Page 45 of Second Chance Mates

“Awww,” Lucy chimes behind me. “Miss her already?”

“Yeah, I did.”

Ava’s cheeks bleed even darker as she covers her lips with the glass once more.

“So.” I clear my throat to take the attention away from my statement. “Are you going to show me what you got for the wedding?”

“Nope,” Lucy says when Ava opens her mouth. “It’s going to be a surprise.”

Even the thought of seeing Ava in a dress makes my bones chill in excitement. You would think I had never seen a woman in a dress before. She’s beautiful in a jumper and lounge pants—I am not denying that—but I’m dying to see Ava dressed up.

“Well…” I shrug. “I look forward to it.”

“You should.” Lucy wags her eyebrows at me.

“What are you doing tonight, Luce?”

“Bash is taking me out for dinner.”

I nod. “Nice.”

“What about you guys?”

My eyes wander over to Ava, who is already staring at me. “I was hoping to cook this one a nice dinner. What do you say?”

The corners of her lips curl subtly, and she nods with bright eyes. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Cute.” Lucy gives me a wink. “Well, you guys enjoy. I need to start getting ready.”

When my sister is gone, I focus on Ava again. “Is there anything in particular you’d like for dinner?”

She nibbles on her bottom lip for a long moment. “Surprise me.”

My brows raise at her suggestion. “Okay. Surprise it is.”

“How was town today?” I ask as we dig into our dinner.

Ava nods and covers her mouth as she chews. “Busy. A little overwhelming, but it felt good to get out. I can’t remember the last time I went shopping.”

“I’m glad you had a good time.”

Her brown eyes lay on mine for a moment. “Is there always a man at the market singing really badly and playing that instrument that has a keyboard and harmonica in one?”

I bark out a laugh, almost choking on a piece of pasta. “Yeah, he’s kind of a legend around here.”

“Legend?” She chuckles with tinted cheeks. “It was a lot to take in.”

“You get used to him and the sound of his voice.”

Ava hides her smile. “Maybe it was just me. He did have a lot of coins in his case.”

“He works hard and definitely brightens people's day.”

“This is amazing.” Ava releases a satisfied sigh as she places her knife and fork together. She’s practically licked the spinach and ricotta ravioli off the plate. “Thank you, Jax.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

I stand from the table to take the plates, but she rushes to do the same. “I can do that,” she says.

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