“But Maverick gets noticed one way or another,” Memphis blurted.
Ava giggled some more. “That’s true. So yeah, he waved again but he also whistled at me.”
“That’s because you were looking at your phone,” Maverick added.
The comment made her stiffen a bit, but then she nodded. “Yes, it was my next job for the day. They told me not to bother coming in. The guy was having his wife take over the accounting.Bigmistake, by the way.”
“No wonder you looked so bothered,” Maverick said.
Ava held Maverick’s gaze for a blink. “Uh, huh. So, anyway…” She bit at her lip, seeming to get lost in thought. “Where were we?”
“Maverick just waved you down again,” Trenton said.
“Right,” Ava said. But then she tipped her head to meet eyes with Maverick. “Why don’t you tell everyone what you said to me.”
Maverick came alive then, shooting into story-mode with his hands stretched out before him. “First of all, let me just say that I felt drawn to this woman from the get-go.”
“Aww,” Andie sighed.
“I did. Here was this gorgeous little brunette tucked into the corner, focused on the screen and a stack of printouts. And that’s when the idea came to me…” Maverick continued to tell the story of how he asked if she’d like to join them on their trip to Costa Rica. And though Richard was tuned into his words, another part of his mind was stuck on the fact that she was sitting in the corner yet again. Like she wanted to go unnoticed.
But she was fine being in the spotlight for now…
He let his gaze linger on Ava as Maverick told the tale, shocks of amazement charging through him.
“Wait, wait, wait,” he found himself blurting as one detail jumped out at him. He locked eyes with Ava. “You actually told him to get aone-way ticket?Instead of a roundtrip?”
Ava lifted her chin and nodded. “Yep.”
This was absolutely mind-blowing.“Why?What did you plan to do there?”
She shrugged. “Stay as long as I wanted.”
No. This was officially not making any sense. She had to be hiding something. “But what about your family? And your job? You’re an accountant. You hadn’t even warned any of your other clients?”
She let out a slow breath. It was only then that he realized how quiet the room had become again. This time all eyes were set on her.
Ava glanced from one new face to another before answering. “It’s not like I was planning to leaveforever.” A laugh coated the final word. “In fact, I didn’t even pack any of my things. I just grabbed a tote bag from the department store, bought a few necessities, and caught the flight with a pair of perfect strangers.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine doing that,” Andie said.
“I know.” Ava shook her head absently. A thoughtful furrow pulled at her brow then. “But you know what?” she said, tapping her bottom lip. “It felt nice to, for once in my life, just take a risk, you know?”
Richard’s muscles tensed up in response. No, he didn’t know.
But as he glanced at the faces in the room, he spotted looks of appreciation and awe.
“Totally,” Andie breathed, smiling and exhaling a dreamlike sigh.
Memphis wore world’s goofiest grin as he stared at her—the dictionary snapshot forpuppy love. Richard shifted his gaze to Emmitt.
If Memphis was a lovesick puppy, Emmitt was a smitten kitten, blinking and grinning, as beguiled as the rest of them.
But Maverick’s expression was different. He sat there, fist tucked beneath his chin, his blue eye racked with a force that Richard understood all too well. He wanted to figure her out too. The guy had had an entire month with Ava and it didn’t seem he’d gotten too far.
A flicker of encouragement flared warm in his chest. Maybe there was a chance for him after all. Maverick wasn’t her type and she knew it. But maybe Richard was.
There were at least a dozen reasons Richard shouldn’t be having thoughts like that. He worked to push it aside and focus back on the mystery before him: Why would anyone who had their life in such order—an accountant, of all things—do something so reckless? The twins could have been sex traffickers for all she knew. No sane person would take that kind of risk, would they?
