Page 17 of The Charming Checklist
She looked over his shoulder, presumably to find Mercedes. “Where—”
“She left. When she complained about the meal and said the quality of her steak was crude, I let her know I own this place. Which, apparently, is somethingyounever told her.”
“Um, well, I—”
“Seriously?”
“Look, I’m sorry it’s not a love match. I just wanted you to see how—”
“Come here,” he said, offering his hand to help her down.
She took his hand and he kept a tight hold as he led her through the crowded bar outside for a little one-on-one privacy. They would have to straighten this out one way or another. Since they spent a lot of time together, mostly due to Cole and Valerie, they had to keep the peace. But right now, he wanted to chew her out. He didn’t appreciate the obvious prank at his expense. She’d wastedmoreof his time.
Outside, the October evening was mild, and the rolling waves calm and quiet. A seagull squawked and Ava jumped.
“Is this where you kill me with your finger?”
“What are youtalkingabout?”
“Never mind.”
He wanted to cut her up into little shreds of ribbon with his words but was distracted by the shaft of moonlight glinting off her pale blond hair. Her pouty lower lip seemed to quiver, or was that his imagination? She looked ten times more beautiful than Mercedes. He ignored the pull of attraction and the magnetism he felt whenever around her. He would also ignore that, at the moment, he strongly suspected she might be shaking. No words out of her now. Instead, a quiet calm. A strange feeling of tenderness surged through him, like that time he’d rescued an abandoned dog left on the streets of Dallas.
He wouldn’t think about that right now. Or ever. No room for any other emotion here but anger. No one wasted his time.
He had to set Ava straight on a few things about him. Because first and foremost, they were friends, and colleagues.
“Is this what you think of me? You thinkI’ma snob?”
“No.” She crossed her arms. “I think you’re like Mercedes in that you’re incapable of being spontaneous.”
“You don’t think I can bespontaneous? That’s insane. I can be spontaneous. All over the damn place, if I want.”
“Really? What’s the last unplanned thing you did?”
He didn’t move, considering. Once upon a time, he’d taken bigger risks. But even those had been calculated. Risk tolerance was key, and you didn’t become a navy SEAL without being willing to take risks. But spontaneous? Hell no. He’d have been laughed off his team. He lived by a plan. Then and now. The past few years stateside had been about finishing his degree, starting and selling businesses, and making money so that he’d never need to take charity the way his parents had. So that his wife and children would never want for anything.
“It’s smart to plan in business, and you’re savvy there. But with love, with attraction, sometimes you just have to take a risk.”
While he understood that, he didn’t see why it was so wrong to begin with compatibility first. Then, the last missing piece would have to be there, too. Obviously. He would need that certain tug of desire like the one that made him want to take Ava home and shower her with his spontaneity. All night long.
In this case, the attraction was unexplainable to him beyond the physical. And he really wanted to believe he’d gotten past making decisions based solely on physical attraction. He still hadn’t responded to the question, going over it in his mind and coming up with zip. Pathetic.
“You’re still trying to rememberonemoment, aren’t you?”
“When’s the last timeyouwere spontaneous?”
“That would be this past July at the Chamber cookout when Tom asked me to get up and sing ‘American Pie’ with him and his band.” She held up air quotes on the word band. “I don’t know all the words, and there are a lot of words.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
She shrugged. “Fun. Fake it till you make it.”
That didn’t make any sense to him. A person couldn’tfakesomething and actually make it happen. Trust him on this. But there might be some female subtlety that he’d missed.
Her eyes narrowed. “And you’re still trying to think of just one thing, huh?”
There had been only one crazy thought on his mind lately, one he’d never acted on. Which meant the veryoppositeof what they were talking about, but he wasn’t going to go there. Let her think the idea had just occurred to him. He might just be losing his mind a little bit, because something inside him came apart. Just cracked wide-open.
