Always Loving You (3 page)

Ava looked at herself in the full-length mirror and cringed. She wasn’t used to going to work and showing this much skin. The one thing all the magazines had agreed on was dressing more provocative and sexy. She usually just wore pantsuits, and as she hadn’t been shopping since putting her plan in place, she was wearing the same today, with one change. She had unbuttoned her blouse far enough to take her from all-business to a mix of business and pleasure. She had also dug through her vanity drawers until she’d found the tube of red lipstick that she had received free with her last makeup purchase. Instead of wearing her hair up, she left it hanging in loose waves around her shoulders—another suggestion from
Cosmo
. She planned to have Emma go to the mall with her at lunch to buy some less conservative clothing. She needed a new look for the next item on her agenda, “unleashing her inner daredevil.” She couldn’t very well do that in plain black slacks. Her last addition to today’s outfit was a pair of high-heeled black sandals. She preferred her lower-heeled flats, but apparently that wasn’t sexy enough.

Shit, she looked like a stranger . . . but an attractive one, she admitted grudgingly. Before she could talk herself into changing back into her usual conservative ensembles, she hurried out of her apartment to her reliable white BMW sedan. It didn’t match her sexier new persona, but she had to draw the line at buying a sports car, right? Wouldn’t that be taking things too far? Besides, she had purchased this car because of the safety rating. Everything in her life it seemed was based on how safe it was. She consoled herself with the fact that she had opted for the sunroof, which was strictly for fun.

The drive into downtown Myrtle Beach was one she always enjoyed. It was still early morning, so the crowds were relatively quiet, as it was nearing the end of the official summer season. In the afternoon, these same streets would be filled with people walking, biking, or skating along Ocean Boulevard. On the weekends she spent a lot of her spare time on the beach, since she had very little social life outside work. She didn’t partake in any of the other tourist hobbies, though. Maybe it was time to make a change there as well. If you lived somewhere like Myrtle Beach, shouldn’t you enjoy more of what it had to offer? They had just installed a new zip line near her home. Did she dare do something that far out of her comfort zone?

She was pondering her first choice of activities on her daredevil agenda when an idea literally roared into the parking lot at Danvers. What she had always thought of as a death trap on two wheels was pulling into a space beside her. In reality, it was a sleek black
Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by one of Mac’s partners, Dominic Brady. Ava sat in her car, trying not to gawk out her window at the man dismounting next to her. She might be emotionally stunted, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the sexy picture that Dominic, or Dom, as his friends called him, presented. He was wearing the typical uniform of East Coast Security—cargo pants and a shirt with their logo on it. The poor shirt looked as if it were doing everything it could to cover the broad shoulders it was stretched across. And the pants . . . Oh, sweet God, her breath hitched in her throat as he bent over to do something with his bike, putting his ass directly in her line of sight. When he stood and looked toward her car as if sensing her there, she jerked her gaze away, fumbling with her keys. She knew if she looked into the mirror, her face would probably be bright red.

Finishing with his bike, he walked over to her car and opened the driver’s-side door for her. She blinked up at him in a daze before finally pulling it together enough to step out and let him shut the door behind her. “Ava.” His deep voice rumbled her name in greeting.

“Er . . . hi, Dominic. Riding your bike today?”
Oh my God, of course he’s riding his bike. Way to state the obvious, dummy. Next, I’ll just point out that he’s wearing pants too. Maybe mention his damn shoes. What happened to all the information from the magazines I studied last night?

He gave her an amused look before saying simply, “Yep.” She saw his eyes rest briefly on the expanse of flesh left on display by her blouse before moving up to
her face. Okay, that was a good sign. She’d never noticed Dominic checking her out before, so maybe her wardrobe changes were getting her somewhere. Of course, it wasn’t as if his tongue was hanging out or his breaths were coming in jerky grasps, but he’d totally looked at her boobs, so that was something.

“So, how fast does your bike go? Do you know the safety rating right off the top of your head?” By this time, he had started edging slowly through the parking lot, no doubt trying to get away from her. He stopped, surprised by her questions.

“It’ll go over a hundred.” Then, grinning, he added, “I don’t think anyone buys a Harley for the safety rating, honey.” Pointing to her car, he said, “If you’re into stuff like that, then you stick with a car like the one you’re driving.” He turned back, continuing toward the door to Danvers International where East Coast Security had an office. Ava trailed behind him to the elevator. When he got off on his floor, she stepped off as well. He gave her a curious look over his shoulder, since they both knew this wasn’t her floor. “Mac’s not in yet. He had to make some stops on his way. Want me to have him call you?”

When Dominic opened the door to their office, she followed him inside. “Um, no. Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

He flipped on the lights in the reception area before leaning back against the desk behind him. His look of curiosity was gone, and he was now studying her as you would a science experiment. This man probably knew as much about her life as she did. After all, he
had no doubt spent a lot of time watching out for her at Mac’s request. She felt the urge to tell him that she hadn’t really been having sex with any of the guys she had brought home over the years, but it might actually drop her down a couple of levels in his opinion. It was better to seem like a woman with normal sexual urges to a man like him. “What can I do for you, darling?”

Her thoughts scattered to the wind for a moment when his sexy voice uttered the endearment. Dominic was ex-military along with Mac and Declan, and even though she tried not to think of her brother that way, they all just oozed masculinity.

She wanted to run, to tuck her tail between her legs and forget all these crazy ideas, but then she thought of Mac and where he might actually be this morning. Probably either giving the new girlfriend a ride to work or, worse, getting a late start because he’d spent the night with her. Gwen was no doubt fun and carefree. Ava would try something new. Hell, she was trying something new, Mac! Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge. “I want to learn to ride a motorcycle. Could you teach me, you know . . . with yours?”

If she hadn’t been so embarrassed by the whole thing, she would have found his expression comical. His mouth opened and closed several times and his eyes blinked rapidly. She had a feeling that very few people surprised the man in front of her, but she sure had. “You want to, like, ride on the back of my bike? Yeah, I guess I could take you for a ride.”

He looked relieved just for a moment until she shook her head. “No, that’s not it.” Then his relief turned to
shock when she said, “I want to drive the bike. You could ride with me, I guess, on the back, but I want to steer the thing. You know, do it all myself.”

She wanted to die on the spot when he looked around the room suspiciously. “Is this a joke or something?” Oh crap, was the idea so absurd to him that he thought someone was having fun at his expense? She was pretty sure he was looking around for the culprit now.

Unbidden, tears started to well as embarrassment raced over her. What was she thinking asking a man like Dominic to teach her to ride a bike? He probably thought this was a pathetic attempt to hit on him. Unable to take any more humiliation, she turned toward the door, whispering an apology. She was surprised when hands landed on her shoulders, halting her progress. When she turned back to face him, he looked plainly terrified at the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. It was true, you could take the strongest man alive, and he would crumble under the weight of a woman’s tears. “Never mind. Just forget it,” she said as she tried to pull away.

“Ava, stop. Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were serious. You’re just not . . . I mean, shit, you really want to drive a bike?”

She nodded, thinking it didn’t really matter anyway. There was no way he was going to teach her.

He expelled a loud sigh, before dropping his hands. “You know Mac’s going to fucking kill me, right?”

Surprised, she looked up at him, trying not to react to the mention of Mac. Was he saying . . . ? He
narrowed his eyes as he studied her until she started shifting uncomfortably. Finally, a smile curved the corners of his mouth as he shook his head. “Well, well . . . sure. It looks like I’m your guy. How about we take a ride after work this evening so you can get a feel for things?”

She gave him a hesitant smile in return. She had the feeling that he knew exactly what she was up to. Either that or he was trying to pick her up. Whatever the reason, he was suddenly friendlier than she had ever imagined. She half expected him to pat her on the ass on the way out the door. Sadly, it would have been one of the bigger thrills in her life recently.

*   *   *

Mac walked in the door of East Coast Security after dropping off a coffee to Gwen. As always, he noticed Ava’s white BMW in its usual space in the parking garage. She usually arrived early and left late. In truth, he would rather have taken a coffee to her and chatted for a few moments, but that wasn’t his routine anymore. Now he had a girl he dated. He couldn’t bring himself to label Gwen as his girlfriend yet. He was too old for that anyway. He smiled at their receptionist, Melissa, and stopped to chat before heading back to the security monitors where Dominic was sitting. Their other partner, Gage, was out on a new job this morning and wouldn’t be in the office until that afternoon. They were all three ex-military and coexisted within their company in a way that only brothers could do. They might not be related by blood, but their bonds were just as strong if not stronger. “Hey, man,” Dominic muttered as he settled in a chair next to him.

“Everything tight?” Mac asked, knowing that Dominic would have called already had there been any problems.

“Yeah, it’s all good. Just zipping through the feeds from last night before filing them away.” It was their daily routine to do a quick check of the security feeds for the previous twenty-four hours each morning even if no problems were reported just to ensure that nothing was missed and that their employees were doing their jobs. In this business, your reputation was all you had, and they depended on it to acquire new clients.

Mac was half watching the monitor while flipping through his e-mail when the sight of a familiar blond head caught his attention. He looked at the monitor before Dominic could run it forward. The time stamp showed just an hour ago. “Did Ava come by here this morning?” It was a stupid question because the camera clearly showed her standing in the reception area with Dominic. Was it his imagination or was Dominic smirking at him?

When the other man simply said, “She did,” without saying anything further, he gritted his teeth.

“Was she looking for me?”

“Nope.” Dominic continued running through the security feeds without saying a word. Most of the time Mac loved that he, Dominic, and Gage were able to communicate with only a few words or a look. He was a firm believer in the motto “less is more,” but today he was finding it as annoying as hell.

“Why. Did. She. Come. By?” Surely to God, he could get an answer now. How much clearer could he be?

Dominic rocked back in his chair, before throwing his feet up on the desk in front of him. Was the fucker actually laughing at him? “Well, Mac, she followed me in from the parking garage to talk. She didn’t really mention you.”

Mac felt a wave of jealousy that he had no right feeling. He was dating Gwen, so he didn’t have a say in who Ava chose to talk to. It was probably just a perfectly innocent, friendly conversation between them anyway. Still, it was unlike Ava to seek out someone she barely knew, especially a man. But he’d be damned if he would ask Dominic any more questions, because the smug look the other man was giving him let him know that he was enjoying watching Mac squirm. Bastard. Instead he tried to act as if he didn’t care as he made an excuse to walk toward his office. It galled him more than he cared to admit that Ava had been to his office space earlier with no intention of seeing him.

Ava handed Emma some folders and said, “I need to go to the mall during lunch for some jeans and leather stuff. Can you go with me?” When there was no reply, she looked up from the e-mail she was composing to see Emma staring at her with a bewildered expression on her face. “What?”

“You can’t just drop stuff like that on me and not expect that I’m going to have questions. The jeans, yeah, I get why you need those, but what kind of leather stuff are we talking here?”

Ava knew it was hopeless to think that she could get Emma on board without telling her everything. The girl was like a bulldog with a bone when she wanted to be. Rather than going into a long explanation¸ she picked her purse up and pulled out the notes she had made last night from various magazines. She handed them over to Emma, who gave her a questioning look before she started reading. After a few minutes, the other woman looked up at her with a huge grin. “I have no idea where you got all this, but does this mean what I think it does?”

“And what do you think?” Ava hedged.

“You’re going after Mac, aren’t you? You’re taking your man back. Finally! I can totally help you with this. Well, everything except the second page where it says ‘have a threesome with your best friend.’ I don’t think Brant would be into me getting it on with you and Mac.”

Ava handed her a pen. “Mark that one out. I shouldn’t have included it. The thought of a twosome sends me into a panic, so an orgy is definitely out.”

Seeming genuinely happy, Emma said, “This is great, Ava. I know how you feel about Mac, but I was afraid that you were just going to let him go, and I know you’d never get over that. Okay, enough of the serious stuff! I need to ask, though, why the leather? Are we talking some bondage stuff here? Don’t you think that’s a bit ambitious for a beginner?”

“No! That’s not what I want.” She couldn’t contain her giggle at the other woman’s serious expression. Good grief, did she think she had suddenly turned into a closet dominatrix? “I need some clothing to wear on a motorcycle. Don’t you usually wear some kind of leather for that? Maybe a jacket?”

Emma looked confused as she asked, “Motorcycle?”

Settling back into her chair, Ava gave a proud smile. “Yep, I’m working on the daredevil part of my plan. Well, actually, it kind of fell into my lap. You know Dominic, who works with Mac?”

Emma gave an appreciative smile, and Ava was sure she licked her lips. “Oh yeah, I sure do. I love your brother, but I’m not going to lie, Dominic starred in a
few of my preengagement vibrator sessions. That man just breathes sex.”

“He does look good.” Ava found herself agreeing. She wasn’t used to having this kind of girl talk, because before Emma came along, she really didn’t have any close friends, especially women. She had spent most of her time with Mac. Maybe what they were talking about was silly, but it was nice to do something so normal for a change. “Anyway, he’s going to teach me how to ride his motorcycle. He was a little hesitant at first, but he said yes. I’m meeting him after work tonight.”

Emma jumped up out of her chair, pumping her fist in the air. “Yes, yes! You are my new hero!” Brant picked that exact moment to stick his head in the office, looking at his fiancée in amusement.

“I believe you said the same thing to me this morning, baby.”

Emma whirled to see him behind her, and Ava was surprised to see her assistant blush as she gave Brant a soft smile.

“Cool it, Mr. Stone. Your sister and I are trying to get some work done here.”

He smiled at them both, looking curious. “I can see that. Just wanted to know if you ladies had lunch plans.”

Before Ava could make an excuse, Emma jumped to it first. She took Brant’s arm, steering him toward the door. “I’m sorry, babe. The girls invited us to lunch earlier. Ella’s having some of those Braxton Hicks contractions and she wanted to discuss them with the girls. You know, get a second opinion.”

Ava had to choke back her laughter as her brother started to shift uncomfortably. Obviously, the man thought this was some kind of code for “female problems.” “Oh yes, you need to do that, then. We can have lunch another day. I mean, no big deal at all.” The whole time he was talking, he was edging backward. Emma blew him a kiss, saying that she loved him as he turned to flee.

“You’re really bad, you know? Brant was sweating bullets when he left. The poor man is too uptight for his own good.”

Emma grinned in return. “He is cute, though, right? And I was serious. Not about the Braxton Hicks thing, but about meeting the girls. They asked me this morning to have lunch. We’ll eat at the mall and get them on board as well. Mac will never know what hit him with all of us working together.”

Ava started shaking her head, beginning to feel apprehensive. “Em, I can’t go to lunch with your friends. I hardly know them. I just . . . I’m not good with crowds. I don’t know what to do with other women.”

Emma sat back down in the chair in front of her, giving her a look of sympathy. “Ava, you’ll be fine. You already know Ella—and Suzy, Claire, and Beth are awesome. You’ll have a great time, I promise. If you get uncomfortable, just give me a sign or something, and I’ll make an excuse for us to leave. You can consider this part of your daredevil challenge. Having girlfriends is a wonderful part of life, one I think you need.”

Ava felt as if she were agreeing to a voluntary root canal as she said, “All right, I’ll try it. Don’t blame me,
though, if your friends don’t want anything to do with you after this. I’m not only sexually stunted; I’m socially stunted as well.”

“You’ll be just fine,” Emma assured her. “Now, I’ll let the girls know that we’ll just meet them in the front of the mall. I’ll cut you some slack and won’t make you ride with them . . . this time.”

“Gee, thanks.” Ava smiled. She was secretly relieved, though. She hadn’t thought of how uncomfortable being in the confines of a car with a bunch of women she barely knew would be. It sounded like hell. Yeah, she was completely and totally socially inept.

*   *   *

“So, Ava, I’m really digging this look you’ve got going on today. Your boobs look much bigger than I first had them pegged for.”

Ava almost spat her drink across the table as the cool redhead openly assessed her breasts. “Er . . . thank you, Suzy. That’s . . . good to hear.” They were having lunch at a Mexican restaurant inside the mall. Emma had arranged it so Ava was sitting between her and Ella, and that had helped lessen the discomfort a bit. Unfortunately, that left Suzy, Claire, and Beth across the table. So here she sat, fiddling with her glass and trying to follow the flow of conversation around her. She felt as if she had entered some Lifetime movie where each woman talked about her husband. She knew who these women were married to and she suspected they must be thrilled to go home at the end of each day.

When she and Brant had originally met Jason Danvers, she had been so tongue-tied she couldn’t speak.
She hadn’t been expecting someone so young and gorgeous. But the real crush had developed once he started talking. The man was brilliant. She had fallen in love with his mind that day. Ava had always had a thirst for knowledge, and Jason was a master teacher. To watch him in action closing a big deal was a thing of beauty. One of his most attractive qualities, though, was how much he loved his wife and the fact that he didn’t bother to hide it. Ava had had dinner with them a few times through the course of various business functions, and Jason seemed to think that the world revolved around the woman he had chosen to be by his side. Ava knew that Claire had once been his assistant at Danvers but was now his wife and the mother of his child.

Suzy was married to Grayson “Gray” Merimon, who had also come on board at Danvers when Jason acquired his company. Gray’s brother, Nick, worked for Danvers as well and was married to Suzy’s sister, Beth. Just trying to keep up with all the connections seemed mind-boggling. And of course, there was Ella, who was married to Ava’s brother Declan. Ella was adorable and currently only a month away from giving birth to their first child. Lately Ava felt a pang of emptiness when she saw how happy other people were as part of a couple. She could have had that if only she hadn’t been such a coward. Mac had wanted a real relationship with her, but now it might be too late.

“Yoo-hoo, hellooo!”

Ava jumped as Emma’s shout jostled her back to the present. She felt herself flush as all eyes at the table were on her.

“Good grief, woman, you were completely zoned out there. So, anyway, I want to talk to the girls about your mission and see if we can get some insight. Is that okay with you?”

Ava smiled politely, thinking,
I am so going to kill this big mouth when we get back to the office.
“Um . . . I guess so.”

Emma gave her a wink in return as if trying to reassure her before diving in. “Ladies, you know that Mac and Ava are close, right? Or they were before he started dating someone else. Now, to be fair to Mac, he did want Ava first, but she wasn’t ready. Anyway, now he’s moved on and we just can’t let that happen. We need to help Ava get his attention back and help him to see that she’s ready to take the next step.”

Suzy rubbed her temple, saying, “I think you’ve left out a lot of details there, but we can still work with what we’ve got. So, who is the woman that Mac’s dating?”

“It’s Gwen, you know, the redhead who works in accounting?” Ella offered.

“G-lo?” Claire blurted out before slapping a hand over her mouth.

“No shit, really?” Suzy smirked. “Wow, I guess Mac likes big butts and he cannot lie.”

“Oh my God,” Beth groaned, looking at her sister. “I can’t believe you went there. Her butt isn’t that big.”

“It’s not that it’s big,” Suzy corrected, “it’s just quite round and juicy, like Jennifer Lopez, aka J-lo. Hey, I’m not insulting her; I’d like to have an ass like that myself.”

“Me too,” Claire admitted. “If I lose a pound, my butt takes a leave of absence. I’ve always wanted a big one.”

“Yeah, hell, me too,” Emma added. “Sorry, Ava, but men do love the big butts.”

“She’s not shy about showing that sucker off either,” Ella chimed in. “She was walking in front of me last week and her dress was glued to it like a second skin. I almost ran into a ficus tree watching her walk.”

Ava dropped her head onto the table, ready to admit defeat. “If you’re all in love with her or at least her ass, what hope does that leave for me? The magazines didn’t mention butt implants.”

Suzy leaned forward in her chair, patting her on the top of the hand. “Honey, you’ve got more going for you than a good set of buns. Mac was into you first and men don’t get over stuff like that as easily as they want to believe. Also, you’ve got us. I’m sure G-lo is a nice person and all, but she’s gotta go. There are plenty of other ass-gawking men out there for her, so she’ll be fine. Now, Emma said something about you needing clothes for a date with Dominic?”

It seemed that all jaws dropped when that name was mentioned. He appeared to have quite a few admirers at the table. When Ava told them about her plan to start trying new hobbies to catch Mac’s attention with her adventurous streak, everyone applauded. “I think you’re onto something.” Claire laughed. “Mac has been to our house on several occasions going over security things, and Jason just loves how OCD he is over safety. Truthfully, it drives me crazy sometimes, but I go along
with it because otherwise Jason would be a nervous wreck when my daughter, Chrissy, and I are alone. I bet you suddenly doing things so out of character will drive Mac out of his mind! Riding a Harley with Dominic, though, is really hitting the big leagues. I’m impressed.”

The other girls nodded in agreement as Ava admitted, “I want him to see that I can be fun and exciting. For years, he’s known only the quiet and repressed Ava. I need to show not only him, but more important, myself, that I can be like other women my age. I don’t have to be so serious about everything anymore. I’m scared to death, but go big or go home, right?” Of course, most of the women at the table didn’t know about her past and the baggage that she was trying to overcome. They just assumed that she had dragged her feet and let Mac slip away. It was as much as she was willing to share at this point. Heck, she couldn’t be sure whether her past was a secret, because most things at Danvers seemed to be public knowledge. Maybe they all knew more than they were letting on, but she wasn’t about to discuss it openly with them . . . not yet and maybe not ever.

Looking her over, Suzy said, “So we need some clothes to make Mac sit up and take notice, right?”

Claire, the sweet one as Ava had come to think of her, added, “Not that there is anything wrong with the way you dress. I think you always look so nice.”

“You do,” Beth agreed, giving her a friendly smile. “Maybe just some casual clothes for the new hobbies you plan to take on.”

“What she needs,” Emma interjected, “are some tit-displaying shirts to put those babies out there. Mac has to be behind G-lo to appreciate her big ass, but hello, your girls are right there on eye level for him. There is no way he can miss those suckers if you open those buttons up.”

It felt so strange to have female friends rooting for her that Ava wasn’t sure if she wanted to jump up and high-five everyone, yelling something about girl power, or run for the nearest door. Instead she followed the others out of the restaurant as they made their way into the mall, clearly women on a mission.

The next hour was something akin to a horror movie as the women she barely knew threw an alarmingly large stack of clothing before her and demanded that she model it, save for the underwear, thank God. When the whirlwind shopping spree was over, it took all of them to carry the bags. She had spent enough money that she could have put an impressive down payment on a new car. What did it matter, though? All these years of having no social life meant that she rarely spent money on anything other than living expenses.

She promised Suzy that she would continue wearing her hair loose and was grateful that no one had suggested a new haircut. Her hair was her one vanity, and even though she mostly wore it up, she still loved her long blond tresses. She groaned in exhaustion as she climbed into the passenger side of Emma’s car. How could anyone love shopping? It was total hell.