Jack’s Bar was pretty full, the usual for a Friday night, although it wasn’t the crowds I noticed. As soon as I entered, my sight fell on long blonde curly hair that trailed down to a neat waist, one that my hands were more than familiar with.
She smelled of the outside, something fresh and summery and I was instantly glad that her date had been a disaster. “Stalker.”
Ava turned slightly and put her hand on my arm. “I got you a beer. Hope that’s okay. I noticed you were drinking coffee before.”
She was all things golden and right now I wanted to take her home and ask her to stay, because she was changing something other than the spaces in her houses, she was changing my goals. “Beer’s fine. I’m up early tomorrow,” I said. “Earlyish.”
“So that was your excuse for Miss Prim.” Her eyes gleamed.
“How long were you spying for?”
Her eyes widened innocently. “Oh, not long, about half an hour, maybe. After we finished eating he needed to leave, so I thought I’d have a couple of drinks and then see what Payton was up to.”
“And then you spotted me.”
She smiled. “You looked uncomfortable.”
I took a long gulp of my beer. “That’s not good. Maya was a nice woman.”
“Nice doesn’t mean right though. There will be other dates.” She moved her head to the straw of her cocktail and drank, eyeing me at the same time. “Just enjoy yourself.”
“Like you do?” I raised my brows.
She shrugged, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “I don’t do anything unless I think I’m going to enjoy it. Sometimes things don’t work out like I planned, like tonight. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
“What are you looking for?” I gestured to the bartender for the same again. I could manage another couple of beers if it meant talking to Ava for longer.
She stabbed the ice in her glass with her straw. Around us, music played in the background, chilled tunes and acoustic versions, and people milled about talking, drinking. Looking for someone to go home with. “Challenges,” she said. “Adventures.”
“You don’t want to have a steady relationship?”
Her hand stilled and she stared at me, looking as if she was trying not to burst out laughing. “Is that a proposition?”
I drank the rest of my beer.
She laughed as if the idea of something more than three nights of fucking was ridiculous. Then her laughter faded and realisation stilled her features. “You’d be interested in me?”
Now I laughed. “Why the fuck would I not be?”
She shook her head, curls bouncing. “Because I’m too young and silly and you’re this big hotshot lawyer who’s friends with my brothers and my sisters. And I’m not sure I’m adulting well enough to think about someone else other than myself.”
I moved the fresh cocktail in front of her and sipped at my beer.
“Stop winding me up, Elijah. I need some light relief after that shit heap of a date but not at my expense.” She looked genuinely bothered.
“I wasn’t winding you up. I like you.” The confession almost killed me – I wasn’t used to being so direct especially with a woman who wasn’t even on the same book as me, let alone the same page.
She put her hand on my thigh. “And I really like you, Eli. But you’ve just split up with someone you thought was your lobster and I’m pretty sure great sex distorts most people’s reality. Tell me something that’s annoyed you this week.”
My hand went on top of hers and our fingers entwined. The feel of her was soft, and as tough as she talked, she felt delicate right now. “Your brother,” I said. “Seph. He decided it was a good idea to hide the replacement toners for the photocopier in a different cupboard.”
“Sounds like Joseph,” she said. “I hope you did something in return.”
“Not yet. Although I think Max is probably going to tear him a new hole if he tries anything else in the next few days,” I said, remembering the resulting roar that had reverberated through the offices when Max had caught sight of Seph trying to hide his laughter. I had worried for a few seconds that Seph was about to be launched out of the window even though he had an inch or two on Max and had bulked up recently.
“Seph has a collection of holes created by Max,” Ava said. “He treasures it greatly.”
I laughed. “So what’s annoyed you this week?”
