Perfectly Able (13 page)

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“Nah. I’m fine.”

“Have a seat on the couch,” I said. “We can reschedule if you want to.
I couldn’t schedule any of the houses until six o’clock, anyway. I could call their agents right quick and let them know we won’t be able to make it.”

He lowered his tall frame onto the couch and moved his head in a circular motion
as if he were trying to loosen up his neck. “No, let’s keep the appointments.” He looked at the time on his phone. “That gives us a half hour until we need to leave, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Let me just rest a minute, and I’ll be good,” he said, his palm massaging his nape again. I rose and walked to the back of the couch. “Here,” I said, gripping his shoulders and kneading his flesh. “Let me help.”

“
Oh,” he groaned. “That feels so freakin’ good.”

My fingers slid on the slick fabric of his shirt. “Why don’t you take that off?” I suggested.

“Why, sweet Ava, are you trying to get me naked?” he asked as he unbuttoned his shirt.

His question reminded me of my thoughts of him in the lake, and heat rushed to my face. He peeled his shirt off. “It seems to be working,” I teased.

“Well, the word is that men find you irresistible, so I can’t imagine it not working.”

I squeezed him extra hard.

“Easy, tigress,” he cooed with laughter in his voice.

I softened my grip, my fingertips rubbing across his
tense muscles. My thumbs stroked his nape rhythmically as my fingers curled around each side of his neck.

He sat in complete silence as I rubbed and stroked
and petted with only an occasional groan of approval. I liked the feel of his muscles beneath my fingertips. I liked knowing that I was giving him pleasure. I closed my eyes, remembering the way I had kissed his neck, and my fingertips instinctively reached for the outline of his Adam’s apple.

“It’s almost five-thirty,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I guess we should be going.”

My eyes flew open, and just like that, the magic of the moment was over. “Yeah,” I agreed. “We probably should.”

He pulled his
shirt back on, and it hung open as he tucked his hands in his pockets. “Thank you.”

I could see the chiseled outline of his pectoral muscles, and I looked away.
“No problem.” I picked up my purse and the stack of properties that I had printed for him.

He seemed even tenser now than
he was when he first arrived. He reached for the papers, and I handed them to him. Instead of looking at them, he tossed them on the end table and took my purse from me, setting it on top of the papers.

I squealed in surprise when he quickly closed the distance between us and brought his lips down
urgently on mine. He tasted of spearmint, and I melded into his body as his tongue teased my mouth. One of his hands pressed against the small of my back as the other held the nape of my neck firmly. He pulled back and pressed his forehead against mine. “Damn, Ava. What is it about you that makes me want to lose control?” He slid his hands to my hips.

The encounter excited me, and I took his moment of pause as the perfect opportunity to make a move of my own. It was my turn to tease him, and my lips longed to kiss his Adam’s apple again.
I pushed the fabric of his shirt over his shoulders, exposing his chest to me. I wove my arms around his waist and brushed my lips across his pectoral muscles, climbing upward to his neck. I kissed his skin slowly as my tongue teased him.

He backed me against the wall and kissed me, trailing kisses from my mouth down to my neck. He gently sucked my skin before moving lower, his lips finding my exposed collar bone in the opening of my V-shaped neckline. I gasped as my breasts tingled with anticipation.

He pulled away, both of us panting heavily.

“If we don’t go now,” he breathed huskily, “I’m afraid we won’t make it.”

I nodded, already missing the heat of his hands on my body. What would happen if I told him that I didn’t want to go?

He pulled his shirt back onto his shoulders, and I reached for the buttons, wanting to be close to him. Slowly, I buttoned them up one by one
. When I was finished, I smoothed the fabric of his shirt across his chest. “There you go,” I whispered.

He caught my hand in his and brought it to his lips, tenderly kissing my palm.
“I’ve always been an extremely disciplined person, Ava. But there’s something about you that makes me
want
to be carefree, and I’m not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse.”

I stroked his cheek.
“Everyone needs someone who makes them lose control, someone whose touch they crave, someone who can submerse them in the moment and make them forget.”

He wove his fingers in my hair and touched his lips to mine one final time before he pulled away altogether. “
You ready?”

I nodded, even though I wasn’t ready.
I didn’t want to break my connection with Ridge, terrified that once the moment was gone, he would be, too.

I didn’t know what had happened to Ridge to make him immerse himself in the need to overachieve, but I planned to find out. And I planned to be his organization in a world of chaos, his comfort when he was surrounded by heartbreak, his relaxation when stress overtook his body. I wanted to be his answer, no matter the question.

Chapter 9

Ridge

I was sold on the first house that Ava showed me. It was a modest, newly remodeled, three-bedroom home that was a little over a decade old. The rooms were all decent sizes and the master bedroom had an attached bathroom. A nice deck at the rear of the home led to a relatively new, heated inground pool. While I hadn’t originally thought much about a pool, I quickly assessed all of the advantages, which included swimming laps, relaxing poolside, and having kick-ass parties with girls in skimpy bikinis. Throw in the fact that it was heated, and my down payment was practically oozing out of my checkbook.

Had she pulled out an agreement, I would have made an offer on the spot and been very much relieved that house shopping was over, but Ava insisted that I look at all the houses that she had
scheduled for the evening in an effort to ensure that the first house really was the one.

While the other houses were nice, it was house number one for me. The lot was larger, and a tall fence
enclosed the backyard, offering more privacy than the rest. Since it was newly remodeled, I wouldn’t have to spend weekends peeling off old wallpaper or replacing out-of-date fixtures. That fact alone was enough to sell me on the property because my schedule was way too busy to accommodate more projects.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look at any more properties?” Ava asked as we walked back to my car after touring the last scheduled home.
“I could do some searching online tonight and schedule more tomorrow.”

“What are you trying to do to me, woman?” I teased as I opened the passenger side door for her. “House shopping ranks right up there with bamboo shoots under the fingernails and the rack.”

“It’s not that bad,” she protested as she sat in the passenger seat.

After closing the passenger side door, I
walked briskly to the driver’s side. “The only thing keeping it from totally sucking is that I have a really hot babe showing me the properties,” I said as I slid into the leather seat behind the steering wheel.

Inserting the keys in the ignition,
I glanced at her as her line of vision flickered out the window. She turned back to me, her gaze falling to the gear shift. “Think how hot I’d be if I tied you to the rack.”

Curling my index finger under her chin, I tilted her face upward until our eyes met. “
That’s my sweet Ava. Always thinking of ways for a man to reach his demise.”

“Oh, I wasn’t thinking about killing you,” she said softly.

“No?”

She shook her head.

“Then what were you thinking about?” I could think of several things I might enjoy while being tied up—all involving one very naked Ava.

Rosy color crept into her cheeks, but she didn’t look away from my eyes
. “Tickling your feet with a feather.”

A bark of laughter erupted from me as I cranked the ignition. “
You are definitely going to be the death of me,” I mumbled to myself as I backed out of the driveway.

Ava smiled at me sweetly.

“So you want to go to my place and write up an offer on the first house?” she asked.

“Yes, I want to seal the deal."

When we arrived back at Ava’s apartment, she pulled the appropriate forms out of her briefcase, and I quickly signed off on an offer.

“Since we work for the same realty company, I’ll send a quick text to let the selling agent know that I have an offer, and I’ll give him the documents tomorrow morning when I get to the office.”

She quickly texted the message and received a response almost immediately.

“Okay, you’re all set
. All we have to do is wait and see if the sellers accept your offer.” She walked into the kitchen. “You want a drink?”

“I’ll take some ice water.
So, when do you think we’ll hear something?”

“We’ll give them twenty-four hours to respond, but most likely, you’ll hear something tomorrow morning once the agent has a chance to talk to his clients.”

Ava set my water on a coaster on the end table. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” I took a long sip, and I could feel the icy trail as the
water traveled to my stomach.

“So what were you saying about tickling me with feathers?” I asked as Ava dropped down on the couch next to me.

Her laughter tinkled in the air as I wrapped my arm around her neck and playfully tugged her against my chest. “You wanted to torture me?”

I tickled her until she could barely breathe, and she alternated between giggling and sucking in air as she
tried to grab my wrists and stop me.

Facing me, she crawled into my lap, her knees on each side
of my legs, and made a vain attempt to tickle me in return.

As she wiggled in my lap, her fingers searching for a funny bone, she suddenly stopped and looked at me with wide, vibrant blue eyes.

My hard-on strained against the fabric of my slacks, and I knew the moment she felt it.

Neither of us laughing any longer, I reached out and cupped the back of her neck, pulling he
r to me as my lips sought hers.

My other hand gently squeezed the side of her waist
as I pressed her against my lap. When I felt her fingertips tug at my shirt, I helped her, giving one swift yank, which immediately untucked it.

As her tongue delved into my mouth, she quickly unbuttoned my shirt and tugged it over my shoulders. Her palms brushed across my chest, and an involuntary groan escaped my mouth as her movement rubbed against the throbbing time bomb in my pants.

She pulled away, arching as she threw her head back, her golden hair spilling around her shoulders. I grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, revealing her delicate, black bra, the swell of her breasts rising up past its lacy edge. Cupping her breasts, I watched her face to see her reaction, and she thrust her chest into my palms as her eyes remained closed.

I took a deep breath, willing myself to remain calm as her response to me nearly drove me to the brink.
Shit, I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted a girl as much as I wanted her. Maybe never.

Skimming her soft skin as I ran one hand around to her back, I deftly unhooked her bra
. My fingertips reached for each shoulder as she held her arms out, so that I could remove the black, lacy fabric.

Glancing at her face, she watched me as my eyes dropped to her voluptuous breasts, her
nipples hardening at my touch as they begged me to take them in my mouth.

In one quick flip, I had her pressed beneath me on the couch,
my hips between her thighs.

I drew one of her nipples in my mouth and her soft moan was nearly my undoing. Tracing the rosy circle with the tip of my tongue, she squeezed my shoulders as her hips rocked forward.

Hell, what was I doing?

I needed to be thinking with my brain, not my penis. Ava had already been shit on by one man. As much as I truly adored her, I didn’t know what she needed from our relationship and I didn’t know what I was willing to offer, but the one thing that I refused to do was use her for a booty call.

I carefully disengaged myself from her and rose into a seated position on the opposite end of the couch.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I grabbed her ankle and gave it a playful tug. “Nothing’s wrong. I just think we need to slow things down.” I scooped her bra out of the floor and held it out to her. Obediently, she put her arms through the straps, and I moved behind her and fastened it in place.

“I’ve been undressed by a man, but I can’t say that I’ve ever been dressed
by one,” she whispered.

A smile tugged at my lips as I picked up her shirt and handed it to her.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

I frowned.
“No, dammit. Why would you think that?” She pulled her shirt over her head, and I gathered her hair and pulled it out, cascading it down her back.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, studying me.

I buttoned my shirt. “I need to go, Ava.”

“What’s wrong, Ridge?”

I could feel the muscle in my jaw clenching. How could I explain to make her understand? I’d slept with my share of women, but Ava had a sweetness about her that I couldn’t take advantage of. Life had put her through so much already, and I didn’t want to add to the list of things that could potentially turn her gentle kindness into rancid bitterness, a bitterness that would consume her. I knew that bitterness all too well, and I escaped it the only way I knew how.

“I’ve got to go.”

I could feel her confused stare on my back as I made a quick exit.

***

“What the hell did you do to Ava?” Kel screamed through the phone as I turned to see the time broadcasted by the glowing red LEDs on my alarm clock. Six o’clock in the morning. I’d overslept. Pulling myself into a seated position, my sleep-fogged brain tried to determine if I still had time to go running. I needed to focus on my training, and the alcohol I’d consumed after I’d gotten home last night was not in my training plan.

“What are you doing up?” I
mumbled sleepily.

“What’s wrong, Ridge?” Kel asked, and I could determine a distinct change in her voice. “Ridge?”

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” I asked.

“Because I know you. You don’t treat women rudely, and you’re always wide awake by six o’clock.”

“That’s not true. I do sleep in sometimes,” I defended.

“Not unless it’s the weekend.”

I had no argument there.

“London texted me at about two o’clock this morning and told me that Ava was upset.
Apparently, you stormed out of Ava’s apartment, and she doesn’t know why.”

“I didn’t
storm
out, Kel. I just had to get out of there.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “And why in the hell am I even having this conversation with you? It’s none of your business.”

“It is my business, Ridge. London’s my friend, and she and Ava are super close. I convinced London that you were a fabtastic guy and that you would be perfect for her sister.”

I pointed, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “You see, Kel, that’s where you went wrong. You had no business getting in
my
business. Or Ava’s business, for that matter.”

“But Ava needs someone like you, Ridge.” Her voice had lost its edge, and her next words were spoken even more softly. “And you need someone like her.”

“I don’t
need
anyone, Kel. Are we done now? Because I really need to go running.”

“Ridge….
” I could hear the pleading in her voice.

“No, Kel.”

“I know you better than anyone. She’s perfect for you.”

“I’ve got to go, Kel.” I didn’t wait for her to respond. I just hung up my phone and turned it off.

I didn’t want to think about anything. I just wanted to immerse myself in running, hoping that if I pushed hard enough, the physical pain would block everything from my mind.

I had
planned to get to the office early, but since I’d overslept by an hour, I arrived at eight o’clock sharp. I would be working out in the field today, so I’d traded my suit for khakis and a pullover shirt.

I welcomed the roar of the manufacturing equipment as the operators set it into motion.
As my fellow engineers and I worked to troubleshoot the errors in the process, I blocked all thoughts of my personal life out of my mind.

Being extremely busy all morning helped keep my thoughts under control. We shut down the machine to take a lunch break, and I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket
. I turned it on and checked my messages, wondering if Ava had tried to contact me about my offer. Knowing that my abrupt departure last night had bothered her, I worried about our next conversation being awkward. I had two text messages from Kelsey, which I didn’t bother reading, and one from Ava. Apparently, the sellers had made a counter offer.

“Ridge, let’s have lunch.
”

I turned to see
my new boss walking toward me in a navy suit, his dark hair slicked back, and I wondered why he had come out to the job site.

As he approached me,
I held my hand out. “Sure, Mr. Tankard.” He wasn’t much older than me, but when he first started at Creekview Engineering Consultants a couple of months ago, he’d introduced himself as Mr. Tankard. I’d assumed that’s how he wanted to be addressed.

“Great
. I have something to discuss with you.”

My head pounded from imbibing too much alcohol the previous evening and listening to the deafening roar of the machine all morning.
I’d wanted to spend the hour alone, but I really had no choice in the matter. At the very least, I hoped that eating a meal would help vanquish the demons that were walloping my brain with sledge hammers.

Mr. Tankard
and I walked toward the exit doors. “I’ll drive,” he said.

While we were on our way to the restaurant,
I explained to Mr. Tankard that I needed to check in with my real estate agent, so I called Ava. She wanted to discuss the counter offer and agreed to swing by the restaurant. After I’d hung up, I told Mr. Tankard that I may need a few minutes to sign a counter offer, and he assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem.

I thought Ava would arrive by the time Mr. Tankard and I had received our food, but she hadn’t. I tried to watch for her while I listened to my boss.

“You’re aware from our meeting a couple of weeks ago that Creekview Engineering Consultants is growing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want to rearrange our current structure and promote someone to take charge of the polymer project. And even though it’s my understanding that you haven’t been hired in on a permanent basis for very long, I’m impressed by you. I think your ambition and energy is an asset, and I wanted you to know that you’re in the running for the promotion.”

Hell, was I hearing this right? The same man who’d stolen my ideas a couple of w
eeks ago was now suggesting that I could be promoted? Maybe his conscience was eating at him. “Thank you.” I found my eyes darting around the room in search of Ava. My boss was talking about a promotion, which would be a fantastic opportunity for me, and I was busy hunting down a woman. I forced my eyes back to his face.

“
I’ll announce my decision at the fiftieth anniversary party. That gives me a little over five weeks to evaluate your performance.”

“I’m working to increase
both quality and production as we speak, and I have a lot of ideas I’d like to test to see which ones are the most beneficial.”

Mr. Tankard nodded as he pulled out his company credit card. “That’s what I like to hear. I have a feeling that you and I could make one hell of an impact on this project.”

The server cleared our plates and took his card. I took advantage of the distraction to search for Ava. Damn it. Where was she?

My phone dinged, notifying me of a text.
It was from Ava, and I frowned as I read it. She’d gotten tied up and wouldn’t be able to make it. I wondered if she was pissed at me after my hasty exit last night, but when I suggested that I could come by her place after work, she agreed. Glad that we had that settled, I turned my attention back to my boss.

***

As I drove to Ava’s, I realized how much I wanted to see her again.

“What
happened last night?” she asked when she answered the door.

I closed my eyes against the dreaded question. “I can’t talk about this now. Let me make it up to
you over dinner.”

“I have two more appointments this evening. Why don’t you sign the offer
, so I can fax it to the seller’s agent, and meet me back here at eight o’clock? Instead of going to dinner, maybe you could bring Chinese takeout?”

“Works for me.” I quickly signed the papers and left h
er apartment, so that she could finish up her real estate appointments.

Three hours later, I showed back up on her doorstep, offering a
bag of Chinese takeout as a peace offering.

“How’d you know that’s one of my favorites?” she asked
sarcastically as she smiled and took the bag.

“Lucky guess.” I
followed her into the kitchen.

“After running earlier
and then having two appointments back to back, I am completely famished,” she said, pulling two plates out of the cabinet.

“Burning up all of those calories does have a way of making you hungry,” I agreed
, knowing all too well the hunger that came with training.

We divvied up the sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, rice, an
d eggrolls.

“Milk or water?” Ava asked as she held the refrigerator door open.

“Milk is good.”

She poured us each a glass, and we sat at the kitchen table.

“About last night,” I said.

She held up her slender palm. “Let’s not talk about it right now. Let’s just enjoy our dinner, and then we can go on the patio and talk.”

“Fair enough,” I agreed.

“So how was your day?” she asked. “You looked stressed.”

“Believe it or not, my ass of a boss took me to lunch and told me that he was considering me for a promotion.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ve already seen what a liar he is, so we’ll see if it pans out. And even if it does, he also told me that he’d be watching my performance over the next few weeks as he makes his decision, which means the pressure is on.”

“I have faith in you.”

I put my fork down and looked at Ava, really looked at her, and I could tell by her expression that she had meant those words. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time someone told me that, and I realized that it felt damn good to know that she believed in me. I knew my mother and Kelsey trusted me and my judgment, but this was different, this was someone that wasn’t obligated because she was related. This was someone who offered those words of encouragement because she truly had confidence in my abilities.

“
It’s been one helluva day, Ava, but you just made all the shit I’ve dealt with today worth it.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled one of those smiles that was warm and genuine, one of those Ava smiles, and as much as I didn’t want to think it, I could seriously get used to coming home to someone like her.

Perhaps it was kismet that we both had meddlesome little sisters who were determined to bring us together.

“You could make my day even better if you tell me that I got the house, and I won’t have to go house shopping again.”

“I haven’t heard from the seller’s agent yet.”

“Well, I guess there’s no point in worrying about it until I know what I’m dealing with.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” she said softly. “It’s just a matter of coming to terms, and you and the seller are on the same page, just not quite the same sentence.”

I swallowed a bite of eggroll. “Man, it would be nice to have something to cross off my list.”

Ava smiled. “Now why do I have a feeling that you’d just find something else to add to it?”

“I definitely would, but crossing
items off is more satisfying than adding them. Crossing them off is when I feel a sense of accomplishment. And most of the items on my Do-It-Or-Die List have been a long time coming, so the payoff is that much sweeter.”

“So what comes after
buying a house
?”

“I’ll probably start back to school next semester.”

“Didn’t you just graduate?”

“I did, but I want a master’s degree.”

“Determined, aren’t you?”

I gritted my teeth together, thinking of all the reasons why I refused to be a failure. “I guess you could say that.”

When we finished eating, we stepped onto the patio, which was sparsely furnished with a two-person swing and a small side table. I sat beside Ava in the swing, and we gently swayed as we gazed at the full moon, its brilliant glow a stark contrast to the inky, black sky.

“A wise person once told me that the moon
will wash away all the bad things that happen, so that when the sun rises, it’ll be the fresh start of a new day,” Ava whispered.