Page 39 of Falling in Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 1)

Asher didn’t want to dance with some random woman. Unless it was ponytail. But was she random? No. She wasn’t. They knew each other, sort of. He wasn’t sure how to classify their relationship.

“Or you could ask Blake to do it,” Dorsey suggested before heading out.

Asher doubted that she’d agree to dance with her dad for eight hours, even if it was for a good cause. But he liked the idea of it. He’d always felt bad that he’d missed all of her Daddy Daughter dances. James had taken her to a handful, and Asher hadn’t even made it to one.

But he doubted she’d be a willing participant. He could bribe her though. He could tell her if she did the fundraiser with him, he’d give her phone back to her.

It would really be a win-win since he’d been wanting to reach her when she was at camp and he’d been wanting to spend more time with her. But she’d been exhausted every night after dinner. Most nights she fell asleep while they were watching TV.

He’d ask her tonight if she’d do it to earn her phone back.

Asher checked the time. It was a little after 2:00 p.m. Viv had said that she’d stop by with, who he now knew was Ava, this afternoon. Which meant they could be coming in anytime now.

He realized then that the two times he’d been in the same place as her, she’d been shot and possibly drugged. He wasn’t sure what that meant, probably nothing good.

But he did know one thing, until he saw her again, there was no way he was going to get any real work done. All he could think about was the bright eyed, pouty-mouthed woman who’d shown up in his life again and he didn’t have any idea what to do about it.

* * *

“I can’t believeyou didn’t change,” Viv reiterated for the tenth time as they walked up the steps to the police station.

Ava had thought about it. In fact, that was practically all she could think about the entire day. But she’d decided it would be weird to change. She was going to a police station to fill out a report because there’s a chance she’d been drugged, this wasn’t a Tinder date.

“I was at work. I’m dressed for work.”

Viv shook her head in dismay as she held the door open for Ava.

Ava stepped inside and nerves pinged through her like loose change in a dryer. It had only been a few hours since she’d run into Asher, and she knew that it had actually happened, but for some reason it didn’t feel real to her.

It seemed like it was a dream that she hadn’t woken up from.

There was a young man in a uniform seated at the front desk. When they walked in it was clear he knew Viv and he was a fan. He sat up straighter and he got ‘that look’ in his eye. The one that promised he’d do anything and everything to get her attention and affection. Ava had seen this phenomenon happen since Viv hit puberty. Her younger sister had a way of wrapping the opposite sex around her little finger.

“Hey, handsome. We’re here to see Joe Friday.”

“Detective Ford,” Ava quickly corrected her sister. At least she hadn’t referred to him as tall, dark and dangerous. Or Big City Billy Badass. As far as nicknames, Joe Friday was the least embarrassing. “We’re here to see Detective Ford.”

“Sure, take a seat.”

Viv winked at the early twenty-something. “Thanks, Reeces pieces.”

“Reeces pieces?” Ava whispered as they sat down. That seemed a little sugary sweet for Viv’s nicknames.

“His name is Reece.” Viv shrugged as if she wasn’t that impressed by the moniker either. Then she studied Ava’s face and sighed. “You couldn’t even put on mascara? Or a little lip gloss?”

“Ladies, thanks for coming in.”

Ava heard the deep voice sound behind her and just like when she was seated at Sue Ann’s, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. A shudder ran through her. And goosebumps lifted on her bare arms.

She turned around and saw Asher standing in the doorway. He looked even larger than he had when she’d bumped into him. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was a few feet away or in relation to the building he just appeared to fill the space completely. Not only did he look bigger, he also looked sexier. Which Ava would have thought was impossible. But he did.

The stubble on his chiseled jaw was more noticeable in this lighting and his eyes weren’t covered by aviator glasses. Those eyes were the same eyes that she’d thought she could drown in all those years ago. They were just as drown-able today as she remembered. Maybe more so.

She was aware that beside her Viv said hi to Asher but Ava had no clue what words her sister had actually spoken. All she could hear was a buzzing sound in her head like white noise. She checked back in when she heard her name.

“I just need to get Ava’s statement and then if you could go over to the lab and—”

“Oh shoot!” Viv stood up dramatically and stared down at the phone in her hand. “I have to go. Audrey needs me. It’s an emergency.” Viv thrust out the phone toward Asher and Ava. On the screen was the text that Viv had sent Ava this morning to get her to come to the coffee shop that read: Come quick! Emergency! 911!!! She pulled her phone back and slapped her hand on her forehead dramatically as if she had just realized something. “Oh no! I drove. Would you be able to give Ava a ride to the lab?” she asked Asher.

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