Perfectly Able (21 page)

“What time is it?” Ridge asked groggily. “Shit. It’s dark outside.” He sounded much more awake after that revelation. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A couple of hours.”

“You should’ve woken me up.”

I walked from the kitchen to the living room. “I’ve got everything under control. Everything’s put in its place. Coffee’s brewing, and your mom and stepdad should be here in about fifteen minutes.”

He reached for me, and I closed the distance between us. Pulling me into his lap, he wound his muscular arms around my waist and squeezed. “Have I told you that you’re pretty damn awesome today?”

I tapped my finger on my chin. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, you are.”

“Am I more awesome or less awesome than shopping for houses?”

“More.”

“Am I more awesome or less awesome than shopping for furniture?”

“Definitely more.”

“Am I more awesome or less awesome than having an inground swimming pool?”

“Well, that depends on whether you’re butt naked inside the swimming pool.” He ran his hands beneath my shirt, massaging my back.

“Does it?”

“
Hell, yeah.”

“And if I am?”

“If you are, then I can’t really think of anything more awesome than that.”

To prove his point, his hands curved around my ribs
to the front of my body, and he squeezed my breasts.

We heard car doors outside, and Ridge stood suddenly, lifting me to my feet.” I’m going to go brush my teeth and comb my hair. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared down the hallway, and I sat back down on the couch and waited.

The doorbell chimed, and he called out as he hurried back toward the living room
, his long legs covering the distance quickly. “I’m coming.”

I me
t Ridge at the front door, and he swung it open. “Mom, Ethan, come in.”

“Oh, Ridge, beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” his mother cooed as she entered the
room.

“Not bad for my first house,” Ridge agreed.

“Oh, honey, I’m not talking about your house. I’m talking about your girlfriend.”

I bit back a smile, although I wasn’t sure whether it was because she called me beautiful or because she referred to me as his girlfriend.

“Mom, Ethan, I’d like you to meet Ava Nottingham. Ava, this is my mother, Marie Kohl and my stepdad, Ethan.”

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Kohl,” I greeted as his mother grasped my hand between both of hers.

“Please call me Marie. If people start calling me Mrs. Kohl, then I’m gonna have to get a face lift.”

I smiled at her. “Very well…Marie.”

Mr. Kohl held his hand out to me. “And call me Ethan.” He shook my hand firmly and turned his attention to the house. “This is a nice place, Ridge.”

“Thanks. Do y’all want the nickel tour?”

“Of course,” his mother answered, smiling. Kelsey’s hair was dark like her mother’s, and I wondered if Ridge had taken after his father.

I waited in the living room
, resting my leg, while Ridge showed them the house. A few minutes later, I joined them as they stepped out back to see the swimming pool. It was dark outside, but the pool light was on, making the water glow a beautiful turquoise.

“I’m so proud of you, Ridge,” his mother
whispered, hugging him.

He placed his arm around her shoulders
. “I love you, Mom.”

“Love you, too, honey.”

“I’ll go pour us some coffee,” I whispered, not wanting to interrupt their moment. As I entered the house, my admiration for Ridge climbed even higher. Who didn’t love a man who loved his mother?

Marie and Ethan visited with us for another half hour over a cup of coffee. Once they left, Ridge collapsed on the cou
ch and closed his eyes.

“
I guess you’re pretty tired, huh?” I asked, sitting beside him and running my hand over the smooth leather cushion.

His eyes opened slowly. “I’m too tired to think.”

Part of me wondered if I made a move now, would he be tired enough to let his brain relax and his emotions take over? Maybe he was just tired enough to not let his damn list take over every conscious thought.

I scooted closer to him and laid my head against his chest while my hand traced an imaginary line down his jean-clad thigh.

He caught my fingers in his hand and brought them to his lips for a kiss. Then, he leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I hate to be a drag, but I’ve got to get some sleep. I’m exhausted, and I want to get up early to go cycling. The triathlon is two weeks away, and I’ve trained too long to be a slacker now.”

The triathlon would be one more thing he could cross off his list.

He released my hand and stood, stretching and yawning. “You can stay as long as you want. Just lock the door when you leave. I can’t hold my eyes open a moment longer.”

Trying to hide my disappointment, I pasted a smile on my face. “I’ll just straighten up the kitchen, then I’m going home. Good night, Ridge.”

“Good night. See you tomorrow?”

I nodded.

He gave me a brief kiss on the lips and headed down the hall toward his bedroom.

“Oh,” he said, stopping and turning back toward me, “I meant to ask you something.”

I looked at him as curiosity began building within me.

“Our office is having a fiftieth anniversary party Friday night, and they’re going to be announcing promotions. I was thinking earlier how lovely you’d look on my arm, and I was hoping that you’d agree to go with me.”

I knew I couldn’t go, but I nodded my head, unable to deny him anything. Besides, if I didn’t agree, he still had time to find someone else, and the selfish part of me couldn’t stand the thought of Ridge with another woman.

“Great, it’s a date. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Good night, Ridge.” 

I watched as he retreated, his broad shoulders slumped from
fatigue, and I wished that I had the nerve to go after him.

We’d come much closer over the last few days, but I could tell
that he continued to hold back. His carefully measured self-control was still firmly in place, and I longed for the day that he would look at me with unrestrained love, that he would look at me as someone who made his life better, not as someone who was an obstacle standing between him and what he thought he wanted from life.

One of my first observations about Ridge was that he would live life to the fullest because he knew how to get what he wanted, and on some levels, I still believed that. After getting to know him better, I saw one ser
ious flaw with his master plan. He was not allowing himself to love, to really love another person. He kept his heart locked away, always fearing that if he gave himself to someone, it would keep him from reaching his version of success.

As I tidied up the kitchen and set his coffee maker to start brewing at five o’clock the next
morning, I knew that I had succumbed to him. Perhaps it was his genuineness that pulled me in. While he did seem complex where his emotions were concerned, overall, he was a simple guy. And maybe in all the chaotic scenarios where guys and girls played a carefully choreographed game of strutting and preening, I needed a guy who was straightforward, who just wanted to work hard and do the right thing, who wanted to take care of his family.

I closed my eyes and leaned against
the counter. I had fallen…hard.

A horrible dread eddied in the pit of my stomach.

What if I couldn’t find a way to penetrate the barrier around his heart?

Chapter 15

Ava

I waited until late Friday afternoon to tell Ridge that I couldn’t go to his office party with him. Lying to him, I told him that I suffered from food poisoning. I figured
that would be a plausible explanation of why I was too sick to go anywhere tonight but would be fine for the Halloween party tomorrow night.

Pacing my apartment nervously as I thought about what I’d done, I jumped when my phone rang. I closed my eyes, hoping that it wasn’t him because I couldn’t
bear to continue the deception, despite the fact that I had no choice in the matter. Not really. Not if I wanted to do what was best for Ridge.

When I glanced at my phone and realized that it was
Shannon Harris, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

Shannon
and I had been close friends since high school, but I’d pushed her away, along with most everyone else, after I’d been rejected by Jack. She wanted to meet up for dinner, and excited to tell her about Ridge, I agreed. It was time to take back my life, to stop letting one bad relationship change me into someone that I didn’t want to be.

As I thought about all the things that I wanted to tell her, I realize
d that I had missed my friend.

***

A half-moon hung in the black sky as I lit two candles in small, orange buckets and placed one on each end of the rectangular table of Ridge’s new patio set. Clear lights were strung along the exterior of the house, shining brightly in the darkness, and the pool was illuminated from below the water’s surface, which was a shimmering, vibrant turquoise.

Stars appeared and disappeared as a gentle breeze forced
irritated, gray clouds across the sky like puffy pirate ships navigating the sea.

Somewhere in the distance an o
wl hooted, setting the mood for the Halloween party.

I heard Ridge open the door that led to the patio, and I spun around on the heel of my
ankle-high, flat-soled, black, leather boots.

“
Arrr, thar’s me buxom beauty,” he called in a deep, raspy voice. I watched him as he walked toward me in a white shirt with flowing sleeves, black pants and boots, a crimson sash tied around his waist, and a matching bandana tied around his head. He grinned, his white teeth contrasting against his face, which was darkened with two days’ worth of stubble.

As he closed in on me, one hazel eye hidden behind a classic
, black eye patch, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me against his body as he kissed me, his whiskers scratching the soft skin around my mouth. Ridge had called me after his office party last night to check on me and to tell me that he’d gotten the promotion. I could tell that his mood was lighter today than normal, and I was glad that his hard work had paid off.

I smiled sweetly. “Ah, me bilge rat. Are ye goin’
t’ be a carouser tonight?”

“Watch yer
mouth, me wench,” he grumbled. “Callin’ me a rat when ye know I’m a gentleman o’ fortune.”

He made a handsome pirate, and I giggled a
s he pulled the front of my tricorn hat down over my eyes.

As I readjusted my hat
and ran my fingertips along its feathery, white plume, the doorbell rang.

“And so it begins…,” he whispered, turning to walk back into the house, so that he could answer the door.

I gazed over the decorations on the patio, and then followed Ridge into the house. Mason, dressed as a jailbird, walked through the door with a large box, and Kelsey, dressed like a sexy cab driver, followed him.

“Did y’all ride together?” Ridge asked, looking out the front door.

“Well, you are paying me to be the designated driver for your guests, aren’t you? Surely, you didn’t think Mason would be sober by the end of the night.” Kelsey smoothed her palms across her yellow and black minidress.

The slightest frown turned down the corners of Ridge’s mouth.

“The alcohol is here,” Mason announced as he set the box on the granite countertop and began taking out bottles of liquor. “Did you get ice?” he asked Ridge.

Ridge pointed to a red cooler at the end of the counter. “It’s in there.”

Mason began making a concoction, and he poured it into three shot glasses. “Let’s have a Screaming Orgasm to get things started,” he suggested, handing Ridge and me a shot glass. He glanced at Kelsey. “Sorry, kiddo, I’d fix you one, too, but your brother would have a meltdown. Guess you’ll have to wait till next year after you hit the big two-one.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “You can make me one after I take you home.”

Ridge glared at her in warning. “I don’t think so. You will not drive after you’ve been drinking…ever.” He pointed at her, and then he pointed at Mason while he kept his eyes on his sister. “And you sure as hell ain’t spending the night at Mason’s apartment.”

She tapped the high heel of her
black, knee-high boot on the floor. “You’re such a buzzkill,” she mumbled, fingering the shiny, black bill of her yellow cabbie hat with the word
TAXI
in bold letters on the front of it.

“Only where you’re concerned. The rest of us may very well be buzzed by the end of the night.” Ridge
downed his shot, followed by Mason. Since Ridge had picked me up at my apartment, I didn’t have to worry about driving. We had already planned for me to stay at his house, so that neither of us would be behind the wheel. I smelled of the shot first, wondering what was in it, and then downed it, unsure of whether I liked the taste.