Читать книгу Her Festive Flirtation - Therese Beharrie - Страница 11

HE HADN’T CHANGED one bit.

No, Ava thought as Noah stood, her eyes flitting over him. He had changed. Though she now remembered how greedily she’d taken in his muscles earlier, she’d forgotten about them between then and now.

Possibly because he was wearing one of his colleague’s ill-fitting T-shirts.

Probably because she’d been too distracted by his face.

It had happened before, too many times to count. And Ava didn’t even blame herself for it. How could she? Objectively, Noah had the prettiest face she’d ever seen. And though the word didn’t seem to fit with the rest of him—not any more, since the strong, muscular body he had now was more rugged than the lithe one he’d had when they were younger—she couldn’t deny the perfect lines and angles of his face were pretty.

But just because she couldn’t blame herself for it didn’t mean she didn’t find it annoying. It was. Because if he hadn’t been so pretty she might not have found herself still having this absurd crush. Years later.

And then he walked towards her, rubbed a hand down her arm, and said something in that deliciously deep voice of his. And the voice in her head that had called her a liar when she’d put her crush down to just his looks laughed and laughed.

Damn it.

‘Avalanche?’

‘Hmm?’ She shook her head. ‘Oh. You said something?’ If only she could remember what. ‘Yes.’

‘Yes?’ His hand dropped. ‘What do you mean, yes?’

Double damn it. Clearly her guess had been wrong.

‘I mean, yes—’ She exhaled sharply when she couldn’t think of an appropriate cover-up. ‘Yes, I have no idea what you said and my attempt at hiding it has failed miserably.’

He stared at her, and then he laughed. ‘Clearly you’re the same old Ava. Honest even when it doesn’t benefit you.’

‘Would it kill you to not be so blunt? No one needs you to be this honest.’

‘Yes, that’s me,’ she said brightly, hoping it would banish the darkness of Milo’s voice in her head. The memories that voice inevitably evoked. The pretence of the rest of her wedding day. The weeks after, when she’d looked in the mirror and asked herself why she couldn’t be different. Better. Easier. ‘Would you repeat what you said?’

‘I asked where you’ll be staying tonight?’

‘Jaden’s,’ she said automatically. But then she shook her head. ‘No, Jaden isn’t here. He and Leela are staying over at the vineyard their wedding is going to be at. They want a better idea of what their wedding will feel like.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘As if it will change anything. The wedding’s two weeks away. What are they going to do if it doesn’t “feel” right?’ She sighed. ‘I guess I’ll be staying at a hotel.’

‘Why not your mom and dad’s?’

‘They’re with Jaden and Leela at the wedding venue.’

‘Sounds horrific.’

‘Yes,’ she agreed with a small smile. ‘I can’t imagine anything worse than a wedding at Christmastime.’

She knew that because her wedding had been at Christmastime. And not only had her day been spoiled, but her entire festive season. She was still not prepared to spend the first anniversary of her being jilted at another wedding. With the same guests. And the same whispers.

But she had no choice. Her brother was getting married.

‘Of course, the fact that this isn’t exactly a romantic weekend for Jaden and Leela sucks, too. My parents and Leela’s parents are there, so Jaden and Leela probably had to get separate bedrooms.’

It hadn’t occurred to her before, but it amused her now.

‘Oh, no,’ Noah said with a frown. ‘Your parents can’t think—?’ He broke off when she gave him a look. ‘Apparently they can.’

‘Unfortunately, my parents can and will believe whatever they want of their children.’

Like the way they thought the collapse of Ava’s wedding had been because of Milo’s faults and not Ava’s. And how they still didn’t see anything wrong with how grumpy she was—or wonder how much easier she could have been—even after a broken engagement.

‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘no one’s there. And my access to all those places are locked in the drawer next to my bed.’ She closed her eyes briefly. ‘So, yes, a hotel.’

‘What about Zorro?’

She lifted a brow. ‘Are you still looking out for him?’

‘I’m looking out for you.’

She thought she saw him hesitate before he continued.

‘You’re my best friend’s sister. There’s an unspoken moral code that requires me to help you when your brother can’t.’

‘I’d like to think that moral code comes from the fact that you and I were friends once, too,’ she said slowly. ‘It doesn’t matter anyway,’ she added, when the thought had her stomach twisting. ‘The vet wants to keep Zorro overnight. He wants to make sure he’s okay.’

‘Are you okay with that?’

‘Of course I am.’

‘Sure,’ he said easily. ‘So there’s no part of you that’s worried about him?’

When her spoken agreement got caught by the emotion in her throat, she sighed. ‘There’s a big part of me that’s worried about him. But he’s in the best place to make sure he’s okay.’

He studied her. ‘He’ll be okay,’ he said quietly, and then, as if he understood that she wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears if they kept on talking about it, he said, ‘You should stay with me.’

She stared him. ‘What?’

‘You should stay with me,’ he said again. ‘At my place.’

‘What place? Your dad’s?’

‘I’m a big boy, Ava,’ he said dryly. ‘I have a place of my own.’

‘I meant,’ she said deliberately, when his words sent thrills down her spine, ‘that you’ve been away for seven years. How do you have a place of your own?’

‘I invested in property.’

‘Of course you did,’ she muttered. ‘No, thanks, Noah. I think I’ll just get a hotel room.’

‘You don’t know how long it’ll be before you’ll be able to go home.’ He paused. ‘You might have to spend a couple of nights there.’

‘I’ll survive.’

‘What about Zorro?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘I told you—’

‘Yes, he’s staying at the vet’s tonight. But what happens tomorrow, when they call you to tell you he’s fine? That he can come home?’

‘I’m sure I’ll be back in my own house by then.’

‘But what if you’re not?’ He waited a beat. ‘I have a pet-friendly home.’

‘Noah—’

‘Ava.’

Their gazes locked. Her brain said, No, Ava; her body said, Yes, please. The juxtaposition fluttered on her skin, and she blamed her gooseflesh on that and not on how sexy and serious Noah’s eyes looked. Or on the memory of how that was exactly how they’d looked before he’d kissed her all those years ago...

‘No, Noah.’

She said it with a sigh of regret. She hoped he wouldn’t hear that, but her filter wasn’t working properly. She was too tired. Her throat ached. Her lungs pained. Her body reminded her that she’d done a full day of work before she’d arrived home to find the place full of smoke. Not to mention the swirling in her head at the unwelcome feelings and memories being in Noah’s presence evoked.

‘I’ve already put you out way too much tonight. I’m the reason you’re here. You should go home by yourself—’ Had she really just said that? ‘—and get some rest. Besides, I have to call my family now, before they hear about the evacuation, freak out and start driving back here in the middle of the night. And I do not want to tell them—specifically, Jaden—that I’m staying at your place tonight.’

‘Ava...’ he said softly, and walked closer to her.

Something pressed into the backs of her legs, and she realised it was one of the seats in the waiting room. Because when he’d moved closer to her she’d moved back.

Stay.

She straightened. ‘Noah—’

‘Let me speak,’ he interrupted, and the tone of his voice—seductive, commanding—silenced her. ‘It’s been a difficult night. We’re both exhausted, and it’s going to take more energy than either of us has to find you a hotel. I’m not leaving you alone to arrange all this,’ he said when she opened her mouth. ‘And I’m not even mentioning clean clothes, proper toiletries, a warm meal. Stay with me.’

‘What do I tell my family?’

‘Whatever you like. It’s the easiest option,’ he said with a smile, as if he knew she was already starting to formulate the lie she was going to tell them. ‘You’d do the same thing for me, Ava. We’re family, too.’

She nearly laughed. ‘I haven’t seen you in seven years, Noah.’

‘Doesn’t change anything.’ He paused. ‘I’ve only seen Jaden three times during those seven years. All three times it was because he’d come to see me. Because he considered me to be family.’

‘You’re his best friend.’

‘Family,’ he said firmly. ‘Friends come and go. And I went. If we weren’t family I wouldn’t be back here at Christmas, preparing to be best man at your brother’s wedding.’

‘You’re...stubborn,’ she said, when defeat washed over her.

‘I like to think of it as persistent.’

‘Well, you better hope persistence will help us if Jaden ever discovers the truth about the lie I’m about to tell him and our parents.’

‘Noah, you know I appreciate you offering me a place to stay, but—’ Ava broke off, wondering how to tell him. But then she remembered that he already knew she was honest. ‘But it looks like Father Christmas and the elves threw up in here.’

Noah chuckled. ‘That’s not a bad description, actually.’

He stood next to her and she held her breath, as if somehow it would make her less aware of him.

‘I had a company come in and decorate for Christmas before I got here. They got a bit...carried away.’

She took in the tinsel that hung on every flat surface, the Christmas stockings that accompanied it. The Christmas lights that were draped around pieces of furniture that should not have lights around them. And, of course, the gigantic Christmas tree next to the fireplace.

‘I think that’s an understatement.’

‘Probably.’

He took the handbag and coat that been draped over her shoulder and arm respectively, and hung them on a coat rack she hadn’t noticed.

‘I’ve been meaning to do something to make it less...this—’ he nodded his head at the decorations ‘—but I haven’t had the time.’

‘Christmas season is fire season in Cape Town.’

‘Yeah. And this season’s been particularly bad. Hence the fact that I—a mere volunteer—have been fighting fires for pretty much the entire two weeks since I’ve been here.’

She took a seat at the counter in his kitchen, accepting the glass of water he offered her. ‘Is that why I didn’t even know you were back here?’

‘I told Jaden. It must have slipped his mind.’

‘Must have,’ she said softly.

But she didn’t think that was it. Jaden hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with her since he and his fiancée had announced that their wedding would be at the same time of year hers had been, almost one year later to the day. In fact, he was avoiding her. More so since Leela had asked her to be a bridesmaid.

So she would put down Jaden’s neglect in telling her Noah was back to that, and not to the fact that he hadn’t wanted her to know. Things had moved on since Jaden had caught them kissing that one time. It probably had nothing to do with the anger he’d felt towards both of them back then.

Probably.

‘You okay?’

She looked up to see Noah’s eyes steady on her. ‘Perfect. This place is amazing.’

She looked around at the light green walls, the large windows that offered an incredible view of the mountains and the hills, the stone-coloured furniture. She took in the marble countertops, the sleek, top-of-the-line appliances, the white and yellow palette that brightened the kitchen.

And then her eyes rested on the sexy man who looked so at home in all of it. And although her heart did unwanted cartwheels in her chest, she forced calm into her voice.

‘I mean, what I can actually see underneath all this tinsel is amazing.’

‘Oh, ha-ha.’

She grinned. ‘So, how about you show me to the shower, Mr Festive?’