“The problem I texted about?” She sighed. “Well, I don’t want to get too personal, but Avery’s mother is having a rough time with Brooke being back home, and, well, she needed some cheering up, so . . .”
Just thinking about that bitch Brooke had me ready to ram my fist into a wall. She had always been conniving and manipulative, and I blamed her partly for what happened, even though it was still my mistake.
Between her and Kayla I felt like my head was going to explode.
“Stop that!” Mom giggled like she was swatting something—most likely my father. “Anyways, we talked last week and it was . . . tense, you know? But I saw her on my morning walk this morning. We got to talking again, and it felt so good! Just like old times.”
My heart sank.
“I’ve missed her,” Mom sniffled. “We hugged, and of course the topic of conversation floated over to you and Avery—and I may have hinted that I’d be more than happy to throw a party to celebrate. Not just you two getting together but our families as well.”
Oh hell.
She sighed loudly. “I know you said you guys don’t want to do one and that you are planning a long engagement, but honestly—I don’t know why you wouldn’t want this! It’s a way of righting a wrong, and, well, the minute I told Tess we would host, she burst into tears!”
“From happiness?”
“Well, she sure as heck isn’t sad!” There was a strange rustling sound. “Bill, stop that! Your son’s on the phone.”
“Hi, Dad.”
“Son, you’d understand if you saw what this woman is wearing right now.”
“Please don’t tell me what she’s—”
“Nothing but an apron, son, nothing but an apron.”
“The chicken one?” I winced. “With the giant—”
“Cock on the back.” Dad chuckled. “Oh, son, it’s a glorious day! I think I see the moon!”
“Oh, hush, you!” Mom giggled. “Now, the party’s this Saturday—no backing out. Think of all the people you’re going to make happy! And the best part! EVERYONE is going to be here, even Avery’s grandfather!”
I felt my entire body go numb, and then hot. “Is he?” How the hell did they all put this together so fast?
“Sure, sure, and Kayla too, but Tess said Kayla is really excited for you guys. Isn’t that sweet of her? She actually said, and I’m quoting Tess, ‘They make a lovely couple!’”
“Did she now?” Yeah, I highly doubted those were her exact words, and I was even more convinced that whatever nice thing she might have said, it was with more sarcasm than Tess could possibly comprehend. She didn’t know Kayla the way I did, or Brooke for that matter.
Both had mean streaks that Avery didn’t possess.
I hung up the phone and texted Avery, asking her to meet me in my office in five minutes.
“Do you think she was serious about the party?” Avery asked, chewing the shit out of a green Starbucks straw as she drummed her fingers against the chair. “We could get in a car accident.”
“So we’re back to that?” I groaned. “Back to the whole faking our own deaths scenario.”
Avery stopped chewing the straw. “Kayla, Brooke, Mom, Dad, Grandpa with his guns, and your family of fun, all in one house. Yeah, Thorn, I’m back to death instead. Is that a problem?”
“Hell no,” I growled.
I was having the damnedest time concentrating, what with the way Avery was sitting, her black pencil skirt hiked up around her thighs. She wasn’t wearing nylons, just really high nude-colored shoes that reminded me of what her pink skin looked like beneath the clothes.
Her crop top revealed a sliver of her stomach.
And her eyes were outlined with some sort of dark liner that made them pop, and made me want to throw caution to the wind and attack her with my mouth.
“Thorn.” She snapped her fingers. “Eyes up here, Casanova.”
I blinked, unaware I was even staring at her breasts until she said something, and then it was impossible not to stare.
With a sigh, she tossed the straw onto the chair next to her and sauntered over to me, her hips swaying slowly enough to put me in a trance.
“What are we going to do?” She breathed out a shaky sigh.
It was instinct. I pulled her into my arms and rubbed her back. “We go to the mattresses.”
“Oooh.” She shivered in my arms, and I loved it. “So we war?”
I nodded. “What other choice do we have?”
Her body went rigid against mine. “We could tell them the truth.”
“Oh great, I’ll go first.” I smirked. “Hi, guys, we aren’t really engaged, nor should you be expecting a grandchild anytime soon. You see, it was a little white lie that got a bit out of hand. But here’s a bonus—we did see each other naked last night, twice, and damn, watching your daughter orgasm has to be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen. Oh, hey, Grandpa, it’s been a few years!”
“You’ve made your point.” Avery’s face was as red as a tomato. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
She broke eye contact and crossed her arms, putting space between us. “Was it the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen?” Finally, she gazed directly at me.
I jerked her against me and captured her mouth in a heated kiss, my hands finding her ass and giving it a tight squeeze before my lips grazed her ear. “Sexiest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.”
“Oh.” She blushed an even deeper shade of red.
“But,” I said, sighing, “I may need to do more research in the field. The first session was so fleeting that the results could be skewed.”
“Is that your nerdy way of asking if you can see my boobs again?” She grinned.
“That depends. Does nerdy Lucas work better than dominant Lucas?”
“I’ll let you know.” She grabbed me by the shoulders and swayed.
“It’s okay to kiss me,” I whispered, touching her chin with my fingertips.
Emotion flickered across her face. What had just happened? A second ago she was laughing, and now she looked ready to burst into tears.
“No, it’s not.” She swallowed and pulled away. “Because that was a one-time thing. It’s Thursday, after all.”
“Avery?”
“Hmm?” She looked so insecure, hugging her body, refusing to let me in. I hated that I didn’t know why, although I assumed I was probably the cause. But I didn’t know how to fix it.
“Let’s get back to work and we’ll discuss this later tonight.”
She nodded and quickly walked out of the office, but not before snatching her chewed straw from the chair, glancing back over her shoulder, and giving me one last heated stare.
The minute my door clicked shut, I breathed out a curse and adjusted myself. I’d been ready to close the blinds and do just about every wicked thing to her my mind could conjure up.
With a groan, I walked around my desk and sat down in my leather chair, rubbing my temples with my fingers.
How the hell was I supposed to face her family?
As if the universe needed to remind me of my many sins, my calendar popped up with a reminder to find a new Thursday—and to make reservations for Nadia and me for Friday.
I heard a few raised voices.
And then Avery saying, “I said he’s busy, don’t—”