Chapter 10
The soft trill of Ava’s laughter filled the space for the hundredth time that night. Richard let the sound of it soak into his soul. This was the most peace he’d had since his life got turned upside down months back.
Here they sat, facing each other from one corner of her couch to the next in her dimly lit suite.
“I feel like we’re back in middle school or something,” Ava said, tucking a chocolate brown strand of hair behind one ear. “Let’s see…we’ve shared our favorite numbers, favorite candy, favorite colors…”
“Favorite food,” he added. “Can’t forget that.”
Ava faked a shiver. “No, I definitelycan’tforget the fact that you actually enjoy eating black, gooey fish eggs on toast.”
“Or crackers,” he added. “But it has to be the right kind of gooey black fish eggs.”
She shivered again, then sighed. A soft, breathy, happy-sounding sigh. Lamplight spilled over the room from the far corner, casting the most gorgeous glow over her cheekbones when she smiled. Richard had the sudden urge to cradle her face and graze kisses over those cheekbones of hers, one after the next, before gliding down to that dimple, and then to corner of her lips.
“I really did enjoy that show,” Ava said, pulling him from his musing.
“Good. Do you agree with me about the status?” He lifted a brow, wondering if she’d remember how he’d categorized the show.
Ava gave him a slow nod. “Epic.”
“Nice.”
“Majorly epic.”
He pumped a triumphant fist. “Yes!”
More than an hour had passed since their show ended, and while they’d enjoyed the movie, sharing laughs, soaking up the excitement, and enjoying the childlike wonder of it all, the conversation that had followed was like icing on the cake.
“Do you have any tattoos?” Ava blurted next.
Richard lowered his fist and shook his head. “Nope. Not the biggest fan.”
“Hmm,” she mused. “I like them.”
He thought back on the guy covered in ink at Jack’s Hardware. “Doyouhave any?”
Ava shook her head. “No, my…this guy I was dating, back when Ididwant one, was dead set against it.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. Some moron trying to tell her what she could and couldn’t do. “And you let that stop you?”
Ava squirmed under his gaze and looked away. "Oh, we hardly ate any of our candy,” she said, nodding to the pile on the coffee table.
Hmm. Was she purposely deflecting? He got the impression that she was. “What tattoo would you have gotten?” he pressed.
She reached for the multi-pack of Pop Rocks and shrugged. “There’s one I had in mind, but it wasn’t a big deal. Let’s play a game.”
He’d been certain, just seconds ago, that nothing could distract him from the mystery of this tattoo and the loser who thought he owned Ava enough to tell her she couldn’t get it. But the wordgamewas enough to have Richard recalling the daydreams he’d had earlier.
Already she had the bag of Pop Rocks in her hand. He glanced down to see she hadn’t opened any of them. “You haven’t eaten any yet?”
“I was saving them,” Ava explained. “I didn’t want it to distract you during the movie.”
“Distract me?”
“Yes. It’s kind of noisy, remember?”
Richard pried open the bag and tugged out one of the small packets. “So what’s the game you want to play? I feed you and you guess the flavor?”
