Page 28 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

Apparently, however, Ava’s lack of a filter was wearing off on me because I foolishly blurted out the question, “Can a person really do that in their own home?”

She turned slowly, a mixture of defiance and weariness in her eyes, but there was nothing ambiguous about the firm set of those luscious lips. The Ava I’d been fantasizing about begging for more mere hours before now looked at me like she could bite my head off in one clean chomp. Blood rushed to my groin, and later, I would have to figure out why her irritation with me seemed to turn me on as much as her being soft and pliant, but in that moment, I needed to be on high alert. She looked ready to strike.

“Don’t pull that with me, Duke, especially when I didn’t particularly want to be here. You know damn well that I’m only here for Penny.”

That admission caused a pain to shoot through me, but I shoved it back. Of course she didn’t want to be here since staying with me was a total disruption to her whole life, and yet, it still stung.

“Generally, if you’re wanting privacy, you close the door,” I pointed out.

She looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s bad luck to be completely shut in when working. It closes off creativity. That’s why I have the window cracked, too,” she said, pointing to the window behind her.

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, you’ll have to excuse me for not knowing this essential bit of information,” I snapped.

She sniffed haughtily. “Well, now you do.” With that, she turned back to her work.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment before I finally decided to just rip off the Band-Aid and address the elephant in the room. “Ava, about last night—”

Her head shot around so she could shoot me a fierce glare. “Last night did not happen, so I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

I saw the plea in her eyes, and my cock stirred. Dammit.

I nodded curtly. “Right. Nothing to discuss.”

She seemed somewhat relieved and went back to working on her sculpture once more. “I already texted my mom about an extra guest when we were leaving the grocery store last night, so she’ll be expecting you. Dinner is at five, so be ready to go by four,” she told me, even as she kept her eyes trained on her work.

I bit back a smile. It looked like some of my habits had worn off on Ava, too. I’d come out of my bedroom with every intention of taking charge of our dynamic, and here she was, doing that very same thing.

“Alright, Miss Moretti,” I said in a low voice. “You’re the boss…for now.” I took immense satisfaction in the way her hand faltered with the carving tool, causing a curse to slip from those too-tempting lips.

I didn’t let my grin take over my face until I was far away from her room. So, we wouldn’t talk about the night before—fine by me. But damn if I wasn’t excited by how much it obviously affected her. Plus, for some reason that I did not care to examine too closely, the fact that I had not been disinvited from the Moretti family dinner caused a tiny burst of hope to blossom in my chest.

I would never have described Ava as a shrinking violet, but with the way she just handled our tense situation, I now had a new respect for the young woman.

At four o’clock sharp, I was dressed in my finest suit, sans tie, and with my shirt missing the first couple of buttons. Ava had reminded me to not be “so stuffy,” and I had one of my best bottles of red ready as a gift for her mother.

I was fussing with the cuffs of my suit jacket when Ava emerged from her hiding place, her hair down and barely contained, just the way I loved it, and a short-sleeved dress hugged her in all the right places. It was a simple enough dress that nipped in at the waist and flared out, but it had buttons all the way down the front, starting at the wide square neck and going all the way down to the knee-length skirt.

An image instantly formed in my head of going down to my knees and undoing each one of those buttons one by one, slowly unveiling all that beautiful, smooth skin that would quiver beneath my touch.

Ava stopped at the mouth of the hallway, surveying me closely, her mouth pulled into a thoughtful line. I felt my dick harden beneath her careful inspection as her eyes followed the lines of my suit and what I held in my hand. Finally, she said, “Well, there’s no doubt about it: the Moretti household has never seen the likes of someone like you before…but the wine is a nice touch.” She flipped her hair back and grabbed her purse from the couch.

When she started towards the kitchen, I told her, “I already loaded up the lasagna in the car.” When she glanced at me suspiciously, I added, “Don’t worry, it’s buckled in and everything.”

Suspicion still etched in her expression, she said in a tight voice, “How thoughtful.”

The ride down in the elevator was quiet and tense, but that didn’t mean it was uneventful since I could practically feel Ava vibrating in the small space. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or nerves causing her reaction, but regardless of how much she wanted to deny that last night happened, there was no way it could just be swept under the rug.

Once we’d settled into the car, she only spoke to me to give me the address of her mother’s house, and then, we were off towards our destination across town. She sat primly, keeping her eyes carefully trained forward and looking for all the world like she intended to never speak to me again.

This kind of attitude will certainly make for an awkward dinner.

I nearly jumped when she asked, “So, any progress on who’s behind those creepy notes?”

I sighed. “Not as much as I would like. I have a feeling I know who’s behind it, and if my hunch is right, then they’re manageable.”

She actually looked at me, forgoing her goal of being as closed off as possible, at least for the moment. “I would hardly call someone taking pictures of us and your sister manageable. That’s psychotic.”

I let out a low chuckle. “Unfortunately, in my line of work, I have to manage a lot of psychos.”

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