Page 89 of Unstoppable Love

“Feels like a red wine kind of night.”

She drank it when she needed to mellow. White for silliness. It’d never made sense to me, but I wasn’t a wine drinker. Ava and Lydia had come up with that shortly after they turned twenty-one and started trying to figure out their signature drinks, whatever that meant.

She headed toward her bedroom but stopped at the mouth of the hall and turned to look at me over her shoulder. “You sure we’re good?”

“We’re perfect, Sunshine.”

And I was going to make sure we stayed that way, which meant I needed to know if Jimmy had hurt her in any way, and then figure out a way to keep him away from her when I couldn’t be there to protect her. Isaiah could only do so much, and Gavin stayed too close to Josie. Dalton and Bryce rarely left the ranch to come into town. But the Mortons being drunken fools and causing trouble went in waves. They’d be good and quiet for months, and then it’d be disaster after disaster, typically in increasing measure.

If they were starting it up again, I had no doubt Ava would be in the line of fire at some point in the future.

I forewent my normal rule of no drinking during the season and grabbed one of the beers Ava had stocked for me. It took some digging, but I finally found her beer bottle opener. With a quick flip of my wrist, I tossed the top into the garbage, replaced the opener, and turned to grab a bottle of red Ava had in a small wine rack above her fridge. Her electric opener was sitting on the counter, and I had just finished pouring her a glass of wine when she entered the kitchen.

She’d taken the time to wash the makeup off her face, and she’d thrown on a similar set of clothes to what she’d worn last night before I stripped it off her. Lightweight, mint green shorts that probably showed the curve of her plump ass cheeks if she turned around, and a short-sleeve top that was so wide, it exposed one shoulder.

Pebbled nipples beneath the fabric showed she’d also removed her bra.

Shit.

She had her hair in both hands, a tie at her wrist, and I took in the moment as she wrapped her hair up high on her head. The movement lifted her shirt, showing off her tan and soft stomach.

“So what’s with the seriousness all of a sudden?”

She plucked the wineglass out of my hand, and I was still trying to settle myself and remember what we needed to talk about because, with her standing there in front of me, so beautiful and peaceful and no longer worried like she truly trusted me, I’d forgotten everything except for what it felt like to sink inside of her.

“Cam?”

I shook my head and refocused.

Ava was grinning at me, smirking victoriously behind the rim of her glass. “Something distract you?”

“Yes. Your nipples are hard, and I can see them through your shirt. More than that, it’s also because you’re the most beautiful thing I think God ever created, and sometimes around you, I forget everything else.”

Her lips parted, and a furious hot pink rose on her cheeks. “Oh. Well, that’s okay then.”

I laughed and grabbed my beer. “Couch.”

“Oh goody. More serious couch talks.”

I smacked her ass and was proved right as she skirted around in front of me. The shorts did show the curve of her ass.

Hopefully she didn’t wear those out of the house. I’d have to kill any man who saw her.

She curled up in a corner of her couch, ass to the corner, legs bent and folded toward the center. She adjusted the side table next to her and tugged it forward so her wine would be in close reach. I took a seat right next to her, facing her, and set my arm on the back of her couch. We were close enough I could reach out and slide my hand to the back of her neck, and I adjusted her legs so her knees were propped against my thighs. I made a similar move with the coffee table and brought it closer so I didn’t have to reach far for my beer.

Her hand brushed my cheek, and I leaned into her soft touch. “You’re sort of freaking me out. Something happen at dinner I missed?”

“Dinner was perfect, and even though I’ve eaten dinner there a thousand times, I always learn new things about you and your family.”

“Like what?” She sipped her wine, a soft smile curling her pouty lips.

“I don’t know. Things.” I brushed my hand up and down her legs. “Like your dad. He’s such a good man, good like mine but different too.”

Ava chuckled. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Small things. Like the fact he brings all the food out to the table. That once the meal is done, he’s the first to start cleaning plates. That he and your mom do the cleanup together. And I know tonight was a show to make it understood I was there for a different reason, but I realized he’s always done that.”

“Well… yeah…” A frown appeared. “I don’t get it.”

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