Chasing Ava: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove) (28 page)

“How can you ask me that question?” The desolate stare she settled on him made him feel like the worst kind of jerk. The tightness in his chest didn’t keep him from going to her, in two powerful strides he was at her side taking her in his arms.
 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” She was rigid as a steel blade in his arms. He had hurt her again. He wanted to do the right thing where Ava was concerned, but he continued to fall short.
 

 
“How could you think that about me?” Delivered in a whisper, the hurt in her voice rang out a resounding clang in his chest.
 

“I don’t know what to think. I want you to want to be with me.”

Ava had yet to meet any of his friends, besides Graham. To give him credit she had met Gideon Rice, but she already knew him as one of the psychiatrists on staff. Logan thought having Ava attend a Shell Cove Medical Foundation social with him would serve as an introduction to his circle of acquaintances.
 

“I want you, Logan. Don’t ever doubt that.” She looked up into his eyes, honesty shone bright in the depths.
 

“Then come with me on Tuesday. I’m not above bribery to get what I want. Say yes,” he nibbled her earlobe earning him a playful swat to the abdomen.
 

“No one knows me and I’d just be in the way. What’s the bribe?”

“You know me. That’s enough.” He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a square, signature blue jewelry box. At the sight of the box, Ava narrowed her eyes. She watched him as he lifted her left hand to his lips, kissed each finger before turning her palm up and lowering the box to the center.
 

Gently he sucked her lower lip between his teeth before he kissed her. He deepened the kiss. Laying her back on the couch, covering her body was his broad frame. He used his tongue to tease and tantalize until she was panting and reaching for him. Passion, raw, wild, straining for release thrummed through her body. He had done that to her.
 

“What’s in the box?” She regarded him with uncertainty.
 

“Open it and see.” Slowly, as if expecting a fatal bite, she removed the lid from the outer box and lifted the velvet-covered case from its confines. When the two-carat diamond heart necklace came into view she drew in a sharp breath.
 

“It’s a beautiful necklace Logan, but you can’t give this to me,” she said extending the case back to him. She hadn’t bothered to touch it. He frowned a little before it occurred to him what she needed to accept what he was offering. She had to know why.
 

“It’s my heart, Ava.” He saw the small tremble to her lower lip, first. He continued needing her to understand what she meant to him. “I’m giving you my heart, because you are mine and I am yours.” Tears filled her eyes as she pulled the box closer to her own heart and lightly touched her fingers to the pendant. She smiled up at him and laughed. With tears of happiness flowing down her beautiful face she laughed. And he could breath again.

“Logan.” At the husky sound of his name coming from her lips, he reached for the pendant and pulled it free of its anchor. Unhooking the clasp, he placed it around her neck and secured it at her nape.

“Don’t take if off,” he said as he claimed her mouth once more.

“I won’t.” Did she understand the significance of those two words? He loved her. Neither of them had said the words aloud, but this had to mean she shared the same feelings. He wanted to believe she loved him.
 

“Say yes to everything and I will finish what I started.” He felt her hands close around his neck as she pulled him flush with her body.
 

“Yes, Logan.” Yes never sounded so good. He smiled as he slid her tank top over her head and reclaimed her lips.

Tonight was her introduction into his world. A step she had been avoiding until now. His friends and business acquaintances appeared welcoming. At least on the surface. Ava received more second glances instead of conversations, from both men and women. It was important that this meeting go well for Logan. Ava knew the support of tonight’s attendees was critical to him securing the majority of the foundation’s current board of director’s vote. She observed his skillful navigation from one group of local influencers to another. His conversation transitioned from politics to the stock market onto sport statistics with seamless ease. The venue was small, elegant of course. The men were in business suits, the women in dark blue, black or grey dress suits with a single strand of pearls adorning their collars. A sea of homogeneity and her.

Ava excused herself from the circle to order another club soda from the bar when she was stopped by an impeccably dressed, medium height, mousy haired man.
 

“Hello beautiful lady. I haven’t had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.” Ava blushed and released a tentative smile at the compliment. This man was the first person to initiate a dialogue with her. Maybe she could fit into Logan’s world. One person at a time.
 

“Holton Faraday, one of The Foundation board members.” He introduced himself.
 

“Thank you, Holton.” He rubbed his jaw on one side as he studied her with an odd expression. She fingered the heart pendant at her neckline to camouflage her nervous movements.

Holton was not a classically handsome man. His nose was hawkish, his lips too thin and tight. His brown hair looked disheveled with inattention.
 

“Your pendant is quite lovely,” he said with an amused tone.
 

“It was a gift.” She blushed in remembrance of what Logan had done to her after placing the pendant around her neck.
 

“You’d be radiant in the matching earrings or bracelet.” Ava thought his comment odd. She gave a tentative smile, unsure where to take the conversation.

 
“Are you from The House?” Ava’s mouth fell open at the question. The bottom fell out of her stomach as bile rose in her throat.
Oh my God
.
 

“The House” was on the southwest side of Shell Cove. The women in residence there engaged in the oldest profession in the world. That part of the city lived by another set of rules. It was the proverbial “other side of the tracks.” Ava knew intimate details about the House because of her best friend Janna.
 

That Holton would think such a thing was bad enough, but to hear the words aimed at her, left Ava reeling.

“No. If you’ll excuse me.” Ava took a shaky step back when she recognized the unnatural interest in the man’s eyes. Him approaching her spoke louder than any of his words. The implication of his bold proposition was profound. The message. The only way a black woman would be present in this elite circle was as a paid escort.

Where was Logan?
 

“Another establishment then. I’ve never known Logan to dabble on the dark side, but you are stunning. I’ll take your contact information now. When are you available?” Ava was about to push past the man, when Logan finally arrived.
 

“Holton,” Logan inclined his head in the other man’s direction. “Ava, come with me, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He proffered his elbow.

“Don’t rush her off. I was just about to get her details before you arrived.” Logan dropped his elbow, turned to face Holton, spine straight, waves of menace pulsed from his eyes.

“What details were you getting?” Logan’s voice was deep and animalistic. Holton took a step backward at Logan’s tone.

“Why all the bravado? I can wait till you’re done with her.” At that, Logan took a threatening step toward Holton who hadn’t realized he was in mortal danger until that moment. The business meeting drummed on oblivious to the impending death match near the bar. Ava threw both her arms around Logan’s bicep, planting her feet to anchor him in place.
 

“If you touched her they will find pieces of you scattered on the lawn in the morning.”
 

The man’s eyes stretched wide in dawning comprehension.
 

“Wait. You can’t be serious about this.” Holton gestured his hands from Ava back to Logan. “Staying with this woman will ruin your chances at the board position. Not even your family name could save you from the scandal. You’ll never recover.”

“We’re leaving before I have to kill the son of a...” It was her turn to interrupt.

“Don’t say it. Enough damage has been done for one night.” She felt hollow inside.
 

“Get away from us, Holton.” He didn’t need to be told twice. Ava watched as Holton joined a large group of prominent businessmen and women. None of them she would have personally met without being on Logan’s arm. In his world, she was little more than a possession. To be passed from one master to the next.

“Ava, look at me.” She didn’t want to look at anyone. More importantly, she didn’t want anyone to look at her. Did all these people think she was a whore? Hired entertainment to fulfill Logan’s exotic taste of forbidden pleasures.
 

She couldn’t look at him. He had done nothing wrong, but she didn’t want to look in his mesmerizing green eyes and forget what had happened tonight. She needed to remember. She needed to find her place in the world.
You can’t keep him.
 

“I’m fine Logan.” It was a lie.

Logan walked into his office on Wednesday morning to find Samuel Holbrook sitting in his chair behind his desk. Evidently the incident with Holton had circulated beyond the gossip mill because Holbrook didn’t leave his throne unless his kingdom was under attack.
 

The other man was the first to speak.

“Just the man I was looking for.”
 

By his tone, he was not pleased that he had to come to Logan.
 

“Sam. I was not expecting you this morning.” That earned Logan a narrowed glance.

“You should have, after that stunt you pulled last night.”
 

Logan held his position by the door. He wasn’t in the mood to have anyone chastising him for defending Ava.
 

“Not inviting my daughter to the foundation social was a mistake.” Lines creased around Holbrook’s mouth. He had a white knuckled grip on the leather armrests of the high back desk chair.
 

Logan didn’t engage the man in conversation, not trusting himself to remain calm if the subject of Ava was raised. He didn’t care what business alliances existed between Holbrook and the Masters family. All bets were off when it came to his woman. And Ava, not Rebecca, was his woman.
 

 
“The alliance between our two families is conditional. It’s based on your relationship with Rebecca. It appears to me that my daughter is the only one holding up her end of the bargain.” Logan’s jaw tightened and his fists clenched.
 

“Rebecca has not said anything to me about our arrangement.” Logan had not seen or heard from her since the night of the gala. He needed to make that phone call to Darwin. Get some answers.
 

“I’ll take care of the mess you created last night by bringing your flavor of the month to the social.”
 

“Do not go there, Sam.”
 

“Don’t even think about reneging on your part of the bargain. My daughter will have the Masters last name and you’ll be the foundation’s newest board member. Keep your eye on the prize, Logan.” Holbrook rose from the chair and moved towards him. Placing a firm hand on Logan’s shoulder he came to a stop.