Dinner at Eight-epub (3 page)

The only hitch? Riding in the car meant being alone with him. And though Ava trusted and adored him with every fiber of her being, the thought made her jittery.

Damn it. He was the last person on earth she should be wary of.

Ava pursed her lips and silently cursed her ex-husband. If not for him, she’d be perfectly comfortable with Jared.

Jared wasn’t Anthony. They were as different as two men could be. Just the thought of seeing Anthony made her cold. And shaky. And incredibly angry. Being with Jared again instilled a happiness in Ava she hadn’t experienced since her wedding day. At the same time, however, it brought out a sense of anxiety she didn’t understand. Her initial exuberance had dimmed in an onslaught of confusion and uncertainty—and Ava hated herself for that.

How could she feel the slightest bit of uncertainty where Jared was concerned?

“Quite a surprise you sprung on me,” Jared said as he strapped himself in, oblivious to her internal conflict.

“I sprung a surprise?” Ava asked with a laugh. “Your sudden appearance takes the cake.”

His aftershave filled the car, immediately conjuring up images of the great outdoors, wild grass and racing rapids shooting over rocks. The tantalizing scent was so familiar and so unique to Jared, had Ava not known he was home, she would have instinctively turned to look for him.

“Ah, my being here might be a surprise, but my appearance hasn’t changed like yours has.”

Ava forced a smile she did not feel. “You noticed?”

He tapped his nose. “That you’re dressing differently and your nose has changed? Hard not to. Plus Greg told me you’d had it done.”

“Do you hate it?” She did. Looking in the mirror still threw her.

His jaw dropped. “Of course not. You’re as pretty as ever. I’m just not sure why you changed it.”

“I had to. Deviated septum,” she said with practiced ease. “It made me snore so loud, even the neighbors complained. And once I was having that sorted out, I figured, why not go the distance?”

Jared looked at her for a long time.

“Oi. Stop staring. It’s just a nose.”

“It’s not
just
a nose. It’s your nose. Your new one. And it’s cute. May take me a while to get used to it, but I like it.”

“Thank you. Now, how about you drive me home?” Hopefully the driving would distract him from her new, cute nose, and he wouldn’t say anything more about it.

He turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking. “You’re living with Liv?”

“Yep. I moved in with her about eight or nine months ago.”

“You didn’t go back to your place after…”

“After Anthony cleared out of the flat?” The apartment had been hers. A fantastic unit she’d picked up at a steal thanks to her estate agency connections.

Jared cleared his throat, but his nod was his only answer.

So, he still had trouble talking to her about her husband? The two of them had never seen eye to eye. Obviously nothing had changed there. But that was okay. She also had trouble talking about him now. “The idea of living there no longer appealed.” She’d tried, even stayed there alone for a week or two after returning from Melbourne, but the collapse of her marriage had been too traumatic, and sleeping in the same room and bed she’d shared with Anthony had left a nasty taste in her mouth. The first decent night’s sleep she’d had was her first night in Liv’s spare room.

“And you’re happy sharing with Liv?”

Ava laughed. “I am. But since she and Jimmy got together, I feel like I’m living alone all over again.” Which might have bothered her, if Liv and James weren’t so happy.

“They seem tight.”

“They are. Totally gone for each other. And ecstatic to be together.”

“Took them long enough,” Jared murmured.

“I know, right? You wouldn’t believe how stunned Liv was when I told her we all thought they should have gotten together years ago. It never crossed her mind.” And with that, Ava launched into a detailed description of Liv and James’s journey to falling in love, delighted to hear Jared’s laughter fill the car.

Between his deep chortles and intoxicating scent, Ava’s discomfort began to slip away.

“So what’s the deal with Theo and Zoey?” he asked when they’d exhausted the topic. “They didn’t look so happy tonight.”

She frowned. “You noticed?”

Jared’s answering shrug spoke volumes. He was concerned.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Most of the time they’re fine, but then, every now and again, there’s this tension between them. I asked Zoey about it, but she told me I was imagining things.” Ava had asked Zoey several times if she was okay. She’d offered her an ear and a shoulder any time she’d needed it. God knew, Ava had cried on Zoey’s shoulder often enough in the months following the breakdown of her marriage.

So far, Zoey hadn’t taken her up on the offer.

“Shocked me,” Jared said. “They’re usually rock solid.”

“Yeah, I’m worried about them. Oh, hey, what did you think of Chelsea?”

“Seems nice enough.”

“Nice enough?” she spluttered. “Sheesh, you know that’s not what I mean.”

Jared raised an eyebrow in question.

“Oh, come on. A gorgeous woman’s moved in with not one, but two of your closest friends.
Two.
That’s gotta provoke more than a
she’s nice enough
.”

He looked at her with a quirky smile. “Okay, then, my chatty friend, what do
you
think?”

“Me? I think lucky, lucky Chelsea. She didn’t just get one of the good ones, she got two.”

Jared hesitated a beat before asking, “Good ones?”

“Uh-huh. Lev and Spence are both good guys.”

Another beat. “Meaning there are bad ones out there?”

“Yeah, Jar.” Ava sighed deeply and turned to stare out of her window. “There are really bad ones out there.”

“Like Anthony?” His voice was soft.

She squared her shoulders but didn’t answer. There were so many reasons she didn’t want to take this conversation any further.

“Av?”

“Hey, what do you think of my new career? Ex estate agent, current proud owner of the world’s newest and bestest cookie store.”

Jared pulled up at a red traffic light. “Torres…”

His hand landed on her arm, his touch so unexpected Ava flinched and jerked away from him.

“Cookies. Can you believe that?” Her heart pounded, loud enough that she was sure he could hear the rapid
thud-thud-thud
against her ribs. She struggled to calm it, breathing slow and deep, just like she’d been taught, talking the whole time. “The store’s small, but I can’t keep up with the demand. I’m pretty much sold out at the end of every day. I’m thinking of opening another shop, maybe in Eastgardens this time.” Ava risked looking his way.

Jared stared at his hand, his expression stunned.

“Chocolate chip are my biggest seller. I smile every time I sell one because they make me think of you.” True. Every word. “You were there the first time I made them, remember? You ate half the batch before they’d even cooled down.”

Okay, so she was babbling. Of course Jared knew about the shop. She’d sent him emails and pictures and copies of articles where the shop had been featured or reviewed in papers and magazines. Heck, she’d sent tins of cookies to America, addressed to him.

“I remember,” he said softly as he turned into Ava’s road.

Home already? “I have some in the flat. Would you like to come in?” She couldn’t bear to say goodbye. Not when she’d only just been reunited with him. But then the idea of being alone with him, just the two of them in her flat, made her breath jerky again.

Inhale. Exhale.

Slow and steady.

“For a cookie?” His face lit up, the sheer delight in his expression easing her apprehension. “Always.”

Jared parked, and as soon as they were out of the car, he looked her way, cautiously holding out his arm out to her.

Ava hesitated for a heartbeat, then tucked herself against his side once more and relaxed enough to relish the feel of him, enjoying the warmth of his body and inhaling his unique Jared aroma. God, she loved the way he smelled.

But that heartbeat’s hesitation had been long enough for Jared to narrow his eyes—the way he did when something worried him. 

Damn it.
Her overreaction to his touch had obviously set alarm bells ringing.

“It’s good to have you home,” Ava said as they walked the block to her place. “Surreal, but good.” She’d grown accustomed to his absence. Learned to live without him—no matter how much she’d missed him.

Initially she’d thrown herself into her wedding plans, refusing to get morose about his departure or annoyed about his timing. Why he’d had to leave four months before the wedding was beyond her. He was supposed to have been her man of honor. Supposed to stand up beside her at the altar. Instead, her sister had been the matron of honor.

After the excitement of the wedding had passed and real life had set in, she’d been so busy avoiding her friends, it had almost been a relief Jared wasn’t there. She hadn’t wanted anyone close to her to visit. She’d kept them all at arm’s length.

Jared would
never
have let Ava hide. He’d have insisted on seeing her.

“Surreal’s a good word,” he said. “I can’t believe I’m home.”

“Your mum must be thrilled.”

“She cried buckets when she saw me. Then cried more when I told her I was staying with Greg.”

“Is his place big enough for both of you?” Greg lived in a one-bedroom apartment.

“I’m sleeping on the couch. Beats staying with my folks again. I’m too old for that. I’ll start looking for my own place as soon as I’ve found a job.” Jared yawned hugely.

“Tired?” Ava let them into the building and then her flat and walked straight into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

He followed her in. “Exhausted.”

“Stretch out on the couch, get comfortable. I’ll make tea.”

Jared didn’t move. Instead he eyed her intently, his brown gaze on her face. “You going to tell me what that was about?”

Her stomach sank. “What
what
was about?”

He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Your reaction in the car. When I touched you.”

Unable to face him, Ava turned to the cupboard to grab a mug. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You flinched. As though I’d…” His voice was husky, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “As though I’d hit you. Or as though you feared I might hit you.”

“Oh, that.” She pasted a smile on her face as she turned back to him. “You gave me an electric shock. Didn’t you feel it? There must be a lot of static in the air.”

Jared didn’t believe her. She knew, because his eyes had narrowed again.

“Now, I want to hear all about your time away. Tell me about L.A. and work—starting from your first day there and ending with your last. I want to know about the sanctuary, the animals, your job. The people you met, girlfriends… Hey, are you still seeing that woman, Angela?”

He didn’t answer.

Needing to keep busy—so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eye and see his disbelief reflected there—she pulled a tub of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food from the freezer and set out the mug and a plate, which she piled high with her choc chip treats.

“You never said whether it was serious or not, you just said she was a hot Yank. Did she like the cookies? Did you even share them? Oh, I hope I sent enough for two people.” Now that she thought about it, the parcels she’d sent had just been for him. She should have sent bigger tins.

Ava prepared his tea—strong and white with one sugar, just the way he liked it. Piling everything on a tray, she handed it to Jared and hustled him into the lounge room, fully aware he’d yet to speak.

She helped herself to the ice cream while he took his tea. “I going to have to assume I didn’t send enough if you’re not answering me. Shoot, I’m sorry.”

Jared frowned for a second, then he shook his head and responded. “No, Angela and I aren’t together anymore. And to answer your questions, you sent enough cookies to feed the whole of California.”

“So you did share them?”

“Of course not.” To punctuate his point, he wolfed down a cookie in two bites. “And if you sent me away with another batch now, I still wouldn’t share.”

She grinned and popped a big spoon of ice cream in her mouth, delighted that he’d hogged them all. “What happened with Angela?”

“You still love Phish Food?” He shook his head in wonder.

“More than sex,” Ava confirmed. There’d been a time Ava had loved sex more than anything. God, it seemed like a million years ago. “So what happened with the hot Yank?”

He shrugged, and this time there was no concern or worry to the action. “She wasn’t the one.”

Jared’s standard answer whenever a relationship didn’t work. “You’re a hopeless case, you know that? Will you ever find
the one
?”

He looked at her for a long time, his gaze steady. “Haven’t given up hope yet.” He shoved another cookie in his mouth.

“How’s your leopard doing?”

“Gheeri?”

Jared had told her all about a black panther he’d treated at the refuge. A sleek, damaged beauty Jared had fallen in love with. She’d been brought to the refuge after a police raid on a kingpin’s house—where she’d been kept as a pet, chained to a fence. “Uh-huh. I didn’t think you’d ever leave her.”

“I didn’t want to.” He smiled, his whole face lighting up, and for a second Ava was struck dumb by how handsome he was. How could she have forgotten? The man was hot, hot, hot.

“It’s thanks to her I stayed a year and a half, instead of the four months I’d signed up for. But she’s doing good now. Real good.” He tapped his heart. “I know, in here, she’s going to be okay.”

Gheeri’s owner had secured the chain to her back leg. In repeated efforts to escape, she’d snapped the bones in that leg several times, and though they’d knitted back together untreated, the leg had been severely deformed by the time she’d arrived at the refuge.

“She stole my heart, Av. She was broken when she came to us. Beaten into submission and crippled from years of pain. Seeing her transformation as she healed was…magical.” Usually, Jared was not a man of many words, but when it came to his patients, he wove tales. “Watching her explore her new enclosure, every hundred square meters of it for the first time, after spending her life in a tiny walled-in yard, was…” He shrugged helplessly. “I cried.”