Page 230 of Falling for the Wife

“This is very kind of you,” I rasped out, sounding a little rough. “Thank you for going out of your way to do so.”

“Not quite going out of my way. I took your advice and Googled you, and since your office is just a walking distance from the hotel, I thought an edible treat would be a marvelous way to apologize for my behavior three nights ago.” She had a cute way of saying things, and I found myself smiling down at her.

“The hotel let you use their kitchens?” I teased, finding it hard to resist when she blushed with her eyes sparking like it was Christmas morning. There was an air of gullibility about her, yet her coming here spontaneously had proved she didn’t follow the rules, even though she wore class and elegance with apparent ease.

“My friend Allie took pity on me and let me use her kitchen for a few hours. It’s nothing much, just a small chocolate torte.” Ava openly stared at my face, seeming lost in thought as she gazed at me with longing in her eyes before I cleared my throat to snap her out of her trance-like state. “Sorry. I’m not usually odd like this. I’m quite easy to be around, I promise,” she apologized, blushing ten times harder than the last time.

Smirking, I didn’t want to argue her statement. I was almost positive she was a lot of things. “I don’t doubt it.”

“I swear … really.” Biting her lip, she seemed to ponder for a moment before she opened her mouth as her eyes sought mine, and she finally blurted out, “How about if you let me take you out for coffee? Perhaps even for a quick nibble?” I was about to decline when she interrupted me. “I understand if you’re busy tonight with prior engagements already, but I feel like I must explain myself fully or even just a fraction so you could have a better understanding about all of this. I swear I won’t bore you to tears.”

Ava was right. I did have reservations for dinner tonight with Hilary, my current lover. She adored the process of beautifying herself so much she’d start to get ready about three hours prior to when I was due to get her. She was a stunning, sweet woman who sometimes had a tendency of being overly clingy. Apart from that, however, Hilary was compliant and didn’t make it a habit to know the ins and outs of my business life. The last thing I needed was to take my work with me when I was out playing and de-stressing my worries away.

Declining Ava’s invitation didn’t seem appropriate, because she was the sort you didn’t want to disappoint. As much as I wanted to say no, my mouth had a mind of its own.

“Would half an hour do?”

“Yeah, half an hour is lovely!” She beamed, sounding breathless at my acquiescence.

My left hand itched to run through my hair, which usually helped ease me when I was confronted with something I wasn’t so sure about. Instead of following my instincts, I resorted to slipping my hand inside the pocket of my trousers while the other hand held the box with her handmade dessert in it.

“With coffee and your chocolate pastry, one could never go wrong.”

There was a coffee shop across the street we ended up going to. Ava kept me entertained for the short distance from the office to the shop with stories about her childhood memories and how she’d first started baking. I could tell from the bright look she had and how animated she became that this was one of her passions in life. What other interests did she have?

I frowned as I caught myself wondering about things I shouldn’t have even allowed to cross my mind. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the gold band on her ring finger meant she belonged to some other man. The thought made me frown further. Where was the husband, anyhow? How could a man possible leave this lovely, beautiful woman to her own devices to seek out a complete stranger and invite him for coffee? I was convinced, wherever he was, it surely wasn’t any of my business one way or the other.

Disengaging from my train of thought as we sat across from each other, I flagged the waiter just as I pulled out my phone and texted Hilary that I would be running a tad late for dinner. After the message, I immediately switched the mode to silent, not wanting to be interrupted since Hilary had this unfortunate tendency of being quite the annoying one sentence text message sender.

Where are you?

What time will you come?

Hurry?

Please?

This was merely a small anomaly from the stunning package altogether, one I hadn’t minded much until tonight. As much as I didn’t want to openly admit it, I was curious about what Ava had to say. After hearing her tonight, though, I made myself vow I wouldn’t see her or be cajoled by her pretty smiles again. She spelt trouble, and I certainly didn’t need to introduce useless drama into my well put-together life.

“You have such an uncanny resemblance that I find it more disturbing as the day goes on.”

Her words took me by surprise. She hadn’t even waited until we’d ordered before she had started getting down to business.

“I don’t want to seem rude, but I feel obligated to tell you that maybe you need to seek a therapist.” Shrugging, I gave her a retreated look. “With your past and this man in particular, maybe it would do you the world and lift all the guilt away. You seem to be quite bent about what happened in your old life.”

Ava was far from offended. Surprisingly, she seemed unperturbed.

“The thoughtdidoccur to me, but seeking help would clearly prove a lot of things I don’t think I’m ready to hear,” she said just as the waiter came. She looked upwards to acknowledge the pleasant, young man with her heart-stopping smile. “Hi, there. We’d love two hot cappuccinos please.”

For a moment, the waiter seemed struck before he shook himself back to functioning and took note of the order. The second he left, I didn’t waste a beat.

“You didn’t even give me the curtsey to order for myself.”

She raised her brow, her long, sooty lashes flickering at me, challenging me. “Sorry, did I make a mistake in presuming you’d adore a hot cappuccino?”

Sass. I liked that in women. “You didn’t make a mistake,” I murmured, observing her. “Though, one might wonder what else you may have read online with your little quest on me.”

She made the most unexpected gesture by bunching her nose, appearing less composed, more relaxed, and quite at ease in my company. “This and that …” she trailed off, biting her lip. “A lot of things yet a lot of nothings.”

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