determined that he hated being judged on his past and shouldn’t do the same thing to someone else.

Then she went and talked about a bracelet worth almost fifty thousand dollars like it was nothing, just commonplace in her world, and he’d realized that no amount of wishful thinking was going to change the fact that they didn't belong together. She deserved someone who could drop tens of thousands of dollars on a single piece of jewelry, who could give her all the things she was accustomed to.

And that guy wasn't him.

“You want some help making lunch?” Ava asked as she breezed into the kitchen.

Her plan for the two of them to work together had kind of gone up in smoke after her phone call to the jeweler.

His fault.

Totally.

He hadn't been able to get past how easily she talked about such expensive jewelry, and he’d been belligerent and argumentative. They’d quickly drifted into silence, each focusing on their own work. Not that it had stopped him from sneaking as many unobtrusive glances at her as he could.

She was so pretty, so sweet, so hardworking, with that little furrow between her brow as she focused on her laptop. The bandage on her neck was a constant reminder of what she’d been willing to sacrifice for him.

Reconciling the woman he’d been getting to know with the background he knew she came from and the luxuries she still enjoyed seemed almost impossible.

Yet he had to.

Had to keep reminding himself why he couldn’t get more attached than he already was.

“I’m quite capable of making lunch,” he snapped, immediately regretting the harshness to his tone when Ava flinched and took a step back.

Why was he doing this?

Why was he letting his fears that he wasn't good enough for her make him act like a jerk?

Was he really this much of a coward?

All these years, Nathaniel thought he had moved on from his childhood, from the abuse he’d suffered. Thought that he had built a life where he was impervious from its clutches so long as he kept his heart to himself.

Then along came a five foot two, blonde-haired, blue-eyed pillar of strength and bravery, and he realized he hadn't moved on from his past at all.

Not if it could make him speak like that to someone who had been nothing but sweet and kind to him.

“Sorry,” he said sincerely, turning to meet her gaze so she could see he meant it. “I'm just a little on edge today.”

“Okay,” she agreed with only the slightest hesitation. “We all have bad days sometimes. Apology accepted. And I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were too macho to know how to cook. The mashed potatoes last night were perfect, and you cooked the sausages just the way I liked them.”

A chuckle burst out of him without conscious thought. Here he was thinking she was implying he was too lower class to know how to prepare food that would appeal to her fancy palate, and there she was thinking he thought she was implying he couldn’t cook because he was a guy.

Once again, they were on totally different wavelengths.

“I’d love some help with lunch. I was making us pasta salad. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yum. One of my favorites. What do you need help with?”

Glad she’d accepted both his apology and his olive branch, he pointed to the tomatoes. “Why don’t you chop them while I do the cucumber.”

“Sure thing.” Ava moved further down the kitchen counter, picked up a knife, and began to slice them. “What else are you putting in?”

“Already did some onion, and I was going to add some peppers as well. Anything else you want to put in?”

“Maybe some salami if we have any.”

“I’ll check.” Setting down the knife beside the cucumber, he checked the fridge and found what he was looking for. “You're in luck.”

“Perfect.” Ava shot him an easy smile and he was grateful that she wasn't one to hold a grudge or make a big deal out of things because he certainly deserved whatever she wanted to dish out after his poor attitude all morning.

For a while they worked in silence, the only sound the clinks of the knives. It was a companionable one though, comfortable, and the more seconds that ticked by without a reminder of how out of her league he was, the more Nathaniel started relaxed.

The more he relaxed, the more his gaze darted to Ava, studying her slim form. Even dressed in leggings and an oversized sweater she was gorgeous. The way her hair was piled on top of her head in some fancy bun, with a few tendrils escaping to curl ever so softly around her face had him wanting to reach out and twirl a lock of hair around his finger. Then trail his fingers over her petal-soft skin, touching kisses to the bandage on her neck, evidence of the fact that she had put herself in danger for him.

He was so busy watching her that he didn't realize his elbow was so close to the glass of orange juice he’d been drinking while he worked. It went flying, spilling juice all over him and the bench. Luckily, he snapped out a hand and was able to catch the glass before it hit the floor and shattered, but the contents still got everywhere.

“Great reflexes,” Ava said with a giggle.

“Too bad I didn't use them before I hit the glass,” he said, making her giggle again. “Sorry about the mess.”

“No big deal, easily cleaned up. Although you might have to take off your shirt. Orange juice is sticky.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he wondered if she was thinking about the conversation on unwrapping from when they were in Mexico.

“Sticky,” he agreed as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and quickly pulled it up and off.

There was no need to be a mind reader to know what was running through Ava’s mind as her gaze roamed his bare chest. Hunger danced in her pretty blue eyes, and a whole lot of appreciation.

It was silly, but Nathaniel felt his chest puff out with pride that the woman he was insanely attracted to was as hungry for him as he was for her.

“We should clean up the mess,” he said huskily.

“We should,” Ava murmured, taking a step forward and lifting a hand.

It hovered between them for a moment before reaching out to rest on his chest above his heart. The warmth of her palm seeped into him, and her fingertips whispered across an old scar below his collarbone.

“We should also buy you some new clothes if you're going to keep spilling things,” Ava said, amusement and desire warring in her tone. “You don’t have much with you and I'm not going to be able to concentrate if you walk around shirtless. After lunch I’ll do an order and get you some shirts and pants.”

The words were like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over his head.

She wanted to buy him clothes.

While he was standing there doing everything in his power not to grab Ava, strip her naked, and lay her out on her kitchen table so he could devour her, she was worried about whether or not he had enough clothes to wear, and wanted to throw in his face that she had enough money to fit him out with a new wardrobe.

No matter how hard he kept trying not to let the fact that they came from different worlds consume him it kept slapping him in the face.

Moving away so her hand dropped off his chest, Nathaniel turned his back and grabbed a towel, running it under water so he could clean up his mess. “We should take care of the orange juice before it dries and creates a sticky film.”

“Uh … right … sure,” Ava said, confusion in her tone as she reached around him to grab his shirt. “I guess I’ll go rinse this out so it doesn’t stain.”

As he heard her go, he gripped the edge of the countertop and hung his head. Needing a moment to pull himself together. When was it going to sink in that he and Ava weren't going to work? If he continued to torture himself like this, he was going to undo a lifetime’s worth of work and destroy himself more efficiently than his parents ever could have done.