“What if she decided it was worth the risk?” Ava said. Her easy smile never wavered, but Luc found himself searching her face all the time.
Was this just another generic interview question?
Or something more?
Luc intentionally let a wide grin spread over his face. “Well then I guess I’d have to decide if she were worth the risk.”
There was a beat of silence. Everyone watching would assume his response was a guy response, just a twenty-something dude trying to maintain his bachelor status for as long as possible.
But the slight flinch in Ava’s features told him she heard it for what it was.
He was telling her that she was a risk.
One he wasn’t willing to take.
Ava recovered. “A dedicated bachelor then,” she said with an answering smile.
“I think so.” He fake-smiled right back and their gazes clashed for a second too long before she leaned forward to take a sip of water.
Her hand shook just the tiniest bit, and Luc instinctively tensed before forcing himself to relax his shoulders.
It was coming.
She sat back in her chair and Luc waited for her to triumphantly throw down her trump card.
But to his surprise, there was hesitation there.
No, more than hesitation. Agony.
She didn’t want to do this.
She didn’t want to sell him out.
For a second, Luc felt like he could fly.
Until he remembered that it didn’t have to come to this. She could have told Luc earlier what she was planning.
Every step of the way, Ava had made it clear this was what she’d wanted more than anything. It was time to see it through.
He patiently waited for her gaze to come back to his. The entire hesitation had probably lasted only a couple of seconds; likely the audience would see it as nothing more than a slight gathering of thoughts, but it felt much longer.
And when her eyes finally found his, she looked so bewildered and lost that he wanted to rip off both of their mics, hold out his hand to her, and lead them both away from this circus.
Instead, he nodded at her. Nothing obvious. Just the slightest tip of his head.
Permission.
Do it, Sims.
And so she did.
“Officer Moretti, as I was researching your impressive history as a police officer, I couldn’t help but notice there was a bit of a, shall we say, blip on your record…”
Luc refused to acknowledge the pain that ripped through him.
You can do this.
It was time to put everything behind him. It was time to move on.
And Ava had just made it really easy to move on from her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
It had taken a serious amount of groveling, but Luc had eventually convinced Nonna and Anthony to give him his space.
Actually, Anthony had agreed almost immediately. After making sure that Luc wasn’t inclined to do anything stupid, Anth had quietly packed an overnight bag. His brother understood that sometimes being alone with whiskey and dark thoughts was exactly what a situation called for.
Nonna, on the other hand, had only been coaxed out of the apartment when Anthony held a lighter under her precious yoga mat and threatened to toss all her lacy push-up bras in exchange for bulk cotton bras from the local drugstore.
Luc had thought his grandmother was going to faint at the notion, and she’d finally agreed to leave, only after making Luc homemade macaroni and cheese. It wasn’t classic Italian in the least, but it was bona fide comfort food.
Luc hadn’t touched it.
Neither had he gone for the whiskey, although he figured that would be on the agenda at some point tonight. For now, it was him, a beer, ancient flannel pants, and hopes of losing himself in TV, or a book, or anything that would save him from thoughts of Ava.
It was strange how one could carry around two years of emotional baggage, finally heal, only to be ripped wide open by a woman.
Even more ironic was that it was the same woman who’d helped him come to grips with the first issue.