Page 63 of The Charming Checklist
Every woman’s walking and talking aphrodisiac wanted...more. And of course, she above all women knew that. She’d seen the list.
She reached for his hands and tugged on them. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t want to wake you, and since I drove around last night without even telling my mother I’d left, I wanted to make sure to be home before she realized I was gone.”
“So, you drove around before you wound up at my house?Thatsounds like a booty call.”
Oh man, itdidsound that way.
She palmed his cheek then, the sensation of bristle under the pads of her fingers doing far more primitive things to her body. “No, it wasn’t. I’m not the type. Please, please don’t be mad.”
He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “I’m not mad. I just wanted to wake up next to you.”
“Oh, Max,” she whispered. “You are constantly surprising me.”
“This shouldn’t surprise you. In case you didn’t know by now, I’m in. I’m all in with us. Are you?”
This struck her as such a grown-up conversation, and for the first time Ava realized she’d probably never dated or been with a realmanbefore. She’d dated boys who played house with her, and maybe that had been her, too. Dancing around relationships but never being serious enough to fully open up her heart.
“Yes, count me in. I know our lives are complicated right now, but this is you and me. Us.”
“That’s what I want to hear.”
I thought you didn’t understand love, but you’re pretty damn good at this part.
The words didn’t make it to her lips because he hadn’t said a thing about love. It hadn’t even been a part of his stupid list.
“The reason I took a drive in the first place...” she began. “Last night was rough. My mother...she said she’s going to ask my father for a divorce.”
Max simply quirked a brow, but then pulled her close and with that one sympathetic move, tears clouded her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
She buried her face in his shoulder. “Then Adam was there, and...and the timing was off to tell you. I didn’t want to talk about it. I don’t know, maybe they’ll work it out. I hope so.”
“It must have been a shock. They seem perfect for each other.”
“I thought so, too. It’s hard to watch. My mom...she’s different now. She’s fun and carefree. Relaxed for a change. No more snide comments. I think, having worked so hard all her life, she wants to retire and enjoy what’s left of it. And my Dad, he doesn’t.”
“That sounds like something that could be worked out. Compromise.”
“Hope so, but you don’t know my father. He’s so oblivious sometimes. They both tend to be absentminded, but he’s ridiculous. I called him and asked to speak to my mother. Do you know he didn’t even realize she was gone? Threedays, Max. Three days and he hadn’t noticed.”
“I would notice if you were gone two minutes.”
She let that knowledge slide into her, warm and sweet. Her hand pressed to his chest, she felt the beat of his heart. Slow, steady. Strong. “I have class tonight, but I’ll come by after.”
“Good.” He took the hand on his chest and brought it to his lips.
The door to the Chamber offices opened.
Ava turned to the man who’d walked inside. “Hi, I’m Ava! Welcome to Charming! How can I help you?”
With a quick chaste kiss, Max left, letting her get back to work.
After work Ava drove to her business class at the local community college. She drove straight to the satellite office in Houston, about a thirty-minute drive. It had turned out that being a student at twenty-nine was quite different than being one at eighteen. At Princeton, she’d been a good student, knowing no other way to be. Then, the endgame had been her degree. Pleasing her parents. Now the knowledge and skill she’d been acquiring was just for her.
Best of all, community college was the real world. There was Marge, a fiftysomething who ran a beauty salon and wanted to improve her skills and advancement opportunities. Jeff was twenty-five and had never finished his degree. He had a few courses left to complete his AA degree. Suzie was the only eighteen-year-old, and she already worked full-time, so took only night classes. There were others, but not many were interested in starting their own business, or if they were, they weren’t admitting it. Then again, Ava had mostly kept quiet about her own plans, too.
When introductions had been made on the first day, she’d told everyone that she wanted to understand more about the ins and outs of business to help support the members of the Chamber of Commerce. And that wasn’t a lie, of course.
