Page 7 of Too Little Too Soon
He took a swig of beer to try to suppress his laugh. “As a matter of fact, I am too.”
“Really?” She eyed him speculatively. “You don’t strike me as the rock concert type.”
His disguise worked. “I could say the same about you.”
“And you’d be right. She’s been bugging me for years, and I’ve never said yes. But new leaf and all that.”
The server came and swept away their dishes. Travis whipped out his card and handed it to the kid before Ava could reach for her purse.
“Oh come on, I totally invaded your space. You can’t pay for my meal,” she protested.
“Sure I can, and honestly, it was way more fun with you here. But how about you make it up to me?”
He could practically see her guard shifting up into place, so he quickly added, “Since you live here, you probably know the best dessert place in the area. Why don’t you show me, and I’ll let you treat me?”
She laughed and tugged her coat over her shoulders. “That sounds like a plan. Come on.”
ChapterThree
Instead of walkingdown the block to the nearest ice cream shop, they took the train over the river to the High Line. They grabbed hot chocolates—Ava’s treat—and wandered along the walking path while they chatted about mostly superficial things.
That was perfectly fine with Ava, because a plan was formulating in her head. A crazy plan. Something she’d never in her life considered doing.
Until now.
She’d woken from her late-morning nap with a killer headache, a disgruntled tummy, and nothing but unappealing health food in her fridge. Refusing to second-guess her own choices with only half a day left in the year, she pulled on her coat and headed out the door, ending up at her favorite soul food restaurant. Barbeque chicken was exactly what she needed to soak up the result of three too many Manhattans.
She’d almost turned back around after she noted that every table was occupied, prepared to settle for a hot dog from a street vendor.
Until she’d spottedhim. Travis. She didn’t know his last name, and she didn’t need to know. She didn’t even know what he did for a living. All she knew was, he wasn’t from the city and he was hotter than the hottest shower she’d ever taken—and she liked crazy hot showers.
Longish brown hair, vivid blue eyes, exactly enough scruff to be sexy as all get-out; he didn’t quite match the image he was trying to portray with his preppy clothes and silly fisherman’s hat. As he’d stretched across the table to shake her hand, she’d caught a glimpse of a tattoo, which, yes, nowadays meant literally nothing about one’s status, but still, she could have sworn it was the logo from one of the bands she was supposed to see tonight.
She would get to ring in the new year with both of her sisters—something she hadn’t done in at least twenty years. Probably more.
Ava was looking forward to making up for all those years she’d blown off her sister when Holly texted to say she had a pair of tickets with Ava’s name on them if she wanted to come watch Holly’s band play.
New year, new decisions, and one of those was reconnecting with both Holly and Maria. Now that she didn’t have work as an excuse, it was time to see if the three of them could actually get along without the influence of their parents.
She had a feeling they could.
But first, she was going to enjoy a little harmless flirting with the hottie who was helping her forget all about what a dumpster fire her life actually was.
He’d mentioned that he traveled a lot for work, and she’d hardly been anywhere except Washington State and New York City. She’d been too busy working to do pretty much anything else.
Heck, When was the last time she’d had sex?
She half listened as Travis extolled the virtues of his buddy’s place in the Ozarks and how he was seriously considering buying his own house out there on the lake; he’d been that impressed when he’d gone to his friend’s wedding earlier this year.
Matt, the designer who left the firm two years ago.
That was the last guy she’d had sex with. And she’d waited until his last day to seduce him, too, so there would be no expectations, no awkwardness afterward.
“Am I that boring?”
“Huh?” Ava blinked rapidly at Travis, who, she belatedly realized, had stopped talking.
“You tuned me out. What were you thinking about?”
