Ava sighed, noting the sincerity in his response. “Thank you,” she said with a nod. But then a realization hit her. She had no idea which places she wanted to look at yet.
“What’s wrong?” Richard asked.
“I don’t want to waste your time,” she said. “Let’s just go get the calculator for now, and I can take a bus to look at properties tomorrow. I haven’t even circled the ones I like yet, you know, from the pamphlet.” Ugh, she was rambling.
His lips tightened. Was it just her, or was Richard looking at her like she was a math problem he was trying to solve? “How about this,” he said, turning to lift the bulky folder off the desk. “We wait and pick up the calculator tomorrow, and we’ll look at some places for you at the same time. I’m pretty sure we can make good use of our time sorting throughthisfor today. Does that sound good?”
“I really don’t mind taking a bus,” she assured.
“I really don’t mind taking you,” he said in return.
She bit back a grin. “Okay. Thank you.”
He gave her a slight nod. “Thankyou.And Ava, I want to make sure you’re safe. And cared for. My brothers are the ones who dragged you into our family drama, andIplan to care for you like family now. Okay?”
A warm, internal blanket coated Ava from the inside. Muscles she hadn’t known were tense loosened at his words. At the assurance in his eyes. “Thank you,” she said again. She pictured herself tucked into his warm embrace, his muscled arms wrapped protectively around her as she curled into his chest. The thought caused a phantom scent to infuse her next breath, a recollection of his aftershave when she’d passed him in the hallway at Trenton’s.
Stop, Ava.She needed to get herself together.
“Now that that’s settled,” Richard said, motioning toward the seating area between the desks, “let’s see what kind of mess we’re dealing with, shall we?”
Ava nodded, ready to dive into the new project. “Let’s do it.”
