Chapter 21 Ava
AVA
Two hours later, after I finished delivering coffee and snacks to the third-floor conference room—which was reserved, rather surprisingly, for the biannual mandatory CPR training—I took my lunch break.
I took the elevator to the fifth floor. I walked down the gray corridor, which housed the investments team, to the office at the end. The door was a lighter shade of gray, and Thomas’s name was on it.
I raised my hand and knocked.
“Come in,” called a voice from inside.
When I entered the room, I saw Thomas seated on a rolling desk chair. He looked up to see me while I registered the photos on the desk of him biking with his friends and a large potted peace lily at the front.
“Oh, it’s you, Ava.” He gestured to the chair in front of him. “This is a surprise.”
“I’m sorry for walking up, unannounced,” I said, seeing that he was poring over some reports and getting ready for a meeting.
He waved a hand aside. “I have a few minutes to spare. Tell me, what’s troubling you?”
I decided to get to the heart of it.
“A reporter familiar with Luxe Hotels—someone called Bianca Rutherford, apparently—has uncovered details of the accounting fraud at The Galley,” I began just as someone knocked on the door behind me and walked in.
Thomas’s eyes went to the person behind me, and he stood up immediately. “Mr. McKinley,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting you. I thought you’d be at your biannual meeting on the third floor.”
I tried not to look surprised at the news that Desmond was attending a biannual CPR training. Why was it so important to him?
Another thing I didn’t know about the man or how he’d changed in the past ten years.
I took a deep breath before I glanced at Desmond. I was scared that my face would give away a hint of how vulnerable I felt around him.
Desmond was wearing a navy-blue suit, his hair gelled, and he had that fresh, clean look about him, like he was just back from a workout. My lips tingled with the memory of that kiss.
“Ellie Hunt notified me about a rising level-three PR crisis concerning Ms. Hale. That was more important than my meeting.” His eyes flickered over to me for a second before he turned back to Thomas. “Do you mind if I stay for this?”
He knows about the article.
Thomas nodded, walking to the back of his office and pulling out another chair.
He placed the chair between me and him, and Desmond took a seat, setting his hands on the table.
I tried to ignore the thundering of my heart as I acknowledged his presence, so very close to me.
We’d kissed, but it was forgettable, apparently.
“You can stay,” Thomas said. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at me. “Are you here to discuss the same thing with me, Ava?”
Desmond turned to me, and I fumbled as I tried to speak fast. “Yes. Ellie brought it up with me at the café, and I didn’t know what to do, so I came here,” I began while Thomas looked less pleased.
“That wasn’t the right place for her to bring up sensitive information like this,” he said, fingers tapping against the table.
“There weren’t any other people around,” I added. “But more importantly, I have an idea.”
“What kind of idea?” Thomas prodded.
I leaned forward. “We give Bianca the interview that she is angling for. Give her access. Make us more relatable and open so that she can see that we have nothing to hide.”
Thomas sat back in his chair, looking taken aback. I chanced a look at Desmond, who was staring at me, comprehension dawning on his face.
“Who would give this interview?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
“I’ll do it,” I said, feeling the fear wash off me. I’d be doing the very thing that would aggravate Kyle. Talking about his embezzlement and going public with it. I’d been warned by Kyle to keep my nose out of his affairs, but I couldn’t live in fear of him anymore.
Desmond looked displeased while Thomas looked surprised.
“Actually, that’s a good—” Thomas began while Desmond interrupted him.
“They’ll tear her to shreds,” he said wryly. “All the newspapers will have a field day if they interview her regarding that embezzlement.”
I drew in a deep breath, and I looked between Thomas and Desmond. “The man who embezzled funds is still out there on the run. If my interview will help draw attention to him and help catch him … then I think I ought to, don’t you?”
Desmond looked back at Thomas this time.
Thomas was considering it, and after a long minute, he nodded. “You can. Go ahead and set it up.”
I nodded, thanked him, and excused myself.
Before I could leave, I heard Thomas ask Desmond, “Now, how much longer do we have before you need to leave for your meeting?” just as the door shut behind me.
Minutes later, when I reached the café, I saw to my complete surprise that Hank was waiting for me by one of the tables.
Feeling flustered, I walked up to him. “What are you doing here?” I asked, and he turned to face me with a smile.
“Well, it’s Friday. I just finished a class in the neighborhood studio two blocks down, and I remembered you’d be here.”
I smiled but warned him, “I have two hours to go in my shift.”
I walked over to his left when I saw Desmond in the distance. He’d followed me to the lobby, and he saw me talking with Hank. The look on his face was one of obvious jealousy.
I turned to Hank as he leaned in closer to me. “Maybe we can catch up later?” I asked.
He smiled at me. “Sure.” He nodded. “Just wanted to say hi. And, oh, Carolyn made me a fantastic drink.” He waved at her before pulling me close to him for a hug and walking out the door.
I turned to see Desmond looking incensed before he strode back to the elevator.
Darn it.
Cursing under my breath, I took a couple of deep breaths before I asked Carolyn if she could give me a few minutes for a restroom break. The café was not busy, and she was happy to oblige.
I walked to the elevators and hit the button for the nineteenth floor.
When I reached it, the doors opened, and I could see Desmond pacing the long hallway outside his office, his mood dark. Zach’s table was empty.
When I walked in, he turned to look at me. His expression was thunderous.
“Was that your date?” he asked, looking very much like he wanted to punch the nearest wall.
“If you’re asking if Hank’s the man I went out with once, yes. But he wasn’t here to take me out,” I explained. “He was in the neighborhood and dropped in to say hi.”
He put his hand on the wall next to him, bracing himself as he took a few heavy breaths. His deeply lidded eyes met mine in a challenge. “Well, why aren’t you down there, saying hi to him then?”
Even in his anger, I could see the vulnerability in him. A vulnerability I hadn’t seen in him before.
No matter what he says, he isn’t succeeding in convincing me that he doesn’t care.
He does.
I sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t want to speak with him. I’d much rather be here, speaking with you.”
He seemed to calm down a little, and that gave me the courage to speak further.
“Every night when I go to bed, I go over what we did in that restroom,” I said, sounding anguished. “And I can’t seem to decide if I’m sorry that it ended that way or if I’m sorry that we kissed again in the first place.”
“Well,” he said, running his hand through his hair and looking conflicted, “if it helps, the only thing I regret about that kiss was that it happened in a restroom.”
My eyes widened in disbelief.
“If I had it my way, Ava, I’d be kissing you on your doorstep when I dropped you at home after a date at an exclusive Italian restaurant, where you’d kept me on edge all through dinner, where I’d had to be content only with holding your hand while I ached to be closer to you.
I’d kiss you under a sky that was as mesmerizing as you.
I’d kiss you in many places, sweetheart, but hiding in the restroom isn’t one of them. And I apologize for that.”
My head spun with his admission while he struggled to keep his expression from looking pained. I kept my gaze on him, unable to tear it away. Desmond’s features, soft under the yellow overhead lights, reminded me of the boy from years ago.
“I go through my workday meeting with hundreds of people,” he continued. “But the only person I want to see works in the lobby, and I never run into you. I feel jealous of the people who can just walk up to you and talk to you. It’s such a simple thing that I can’t do.”
I held my breath. It felt different, hearing him talking about wanting me.
We hadn’t been inappropriate. I could go back to thinking about that kiss in a more favorable light.
Like how it had been one of my top ten kisses in my life.
Like how I’d give anything to have another one like that … like right about now.
“Being friends with you isn’t good enough for me, Ava.”
I thought of the times I spent scanning the floor of the lobby for a sign of him, a head that easily stood out among others, well groomed and all angles.
All the times I turned around at the sound of heavy footsteps at work, only to turn away with a sigh of disappointment that he wasn’t walking past.
“It isn’t working for me either.”
His eyes cut to me. “Don’t tell me you want us to have no contact going forward, Ava. Because that simply will not do.”
I inhaled. “No, that isn’t what I meant.”
He drew closer to me. “You know what the highlight of my day is? Standing here with you. This is the best part of my day. And now, imagining saying goodbye to you, seeing you walk off with Hank, is killing me. I want you, and I can’t be with you. I can’t have you.”
I put my hand in his. I should’ve known this. I should’ve known we couldn’t fight the attraction for much longer. And the reason I kept giving in to every attempt he’d made to meet me was the same as his. I couldn’t stay away from him either.
“I live for the sight of you walking past the café every morning, Desmond,” I whispered.
“I save it to memory, hoping I’ll catch more than just a fleeting glimpse of you.
Hoping I’ll run into you in the elevator.
Hoping … I can kiss you again. I think I’m going crazy from being close to you, but not close enough. ”
His hand squeezed mine, and he put it next to his heart. “I leave work in two hours. Come home with me tonight,” he whispered. “Just this once. We’ll be Desmond and Ava—the ones we were a long time ago. Not the people we are today.”
I heard the longing in his voice, and it reflected the longing I felt in my heart.
“I can’t give you what Hank can, Ava. I can’t take you out to dinners or walk hand in hand with you through Central Park. All I can give you is me, in the privacy of my home. Is that enough?”
My voice was soft when I spoke. “I’ve only ever wanted you, Desmond. But … the last time we kissed, you brought up the company policy.”
Will he regret tonight just the same?
His eyes were serious when he responded, “Sweetheart, there’re a great many things a man will risk for a woman like you.
This company is one of them.” He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my gaze up to his.
His eyes were honest, fierce, and daring.
“Come back home with me tonight,” he repeated in a tone that told me he wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.
My cheeks burned as I considered Desmond wanting me, and I saw the need in his eyes.
I gave him a nod. “Yes,” I breathed out, and he closed the gap between us to kiss me.
Pressing his lips to mine, he pulled me to him, my chest pushing into him.
He kissed me like a man who’d been starved for a kiss and like he never wanted to let go.
I put my hands around his neck, opening my mouth to deepen the kiss.
Desmond groaned against me as his tongue found mine.
I was not thinking anymore, just feeling the blessed relief that Desmond was finally kissing me again.
I was pressed up against him, my mouth against his, and it was where I’d wanted to be all along.
After what felt like a brief moment, Desmond broke away, his eyes clearly hungry for more. He glanced at the elevator behind me and then ran his thumb over my lips gently. “I don’t want to stop, but someone could walk in here at any moment.”
I nodded even though I wanted to go back in his arms again. To feel his hands on my waist, circling me, his broad palms pressing against the small of my back.
“I’ll see you soon, you know,” he said, watching me as though he knew exactly what was going on in my mind. With a soft kiss on my lips, he stepped back and smiled.
If his kiss could make me weak in the knees, I wondered just what an evening with Desmond would do.