Level Up

by Hadley Quinn

  “So, how has it been?” she asked. “You know, coming back here?”

  Ava thought about it for a moment. “You know, having you guys here—kind of to help break me in again—hasn’t been so bad.”

  “Good, I know what you mean,” she said, squeezing Ava’s hand. “And I hope this will help you heal. I know it hasn’t been easy, but this place needs to be for you again. Block all those other things out.”

  “Block what things out?” Adam asked with a smile. He’d just pulled himself out of the water again and stood dripping wet beside them.

  He shook his hair like a wet dog and it speckled them pretty good.

  “Hey, I was almost dry!” Chelsea pouted.

  “Maybe I should fix that,” he said, and before she could escape, he scooped her up in one swift movement and tossed her into the lake.

  Everyone was laughing when she surfaced because she was shouting expletives and threats between breaths of air.

  “Shit, that is cold now!” she finally got out in one sentence.

  Ava nodded without a doubt since the sun was going down and their bodies really had been warmed and dried.

  “Time to eat,” Trent announced, pulling himself out of the water. “I’m fucking starving.”

  “Time to warm up in the hot tub,” Chelsea said, teeth chattering. She was climbing up the dock, so Ava gave her a hand.

  “There’s a hot tub?” Trent asked.

  She pointed up to the daylight basement, outside of the game room. The eight-person hot tub was nestled against the corner of the house.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he grinned.

  Ava wasn’t up for the hot tub so she headed to her room, showered and changed, and made use of the kitchen. They were going to grill chicken that night, so she brushed the breasts with barbecue sauce and started shucking the corn on the cob. She smiled at the laughter and banter she could hear from the hot tub a level below her.

  She checked the grill on the deck and turned on the propane. It heated right up, and everything looked pristine. She was going to have to thank the caretaker for everything he’d done to get the house ready for guests.

  Thirty minutes later the food was done, to the surprise of everyone else. They were all famished and dug in eagerly. It made Ava feel like a mama bear and she took pride in their compliments.

  “I’m gonna go introduce myself to the new caretaker,” she told Chelsea. She was putting food on a plate for the man and added, “He’s done a really great job keeping this place nice so I’d like to thank him.”

  “You’ll make him think you’ll feed him all the time now,” she winked. “The old guy will like being flirted with.”

  Ava knew she was teasing so she just smiled and left out the back door. Charlie had been like a grandpa to them, putting up with their girly antics and jokes. He’d always been a nice, friendly old man and Ava hoped the new man would be just as tolerant.

  It was a short trek to the cabin as she passed all of the vehicles on her way there. There was still a bit of daylight left, but she could see a light on inside the cabin and knew he was home.

  What else would an old guy be doing?

  She knocked on the door and waited for a second, and then heard footsteps. Her back was slightly turned to the door because she glanced over at the house for a moment. Carrie and Roger were on the main deck and she watched him put his arm around her and they snuggled close. Ava smiled at the affection when she heard the door to the cabin open behind her.

  “Hi, I’m—”

  She cut herself off and froze at the sight in front of her. She was in complete and utter shock. This was no little old man. This was a big man—a shirtless, rough-looking, ripped, strapping younger man.

  And good Lord, tattoos…

  CHAPTER SIX

  Ava just stood there and she was sure she looked like an absolute idiot because she could feel her brain screaming, “I’m an idiot!”

  Finally she held the plate of food out, almost like she was just going to run the second he took it.

  But he didn’t take it. He didn’t even reach for it. He looked at her with a tilt of his head, but a noticeable up-and-down, I’m checking you out kind of thing.

  She flushed. She knew she did. Especially when she met the gaze of his exquisite green eyes that were now finished looking her over.

  “Is there something you need?” he finally asked.

  His voice was deep in a mellow, laid back sort of way. And his arms were relaxed at his sides— Good heavens, his sides were—

  “Are you Ava?” he asked. “I didn’t realize Brad’s daughter was a mute.”

  That made her scoff, almost a snort. “I assure you I can speak,” she finally blurted out.

  “Thank God. I thought I was gonna have to get some pen and paper.”

  She couldn’t tell if he was being a prick or not, but she noticed the corner of his mouth move. She decided to let an angry retort dissipate.

  “No need. Uh, I assume you’re Gabriel? I mean you know who I am and you’re in the cabin and…” She shut her mouth and waited.

  “Gabriel?” an eyebrow arched. “Only my grandma called me that.”

  She stared at him for a second, and whereas Ava would normally feel a little timid, she felt defensive instead. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she spoke sarcastically. “I forgot to ask her permission to use the only name my father gave me.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched again and she took a moment to study it. His mouth. Yeah, that was a lovely sight. His hair was dark, short with kind of a little fauxhawk to it. It was sexy as hell, so were his broad shoulders and well-defined stomach and chest—

  “You can just call me Gabe,” he said.

  Or Sexy, she wanted to say. How ‘bout I just call you Big Sexy?

  “Okay, Gabe,” she emphasized. But even saying that sent a flutter to her stomach. She realized that she had movement in her arms again and she extended the plate of food. “We just had dinner so I thought I’d come offer you a ‘thank you’ for getting the house ready for us.”

  He raised an eyebrow again—he needed to stop doing that, it was too attractive. “A thank-you for doing my job?”

  She was at a loss for words. Was he insulted? Surprised? Ready to whisk her off into his man cave?

  He slowly reached for the plate of food. It seemed like he didn’t want it but was just humoring her. “I already ate, to be honest. But it looks really good; I’m sure I’ll be ready to reheat it soon.”

  Damn, why was he so hard to read? Was he annoyed with her? Was she totally interfering with his alone time? God, what did he do all day besides wrestle bears?

  “That’s fine. And if you don’t want it, you don’t have to eat it. I mean I just thought I’d bring it over and introduce myself. But if you don’t like chicken or corn or beans or—”

  She stopped because he was smiling more than just the corner of his mouth that time. But his words were dry when he replied, “I’m gonna eat it, I swear. And if I don’t, I’ll put myself to bed early.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to laugh, so she smirked at him instead. She hoped it was as ambiguous as his expressions were.

  Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. His pecs kept twitching and his forearms and biceps kept flexing. She was about to start staring at his tattoos more closely if she didn’t leave soon.

  Turning on her heel she said, “Have a good night, Gabe.”

  She’d taken about six steps away from him when he replied with, “Sweet dreams, Ava.”

  Sweet dreams? He said it like he knew she’d been mentally stripping the rest of his clothes off of him. Oh my God, he did! She was a stupid open book!

  Arrogant ass.

  When she made it to the house she was out of breath. Say what? Less than a hundred feet? She shook her head, knowing it wasn’t the physical exertion that had quickened her pulse.

  What in the hell was that about? Gabe… Tattoos…

  Muscles??

  “Hol
y crap,” she whispered to herself.

  “Ava?” She heard Chelsea’s voice as she stepped into the foyer. “What’s up? Are you okay?”

  They had a silent conversation and then sprinted up the stairs.

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said. “No, I take that back. You look like you’ve got a sunburn. Did you get too much sun? Your cheeks are so—”

  “Shush!” Ava couldn’t help but say.

  Chelsea gave her a look of surprise.

  “I just met the new, uh, caretaker.”

  Her friend eyed her for a few seconds. “Um, okay. Was he mad or something? Are we making too much noise? You look upset.”

  “He is freaking hot!” Ava hissed.

  Chelsea blinked a couple of times. “Uh, Ava, I know you like older guys but—”

  “He’s not old! He’s, like, in his twenties. Like us. At least, I think he is.”

  There was another pause until she barely smiled. “And he’s hot? Like how hot are we talking here?”

  “Hot like…amazingly beautiful eyes, the sexiest abs I’ve ever—“

  “Abs!” she squealed. “What the—? Did you already rip his clothes off, Ava? ‘Cause girl, I didn’t think you had it in you—”

  “No!” she scowled. “He answered the door without a shirt on.”

  “Oh my God, he already wanted to jump you!”

  Ava laughed. “Chelsea, get a grip! I’m just- I’m shocked here, okay? I’m used to seeing Charlie around here tinkering around. And when Charlie would strip down to his shorts—”

  “Oh God!” Chelsea pretended to shudder but they both laughed.

  “Yeah, I’m not so sure about the new guy, though,” she continued.

  “What do you mean you’re not sure? You just told me—”

  “He’s got a rock hard body, yeah. Tan, like he goes outside a lot. But he was a little bit…cold.”

  “Cold?” Chelsea gaped.

  “Cold as in aloof, you dummy! He was a bit stand off-ish.”

  She cast a skeptical eye. “Doubt it. He was probably just shocked that a pretty girl brought him dinner.” She gave her a look that asked, “Right?”

  “Yeah, maybe he was surprised,” Ava agreed.

  “And maybe you, you know, interrupted him or something.”

  “Huh?”

  She smiled, those ice blue eyes teasing her. “Maybe he had a girl in there. You know, the reason why he was only half dressed?”

  They both laughed about it, but damn… Why did that make Ava jealous?

  “So what about Adam?” Chelsea asked. “Poor guy gets shoved to the back burner the first day we’re here—”

  “Bullshit,” Ava chuckled. “I’m not pushing Adam aside just because some tall, dark and handsome—”

  “How tall?”

  “Mm, I’d say six-two.”

  “Yum. And he was nicely built?”

  “Oh hell yeah. Broad shoulders, slim waist and lean muscles—not bulky. Like, MMA fit.”

  She raised an eyebrow with inquiry and Ava knew the question Chelsea was going to ask before she opened her mouth.

  “Yep, and tattooed very nicely. Arm, shoulder, and I could tell it went over to his back… I think there was an American flag on the inside of his forearm but I was trying not to stare too hard. But yeah. Tattoos,” she finished with a sigh.

  Chelsea stuck out her tongue. “Blech, he’s all yours.”

  Ava laughed, but she felt some sense of ownership anyway. Jeez, what the hell was up with that?

  ***

  The first night in the house was fun. They spent a few hours downstairs playing pool, air hockey, and darts. When it got to be around midnight Ava called it a night and dropped onto her bed upstairs.

  But she wasn’t too out of it to realize she kept dreaming about a beautiful set of green eyes, sexy but a little cautious. Thinking back, she wondered if Gabe had actually been leery of her. Leery? It was hard for her to comprehend since guys could usually read how insecure she was.

  Maybe Gabe read in to something else.

  She didn’t wake up until after eight when she smelled food cooking downstairs. Thank you, Chelsea. On her way to the kitchen, a window caught her eye. Or rather, the view out the window caught her eye. Ava scooted toward it silently, as if she were trying not to let Gabe hear her from where he was in the front yard.

  Her eyes immediately went to his ass where a faded pair of jeans hung loosely on his hips. His t-shirt was snug, leaving little to her imagination as to what all those lovely bumps and curves were on his upper body. She’d had the image of his beautiful half-naked body in her mind all night. However, she hadn’t seen his backside yet and that was now pleasing her senses. The muscles in his back were yummy, even through a t-shirt.

  He was watering plants with a hose, and it struck her as odd. She didn’t know why at first. Then she realized that she’d never seen Charlie water much around the house. There were shrubs and stuff, but not really any flowers. These flowers were new within the past few years, just like the chair cushions and the ropes on the tree swings. There were two large wooden planters between the driveway and the walkway, and there was now a hanging basket on the corner of the porch.

  That’s when she realized what was going to be watered next, and before she could leave the window, Gabe turned and saw her there. His smirk was obvious, like he knew she’d been watching him. It was a very arrogant smile, but it still gave her a funny twinge between her legs.

  She smiled back, like she’d planned for him to see her, and gave him a very obnoxious wave. When he seemed surprised, she turned away from the window and left it at that.

  Only to run right smack into Adam.

  “Oof,” he said, and she said the same.

  “Sorry,” she added.

  They both kind of chuckled.

  “What’re you doing?” he asked. He looked toward the window and it seemed so wrong for him to see what she’d been staring at.

  “Just the flowers,” she said quickly, and she turned toward the kitchen. “I smell something good,” she announced, and Chelsea’s grin was huge.

  “Waffles!”

  “Can I help with anything?” Adam asked as he entered.

  Chelsea and Ava were both surprised, but Chelsea shrugged. “Sure. You wanna dump those eggs in the pan to be scrambled?”

  “Yeah, I can handle eggs,” he smiled.

  Ava went straight to the dishwasher and began unloading plates and glasses. The three of them worked for the next few minutes until Roger and Carrie joined, and then finally Trent when Adam had to wake him up.

  Carrie and Roger did breakfast cleanup that morning and Ava was thankful for the break. Trent mentioned something about going boating, so that seemed to be the plan. While everyone was getting dressed for a day on the lake, Ava decided she should probably go figure out if it was even okay to use the boat. But for some reason she knew that it was, especially with Gabe seeming to run a very tight ship.

  She made her way to the side of the house where a detached garage held all of the recreational items. She went to open the side door but it was locked. She tried the code on the roll up door but it had obviously been changed and she had no choice but to grumble to herself with frustration.

  “The locks have been changed,” a deep voice said behind her.

  “Jesus!” she exclaimed, turning around with a jump.

  “Uh, no, it’s just me,” Gabe replied. His smirk was amusing but her heart was pounding in her throat.

  “Well could you open it up for me then? We’d like to go boating.”

  He eyed her for a second, like he was going to say something, but ever so slightly nodded and turned away for the cabin.

  She checked him out as he left. She watched those faded jeans and tight t-shirt walk away, arms loosely at his sides. She liked his easy going strut—confident yet purposeful toward his destination.

  She stood at the garage for two minutes until he returned. He hardly looked at her
as he stepped to the door and put a key into the lock. She was close enough that she had to take a step away to give him room, but not before she could smell him.

  What in the hell is wrong with me? I’m trying to sniff a complete stranger? Even though he did smell good—like a fresh shower and the slight hint of mint—she scolded herself for being such a dumbass. To say she was attracted to him was an understatement, but what was she even doing to herself? She had a plan for Adam and was sticking to it.

  But Gabe was so…manly. She almost laughed out loud at the thought. Manly! Yeah he was tall and muscular, and that was appealing because she was five-eight. But there was just something about him that screamed true outdoorsman; someone that you’d feel safe with no matter where you were and under any circumstances—

  “What’s so funny?”

  Her thoughts screeched to a stop. He was staring at her.

  “Um, what?” she mumbled.

  He shrugged and pushed the door open. “You’re standing there with a smile on your face.” He entered the garage and turned the light on, but pretty much dropped the subject. He apparently didn’t really care what she was thinking about and she was okay with that. “So…do you want me to just put it in for you?” he asked.

  She stared at him, her mind going all sorts of dirty places.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “The boat? You want me to put it in the water for you?” After pushing the button to open the roll up door, he proceeded to remove the cover from the boat.

  “No that’s okay,” she replied, clearing her throat. “I can do it.”

  He eyed her funny. “Well I’m sure you can, but why don’t you just go get ready, I’ll back the boat in, and you can be down there to drive it off.”

  Get ready—? Oh. She looked down at herself. Apparently pajama bottoms weren’t recommended boating attire. “Um, sure. Okay. Thanks.”

  He didn’t even nod and just climbed into the truck to pull the boat out on the trailer. She walked out the roll up door and passed him sitting in the driver’s seat. She didn’t look at him but he did say, “Hurry up, you’ve got five minutes.”

  She turned around with a scowl, but he didn’t bother to meet her eyes. He started the ignition and pulled the truck in front of the trailer to hook it up. By the time she was to the front porch, he was pulling it in front of the house and he hopped out to do an inspection of the boat in the daylight.