Page 38 of Along Came Amor
“Happy birthday, A.” Michelle passed Ava a card. “Your gift is in the mail. Didn’t think you’d want to open it here.”
“Did you send her another vibrator?” Jasmine hissed under her breath.
“I sure did. Which is why I’m her prima favorita.”
“Look, I can’t argue that it’s not a good gift, but wait until you see this blow dryer—”
Ava tuned them out.
January used to feel like a double fresh start—the beginning of a new year, followed closely by her birthday. But with the divorce finalized and the last of her boxes unpacked in her new apartment, she was at a loss for what to do next. Her usual January tradition of making vision boards and journaling about her life goals seemed pointless.
No, not pointless.Scary.
She was thirty-three years old, and she had no idea what she wanted from the rest of her life.
The question Roman had asked her that first night still lingered in her mind.
What would you do if you didn’t have to be perfect?
She still didn’t know the answer. All she’d ever wanted was a big romantic love story. A happily-ever-after. A husband and kids. A steady job. A good life.
She’d given it her all.
And she’d failed.
Her family wanted her to try again. But she couldn’t stand the thought of opening her heart, giving herself to another person, only to have them throw her away.
As the conversation flowed around her in a mix of English and Spanish, Ava tried to imagine bringing Roman to one of these gatherings.
Her brain immediately rejected it. They were from different worlds, and his role in her life was specific and defined. Besides, there was no way Roman, in his three-thousand-dollar suits, would fit in here in her grandmother’s kitchen.
Although he’d seemed at home behind the bar...
It didn’t matter. There was a reason she hadn’t told him her birthday was coming up. He might have wanted to do something—get her a gift, probably—and she didn’t want to invite that level of closeness. Boundaries made her time with him easier to compartmentalize.
Physical intimacy was one thing. Everything else? Been there, done that. No gracias.
She understood, on an intellectual level, that other people managed to fall in love again after heartbreak. But in her soul,Ava knew the truth: that big, romantic, forever kind of love just wasn’t for her.
No strings.
No feelings.
No falling in love, she told herself sternly.
She looked at Jasmine and Michelle, talking and laughing with their men. They’d both hidden their relationships at first. And while everything had worked out for them, Ava had no such delusions about her fling with Roman turning into anything more serious. Eventually, he’d realize he was too busy, or that she was too boring, and he’d stop entertaining her whims. He would likely end up with some socialite who knew how to be a CEO’s wife. Which was fine, because she didn’t want to be anyone’s wife.
Still, she didn’t want to face the embarrassment of telling her cousins when it ended—because itwouldend—so it was better not to say anything at all.
Maybe she didn’t know what the rest of her life would look like just yet. But New Ava was in charge now, and at the very least, what was coming had to be better than what had come before.
That was what Ava wished for later that night as she blew out the candles on the cake her father and stepmother had finally showed up with.
Please, let it be better.
Chapter 10
It was a Tuesday in late January, just after twelve noon, and Roman’s bare feet were soaking in bubbling, lavender-scented water.
