Chapter Nine #2
“Honey, if you love fabric as much as I do, you’ve got to be careful where you venture. Trust me, I have spent so much money on fabric over the years. I have a giant stash, and probably more than I can ever use. I was trying to be a good girl. Your mother has the most amazing window displays.”
Ava couldn’t help but laugh. “Tell me about it. It’s why when I’m there, I love to work. Especially preparing the fabric for deliveries. I can pretend I’m buying it for myself.”
Lidia laughed along with her.
“I had no idea you enjoyed sewing?” Ava asked.
“Yeah, it’s not something I talk about. Aria knows because she is my best friend, but she is not into sewing, so it’s not something we have in common. I did take her to one of those out-of-town festivals. She was completely bored. This was a long time ago, but I had a lot of fun.”
“Seriously?” Ava asked. “There is one coming up around Christmas. I’ve been wanting to buy tickets. My sister doesn’t want to go. Mom is not going either. You know, you and I should make it a date.”
“You’re serious?”
“Hell, yeah, us sewing buddies have to hang out together, right? It could be a lot of fun. What do you love to sew?” Ava asked.
“Just about everything. Even if it is difficult. Making clothes is a giant pain in the ass, but I love it.”
“Me too.” Ava laughed.
“Do I get to find out what we’re all talking about?” Pat asked, joining them.
“I’m afraid it will bore you,” Lidia said.
Ava chuckled. “Lidia loves sewing, and in fact, I was the one who packaged her order.”
“You didn’t go into the store to pick it up?” Pat asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking.
I’m a lazy ass and all that, but ... I’m not a lazy ass.
I don’t have any restraint. I know my limits, and trust me, all that gorgeous fabric under one roof.
It is more than I can stand.” Lidia chuckled.
“Anyway, you and I will meet up, talk about it, and it is a date. You better bring a shopping cart to carry everything.”
“You’re on.”
“Have fun, you two,” Lidia said.
Ava turned toward Pat. “We’re going to a sewing festival. It’s held around Christmas. You find all these little small businesses and crafters. I always wanted to go, but Mom and my sister don’t care to go. Lidia wants to, so it is a win-win.”
“Good,” Pat said. “I’ll take you both.”
This surprised her.
“You will?”
“Yeah, that way you don’t have to worry about the travel there. I’ll drive you two, you can load the car up with fabric, and it is a win for me.” He banded an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“Why is it?” she asked, marveled at her ability to actually speak clearly and know what she was saying.
“Because I get to see what makes you happy, and that will make me happy.”
Ava didn’t know how he did it. He made her heart race. To distract herself, she took a long drink of her juice. It was cold and refreshing.
The party was getting in full swing. She happened to glance around the room, and during her conversation with Lidia, things certainly had steamed up.
The lights seemed to have gone down just a little.
Clothes had also come off. Women who were scantily clad when she arrived were now completely butt naked.
Ava looked away and then looked up to wonder if Pat was looking at the other women.
She didn’t know what she would do if he was staring at them.
Did he want them more? She was never going to compare to those women.
First of all, she was a virgin. Second, she wasn’t comfortable getting naked in a roomful of strange men.
Even if Pat was watching. She didn’t want to do it.
Only, Pat was not looking into the room. He was staring straight at her.
“Are you okay?”
Should she tell him she was more than okay now, that she knew he wasn’t looking at anyone else?
She pressed her lips together and nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“If it gets too much, tell me.”
“It’s fine.”
While he was looking at her, and not at the naked women, she was more than okay.
She finished her drink, and then to prove it to him, she grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the dance floor.
She ignored the soft moans, as there was no mistaking what was going on, not too far away from them.
Ignoring it, she focused on Pat. He’d been coming to her place now for a while, and she never got the chance to offer him a beverage.
Pat always took control and kissed her. The kisses were toe-curling, and she never wanted them to end. They felt amazing to her. His lips were a deadly temptation.
Ava put his hands on her hips as she circled her hands around the back of his neck and stared into his eyes. She didn’t want to look away.
Pat somehow managed to pull her even more against him, and put his hands on her ass.
The room seemed to fade. She heard the music, but the people that surrounded them were no longer there. It was like only the two of them existed.
They had not kissed in front of anyone before. Even though she knew the room was still there, it didn’t matter.
Going onto her toes, she pressed her lips against his.
Pat ran his hands up her back, and one hand cupped her waist, as the other held the back of her neck.
She let out a moan, pressing her body against him, not wanting to stop.
It started out as a gentle kiss, and Ava didn’t know what changed along the way, only that it did, and she didn’t want it to stop.
“Would you like to go somewhere ... quiet?” Pat asked.
“Yes.”
He let her go, and Ava didn’t look around.
Pat took her hand and led her out of the main bar where they had been dancing.
They accessed a corridor, and then they were up a flight of stairs, and a second flight, going down the main hall, until they were suddenly in a bedroom.
Ava didn’t get a chance to look around at the décor, before Pat had her pressed against the door.
Much like he did when they were at her place.
She didn’t have a problem with it. She loved the way he held her.
His grip wasn’t too tight, just enough to hold her in place, but if she wriggled, or told him to stop, she knew he would.
His kisses drove any doubt right out of her mind. She moaned and he swallowed it down.
“You can tell me to stop,” Pat said.
He broke the kiss, and Ava realized she was panting.
“Why?”
“If you don’t want this. Tell me to stop, Ava.”
“No, I want this, but there is something I have to tell you.” She licked her swollen lips. “I ... I ... I’ve never done this.”
“Are you telling me you’re a virgin?” Pat asked.
Ava was tempted to lie, and say absolutely not. That she had sex with plenty of guys, just not at a party, or any biker. There was no point in lying. Also, she didn’t want any lies between her and Pat.
“Yes,” she said. “I-I’m sorry.”
He cupped her face and tilted her head back. “Don’t be sorry.”
“But I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said.
“The good news is, babe, you don’t have to worry, because I’m not a virgin.
I ... I’ve been with a lot of women. I’m clean.
I would never do that to you. I’ve been with them even before I knew you existed,” he said.
“But I promise you, since I met you, since I’ve gotten to know you, there has not been another woman. ”
Ava was shocked by his admission. “You haven’t?”
“No. None of those women are you, Ava.”
Her heart beat even faster.
“I can understand if you don’t want me to be the one.”
“I do.”
“Ava, I’m not a good guy. I’ve done things—”
She cupped his face and forced him to look at her.
“I know this club has a past. I also know it has a future. I’m not delusional.
I also know you were in the forces as well.
I know you’ve had to do a lot of things.
Some of them, I imagine you didn’t want to do, and others, I imagine you wanted to do a lot more.
I am not going to judge you. I want you, Pat, because I like you.
I like the man you are when you’re with me, and that is all that counts, right? I want you to be my first.”
She would keep the only part to herself. Ava didn’t know if he was ready to hear quite how devoted she was to him already.