“Ava’s changing. I’ll stay here and monitor her location. Just wait for Ava. She can handle a situation if it comes up.”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, wanting to leave immediately. But having a black belt in jujitsu could be useful in a situation like this.
Time seemed to stand still as I waited for her to emerge, but thankfully, Ava wasn’t much of a diva. She didn’t need to be as a natural beauty.
Within a few minutes, she emerged from their bedroom in a dark tracksuit, pulling her blonde hair up into a ponytail. “All right, Doc, let’s go get your girl.”
Alex kissed her cheek as she passed. “Be careful.”
“Always,” she answered as she joined me in the hall.
“Thank you, Ava,” I said as we hurried down the stairs, disarmed the alarm, and headed to her car.
“Of course. You really care about her.”
“What can I say?” I asked as I climbed into the pink SUV. “That kiss sealed it for me.”
She offered me a sideways glance as she fired the engine. “Just be careful. I don’t want to be nursing your broken heart if she turns out to not be what you expect.”
I nodded, but didn’t answer. I was never careful with my heart. That was how I’d had it broken before. But this time seemed different. I’d always been the one chasing, always pushing myself into whatever space I could.
But Nattie had met me halfway. Her kiss had been proof of that. Maybe she was toying with me, but maybe not. I hoped not.
It took us only a few minutes to reach the Beach Rider, and Ava slid the car next to the curb just up the street. She studied the outside of the motel. “I can see why you wanted to move her. This placeisgross.”
I kicked open my door. “I told you. Let’s just find her.”
Ava slipped from the car, her eyes never leaving the building. She checked her phone, following the dot. “Looks like she’s in that building.”
I nodded, heading for the left wing of the motel. “Yeah, that’s her old room. Hey, if she’s going through something, I’m totally cool talking to her, but it may be helpful if you talked to her too. You know, woman to woman.”
“Woman to woman?” Ava asked, her nose wrinkling. “I may not be the best choice. I’m not exactly average.”
“No, but you are a woman. And maybe she’d feel more comfortable opening up to you.”
She shot me a glance before she nodded. “Fine. I’ll do what I can.”
We approached the room she’d been in before, but before we reached it, someone popped out. My lips parted as I stared at Nattie.
“Nattie?!” I called, my voice a panicked question.
“Hey,” she answered, her tone almost flippant. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about her entire demeanor seemed different. I started to question the connection we’d had.
My eyes lowered to her body, my nose wrinkling at the leather pants and jacket. She hadn’t been wearing that earlier. She must have changed before she leapt from the balcony.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She hesitated a moment before she bobbed her head. “Yes.”
Why was her tone so clipped? “I was worried sick. I went to check on you, and you were gone. Why did you come back here?”
“Oh, uh, I forgot something. I didn’t want to wake everyone so I just…slipped out quietly.” She shrugged nonchalantly like it was no big deal.
I couldn’t get over the change in her. She seemed so forward, so not like she had been earlier. Had I really done that muchdamage with what I’d considered an innocuous and kind of cute statement?
I didn’t want to believe it. That the connection we’d shared—the spark that had lit me up inside—had been nothing but my imagination. But the woman standing before me now? She wasn’t the same Nattie. She couldn’t be. My heart refused to believe it, even as my mind screamed otherwise.
“Well, you had us in quite a panic, especially Doc,” Ava said, giving my shoulder a shake. “Not that you need to check in with us or anything, but…you know, first night, everyone was a little on edge.”
