Chapter 9 Desmond #2
We were in the block between the two floors, which meant we couldn’t see outside. Ava hated enclosed spaces. She’d been claustrophobic for as long as I could remember.
“I’m on it, boss,” he called back chirpily.
I looked over at Ava, whose legs were trembling as she leaned against the side of the elevator.
“Hurry up, if possible,” I told him before I turned back to her.
“Can you please sit down?” I said, helping her down and sitting next to her.
Her arm brushed against mine as she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay,” she muttered to herself but sounded like she wasn’t buying it.
God, I needed to distract her with something.
“Did you know, when I invested in The Galley, I had no idea we’d be thrown together like this?” I said, speaking the truth as an easy way out.
Before I could speak, Ava turned around, her amber eyes looking back at me with something like vulnerability.
“You mean, you haven’t googled me in the past few years?” Ava asked. “I’m not surprised.” Her eyes were narrowed, and there was a crease on her forehead between her eyebrows. But her legs were still twitching.
“Well,” I said, eager to keep her focus away from the elevator situation even if it meant digging up a past I was scared to revive, “did you google me?”
She gave a look that was part hurt and part shame.
“I used to,” she admitted in a low voice.
“Up until a few years ago. Weren’t you a venture capitalist?
At the Lead Capital Group? That was the last I remembered reading about you before Mom and I moved back to New York.
We were still struggling to get her restaurant going, and …
well, reading about your success wasn’t easy.
” Her eyes met mine. “I’m sorry. That makes me sound jealous and obsessed. ”
I shook my head. “It makes you human, Ava,” I added, a little impressed and more than a little flattered. “You’re right though. Luxe Hotels is owned by the Lead Capital Group. In addition to our financial investment in Luxe, I also took over as CEO to provide direction and managerial expertise.”
“Oh.” A complicated expression crossed her face, and she looked away for a minute. “That explains it then,” she said in a low voice.
Before I could respond, the elevator beeped, and her face contorted in visible distress.
“Oh God,” she muttered, “what does the beeping mean?”
I took her soft, warm hand in mine. “It means Jim is doing his very best to get this going.” Which meant we had roughly five minutes left before this elevator got going.
“How did you and your mom decide to move to New York?” I asked, remembering that she used to live in Austin.
“Mom had a friend who was looking to sell that restaurant three years ago. We decided to go for it.”
“Ray, your previous investor, invested in the restaurant with your mom,” I said, remembering the details now.
Her shoulders fell back down, and she nodded. “Yes,” she said, sounding dejected. “I always hoped I could buy him out myself, sometime down the line.”
An optimist.
She was a hopeless optimist and, if my memory served me right, also a hopeless romantic. I just didn’t know if the latter still held.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
The elevator started to move, but stopped with a painful screeching sound. Ava abandoned all pretense and leaned into my side, gripping my hand tightly.
“Is this going to end in a hundred-foot free fall?” she asked, sounding close to tears.
“No,” I said. “Because Jim is the best technician I’ve ever seen and he knows everything there is to know about fixing elevators.”
Relief flooded her face, and she nodded, but thankfully stayed put against me. I liked this.
“Jim’s been with us for ten years now,” I continued. “That’s how long you and I went without hearing from each other.” I tried to grin as I made the joke, but it didn’t land.
Her eyes flicked to mine in an instant, and after chewing her lip for a minute, she spoke reluctantly. “You’ve been keeping count?”
Oops. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s one of those details that I simply can’t forget. Just like how I know you hate enclosed spaces, like this cramped elevator.”
There was a silence as she looked me up and down. Her gaze strayed to my polished suit and my Italian dress shoes before she looked up at me.
“You’re right about that. But there’s a lot in me that’s changed. You’re not the boy I once knew either,” Ava said, shaking her head.
I wondered how much of the boy I once had been was still there in me. Quite a lot of that bright, hopeful kid had been stomped out by expectations and responsibilities I’d borne in the past few years.
“You’re … the CEO of Luxe Hotels,” Ava continued. “I’m not interested in working for you. I’m doing this because—”
“Of your employees,” I said. “I know.” And my respect for you increased substantially when you did.
But her words were music to my ears. Ever since I had taken over my uncle’s business, almost every woman I’d dated had been enamored with this title. The same women who’d never have looked at me twice before. In some ways, it felt refreshing to be hated for the job now.
“It’s complicated,” I finally admitted. “But I can assure you, Ava, I will not make big changes around there without your approval. Trust me on this.”
She stared at me for a long moment before she exhaled and nodded.
I moved closer to her. We were inches apart, and I couldn’t help myself.
I squeezed her hand, and she looked at it for a second too long before she squeezed back.
Her grip was gentle, and I smelled a tinge of vanilla before her eyes met mine.
It was a gesture that said a whole lot. That we’d be putting down our suspicions of each other and working together as two mature adults now.
“Thank you for being honest with me,” she said.
Ava’s eyes held mine for what seemed like a long moment. Neither of us was willing to break away.
“I won’t lie. Seeing you again brought back memories of Centerville High,” she admitted, turning sideways and breaking our gaze.
“We had some great days there,” I began, and then my brain reminded me of afternoons spent kissing under the bleachers and the touch of her skin.
Ava got that faraway look, as though she had been reminded of something pleasing, too, before she snapped back to the present, taking me in. The man I’d now become. And the way her eyes lit up a little told me a lot more than what her lips were currently saying.
She’s still a hopeless romantic.
The elevator moved, and this time, it kept moving. Ava looked at me, wide-eyed in surprise, while I smiled.
I let go of her hand and helped her up. “I think we’re going to have a controlled hundred-foot descent, if that’s okay with you.”
Jim’s voice came over the intercom. “All good, boss!”
I pressed the button on the panel. “Thanks, Jim,” I said and turned around to check in on her.
With a ding, the doors opened. The two of us stepped away from each other just as a few employees walked past us, calling out a greeting.
She got out, her chest heaving as she stared around. “God,” she said, putting a hand to her forehead. “I feel like such a fool now that we’re back here,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I said, giving her a small smile just as my phone rang.
Suddenly reminded of Brody, I reached for it with urgency, and to my utter relief, I saw that it was him.
“Why do you always assume that things are not okay?” Brody asked as soon as I answered.
“I’m sorry,” I said, biting back a curse. “But are you—”
“I’m fine,” he said calmly. “I was just checking in to let you know that I won’t be able to meet you for dinner this Thursday. One of my ex-bandmates is visiting, and we’re having a night out. Though, in hindsight, I ought to have sent you a text instead of scaring you with a call.”
I exhaled. “It’s okay. I know I worry too much. It’s … it’s something I’m working on. Thanks for letting me know.”
When I put my phone away, I saw Ava looking up at me.
“Is Brody okay?”
I nodded. “He’s okay,” I muttered. “Thank heavens for that.”
Her clear eyes held mine for just a moment longer, reading me, perhaps assessing me and the obsessively protective person I’d now become.
“I need to get back,” Ava said, breaking away and stepping back. “Thank you for … well, everything.”
“You’re welcome, Ava,” I said and took a long look at her. “Please don’t let this one incident dissuade you from using the elevator again,” I said.
She smiled. “I’m usually not one to write off things or people so quickly,” she said, taking a step back.
“So, you’d give it a second chance?” I asked.
She grinned. “The elevator? I might.”
I almost wanted to ask, What about me?
But then Carolyn waved at Ava from afar, where she was serving a line of customers that was ten people long, and she was obviously in need of assistance.
“Take care, Ava,” I said and watched her leave.
She turned for one last nod before she disappeared behind the café counter. I was left standing in the empty corridor, my hands in my pockets, staring at the café.
The darkness slowly crept up around me, and the lights in the lobby did nothing to dull it.
My dad had left us when I was a baby, and after Mom’s death during my last year of high school, I’d resolved to never take my family for granted again.
I’d changed my priorities to focus on the only family I had left back then—my uncle, aunt, and my cousin/brother, Brody.
Ava hadn’t been on that list even though she’d come pretty close.
I needed to make sure she never would be on that list because I could not be the man who made the same mistake again.
I could not risk losing anyone in my family once more simply because I was in love with a woman.
I took a few steps toward the front doors of the lobby with a single backward glance at the café.
Having Ava work for me was going to add complications to the mix.
If our past was anything to go by, I knew she’d encourage me to laugh at all the wrong things, boost my confidence, and convince me I was capable of things I could never do.
She’d make me break my no workplace relationships rule and follow my heart.
I couldn’t have a woman around me who could do that.