by Tess Summers
*
Travis stroked Ava’s hair and wondered what the hell he was going to do about this woman lying naked next to him. He’d still been unable to find something he didn’t adore about her. She was beautiful, smart, altruistic, and sex with her was amazing. What was the problem?
The problem was he wasn’t ready to settle down. Neither was she. She had important things to do, cancer to cure. Their timing just wasn’t right. The best he could hope for was to enjoy as much time with her as he could spare before they went their separate ways.
Soon he heard the steady breathing of her sleeping and lifted her up, taking her back to his bedroom, and gingerly tucking her in before heading back to his den. It was going to be a late night, but he didn’t care. He would have happily stayed up until noon the next day if it meant a repeat of the night he had spent with her.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. He was in trouble.
*
She heard him come to bed at four a.m. so tried to be quiet when she was up at six. She planned on gathering her belongings, leaving him a note and getting a ride from Uber. He woke when she was dressed and zipping her overnight bag.
“Hey,” he said, “give me a minute and I can give you a ride home.”
“Don’t be silly. I heard what time you came to bed. Stay and get some sleep. I’m going to request a ride from Uber.”
She was going to kiss him and tell him what a fun weekend she had, letting him know she didn’t expect anything more when he said, “Why don’t you take my car? You can bring it back tonight when we have dinner.”
Dinner tonight? Okay, if he insisted.
“Which car are you talking about? The $100,000 one or the other $100,000 one in your garage?”
“Take the BMW.”
“Travis, I drive a Prius. I’m not going to dri—”
He cut her off with a stern, “Ava, take the BMW. Please. For me? The keys are hanging up on the rack by the garage door. I won’t be able to fall back asleep knowing some stranger took you home and right now I really need to fall back asleep for at least another ninety minutes.”
She knew he needed to sleep so she wasn’t going to argue. Instead, she kissed him on the cheek and said she’d see him tonight.
“I’ll call you later,” he mumbled before dozing back off.
Chapter 10
HER phone rang at eleven-fifteen while she was in the middle of her client’s real estate closing. It was Travis. She silenced it, then sent him a quick text. In a closing. Call you when I’m done. Hope you got some sleep. xoxo
Was the xoxo too much? Eh, too late now.
Her phone immediately vibrated with his response. Ok.
Ok? OK?? She guessed it was better than what she usually got from her sisters, which was k.
Her phone buzzed quietly again in her pocket. It was a text from Anne this time. Lunch and deets today? Noon. Baja Grill.
Ava texted her friend back. I’ll be there.
How was she going to explain her weekend to her best friend without getting her too excited? Anne was a hopeless romantic. A practical hopeless romantic, but a romantic nonetheless.
She pulled up next to her friend at the restaurant in Travis’ car. Ava had debated about driving it but thought it was probably safer at her office and the title company’s parking lot than unattended at her condominium. Not that her complex wasn’t safe; it just would be Ava’s luck it got stolen.
She got out of the car while Anne stood with her mouth gaping open. “Whose car is this?”
Ava slipped her arm through her friend’s and steered her into the restaurant. “It’s a long story. I think you better sit down.”
Ava proceeded to tell her friend the particulars of her weekend—who Travis was, where they went, and how much sex they had while managing to leave out the most intimate details.
“Oh. My. God. I cannot believe this! Do you like him?”
Ava replied indignantly, “Well of course I like him. I spent the weekend with him, didn’t I?”
“No, I mean do you like him, like him? Do you want to see him again?”
“Yeah, I think I do. I mean, I know it’s nothing serious, but Operation Sex Kitten is now in full swing, so why wouldn’t I want to see him again?” She couldn’t let her friend know he was so much more to her now than some silly, hair-brained project.
“Seriously, sister? Still with the sex kitten thing? Did you not prove how damn desirable you are by spending an entire weekend with this man?”
“I know, but I’ve still got a lot to learn. I think he can teach me.”
“But once your lessons are complete, you don’t honestly want Brad back, do you?”
She wasn’t sure what kept her from telling Anne the truth. “I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, I know I’m just having a fling with Travis. I guess Brad is in the back of my mind.”
Actually, Brad is the furthest thing from my mind.
Her lunch date looked at her somberly. “As long as you’re having fun and being careful.”
Ava didn’t know if Anne meant careful as in practicing safe sex, or careful as in protecting her heart. She guessed it didn’t matter; the answer was the same either way. “I’m having a great time, and I’m definitely being careful.”
Her friend squeezed her hand and gave a little squeal. “Oh, this is so exciting! I cannot believe my little girl’s all grown up and having a torrid love affair.”
“I don’t know if I’d call it a love affair. But I would consider it an affair, even though technically neither of us is cheating on anyone. So you still need to keep this quiet. Don’t tell anyone, I mean it! I don’t want people to find out, which is why we didn’t go to Evangeline’s on Saturday.”
“I wondered why I didn’t see you in yesterday’s paper. Okay, you can count on me. Mum’s the word.”
“Thanks, friend. I appreciate that.”
“No problem.” Anne grinned. “But you’re buying lunch.”
Ava accepted the terms of her friend’s silence and picked up the check. “A small price to pay.”
* * * *
Ava was back in her office when she looked down at her phone. Two missed calls and one text from Travis, how did that happen? She’d forgotten to take her phone off vibrate after the closing and hadn’t heard it in her purse while in the restaurant.
She had called Travis while she was driving to lunch, but he was on the other line so his phone automatically forwarded to his secretary, who she left a message with. He had apparently tried to return her call.
His text to her read, Hey! Sorry I missed your call. Are you available for lunch?
She was about to text him back, then realized it would be easier to call him and explain. He answered after the first ring.
“Hello, beautiful.”
What a nice way to be greeted. “Well hello to you too.” She giggled. “I am so sorry I missed your call. I put my phone on vibrate at the title company and forgot to take it off.”
“Have you had lunch?”
“Unfortunately I did with my girlfriend, Anne. I mean, it’s not unfortunate that I had lunch with her; it’s unfortunate I didn’t get to go with you. Not that you were necessarily asking me.” She was babbling.
Hearing him laugh brought a smile to her face, and he continued, “Actually, I was going to ask you. Maybe next time. But we’re still on for dinner, right?”
She suspiciously asked, “What did you have in mind?” She didn’t want to go somewhere where people would know them or their picture would be taken. This really was starting to feel like a secret affair.
“How about I pick us up something from the barbecue place around the corner from my house and we stay in?”
She knew what restaurant he was talking about. She ate there a lot when she was staying in the pool house.
“Danny’s Homemade BBQ? I love that place!” she replied enthusiastically.
“Great, I’ll see you tonight around seven-thirty?
”
* * * *
She was looking at her phone and leaning against the BMW’s bumper in his garage when he pulled in at a quarter to eight. He’d only been a few minutes late leaving the office, something that was easily remedied by exceeding the speed limit, but Danny’s was packed, and he hadn’t thought to call his order in until he was almost to the restaurant.
He met her by the house door, briefcase in one hand, takeout bag in the other, and still managed to put his thumb up to the reader that unlocked the door.
“Babe, I am so sorry to keep you waiting. Danny’s line was out the door. I hope you got my text?”
“It’s no big deal. I texted you back.”
“Did you? I guess I didn’t hear it. The restaurant was pretty loud.”
She pushed the button to close the garage door for him since his hands were full, and they walked into the house. Fred and Ginger were doing their happy dance when she let them out of the laundry room.
“Hi guys!” she cheerfully exclaimed before picking them up and bringing them to the kitchen to get a treat from the cupboard. Travis put the food on the counter, set his briefcase on the floor next to the island, then reached for his phone. “Oh, there’s your text,” he said with a smile before taking her in his arms and kissing her soundly.
“Hi there,” he whispered as he looked into her eyes and brushed the hair across her forehead.
She was smiling like she was drunk when she whispered back, “Hi yourself.” Ava stared at him for a few minutes before telling him, “You look tired.”
He confessed, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”
“You need to get to bed early.”
“That’s the plan,” he said then released her and turned to the food on the counter. “Let’s eat! I’m starving!”
Travis let her do most of the talking through dinner. He was tired and preoccupied but was still glad she was there. He smiled appreciatively at her when she started to put containers in the refrigerator and their dishes in the dishwasher.
When he yawned, she asked, “You ready to take me home?”
He was surprised at the question and walked to where she was standing.
“Nope,” he said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his room.
She didn’t protest as he carried her effortlessly through the house to his bedroom, but he noticed her brow was furrowed and gave her an inquisitive look.
“Travis, I know you’re tired. Why don’t we call it a night?”
He laid her on his bed next to him and started kissing her. “I thought about these lips all day long,” he confided.
“I thought about you a time or two, I guess,” she teased.
He threw his head back and laughed, then rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him and started nuzzling her hair, which smelled like apple blossoms. When she wiggled up against him, he sighed, enjoying how she felt in his arms.
* * * *
Travis woke up at four fifty-five in the morning, exactly the same time he woke up almost every day, five minutes before his alarm went off. The woman who he had shared a bed with four nights in a row was sound asleep with her head on his chest. He had to admit, he liked waking up next to her.
Gingerly rolling her over, he slid out of bed and shut the alarm on his phone off before it had a chance to ring and wake her up. He grabbed his workout shorts and shoes and headed off to his home gym. He hadn’t worked out since Friday but surprisingly, he felt pretty good, not like he normally did if he missed too many workouts in a row. He laughed. I guess there’s more than one good way to blow off steam.
He tried not to think too much about Ava or how he was feeling about her, instead focusing on his workout. Every time she entered his thoughts, he pushed himself to run a little harder or do another set of reps. After the best workout he’d had in years, he showered in the bathroom adjoining the gym and slipped on a thin robe he kept on a hook right outside his steam room before padding to the kitchen to start coffee. It was six-fifteen and he expected she would be making her way to the kitchen soon.
As he leaned against the island counter looking at his phone, something outside caught his eye. Fred and Ginger were running up and down the length of the pool as Ava swam laps. Naked. With a fresh cup of coffee, he went outside and straddled a lounger while watching, mesmerized by her graceful body. And that ass. Man, that ass.
When she finished, she dunked her head under water again to pull her hair off her face. Fred and Ginger were looking down at her, and she laughed as she stood up.
“You two are quite the cheerleaders!’ she told them as she walked up the pool steps.
They licked her wet calves and feet while she toweled off, not yet having noticed him. When she finally did see him, she jumped and gave a startled gasp.
“Oh my goodness, I didn’t see you there!”
He gave an amused look and held up his mug. “Coffee?”
Instead of answering, Ava wrapped her towel around her and walked over to straddle the same lounger he was in, putting her hands on his shoulders as she swung one leg over the chair in front of him.
Hair dripping wet, she looked down at him and asked with an authoritative tone, “What’s so funny, mister?”
Travis reached under her towel and grabbed a handful of the ass he had been admiring. “Not a thing, miss,” he said as he pulled her down so she was now straddling him. Her arms came around his neck as his mouth met hers. She tasted like mouthwash.
Fred and Ginger decided they weren’t going to get any more attention at the moment and began a game of tug-of-war with a rope toy in the grass area.
His arms started to move more urgently up and down her back as their mouths stayed busy with each other. She was pressing her naked pubis against the tent under his robe. When she bit his bottom lip, he slid the flimsy fabric open and with both hands under her butt, lifted her on to his rock hard cock.
Travis moaned. She felt fucking amazing.
Ava held his head tight to her chest as they swayed back and forth with him inside her. Soon he was holding her hips and pulling her down hard as she bucked up and down on his cock. When she arched her back with her hands on his thighs and began pressing against him, he took that as an invitation to circle her clit with his thumb.
He knew exactly how to touch her and within minutes after he started rubbing her magic button, she was moaning his name as she orgasmed. He pushed her onto her back and began thrusting into her hard and deep.
He had a sudden realization why she felt so exceptionally fucking amazing. “Shit! Shit! Shit!” he muttered and pulled out of her.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“No, I don’t have—”
She seemed to realize the problem without him having to say it. A condom.
Without missing a beat, she grabbed the back of his ass and pulled his groin to her face. He knew she could taste herself as she began to lick and slurp his erect cock before getting down to the business of sucking and stroking it with her hand at the same time. Her technique was excellent and before long, he was starting to move his hips rhythmically against her face.
“Baby, I’m going to come,” he whispered breathlessly.
She kept stroking and sucking him as he was trying to push her head away from his cock. Keeping her mouth on his dick, she started jerking his shaft fast.
He gave one last attempt to push her head away before he released his warm cum in her mouth. He smiled when she pulled her towel to her mouth and spit before putting him back in her mouth to lick him clean.
While staring into her eyes as she got every last drop of cum off his cock, he shuddered and grabbed her chin. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”
She grinned, his cock still on her lips. “What you’ve been doing so far works for me.”
Travis looked down at her and wiped some cum from the side of her mouth with his thumb. “I think I’ve turned you into a
slut.”
Ava drew her head away from him and frowned. “Is that a bad thing?”
He pulled her naked body up next to his and held her tight. “Oh God no, baby. That’s an amazing thing. You’re amazing. You blow my fucking mind,” Travis whispered as he scanned her eyes with his. The last thing he meant it as was an insult.
Leaning her head against his chest, she whispered, “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Well, let me tell you what you do to me. Today will be the second day in a row I’ve been late for work. And I’m rarely late for work. Ever.” He kissed her softly before adding, “And I couldn’t give a damn less.”
They continued to make out, naked, on the patio until Fred poked Travis’ knee with his cold nose. It was past their breakfast time, and they had been patient long enough.
“Okay, boy, I’ll feed you in a second.” Reluctantly, he pulled away from Ava. As he headed to the laundry room, she headed to his bedroom. “I’m going to hop in the shower,” she called over her shoulder.
Travis came to molest her one more time as she was blow-drying her hair. Fortunately, he was dressed. Unfortunately for him, she was not. Ava was so fucking hot it took every ounce of his willpower not to take her back to his bed and fuck her senseless all morning. He pawed her naked breasts and said in her neck as he was kissing it, “I have to get going. Just take my car again.”
“You better be careful, you might not get it back,” she warned.
“I know where you live.” He winked and turned to walk out of the bathroom, watching her face in the mirror as she checked him out.
“Hey, Travis!” she called after him. He turned around and waited for her to finish her thought. She could have been reciting her ABCs for all he noticed; he was only concentrating on the way her hips swayed back and forth as she crossed the room to him.
