Chasing Ava: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove)

by London, Siera

  “I prefer men with jobs, however, it would be poor judgment on my part to date a doctor I work with every day. I love my job Dr. Masters; we have a good working relationship. I can’t handle any complications in my life.”

  “I am not a complication to be managed with the other sick patients. There’s more between us than a working relationship. You have to be the only woman I know for whom my being a doctor is a liability.” He took a deep steadying breath before he spoke. “I want to get to know you better. Let me feed you since we both know you’re not too keen on car rides.” They both laughed and he moved in close, taking her hands, determined to wear down her resistance.

  He squeezed them lightly, willing her to accept him.

  “You have to eat. All I’m asking is for you to share the table with me.” He glimpsed the smile she fought to contain. Mischief danced in her eyes. The smile along with the glint in her eyes spoke to the cogwheel turning out an idea to slip out on him again.

  “Ava,” he chastised. “This dinner is for two. No sidekick, chaperone, or feeding the needy soup kitchen dates allowed.”

  On a gasp, her smile faltered. That was it. She was trying to get out of dinner.

  “Say yes to dinner, you and me.” He closed the space between them. “Bury any ideas of double dates, community events, visiting animal shelters or any other crazy venue you could dream up to avoid being alone with me.” He flashed his best all American smile going for the touchdown. “Please sweetheart, give the doctor you work with a chance?”

  “Logan, you don’t want to do this with me. I am an emotional tornado trying to avoid dry land.”

  “I am your resident storm chaser reporting for duty,” he said, with a fixed look. She thought herself an emotional tornado. Forewarned, is forearmed. He’d take the risk.

  “I’ll share one meal with you.”

  “Pick the date. I’ll pick the time.” He’d play for keeps the next time he had her alone.

  “I’ll go to lunch with you. Outdoors.” That was good. Ava was proud of herself. Nothing with dim lighting and quiet intimacy, besides she loved being outdoors.

  “Lunch?” She would fight the attraction every step of the way. “Do you have to be in the house before the street lights come on?”

  “Lunch Dr. Masters. Take it or leave it. Your choice.”

  “We’ve had this discussion before, but since you’ve been scarce of late I will remind you to use my name. And lunch opposed to dinner makes no difference.” Maybe not to him, but with her jelly spine drop dead sexy pediatricians and moonlit skies were a cocktail best avoided. “When is your next day off?”

  “I’m off this weekend. Saturday is best for my schedule.” His smile greeted her as she released the hold on his hands. During their conversation his grip had slackened, yet she had kept her hands nestled in his.

  “Be ready at ten o’clock. Dress comfortably.”

  “Okay, Dr. Masters.”

  “Don’t call me Dr. Masters on our first date. Doctor is my title. My name is Logan. I want you to say my name Ava.”

  “I won’t call you Dr. Masters on our only date, Logan.” If the day went as she planned she would eat a platter sized salad in silence, drink a gallon of water, make two trips to the bathroom and be back home in ninety minutes flat. No need to say anyone’s name.

  Saying his name aloud made her stomach dip. And this conversation about dates, dinners, and alone time with him made the sensation more tumultuous. At this rate, she’d be seasick standing in the hallway.

  “The sound of my name on your soft lips is sexy.” That was Logan with his wind tunnel effect again. She liked the sound of his name, too. Logan, Logan, Logan. Stop it. Focus on the man standing before you. He smiled bright and her heart skipped a beat.

  “I’ve told you before don’t say things you don’t mean.” She had every intention on following through with the one date limit. Her foolish heart was considering other options.

  “I don’t.” Not normally, but a woman had to protect her heart. A heart that seemed determined to sample the forbidden fruit that was Logan.

  He stepped to her side and she instinctively took a step back.

  “I think you do Ava because I remember everything about our dance. The feel of your body under my hand is a physical image seared in my mind.” His lips ever so briefly touched her cheek. “I could sculpt your body from clay with these hands,” he whispered close to her ear. Her breath hitched. Then he cradled her face in both his hands and her breathing increased and her skin warmed. Closing her eyes she willed her body to knock it off. “Your body responds to my touch.” Her mind reeled at his statement. He dropped his hold on her, stepping back. Thank goodness.

  “Have a nice morning, sweetheart. Be ready for me on Saturday.”

  Be ready for him. Would she ever be ready for Logan? Ava’s heart raced. He knew she was attracted to him. It was too much to think about during working hours. On the way home, later that evening, when she was alone in bed, then she’d think about Logan.

  Oh birds and turds, Logan is my heart’s desire. Dang it, she should have never gone to that gala. She concentrated on keeping her body upright. Letting her head drift back until it came to rest against the wall, she rubbed a palm over her heart. The thought of being close to him had her breath coming in a short, choppy rhythm. “It’s only lunch Ava.”

  Lunch was safe, but would she be?

  Chapter 7

  Logan took a minute to put his libido back in the box when Ava opened the door. She looked flawless and edible in a vintage pin-up girl sea foam green and pink sun dress that cinched at her waist, and draped seductively over her petite hips before stopping at her knee. Her hair was a shiny mass of curls framing her face as it cascaded down her back. Her fingernails were cut short and buffed to a shine. She was such a nurse. Nurses rarely wore nail color for fear of transferring bacteria to a patient, but pedicures were a different story. It didn’t surprise him to see crimson colored toes. An image of her legs wrapped around his waist flashed through his mind.

  “You look beautiful.” He brushed his lips across her cheek while his hand palmed the back of her head. She softened in his grasp and he smiled. She was definitely affected by his touch.

  “Are you going to let me come in?” He whispered the words across her ear.

  “No! I meant that’s not necessary because I’m ready. Let me grab my purse and your jacket off the table.” Not ready yet. At the mention of his jacket, he smiled at the lunch plans he’d made. Forewarned is forearmed. His unwavering belief in those three words had served him well.

  “You can keep the jacket. You will have something of mine to keep you warm.” He couldn’t see her face from the open door, but her back went ramrod straight.

  “Where are we going for lunch?” Deflecting to another topic. Did she think he would forget the attraction they shared?

  “It’s one of my favorite places. This place has a lot of variety.”

  “What’s the name of the restaurant? I am kind of a food connoisseur.”

  “I can’t remember the exact name, but I think it will meet with your standard.”

  “What street is it on, I have probably eaten there before. I was born and raised in Shell Cove.”

  With only a Lucite pink purse in her hand, Logan guided her out the door closing it behind them without answering her question. His jacket was still in the house maybe he would join it by the end of the evening.

  “Ava, I have plans for us. That’s all you’re going to get out of me. And that the restaurant is not in Shell Cove.”

  Logan had them on I-95 headed south in ten minutes.

  Two hours later he pulled into a parking spot at the Disney World theme park. He killed the engine, pulled the keys from the ignition and disengaged the door locks. Telling Ava the restaurant was beyond Shell Cove kept her quiet for the first sixty minutes into their trip.

  “Logan?” He turned to face her. Prepared to meet her ire with pure masculine determinatio
n.

  “Yes, Ava?”

  “We are in Orlando, Florida. You brought me to Walt Disney World for lunch?”

  “Walt Disney’s Epcot Center to be exact. We can visit the International Pavilion for lunch.”

  She stared at him, shocked and disbelieving.

  “This can’t be happening.” She was more than an hour away from home in a car with a crazy person.

  “Disney, Logan? Why not New York City or Los Angeles?”

  “What? I happen to enjoy theme parks. Don’t tell me you’re anti-mouse.”

  She snorted. Dozens of families exited minivans and SUVs, making a swerving conga line to the trolleys that would whisk them to the Magic Kingdom. She was experiencing somewhat of a magic carpet ride herself. There went her vision of a ninety-minute lunch and no complications. He had outmaneuvered her.

  He chuckled at her response to Mickey Mouse. “We arrived in time for lunch.”

  Ava took in a slow, deep breath and released. She repeated the process three times. She frowned. The experts didn’t know beans from buttons. She didn’t feel any calmer. She took in another big deep breath. This time she held it.

  “Breathe easy Ava, it’s going to be all right. Listen to me closely sweetheart. It took you more than a week to say yes to a date with me. Did you honestly think I would settle for one or two hours of your time?” He looked at her quizzically.

  “I don’t know what I thought.” She’d hoped to wrestle her attraction to him back into a pill bottle.

  “Really? You avoided me for a week. An unusual response when you aren’t sure of a man’s interest?” His tone was one of knowing laughter.

  “Okay, Dr. Phil.” Forming a coherent conversation proved challenging with her trying to devise a plan to get the desire back in the tamper proof container. She had to protect her foolish heart or she’d find herself falling for him.

  “Logan, not Phil, and you underestimate my interest in you. I want you in every possible way and you’ll discover I’m not easily deterred.” His expression said this was a journey for which he was well prepared. What the heck did in every way entail?

  “I know you want me, just much as I want you. Now, let’s go get you fed.” He reached over the center console to stroke her cheek. Oh, his touch was an instant buzz and loads of dizzying side effects. Shaking her head she pulled away.

  “What I want is to ride the roller coasters. Lunch can wait.” Denial was a woman’s prerogative. She released the door lock and stepped outside without sparing him a glance.

  The lines to enter the theme park resembled a human ant colony. Ava looked down at her shoes and grimaced. A sensible pair of nursing shoes was what she needed.

  “Come with me.” Logan took her hand, navigating them past small children with bungee-corded wrists, double strollers filled with sunscreen painted toddlers, and organized tour groups with matching shirts.

  “Where are we going?” Ava asked looking up at him. She needed her sunglasses. The Florida sun was unforgiving, but she really wanted the shield between her and Logan. He had the uncanny ability to read her expressions.

  “No lines for premium members.” He flashed that devastatingly handsome smile. And there was the corresponding sizzling in her veins. Kid-friendly theme park she reminded herself. No errant nipples allowed.

  “You aren’t secretly married with a wife and kids, right?” With his all American looks and chiseled features he could have been a cast member of Mickey’s Club House.

  “Long line of golfers in the family. We play at Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course several times per year. Golf and free parking are parts of the package.”

  The next thing Ava saw was the gleaming, sphere of Future World filling three hundred and sixty degrees of her field of vision.

  “You ready to leave Spaceship Earth?” That was Logan referring to the adventures of the park, but she lost her anchor to this world on that dance floor. With him.

  “Doctor turned astronaut?”

  “I can be anything you need.”

  Stomach dip number one. She did her best to appear unaffected by his presence. She nodded in his direction before facing forward. Waiting. Not wanting to acknowledge how much his words excited her.

  Logan started their trek through the well-orchestrated, vivid color villages of Oktoberfest to Mission Space.

  “Okay. The lady wants thrill rides. Let’s do this.” She knew the roller coaster rides available in the park. But, her wayward eyes took in his muscled body and he was the only ride she wanted.

  As the day progressed, Logan’s touch became more familiar. Handholding at first, then his well-defined, muscled arm around her shoulders. Now the weight of his arm circling her waist had her pulse outrunning the Disney monorail. The rightness of them together wasn’t lost on her. Stomach dip number two.

  The sun was setting and the lunch hour had come and gone. She enjoyed being with Logan, but an audible tummy growl reminded her that they had failed to eat lunch. On her lunch date, that had extended into dinner. A man who got what he wanted. She should be upset, but truth be told. It was the best time she’d ever had.

  The smell of jumbo smoked turkey legs and greasy fried dough sailed through the air. Ava smiled because she was getting one of each.

  “Why the huge grin?”

  “The thought of biting into one of those colossal turkey legs and then stuffing my mouth with the biggest funnel cake I can find.”

  She saw Logan zero in on her lips, flames alight in his eyes.

  “You’re not listening.”

  “I heard you, but I’m stuck on the biting and stuffing part.”

  She blushed until her face felt fire engine red.

  “Sweetheart, I’m making you blush. Such a pretty blush, too. Tell me more things you want to eat, it’s fueling my fantasies.”

  “I don’t want to eat anything else,” she said, shyly. He looked disappointed at her obvious cop out.

  For some reason, she didn’t ever want to disappoint him.

  She offered a compromise. “I want to drink a half gallon of the fresh squeezed lemonade from the cart in front of us.”

  “I’ll make you a deal. You have a seat on the only empty bench in sight.” He pointed to a bench partially hidden by a pretzel cart. “I’ll go and make all your food fantasies come true.”

  “You don’t have to wait on me Logan. I’ll walk with you.”

  “No. You will do as I said.”

  “Fine. You, cave man bring food. I, cave woman will prepare our table.” Secretly she was relieved Logan wanted to get their food.

  She wished she had worn sneakers. Her sandals were modern day torture devices. Hot coals would have felt more comfortable. She tried not to limp, but that was near impossible with the heat of eight hours on asphalt trapped between her foot and the leather uppers.

  Logan returned with their food. She was ravenous. The pain in her feet slipped to second place on her priority list when the fragrance of food reached her nose. Every morsel he put in front of her she devoured with gusto.

  “You have a healthy appetite Ava Walters.”

  “Are you calling me a piglet?”

  “There’s my funny woman again. I’m glad you’re not one of those women who don’t eat on a date.”

  “Wow, you’re easy to please. I’ll be sure to eat all my food the next time we’re out.” She realized her mistake immediately. She looked up hoping Logan had missed the implication of her words.

  The smile on his face told her he had not. “I look forward to the next time. You pick the place.” He came to his feet, extending one hand down to her. “Come on, the Grand Illusions Light show starts in thirty minutes, let’s find a better view.”

  He grabbed the hand she offered pulling her to her feet. They walked a short distance until they found a small spot on a grassy hill.

  The fireworks were spectacular. She was glad they stayed to watch the show. It was time to leave the theme park and head home. She was giddy from the unexpect
ed wonder of the day. The craving she had for Logan had grown exponentially as the hours slipped away.

  “Ava?”

  “Yes, Logan.” She felt her body leaving the ground.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” She giggled. His left arm held her knees and his right arm cradled her back.

  “You’re smart, you tell me.”

  Her left arm, hip, and thigh made contact with hot, stone-hard muscles as Logan pulled her into his body. She pulled her arm free to wrap around his neck. She should’ve gone ramrod stiff in his arms, but the naughty nurse was in control and she rested her head on his chest.

  “This is inappropriate.” Her fingers were making slow circles on his chest. “Put me down,” she said, in a dreamy voice. “I can walk.”

  “Let me carry you. I saw you limping. I’ll put you down when we reach the car.” She started to wiggle in his arms.

  “Ava stop squirming or I will toss you over my shoulder for all the Mouseketeers to see.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “It would give me great pleasure to have your sweet little apple bottom close to my mouth. I have some ideas about us creating a magic kingdom all to ourselves.”

  Her feminine center heated at his words. She took in his calm expression. He was serious about what he wanted to do to her. She gulped at the realization.

  “Okay, I’ll be still.”

  “That’s what I thought I heard you say the first time.”

  Logan carried her through the theme park to one of the dozen exit gates. Some people openly stared at them as they fell in step with the exiting crowd. At the unwanted attention discomfort skirted up her spine. Attracting people’s attention was something she had avoided most of her adult life.

  “You can put me down. My feet feel better.”

  He ignored her statement, crossing the half-mile parking lot at a leisurely pace.

  “I like carrying you.”

  “You’re kind, but I have to be getting heavy.” He looked affronted. Realizing she had committed an ego infraction she rubbed her cheek along his chest in apology.