Page 12 of Single Mom's Secret Diary
He points his finger at my expression. “Whatever that is, don’t.”
It takes a supreme amount of control to suppress my smile. I don’t mean to taunt him. I just can’t help it. “My best behavior.”
I hold my hands up and sidestep him out of my office. Ezra whispers something under his breath as we part, and I’m fucking giddy over seeing whether my prediction is true.
Her door is slightly ajar, and my knock reveals Wyatt propped in the chair in front of her desk. I’ve never seen that look on his face before—gobsmacked. Absolutely without control and desperately flailing to regain it.
I’ve overheard their last few back and forths, and I try to hold it back, but the words slip out of my mouth unbidden. “But indulgence is part of our game, Miss Caruso.”
When I step in, her hazel eyes glide to me, and I understand completely why Wyatt is sitting there dumbstruck. Why Ezra had that haunted look in his eyes back in my office. Being the center of her attention is arresting.
I swear my heart is stuttering to a stop.
And I recognize her. That long, straight, chestnut hair, the purse of her wide mouth, the lift to her chin. She’s the girl from Cancún.
I only spent an afternoon with her and Ezra, doing a couples date with Francesca. We rode out to some ruins, ate lunch, and were carted back. They clung to each other nearly the entire time. It was sickeningly sweet.
But like I told him then, after she disappeared on him, there’s magic in the Spring Break fling that fades when real life hits. It’s better to let it go.
Only now, she’s here again. Ten years later.
This is going to be the best kind of disaster.
I hold my hand out to her. “Ryder.”
“Avery.” She stands and takes my hand, and after the two pumps, I lift her hand to kiss her knuckles, but she pulls free of my grip before I can.
I grin at her and the small frown forming between Wyatt’s brows. “Nice to see you again.”
She blinks once, twice, and settles her judgment on me like a gavel banging the bench. Avery doesn’t give away that she recognizes me, but she barely looked at me the entire trip. “Were you the one sleeping with my cousin?”
I laugh. “No, love. That was Franklin. I was the one with the fiancée.”
She makes a pointed look at my left hand and the lack of a ring. At least she has the decency to not ask what happened. Because, no, we never did get married. The wedding we planned for after graduation fell apart shortly after the moment we tossed our caps into the sky and received our diplomas.
My chest aches at the memory. Seven years is a long time, but Francesca still has a small spot in my heart that gets picked at every time I think it’s completely healed over.
I point to the half-eaten chocolate on her desk. “Are you going to finish that?”
“No.” Her arms cross. The defensive stance delivers some parts of her past with it. Avery isn’t so sure she wants to be here.
I pop it in my mouth and smile as I chew through it. The little hints of heat play nicely with the semi-sweet chocolate. My wink has her rolling her eyes.
God, why does it breathe fire into me?
“I was hired for a reason. Wasn’t I? Shall we begin? I’d like to go taste your base ingredients.” Those hands fall to her hips, a power stance that accentuates the curviness of her lower half in that skin-tight jumpsuit. I bet her ass looks fantastic in it.
The glare she sends me only redoubles my natural instinct to flirt.
Or maybe she’s remembering how much of her I’ve already seen. Cancún isn’t a place known for covering up. And that tiny bikini she wore drew my attention even when Francesca dug her knuckle into my ribs.
Wyatt stands beside me, leading us out of her office. It’s almost crowded with the three of us in there at once. A sudden image of having her pressed between us flashes through me, and I gesture for her to proceed me out to the hallway.
Her stride draws my eye as I follow, closing her office door behind me.
I sidle up close behind her. “So, what brings you back into our lives?”
My words are low and close to her ear. It makes her sidestep me and glare. Something about the way she doesn’t warm to me immediately turns up the dial on my flirting.
