Chapter 18
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
AVA
“Your family is amazing,” I tell Myles as he carries his own bags plus one of mine down the bark-covered footpath that weaves through the trees.
I’m left carrying my laptop bag and pulling the smaller of my two suitcases, which sounds easier than it is because little pieces of bark keep getting stuck in the wheels and making me stop short.
“Leave it,” Myles says. “I’ll come back and pick it up in a minute.”
“Nope, I’ve got this,” I tell him, brushing the bark away. “You’re already carrying enough.”
He shakes his head and leads me through the wooded path, the sparkle of the lake on one side of us, a thick layer of trees on the other.
“So tell me,” I say, huffing because the damn suitcase has caught up again.
“You built the cabin closest to the house, right? Because you got first pick of the sites.”
“Nope.” He smiles smugly. “Mine’s the furthest away.”
“Figures,” I mutter, tugging at my luggage. If I hadn’t stuffed so much into it I’d probably be able to lift it, but it’s just too heavy. It’s also making a weird noise every time I move it, as though the wheels are groaning at the effort they’re having to make.
“My family likes you, too,” he says, returning to my earlier remark. “My mom wants you to stay in the house. She says you shouldn’t have to slum it.”
“It’s a cabin, it’s not exactly slumming it,” I point out, smiling. “You have hot and cold running water, right?”
“When it works. But if you want to stay at the house I can arrange it.”
I swallow hard. “It’s okay. I can work with that.”
I’m not going to lie, the lure of a warm bed and an even warmer shower at the main house is alluring. But if I don’t stay in this cabin, it’s going to make things even more awkward when I ovulate. How would I explain the booty call to his mom and his stepmom and… Julia? Which reminds me.
“Julia called you boys,” I tell him. “You and your brothers. It sounded a little strange.”
“She’s known us for a long time.”
“She and your dad have been married for ten years, though,” I say, as we pass the closer cabins. They all have outdoor showers, and I’m hoping against hope that there are also indoor ones. “Which made you around thirty when they met. You weren’t exactly a boy.”
“I guess maybe it makes her feel more comfortable putting some distance between us,” Myles says smoothly. “My dad’s much older than her. It can’t always be easy.”
I change tack. “Does Liam know about our agreement?”
Myles swallows. “Yes. But he’s promised not to tell anybody else. I figured we may need a little help if the timing is awkward.” He glances at me. “Are you upset I told him?”
“No.” I told my friends after all. “I’m just surprised you did.”
“Why?”
I’ve counted five cabins. Which makes the last one – standing in the distance at the edge of the lake – Myles’. “Because you’re so closed up you don’t tell anybody anything.”
“Liam’s my brother,” he says quietly. “We talk a lot.”
My heart clenches because I’m glad he’s got somebody. And I realize something else. In that room, surrounded by his family, he looked almost lonely. Is that even possible?
We reach his cabin and he puts all the luggage down on the wooden deck. It’s actually very pretty. It’s built on stilts at the water’s edge, with dark varnished wood and a high pitched roof. A jetty stretches out from the deck into the water.
He opens the cabin door and ushers me inside.
I heave a sigh of relief when I see it doesn’t look as basic as I feared.
Light spills in from the windows, illuminating the wooden walls and floor.
There are rugs scattered everywhere, and a cozy sofa and chairs around what looks like a handcrafted coffee table.
One wall is taken up with a huge fireplace complete with stove and cast iron chimney, which spans the wall and escapes through the roof.
A floor-to-ceiling window looks out on the lake. On the far side of the room is a little kitchen, big enough for two people to cook together if they’re feeling cozy.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I ask, because I have to know if there’s a shower in there.
Myles leads me to two doors, opening the second one. I peer in over his arm and let out a sigh. There’s a toilet, a sink, and an enclosed shower.
“It’s not as bad as you described,” I tell him, relieved. “It’s pretty.”
“Good,” he says simply, then opens the other door. “Your bedroom.”
Like the rest of the cabin, it’s basic but nice. A wooden four poster bed stands in the center of the room, covered in what looks like a home-made quilt. There’s a dresser with a mirror on the wall, plus an easy chair next to the window that looks out over the lake.
“Where will you sleep?” I ask him.
“In the living room. It’s a sofa bed.” He catches my eye. “You’ll have your privacy, I promise.”
I’m not sure I want it, but I don’t know how to tell him that. So I change the subject.
“You really built this?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
“With some help.”
“It’s beautiful,” I tell him. “You did good.”
He swallows. “Thank you.” He inclines his head at the door. “I’ll just go get your things. You can rest or freshen up.”
“What time do we start tonight?”
“The cookout starts at seven.”
“Okay.” I smile at him. “By the way, I’m glad I’m here.”
His eyes flicker over my face. “I’m glad you are, too.”
After bringing in my luggage, he leaves me alone as I unpack, sliding my things into the drawers, freshly lined with scented paper, and hanging my dresses on the rail that’s fixed into a recess in the corner of the room.
I hear footsteps outside, and I see the shadow of him passing my window as he holds a phone to his ear, pacing along the deck.
Figuring I might as well test out his shower – because I’m still not sure I believe him about the warm water – I grab my toiletries and head into the bathroom.
Miracle of miracles, it’s warm! I groan as I step under it, letting the spray clean the dirt from my face and body.
I don’t even care that my hair’s getting wet, I’ll blow dry it and tie it in a knot at the back of my head.
If we’re having a cookout it’ll get smoky anyway, and I’ll have to wash it again in the morning.
When I finally emerge from the shower, my skin is red and glowing. I take one of the towels that was stacked on the linen rack and twist it into my hair, using another to wrap around my body.
Myles is back in the cabin when I walk out of the bathroom, fiddling with a coffee machine on the kitchen countertop.
He looks up and blinks as I walk toward him, wrapped in only a towel.
And again I marvel at the strangeness of the fact that I’m going to have a baby with a man who’s never seen me naked.
“The water’s warm,” I tell him. “Thank God.”
He smiles. “I told you.”
“Yeah but you also told me it was unreliable.” There’s a buzz from the counter, and I see his phone there, the screen lit up.
“Work problems?” I ask. I need to call in myself. Make sure Ryan hasn’t given everybody the week off.
“Some. But mostly my brothers. We have an annoying group chat going.”
“Annoying?” I ask.
He switches on the coffee machine. “They’re asking a lot of questions about you.”
Maybe I should hate that, but I don’t. “What kind of questions?”
“Beautiful, you don’t want to know.”
My body does something weird at his term of endearment. My nipples harden and my thighs clamp together. I have to look away, because I’m afraid he might see something in my eyes.
Something I don’t want him to know.
My little crush on him.
I’m not sure when it began. For too long it’s been clouded by my dislike for a man who is so closed up he’d give Fort Knox a run for its money. Recently, I’ve assumed it’s gratitude, because he’s selflessly giving me something I’ve dreamed about.
But now it feels like something else. Something deeper and more personal. It’s like he’s opening his armor, chink by chink, and I’m slowly getting to see the real Myles inside.
And I like him. I really do.
Too much.
“Coffee?” he asks me. “I’ve brought decaf.”
And that slays me a little more, because he knows I’m avoiding caffeine. Lauren and Sophie’s warning bells start ringing in my head. Bonding alert! Hormones are raging! Don’t fall in love with the one man you shouldn’t.
“Coffee would be great.” My voice is low and gritty. He pauses for a second, then reaches for one of the mugs hanging from a hook on the wall. There’s a tic in his jaw and he won’t look at me.
Does he know about my crush? Is he going to say something? That would be mortifying.
I take a deep breath and tug at the towel still wrapping my body. “So, if tonight is the cookout and tomorrow is the vow renewal, when do the Olympics begin?”
“The next day.”
“And what events will you be doing?”
“Swimming. Rowing. Track and field. Shooting.”
“Shooting?” I widen my eyes. “Not animals.”
“Clay pigeons. It’s my dad’s favorite.”
“Okay.” I still won’t tell my mom about that. Or any of this. Because Lauren is an amateur at sniffing the truth of my emotions out compared to Mom. I should probably just avoid her for the next five years.
“I didn’t know you could shoot,” I say, taking the coffee he offers me. His eyes glance down at my towel then back to my face again.
“Why would you? I don’t go around waving a gun in the office like Bruce Willis in Die Hard.”
“That would be kind of cool though. Shake the place up a bit.”
He grins. Yes, actually grins. It takes all my self-control not to climb his fine body right there. “I’ll bear that in mind. Why don’t you take your coffee and get dressed? I have a couple more calls to make and then we can join the others.”
“Okay.” I nod. “I should take an ovulation test, too, before we go out.” I’m logging them carefully.
He nods his head. “Do that, too.”
And we’re back to business. The reason why I’m here. Donor and recipient. I keep forgetting that, but I shouldn’t because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our agreement.
“Are you sure jeans and a sweater are okay for tonight?” I ask him. “It feels a bit underdressed for a bachelorette party.”
“It’s fine. You want to be as covered as possible or you’ll get eaten to death by the mosquitos.”
I wrinkle my nose. “That sounds attractive.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover you with bug spray as well.”
“I knew there was a dark side to you.”
“I just don’t want you itchy all night. I’ve heard you complaining before.” His voice is light and teasing. “And much like my family, the bugs here love fresh blood.”
“You make them sound like vampires,” I tell him.
“The bugs or my family?”
“Both.”
He smiles and lifts up his coffee, taking a sip and closing his eyes. I take that as my cue to go to my room and get dressed. But as I open the door a weird thought washes over me and even though I try to push it away, it remains anyway.
He’d make a good dad.
And there it is.
I wish that thought hadn’t come into my mind.
MYLES
I watch the door close behind her and breathe a sigh of relief because she must have noticed me looking at that tiny towel barely covering her body.
She has the best damn legs I’ve seen, and yes I knew that from the red skirt that tormented me all those weeks ago, but now I’ve seen them bare and glistening and all I can think is that I want to touch her.
I swallow hard and pick up my phone, desperate for a distraction that doesn’t involve knowing she’s currently naked in my bedroom. It looks like my brothers’ group chat is still going on without me. I roll my eyes because it’s as predictable as ever.
So there’s really nothing going on between him and Ava? – Eli
That’s what he says. – Liam
I call bullshit. I saw the way he looked at her. And the way she looked at him, too. – Holden
I blink. She looked at me that way? I store that information away to think about later.
So, if he’s not interested that means she’s fair game, right? – Eli
What do you mean? – Holden
If I ask her to dance that’s okay. Because she just works for Myles. – Eli
We don’t shit where we eat. Remember? – Liam
I sigh and pull up the keyboard on my phone.
Nobody goes near Ava. Nobody touches her. Understand? – Myles
Nobody replies for a moment. Then three dots appear next to Eli’s name. I love my brother to death, but he doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
But you’re not interested in her, so why not? – Eli
Because I say so.– Myles
Okay, okay. I get it. You want her for yourself. – Eli
Eli… – Myles
What? – Eli
Just… Ah whatever. I have better things to do than listen to you all gossip. – Myles
I put the phone down as Ava opens the door and walks out.
She’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt that skims her perfect curves.
Her face is clean and her still-damp hair is knotted into a bun, escaping tendrils curling down her neck.
I have to curl my hands into fists as to not touch her, because every cell in my body is urging me to do exactly that.
Feel her skin. Breathe her scent. Make her mine.
Fuck.
I stand, thanking God that my jeans hide any evidence of my attraction to her, and grab my phone. “I need to make some calls,” I tell her. “Will you be okay here?”
She nods. “Of course.” She bites her lip. “I’m not ovulating, in case you were wondering.”
I clear my throat. “Okay.”
“So you don’t need to…” Her gaze drops. “Rush to, you know…”
“Touch myself.”
Her eyes lift to mine. Two tiny circles of red appear on her cheeks. I want to touch them so badly, to feel the heat in them. I want to kiss her throat until she’s gasping for more. I want everything about this woman, and I’ve no idea how to deal with that.
So I flash her a smile and run out of the cabin, heading for the tiny pier where I’ll plunge my feet into the cold lake water and pretend to make calls until the urge disappears.