“So you’ve got a place for me and Ava…” Maverick said, “but what about poor Memphis?”
“What?”Ava’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no. I can’t—”
But Maverick was already chuckling under his breath. “I know, I know. You don’t want to be stuck with me. I was teasing. But Idowant to make sure you have a place.”
Andie moved closer to Ava. “I’ll get her set up in one of the suites,” she said, casting a look at Trenton.
Trenton rested a hand along his girlfriend’s lower back. “Right. Can we help you get your things?”
A splash of embarrassment spilled over her. “Um, I don’t have a whole lot to speak of.”
“That’s okay,” he said with a dismissive wave. “Lead the way and we’ll get you taken care of.”
Ava shot a look at Maverick before heading over to the truck.
“You’re really taking her away from me?” he asked playfully.
“Sorry,” Andie said. “Enjoy your cabin. Emmitt will lead you to it.”
“Fine, fine,” Maverick mumbled.
Ava creaked open the passenger side door, and another dose of hot embarrassment filled her cheeks. “Um, see? This is all I have.” A shoulder bag sat on the floor. Pink with big white flowers. She’d picked it up at a department store, along with most of the things in it, before catching the flight with Memphis and Maverick.
Trenton looped the bag over his shoulder and stepped away from the truck. “You really do pack light,” he said. “Come this way.” He started walking then, reaching for Andie’s hand as he moved.
Andie took hold of it, pulling back a bit so she could walk alongside Ava as well. The twins’ sister was friendly. It felt nice to have a fellow female around. She reflected on Trenton’s attentive nature, a thread of longing weaving its way through her heart.That’swhat a healthy relationship looked like. She envied it. Why couldn’t that have been her? Why did she have to seek out the one man who would treat her just like her father had all those years? She’d jumped from one burning ship to another.
“Oh, wait, wait, wait,” called Maverick from behind. He hurried to catch up, lightly brushing a hand over her shoulder before letting it drop to his side.
“Well,” he said awkwardly, “we finally made it.” He nodded.
She did too. “Yep.”
“So…I’ll see you in the morning, I guess.”
She grinned. “Sleep well.”
He bit his lip, took a hesitant step forward, but then stepped back instead. “You too.”
Yep, poor Maverick had learned that she didn’t exactly welcome a man’s touch. Or affection. Or even attention. It wasn’t his fault.
Andie and Trenton dropped their gaze to the ground as she turned back to start walking once again. She could read the question in their eyes—Were she and Maverick really together?
The answer to that was complicated.
Before arriving at the inn, Maverick had asked Ava what he should tell everyone about them. In the thirty days they’d spent at the temporary placement center, they’d become friends, but nothing more. She was fresh out of an abusive relationship, after all, but he didn’t know that.
Still, when he asked her, Maverick had a good case. He explained that he could be kind of a buffer for her. If he said the two were dating, she wouldn’t have to worry about other guys hitting on her. If she were honest, she’d sensed that Maverick liked the idea of no one hitting on her as much as she did. Ava just wanted to make sure thathedidn’t hit on her either.
I’m not in a place to date anyone right now,she’d told him. But if I was, I wouldn’t mind being with someone like you.The truth was, she very much enjoyed Maverick’s company. He was daring and funny and bold enough to say or do whatever came to that reckless mind of his.
Memphis was more like her in some ways. He was pretty reserved, actually. At least, when Maverick wasn’t egging him on in some way.
The Duran family sure was kind, she knew that much. And attractive, too. All of them. The twins had what seemed like a rare combination. Deep blue eyes with that coal black hair and olive-toned skin. And while she found them to be very handsome in their own right, Ava had been drawn into Richard’s dark eyes. Or perhaps it was the look behind those eyes. An expression she couldn’t exactly place.
Her mind drifted to the moment they’d first come face-to-face. A spark of adrenaline zipped through her at the recollection alone. For all the razzing the twins did where Richard was concerned, he didn’t seem so bad to her.
No, he wasn’t the friendliest one in the bunch, but she sensed that he was concerned. Protective. And decent. She didn’t get the womanizing vibe that Maverick and Memphis put off. She also didn’t sense that air of superiority she felt each time she was around her father or Wren.
