Page 92 of The Charade

And that hemline? Well, let’s just say that if I hadn't already been a leg guy, the way Ava's legs looked in the skirt and heels would have definitely converted me.

I closed my eyes and tried to shake away the carnal urges rising up in me as I raked her appearance in.

She might be your sister.

But when I opened my eyes again, I knew it would take actually hearing those words from my dad or her mom to really convince my hormones of that. Because right now, she did notlooklike my sister. Right now, she looked like the girl who had starred in every single dream of mine from the past week.

Well…longer than that, since yeah, I'd dreamed about her before it was forbidden, too.

I pressed my lips together, remembering how her cherry lip balm had tasted the last time I'd kissed her. How was it possible that a person could have so much power over my emotions?

I'd been determined not to get mixed up with a member of the opposite sex when the school year started, but I should have known the second Ava walked into the weight room that first day and my heart did a little flip-flop in my chest that my plans were worthless against the force that was Ava Cohen. Because she was not a mere human. No. She'd been right on the money when she'd written up her little addendum to my contract. She was agoddessand only a Titan would be able to resist falling hopelessly and irrevocably in love with her.

Yes, I knew it was crazy that I'd fallen so hard and so fast for a girl I'd only met a month and a half ago, but love didn't care about things like logic—or how closely you may or may not be related to a person. It was controlled by some intangible force that I was powerless to resist.

I took another sip from my water as I watched Ava smile at something Mack said to her. And even though I knew the only reason Mack had asked her to dance in the first place was because I'd asked him to step in after Tayden Archibald's hand kept sliding farther and farther down Ava's back until he was almost squeezing her butt and making her look uncomfortable, I still couldn't watch them without wanting to punch my own best friend in the face.

Because he was making Ava smile. He was making her laugh. And he was holding her in the way that I should have been holding her tonight.

I crushed the plastic cup in my hand and tossed it in the trash can beside me, knowing I should probably head upstairs before I did something I regretted—something like ripping Ava away from the next guy she danced with and telling her I was the only guy she was ever supposed to dance with, especially when she looked the way she did.

We'd joked about her dress being my early birthday present. And for the first time in thirteen years, I wanted to cash in on the special perks that the birthday boy usually got.

I wanted a "let’s forget about reality for the night" card, so we could go back in time to a week ago when I didn't know what was coming for us.

I checked the time on my watch. My dad should have been here before the party started.

Was he just hiding out somewhere?

Had he decided to prolong his trip so he wouldn't have to face everyone and explain to Dawn how he'd fathered twins the month before they got back together?

Almost as if on cue though, through one of the ballroom windows that looked into the main part of the house, I saw the door from the garage open. A second later my dad walked through it wearing shorts and a teal T-shirt, his usual uniform for long flights home.

I expected him to bring in his luggage behind him, but instead, he held the door open for someone to follow him inside. Mr. Aarden walked through the door wearing a white polo shirt and dress pants. Following close behind him was a petite woman in a black designer dress suit who I'd only seen in photographs from decades earlier.

Ava's mom.

My dad briefly glanced through the windows to the party, looking for a moment like he'd rather be in here dancing with Dawn instead of facing the conversation Mr. Aarden was probably forcing him to have with Ava's mom.

But instead of coming inside, he gestured for his guests to continue down the hall that led to his office. And with one last longing glance at the party, he followed the friends from his past inside the room where I'd overheard that implicating call from over a month ago and shut the door.

39

Ava

When I finishedmy dance with Mack, I decided it was time to take a break for a few minutes. I'd been standing in my heels for the better part of an hour and my feet were killing me.

When Carter had said that I'd have guys lining up to dance with me tonight, I'd decided to make his words true. And so, after flirting with several of the cutest and buffest guys at the party during dinner, I made sure to smile and wave flirtatiously at one of them each time the live string quartet started playing a slow song. Sure enough, one of them would eventually leave the huddle of guys standing around the outer edge of the Hastings's ballroom and come and ask me to dance.

Was I interested in dating any of these guys after tonight? Not really. But it was all about quantity and not quality at this point.

But even though I had more chemistry with a stick of gum than I did with any of the guys I'd danced with—aside from Mack since he'd at least made me laugh—the soirée hadn't been the total bomb I'd feared it might be. Sure, it wasn't the romantic evening I'd planned on having when I'd originally thought Carter and I would be attending as a couple, but the ambiance was magical—Cambrielle, her mom, and the event planner had really outdone themselves with the decor and food.

And even though most of the evening was spent with Carter glaring at me from across the room, I did manage to have an okay time hanging out with my friends in our fancy dresses and looking amazing—thanks to the professional hair and makeup team that had pampered us before the party started.

I looked up at the high ceiling above me as I drank my water. The event planners had hung black strips with dangling silver stars across the ceiling. String lights were strung in-between the rows of stars to mimic a beautiful starlit sky glittering above the chandeliers. The edges of the room had silver and white trees with lanterns and strings of white blossoms hanging from the branches, making it feel like I'd been transported to a fairytale castle where I would wait to find my own happily-ever-after with a prince.

It was breathtaking.

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