Chasing Ava: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove) (5 page)

He positioned her with the grace of a man accustomed to handling delicate things and then pulled her into his embrace. The warmth of his arms encircled her when he fused their bodies from chest to hip. She felt an arc of energy at the contact and relished the strength in his touch. Tonight she would lower her shields allowing herself to savor the pleasure of his confident hold on her body. The fluid motion of his body was a song within itself.
Logan was a large man, but he covered the dance floor with masculine elegance.
Effortlessly he led her through each step.
 

His name was nice.
Logan, Logan, Logan
was the refrain that kept running through her mind.
The feel of his body was comforting and solid. She couldn’t stop herself from sampling his scent. With care she pressed her nose into his left pectoral muscle. She took a deep, slow breath savoring his male aroma as it crashed into her senses triggering an endorphin high. To feel his body as she breathed in his masculinity was magnificent.
His fresh, cedar wood scent slowly engulfed her. Heat crept up her inner thigh; her breasts tingled, and swelled. Her nipples came to attention with the swiftness of soldiers on duty.
Oh no, that’s not all the endorphins had turned on. He’s going to think I’m a slut.
Heat infused her face, and she refused to look at him.
Maybe he hadn’t noticed.
 

His feet stopped moving.
He noticed.
She stiffened in his arms. Lifting her head a fraction, she gave a cautious glance in their immediate vicinity, hoping no one else saw them. She felt like her nipples were neon red lights flashing
look at me I’m erect
. A few staff members she recognized chose that moment to make eye contact.
 

“Ava.” Her heart rate spiked at the husky change in his voice. “It’s been a rough night for you. I want to keep you safe from everything.” The way he spoke made her think he was including himself.

“I need you to stay in control, or there will be no undoing what will happen between us tonight. Do you understand?”
 

He thought she was wanton. Being a gentleman, he was chastising her without judgment in his tone. He was kind to have asked her to dance and look how she repaid his courtesy. She was hopeless. Lead weights anchored her feet in place. How could she have let this happen? There was a reason she kept away from him.
Oh, God this is awful.
The baritone of his voice obliterated her run away negative self-talk.
 

“You are an ocean away.” He pulled her into his heat. His hip pressed into her lower abdomen. The warmth of his breath tickled the side of her neck. “Come back to me Ava.”

One command dispelled the trance her mind had created. Instantaneous autopilot was a skill she had perfected through the years. Only those closest to her could identify when she disconnected from the surrounding world. He had noticed.

“What did you say, Dr. Masters?” She wiggled within his embrace trying to put distance between them. Maybe she could salvage his impression of her. An additional inch of separation would go a long way in re-establishing her equilibrium. He seemed to sense her intention.
 

“Stay right where you are.” She felt his cheek nuzzle the top of her head. It felt so good to be touched by him. “I like the way you feel in my arms.”
 

I do too.
His hands moved from the soft flesh of her arms. With the skill of an experienced masseuse he caressed up and down the bare skin of her back, conducting a tactile study of her anatomy. She felt the soft brush of his lips against the shell of her ear.

“My name is Logan.” The warm caress of his breath sent an electric current down her spine. “I want you to say my name.”

If he only knew. She felt his hands descend to her waist and squeeze.
 

His nose brushed along her neck. She bit the inside of her cheek trapping the throaty moan threatening to escape. The sensual rhythm of his hands kneading and molding her skin created a slow burn of heat and moisture in her core. She reveled in the foreign experience that was all her own. For the first time in years she felt desirable. Could one man erase the damage left by another? She didn’t know, but she would pretend he could tonight. She placed her head on Logan’s muscled chest, closed her eyes in contentment and followed his lead.

 
Lina’s voice at her side and the subsequent tap on the shoulder was a giant stop button on the live video streaming through her head. A scalded cat would have been more graceful compared to Ava’s theatrics as she sprang away from Logan. Forced to relinquish her hold on his broad shoulders she pivoted in Lina’s direction.
 

“Logan, you’re looking handsome tonight.” Of course, Lina would flirt with him. She flirted with everybody.

“A compliment from the lovely Lina James, I am honored.” Ava’s lips thinned at his response. She didn’t appreciate the playful ease of their exchange. Impatient with her friend’s interruption Ava cleared her throat. The conversation stopped and Lina glanced in her direction.
 

“What?” Lina questioned with the smile of innocence on her lips.
 

“Never mind,” Ava scoffed. She couldn’t be jealous. It was just one dance. And Lina was harmless, but it bothered her to see how effortlessly the two of them could dialogue. She had never been comfortable talking with Logan.
 

“Would you excuse Ava for a moment.” Lina gave her a gentle push at the elbow.

“Of course, I’ll be here waiting, Ava.” Oh goodness, that husky tone of his worked its mojo on her, again. Her legs wouldn’t move. She was standing in the exact same spot when Lina grabbed her hand and walked her over to the edge of the dance floor.
 

“Aren’t you full of surprises tonight Miss Ava,” Lina joked. “How did you end up on a body bumping exploration with Logan?” That question ended the mojo effect.
 

“I was not exploring.” Ava waved away Lina’s comment. Denial is the best defense when guilty as charged.

“I saw you discovering all the hills and valleys of his anatomy from across the room. How did you go from wallflower to star power in sixty minutes?”
 

Ava shook her head in dismay. She recounted the incident with Randall. “I’m not sure how I got here.” She threw up her hands beckoning some understanding of everything that had happened tonight. “That creepy Randall Lester trapped me and I had a borderline freak out. I was begging for an exit route when Logan appeared at my side for our dance.”
 

“Oh no.” Lina said, eyebrows drawn together, with a hand at her throat. “Don’t tell me Randall has you on his radar. I’ve heard he’s a sneaky one. I’m glad Logan went all
Return of the Jedi
on him before I take a can opener to Randall’s dangling parts.” Ava winced at the visual. Then Lina paused a beat, rubbing her forehead.
 

“I’m confused. When did Logan ask you to dance? You were swallowed by the soul train line and I couldn’t see you.”
 

“That’s the thing, he made up the whole thing to get me away from Randall.”
 

“So he spotted you, black woman in a dark dress, in a dimly lit ball room full of people?”

“Yes.” Lina raised both hands, tucked her chin length hair behind both ears, before pointing to her ears.
 

“Did I hear you say he concocted a pre-arranged dance story to get you away from Randall only to keep you by his side?”
 

“I know it sounds crazy, but that is how it happened.”

Lina was beaming from ear to ear. “By the way, you didn’t deny the body bumping. I know I said I wasn’t into watching, but the hand expedition thing was juicy.” Lina offered her a triple blink followed by a double wide-eyed expression.
 

Heat warmed Ava’s cheeks. “You’re embarrassing me.”

 
“Okay I’ll stop, but that doesn’t explain how you ended up stroking your hands all over hard, hunky, and handsome?” Her face had to be scarlet. She pivoted to see Logan waiting six feet away where she had left him.
 

“Are you serious Lina? Did it look like I was feeling him up?”
 

“No, it did not look like you were feeling him up.” She paused for effect. “To me, you were hand cruising each other, making a wish for a hotel suite.” Lina was bouncing on the balls of her feet. Ava glanced in his direction hoping Logan hadn’t noticed her friend’s theatrics.
 

“Stop looking over my shoulder Ava Elaine, Logan’s my friend. He knows I joke around.”

“No more kidding from you. This is not funny.”
 

“Fine. I interrupted your dance for a reason. Jace and I are driving to the cove for a nightcap. He wants to discuss something important with me,” Lina whispered.
 

Ava could not miss the excitement in Lina’s voice.
 

“Finally, after six months of dating he is going to commit. Ava, this is it! Do I still look good? Never mind. I know I do.” Lina was practically glowing. Ava was reluctant to ask the next question. Lina was one of her dearest friends and she didn’t want to see her hurt again. Lina wore her heart on the front of a bumper car.
 

 
“Are you sure that’s what he wants to talk about? It could be something else. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment.”

“Stop it. Not all men are bad.” Lina smiled at her through watery eyes.

 
“Be happy for me. Cease already with your doomsday scenarios and enjoy life. I am.” Lina twirled on her heels in delight. “My man is taking me to my favorite romantic rendezvous to talk about the next level in our relationship.” Ava forced a smile. Jace wasn’t a bad guy, but that didn’t mean he was a good guy for Lina.
 

He was a clinical psychologist on staff at SCMC. He and Lina worked closely together on the process improvement committee before they started dating. Lina was on every committee and action team ever created. There wasn’t an event she couldn’t get you into. He was about three inches shorter than Lina, maybe five six or seven, with dark hair, pale skin and blue eyes. The few times he’d accompanied Lina to Sunday dinner he looked uncomfortable. Lina would pull him into the conversation and that made matters worse.
 

“I know Jace.” Lina said in a clipped tone. “He’s distracted tonight. He keeps touching me to reassure himself. He does that when he’s contemplating a major decision.” Ava watched a flash of hesitation cross Lina’s well-constructed mask.

“I know this is so wrong in the best friend realm, but do you think one of the girls can take you home?” Ava threw up her hands in exasperation.
 

Ava spun face-to-face with Lina placing Logan at her back. “Are you punking me? You’re the one that guilted me into coming to this party.” Ava’s hand came to rest on her hips as she glared at Lina.
 

“I’ll take you home.” The close proximity of his voice had her stepping back to collide with Logan’s muscled chest. Accustomed to his touch she softened when his right arm closed around her middle. She looked up to discover his intense green eyes focused on her face. Oxygen slowed its transit through her lungs. Heat infused where their bodies touched and her skin started to tingle.
 

 
“No,” she said on a whisper. When had he closed the distance between them? How much of their conversation had he heard? He had been silent after Lina interrupted their dance. His quiet stealth lulled her to slip into a simple interchange with Lina and not notice him listening in the background.

“Ava, before you reject my offer do you see anyone you would ask for a ride home?” Her protest could be over any number of things at this point, her traitorous body’s respond to his attention, the ride home, the possibility that he’d heard some of their conversation.
 

Had he overheard the hand cruising, body bumping, Ava the Explorer comparisons? First the neon highlights on the dance floor, now this was embarrassment number two for the evening.
 

 
Lina stared at her with a Cheshire cat grin. Ava’s eyes scanned the darkened ballroom, praying to glimpse a familiar face. Her gaze landed on Randall standing at the bar, watching her with a menacing scowl on his face. Her palms grew clammy and cold at the sight of him. She swallowed several times, forcing the unease back down her throat. There was no one within visual range that she felt comfortable asking for a ride home.
 

“No, I don’t see anyone that I can get a ride home with.” Riding in a city bus with Logan was a temptation, sharing a car ride was detrimental to her emotional safety. She didn’t have a good reason to decline his offer.
 

“Let me take you home, sweetheart.” Both women spun to face Logan. Ava knew she looked none to pretty with her eyes bugging out of her head and mouth wide open. Lina in contrast, was talking faster than an auctioneer.
 

“Logan, give me a second with Ava.” Lina grabbed her hand then maneuvered them away from Logan’s apparently bionic hearing.
 

Lina whispered conspiratorially. “He likes you. In the five years I’ve worked with Logan I’ve never seen him hover around any woman until tonight. It’s okay for him to drive you home. He was raised a rich kid. But he went to school in Baltimore, so he has some swagger, if you know what I mean. You know I wouldn’t entrust my best friend to any Tom, Dick or doctor. Think of it as an early Christmas present.”