Page 28 of Playing Pretend with Love and Billions

Her small town isn’t very big, so there were a lot of things to say about it and the people throughout. It made me want to visit, learn about the place she grew up, and possibly visit her family one day with her.

Apparently, there’s a group of older ladies who sit outside their houses during the summer months, watching the shirtless men working on houses along their street. There was one time when they made a booth for anyone else who wanted to sit and watch the show, only if they paid five dollars per chair for an hour of sitting time.

There were tons of stories that she told me that made me laugh, and it was nice to sit down with her to just talk about our lives.

She mentioned her growing friendship with Millie and how she is the best friend she has in the city besides me, and that warmed me up a little to know that I made it on her list.

Now, we are weaving through the crowded New York sidewalks and I think back to the night I had to go pick my sister up from that sketchy bar downtown. “I have a sister, you’d love her. She’s younger, not even old enough to drink yet. Would you mind if I invited her over one night to have dinner with us?”

Ava smiles at the thought of that and simply nods, peacefully taking in the sights around her.

When we reach the penthouse, I almost forget that she never responded to me about what I said, but she reaches out and grabs my wrist. “I like you, too. And that scares me. The last thing I want is to end up in another position like I did with Alex.”

I nod, understanding her concern, but smile softly down at her. My lips are only inches from hers as I say, “I’d never intentionally hurt you, baby. Trust that, at least, okay?”

She nods, then lifts her face up until her lips press to mine in a tender kiss.

When we get into the house, she looks around as if she doesn’t know where to go and I pull her toward her new room. As soon as I saw how scared she was to go into her room, I knew I’d give her whatever she needed. My guys came here while we were at dinner and switched everything, so instead of her being on the right side of the house, she’s on the left.

Her hand is soft and small in mine as I lead her from the kitchen, activating the alarm on our way through, and pulling her into her new room with me. I may have also added a few extra touches to it, keeping track of everything she was adding to the other rooms so that she would feel more comfortable here. She stands in the doorway, staring deeply at the new painting hanging above her bed in awe.

“I’ll let you get settled. Goodnight,” I say before giving her a kiss on the forehead and walking down the hall. I barely step into the kitchen before she’s pulling me back into her room and leading me to the bed.

“Stay,” she says, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.

I almost groan at the action, but manage to keep it held in and simply nod. “Let me go get dressed, I’ll be right back.”

Before she can change her mind, I’m rushing through the house and finding a pair of pajamas. It seems like it takes me seconds to put them on, not wanting to miss a chance to wake up next to her. When I get to the room, Ava is already curled under the blanket with a soft smile on her face. The cute snore she lets out causes my mouth to tip up into a giant grin.

Without waking her, I slip into bed beside her and wrap my arm around her waist. I breathe out a contented sigh, pressing a kiss to her shoulder blade and closing my eyes. If there was anything I never expected from this, it would be how much I love the feel of her in my arms.

* * *

When I wake up, the smell of bacon wafts through the air and the side of the bed where Ava was is cold and empty. I smile to myself, enjoying the feeling of being in her bed while she makes breakfast for the two of us.

She hasn’t been herself lately, drawn away and scared of everything. In the week that she’s been here, I’ve caught her getting jumpy when the keys clatter against the glass bowl I sit them in.

Today though, she’s humming to herself and already dressed for work. She has the music blaring from Alexa, dancing to the beats, so I take the moment to watch her carefully. Her hips sway while she bobs her head and flips the pancake in the skillet. She’s beautiful.

Without thinking much of it, I walk up behind her and place my hands on her hips, swaying to the beat with her. My lips graze her neck, smiling against it, before reaching over and stealing a piece of bacon from a plate on the counter. Crunchy, just the way I like it.

She has another pile of bacon in a separate skillet, less crunchy than mine, and it makes me smile wider. She must not like it quite as cooked as I informed her I like mine.I enjoy learning new things about her. She turns around, swatting the spatula at the hand that grabbed the bacon, then goes back to cooking.

“You seem to be in a good mood this morning,” I say.

She smiles at me. “I have a reason to be happy today.” That’s all she gives me before going back to humming along with the music.

When I start wailing out the lyrics, she laughs with a shake of her head, and that only causes me to sing louder. When the song is over, I give her a peck on the cheek and turn to go into my room to get ready for work.

I can’t wipe the smile off my face, even when I walk back out into the kitchen and find all the food done and ready to eat. Ava’s plate is piled high with pancakes and a few slices of bacon, while mine is piled high with bacon.

Is it wrong to say I could get used to this? Waking up every morning to her dancing and singing in the kitchen, making us breakfast? I can imagine waking up to tiny feet stomping around the house, or the laughter of our kids as they jump onto the bed with me.

I mentally shake away those thoughts. I’m getting too ahead of myself, we just admitted our feelings to each other. It’s best if I slow down with the future until Ava is sure of us. Oddly enough, I’m all in with her. That’s something I didn’t think I’d ever want in my life. Love, kids, and breakfast before work.

It makes me happy to know that Ava is ready to come back to work, not that I gave her much of a choice in the matter. She’s missed enough and Alex doesn’t get to jeopardize her career because he can’t handle her rejection. If what the staff says around the offices is true, he has no right to be angry at her for walking out. There’s a high chance that she caught him in a compromising position with another worker, and I’m glad she knew her worth and walked out as soon as she did.

Once we are both full and ready for work, I lead us from the penthouse and out to the private garage. She takes a calming breath before slipping into the passenger seat and shutting the door behind her. Her hair is pulled back into a French braid, something I haven’t seen on her yet, and all it does is give me a vivid fantasy of pulling it while I bury myself inside of her.

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