She patted his cheek. “You’re one of the good ones, Doc.”
“Ahhhh, is there something you want to tell me about?” Alex asked as he strolled in, his laptop tucked under his arm.
“Doc’s hitting on me,” Ava said with a wink at him.
“Wait, seriously, or are you joking? I can’t tell,” Alex asked with a wince, shifting his gaze between them.
“I’m joking. Doc is just making sure I’m feeling okay and staying calm.”
“I hope you’re staying real calm,” Sebastian said as hestrode into the room behind Alex. “Because we are going to need to figure this out. And there’s no way we can fight back without you, Ava.”
Ava swallowed hard as she grabbed the tea again, holding it close. What they faced seemed impossible. Was she up to the task of defending them and breaking a major criminal organization or would it cost her everything?
CHAPTER 3
ALEX
Alex squeezed onto the couch as Ava shifted over to make room for him, ironically sliding closer to Kyle. He wrinkled his nose at the detail, still uncomfortable after what he’d walked in on earlier.
It wasn’t bad enough that Chris Maxwell and Sebastian Bancroft had invaded his home, but now Kyle Carter, a man who had kissed Ava seemed to be growing closer to her with every moment.
He tried to chalk it up to her rough experience, the chemicals, and his treatment to stop the blackouts but that didn’t exactly explain why she had his face cupped in her hands when he’d walked in.
They’d been way too close and looked way too chummy for his taste.
His stomach clenched as the image, now burned into hismind, haunted him. He trusted Ava, but what if the chemicals in her system had caused her to only think she loved Alex?
What if she now realized she wasn’t interested?
Had Kyle’s treatments already started to take hold, returning her to the Ava who had spent nearly two decades married to him but fully planning on getting a divorce?
Alex shifted his gaze sideways, noting Ava’s knee nearly touching Kyle’s thigh. He pressed his lips together into a thin line as he wondered about their behavior.
Ava had easily explained it away, first making a joke, then fluffing it off. Were they hiding something?
The good doctor had kissed her once already. Was it not really over for him? Maybe treating Ava, getting her through this issue with the blackouts had reignited his interest in her.
Alex swallowed hard, staring down at the tea in her hands. When did Ava start drinking tea?
The thought plagued him. When she’d first arrived in the Hamptons, he’d told her Chris didn’t know the real her, but Chris had said just the opposite. Ava had grown and changed. She wasn’t the woman she was when she’d spent all her time with Alex.
Was he right?
Alex worried that he’d misjudged the real Ava. She may have only said she loved him because of the drugs coursing through her system. With her head now clear from the cocktail Kyle had given her, maybe she realized that wasn’t true.
What if Alex had only ever been the safe choice? The easy fallback? Maybe the way Ava had lit up during their gaming sessions wasn’t love, but just friendship. Maybe he was never anything more than a distraction from Chris. And now, with Kyle playing knight in shining armor, patching her up and laughing with her…what if she fell in love with someone else?
Alex cleared his throat, his muscles taut as he tried to find his voice. “Tea?”
“Doc made it for me.”
The words sliced at his heart like a knife. The answer, so simple and neat, set off a firestorm of envy and insecurity inside him.
“Oh, she doesn’t drink tea,” he said as he leaned forward to glance around Ava at Kyle.
“She does now,” he answered. “No excessive caffeine until we’re in the clear. So, don’t let her talk you into sneaking her coffee.”
“Oh,” Alex said with a nod, “I see. Okay.”
