Perfectly Able (20 page)

After re
moving her pants, I sliced the lime. She lay quietly, watching my every move with wide eyes. I licked a trail along her abdomen and sprinkled it with salt.

“You ready for a body shot?” I asked.

She licked her lips and nodded. I poured a shot of tequila in the hollow of her throat.

Positioning myself over her body
, I sensually licked the salt from her abdomen, enjoying the way her muscles clenched as my tongue licked the cool surface of her skin. I moved to her breasts, taking a nipple in my mouth and sucking it before I licked my way higher to the pool of tequila at the base of her throat. I sucked it up and my warm tongue flicked over the hollow as I trailed kisses over her neck. Rising up higher, I took the lime from her mouth, bit into it, sucked the juice, and then discarded it. I pulled her bra lower, gazing at her full breasts in the moonlight. Unable to resist the urge to touch them, my fingers skimmed the silky flesh, and I took her nipple in my mouth, loving the way its hardened tip felt against my tongue.

I broke away and pulled her into a seated position as one hand circled her back and released her bra. I flung the scrap of black fabric to the side and dropped my lips to
hers, teasing with my tongue until she opened to me. A soft moan escaped her throat, and I hardened in response.

She broke away from me. “It’s my turn,” she whispered.

“You want a shot?” I asked, anticipating the touch of her lips on my skin.

She nodded, and I moved away from her. I removed my shirt, poured a shot in the shot glass that I’d grabbed from the kitchen, and tucked it in the waistband of my jeans. I grabbed two slices of lime, placing one in my mouth, flesh side out, and squeezed the other one o
n my upper chest. I poured salt on my chest. “There you go. Let’s see what you got.”

Ava didn’t flinch as she
crawled toward me, wearing nothing but her silky panties. When her hot tongue hit my chest, I closed my eyes and savored the sensation. She licked slowly, sensually. Alternating between raining kisses down my abdomen and licking my flesh, she closed in on the shot of tequila. The cool October air accentuated the spots where her tongue had landed, and it took all of my discipline not to move as she finished her shot. She gulped down the tequila and swiftly took the lime from my mouth, sucking the juice from it as her nose wrinkled at the bitter liquor. I knew she felt the burn in her belly, and I laughed softly at her response.

Ava watched as I prepared to take another shot of tequila. I licked the salt from the back of my hand, emptied the shot glass, and sucked on a slice of lime. “I’d offer you another one, but unless you’re a frequent drinker, you might want to wait until you see how that shot affects you.”

“I rarely drink,” she whispered.

“Smart girl. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people get completely shitfaced and make complete idiots out of themselves.”

“Have you?”

I grinned. “I’ve been drunk a few times, but I can resist alcohol easier than some and I don’t usually
get as mouthy as a lot of drunks. That liquid courage has caused more than one guy to go home with a black eye or two.”

She studied me quietly in the moonlight, and I liked the way she looked at me.

“What’re you thinking?” I asked quietly.

“I’m thinking that I really want you to kiss me.” She licked her lips, and it was all the invitation that I needed. I pulled her into my lap
, guiding her legs to my sides, so that she straddled me. Cupping her nape, I pulled her to me until our lips touched. I kept the kiss slow and sensual as long as I could. My hands firmly grabbed her outer thighs as my thumbs worked tiny circles on the inside of her leg, reaching dangerously close to the silken scrap of fabric until they finally brushed against it, and I could feel her moisture.

Hell, it was nearly my undoing. If we didn’t go swimming now, we’d never make it to the pool. Once I had sex with her, there was no going back, and damn it, I wanted her badly, more than I’d ever wanted a
nyone. But there was something special about Ava, and the last thing I wanted to do was take advantage of her vulnerability. I wanted to protect her, to make sure that she was never hurt again.

She squirmed
in my lap, and my mind tormented me as the pros and cons of taking this situation any further ticked off in my head. Hell, I knew I was overanalyzing, but I was worried about Ava. If I allowed things to go further than they should, how would it affect her? I’d already allowed things to go too far once. If I did it a second time, then it was more than being caught up in a moment. It would be a calculated decision on my part.

“Ridge, please,” she whispered, her need evident on her face, as she pushed her crotch against my thumbs.

Shit, I was powerless to resist her soft plea. I wanted Ava to be happy, but more than that, I wanted to be the man who made her happy.

I slid my thumb
beneath her panties, finding the sensitive spot that she so desperately wanted me to touch.

I wouldn’
t have sex with her, but I would give her pleasure.

***

When my eyes first opened, I had the strangest sensation of having no idea where the hell I was. After the fog cleared from my brain, I realized that I was in my new house, and that realization felt damn good. I also realized that I had insisted that Ava stay the night since we had both been drinking, and I’d given her my bed while I slept on the hardwood floor. My body felt stiff, thanks to the fact that I had no furniture to speak of and the only thing separating me from the unforgiving, wooden planks was a thin blanket that my mom had gotten me for Christmas one year that I’d never opened until last night.

The chilly air reminded me that I wore nothing but a pair of boxers, and the smell of coffee alerted me that Ava had woken before me.

I lifted my head, peering over the top of an empty box to see her moving around in the kitchen in my tee shirt, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. Seeing her in my clothing created a feeling of possessiveness in my chest, a feeling that I never felt regarding women, and I knew that whenever I was with Ava, I was dabbling with trouble. I’d known what would happen, and I hadn’t had the strength to resist her. Even now, she mesmerized me as I watched her without her knowing.

I stood up, stretching my back to alleviate the soreness, and walked toward the temptress who had taken over my kitchen
.

“Good morning,” she greeted, smiling brightly. I sat down at the bar, facing her as she moved around the kitchen.
She poured a cup of coffee and set it down in front of me. “I boiled some eggs,” she said. “You want a couple? I was going to scramble some, but I couldn’t find a skillet. So boiled eggs won.”

“Yes, I do want a couple, and I’ll add
skillet
to my list.”

She laughed. “From what I see here, you better add a lot more than a skillet.
I was surprised to find the coffee maker.”

“Between getting up extremely early on most mornings and needing to sober Mason up quite often, I had no choice but to buy a coffee maker once I moved into the apartment with him.”

“Good investment,” she said.

I glanced at my phone. With everything going on last night, I’d failed to set my alarm. It was almost six-thirty, and I’d intended to be up by six.

Ava set a bowl in front of me with two, peeled, hard-boiled eggs. I captured her wrist in my grasp before she had the chance to whirl away.

She froze, looking at me with widened blue eyes.

I kissed her palm. “Good morning.” I let my fingertips trail over hers before I released her.

Her lips broke into a smile. “Good morning.”

“So what are your plans today?” I asked, picking up my coffee cup and taking a sip of the steaming liquid.

“Well, since I’ve slowed down on my training and I don’t have any real estate appointments, I don’t really have any plans.”

“Good, because I took the day off and I could really use a woman’s touch to help me pick out some furniture, washer and dryer, all that fun stuff.”

She nodded before I even finished talking. “
Sure. I could do that.”

“I’
m gonna go for a run first.”

“Okay. I’ll go home and get cleaned up, and I’ll meet you back here.”

I didn’t know what scared me the most: the fact that I’d just asked Ava to spend the entire day with me because I really wanted her to or the fact that I wished she didn’t have to go home to get cleaned up because for a brief moment, I’d wished that she lived here with me.

She was working her way in, and the more my brain entertained thoughts of her, the less it concentrated on the goals on my list.

And the truth was…I was beginning to think that maybe I didn’t give a damn about my list, maybe what I really gave a damn about was…Ava Nottingham.

Chapter 14

Ava

“I think you should put the couch here,” I told Ridge, “and let the back of the couch be an extension of the hallway. And you should put the loveseat
near the front door, letting the back of it extend the entryway and face that wall.” I pointed to the wall that ran perpendicular with the main entry. “That way the wall of windows in the front of the house will be unobstructed, and you have plenty of room to hang your TV over the fireplace. What do you think?”

He smacked me playfully on the butt. “I think that’s why I asked you. You point out where it should be, and I’ll do all the calculations to make sure it’s straight or level or that it’ll fit.”

The delivery guys deposited the black, leather furniture exactly where we’d asked, and Ridge and I unrolled the mocha-colored rug with black and various shades of brown worked into the design, which tied the taupe walls together with the black furniture nicely. He’d picked out a black and glass coffee table with matching end tables.

After a generous tip, the delivery guys left, and he and I stood back to appreciate the look.

“I like it,” he said, pulling me to him for a kiss.

“Me, too.”

“Come on,” I urged. “We still have a lot to do before your mom and stepdad get here.”

His washer and dryer and kitchen table
had all arrived the day before, and while it took Ridge most of the previous evening, he did manage to get the washer and dryer hooked up and ready to go.

When we went shopping
a few days ago, Ridge had bought towels and cloths for the bath and the kitchen, as well as a few oversized towels to use for the pool.

“Why didn’t you tell me buying a house was so much work?” he teased, his bicep rippling into motion as he ran his fingers through his hair.

I rubbed my fingertips against the stubble that darkened his jaw. “It’ll be worth it.”

“I hope so. This week is killing me.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. He got up before daybreak to run or cycle, swam laps in the evening, and had stayed up late all week while we worked to get his house in order.

He was exhausted
.

The dryer sang a high-pitched melody, alerting me that it had finished. “Why don’t you sit down and rest a few minutes while I fold the towels?”

“That sounds like a damn good idea.” He yawned, his large fist covering his mouth while he closed his eyes. He stretched his hands over his head, his tee shirt rising to expose his adonis belt, and my eyes were drawn to the V-shape that disappeared below his low-rise jeans.

When his shirt fell back into place, my eyes lifted to his face, and I watched as he collapsed on the couch.

The laundry room adjoined the kitchen, and I scooped the towels out of the dryer and quickly folded them and put them away. I transferred the load in the washer to the dryer and then went back to the living room.

He was sound asleep. As quietly as I could, I walked toward him. Lying on his back with his head propped up on a decorative pillow and one arm folded over his head, Ridge breathed softly as he slumbered. A five-o’clock shadow darkened his well-defined jawline, and I had the urge to rub my fingertips along his cheek.
His bronzed skin had faded slightly since the beginning of autumn, and his hair had started to darken. He was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen, but perhaps I felt that way because of my feelings for him.

It was odd feeling the tears that stung my eyes
because I wasn’t sad at all. The last few months had been difficult for me, but everything had changed the moment that I first saw Ridge. I’d heard him say many times that he didn’t want a serious relationship, but his actions told me that he did care for me. And while I didn’t know what our future held, hope had welled in my chest.

Scalding tears spilled
onto my cheeks, and as I stood watching him sleep, I reveled in everything that he represented for me: hope, encouragement, kindness, acceptance. I cupped my cheeks with my palms and used my fingertips to wipe away the tears. Not having the heart to wake him, I rushed back to the kitchen to quietly tidy everything before his mother and stepfather arrived.