Ava #2
His eyes open, startling me. For a long, charged moment, he stares at me, and then his face softens when he smiles. “Caught you,” he says in a teasing tone, his voice rough from sleep.
I feel my face heat with embarrassment. “You have nice hair.”
He twirls a lock of my hair around his finger. “So do you. You have nice everything.”
“Are you always this charming first thing in the morning?”
“I do some of my best work first thing in the morning.”
He’s dangerously appealing. He makes me want things I thought I’d never want again.
In one spectacular day, he showed me just how lonely I’ve been.
I’m tired of being lonely and sad. I’m tired of mourning a man who’s been gone so long, it’s like he never existed.
I like Eric and feeling as if I matter to him.
He’s still holding my hand when he says, “Do you remember saying you’d like to see me again?”
“I remember.” I have no idea if I’m capable of moving forward with someone else, but I had a nice time with him, and I like the way I feel when I’m with him, like someone has my back. I’ve missed that.
His smile reminds me of a little boy on Christmas who just got everything he asked for from Santa. “My parents are hosting a brunch for the family today. You want to come with me? Camille and Rob will be there, and Amy and Jules, too, so you’ll know a few people.”
“They won’t mind an unexpected guest?”
He kisses the back of my hand. “They won’t mind.”
When we walk into the room where the brunch is being held, Camille grabs my arm and steers me into a corner. “Tell me the truth. Did you have sex with Eric last night?”
I wrestle my arm free from her tight grip. “No. I didn’t have sex with him.”
“Amy saw him coming out of your room this morning and told Jules, who told Rob. Welcome to the Tilden family, where nothing is a secret for long.”
I’m mortified to have been the subject of family gossip. “I got a little drunk, and he stayed to make sure I was okay. That’s all it was.” That’s all she needs to know, anyway.
She gives me the cagey stare that’ll serve her well as a lawyer. “Rob says Eric is into you.”
“Okay…” Where is she going with this?
“Are you into him, too?”
“We had a nice time together yesterday, and he helped me out when I got drunk. No need to make it into a middle-school drama.”
“I don’t mean to do that. But there’re things about him… things you should know. If you are into him…”
“What things?”
Camille nods to her mother-in-law, who’s waving her new daughter-in-law over to meet someone. “I can’t talk about it here. Later.” She takes off to deal with her new family, leaving me to wonder what “things” she needs to tell me about Eric.
He’s with his brother and some other men, each of them handsome and well-dressed.
When his gaze collides with mine, he smiles and waves me over to join them.
I cross the room to stand next to him, and he places his hand on my back, a possessive move that has me leaning in a little closer to him.
“This is Camille’s sister, Ava. Ava, you know my cousin Nate, and these are his brothers Tyler and Justin. ”
I shake their hands. “Nice to meet you both. Which side of the family are you guys on?”
“Our fathers are brothers,” Eric says.
I end up sitting with Eric and six of his male cousins.
I learn his father is one of seven brothers, each of whom has at least two sons.
The Tilden gene pool has been kind to the men in his family.
Eric, the only blond, stands out among his dark-haired cousins, who share his charm and sense of humor.
I’m thoroughly entertained by them even as I wonder what Camille will tell me later.
Eric’s arm is across the back of my chair, as if he’s telling his cousins I’m off-limits. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I’m having too much fun to quibble about where his arm is. Mrs. Tilden comes over to say hello and zeroes right in on the location of his arm.
“Ava,” she says, “I’m so glad you were able to join us.”
“Thank you for accommodating a last-minute addition.”
“No problem at all. Any friend of Eric’s is a friend of ours.”
“Easy, Mother.” He never loses the affable smile that’s so much a part of who he is even as his eyes harden ever so slightly.
Mrs. Tilden squeezes his shoulder. “Nice to see you smiling again, honey.” She moves on before he can reply, but the exchange leaves me with more questions.
“Aunt Sarah Beth is looking rather hopeful,” Jack, another of Eric’s cousins, says.
“Aunt Sarah Beth needs to learn to mind her own goddamned business,” Eric replies sharply, so sharply it startles me.
“Easy, Skippy,” Tyler says. “Now that Rob is married, all the focus shifts to you and Amy. You had to expect that.”
Eric turns to me. “Let’s get out of here.”
Since I came as his guest, I take the hand he offers and follow him from the room, noting Camille’s stunned expression as I walk faster to keep up with him.
He keeps moving down two flights of stairs to the lobby, where he heads right for the main doors.
Once we’re outside, he stops, takes a couple of deep breaths and glances at me.
“You want to tell me what just happened there?”
“My mother happened. She drives me nuts.”
“You want to walk?” I left my suitcase at the bellman’s stand before brunch and can go back for it later. I’m planning to take the Northeast Regional train back to Purchase this afternoon.
“I’d love to walk.”