Her Festive Flirtation. Therese Beharrie
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Название: Her Festive Flirtation
Автор: Therese Beharrie
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9781474078368
isbn:
He laughed, and it turned into a cough.
‘You’re sure you’re okay?’
‘Fine.’ He waved a hand. ‘Just normal after-effects.’
She bit her lip. ‘I really am sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into this.’
‘I’m glad I was the one who did get dragged into it,’ he retorted. ‘At least I have training.’
‘Ah, yes—one of the thousands of things you can do when you have family money.’
He winced. ‘How did you go from apologising to insulting me?’
She grinned, and his mind scrambled to figure out why his body was responding. He’d given himself a stern talking-to when he’d left all those years ago. Hadn’t spoken to Ava since then. His body had no business reacting to her smile.
‘It’s one of my unique talents.’
What are the others?
Now his mind froze, and when Ava didn’t say anything else, he wondered whether he’d said it out loud. But her expression didn’t change, and he put down the strange thought to the after-effects of inhaling smoke. There could be no other explanation.
Sure, keep telling yourself that.
‘So, can I call the vet?’ she asked after a moment.
He blinked, then handed her his phone and took the seat she’d vacated as she made the call.
He watched as she spoke to the vet. Watched as she set a hand on her hip and then lifted it, toying with her curls again. She’d cut her hair into a tapered style that somehow made the oval shape of her face seem both classic and modern.
He supposed those terms would work to describe her entire appearance. He’d always thought her beautiful—with an innocent kind of beauty that was much too pure for him—but with the haircut, and the clothes she wore that suited that cut, she was an enticing mix of classic and modern that made him want—
He stopped himself. Frowned at the direction of his thoughts. He couldn’t think of his best friend’s kid sister as enticing. He couldn’t think about wanting anything when it came to her.
She was just Ava. Little Avalanche. The girl who’d run in circles around him just for the fun of it when she was six. Who’d snorted if she laughed hard enough up until she was fourteen. Who’d asked him to be her first kiss so she could practise, and who’d eagerly responded when he’d kissed her a second time—
Nope. No. That line of thinking was going to get him nowhere.
But when she turned and smiled at him—and his body yearned to get somewhere—he realised that Jaden’s wedding was going to be more complicated than he’d expected.
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 СКАЧАТЬ