Dinner at Eight-epub (4 page)

She smiled tenderly.

“We all did.”

Jared, always so stoic in human company, was a big softy when it came to his patients. When it came to any animal. Veterinary science was the best thing he could have studied. He’d been born to work with animals.

Between several large yawns, Jared spoke some more about Gheeri and then about a brown bear who’d been brought to them a month ago with severe tooth decay. He told her about a lion who’d been retired from the film industry and a cougar who was accidentally shot during a hunting trip. Soon as the cat had been rehabilitated, she’d been released back into the wild.

Ava hung on every word. His passion for his work was inspiring. And endearing. And just one of the million things she adored about him.

She knew she should send him back to Greg’s place to sleep, and she would have, if she could have found it in her heart to say goodbye. But their conversation had eased her concerns, and far from the anxiety she’d felt with him earlier, she was totally relaxed in his company now—just like she’d always been.

If he’d shown any interest in leaving, she’d have shooed him out the front door, but Jared seemed as content to be there as she was to have him.

However, thirty minutes later, when Ava nipped into the kitchen to make him a fresh cup of tea, he didn’t notice her return. Instead of giving him the tea, Ava fetched a blanket from the cupboard.

He lay on the couch, his head resting on one end, his feet hanging over the other. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell in the soft, rhythmic beat of sleep.

Jared stretched, rolled over and slowly opened his eyes. His back ached, his knees creaked and his muscles complained about spending a second night sleeping on something that obviously wasn’t a bed. The room was dark and foreign. Confused, he blinked a few times.

Sydney.

He was home.

No, he wasn’t. He didn’t have a home. The last one had been a cramped cottage at the refuge, but he’d given it up a couple of weeks back.

So, Greg’s place then.

Nope. He couldn’t see much, but the shapes around him and the size of the room told him he wasn’t at his brother’s.

He pushed off a blanket he didn’t remember wrapping himself in and sat up with a yawn, and just like that he knew where he was.

He must have passed out. He remembered lying on the couch, listening to Ava’s melodic voice drifting from the kitchen. He’d considered his answer, told himself what to say…and that was the last thing he remembered.

Damn jetlag.

His watch told him it was just after three a.m. His mouth told him he needed a large drink of water and his bladder told him just the opposite.

The door to one of the two bedrooms was half closed and the lights were off. Liv’s room was also dark, but her door was wide open. A quick glance told Jared it was empty. He used her bathroom, helped himself to some water in the kitchen and then walked over to Ava’s room.

She was probably asleep, but he’d check, just in case.

He eased the door open.

Silence greeted him.

Light from the kitchen spilled across her doorway, and Jared made out her shape beneath the doona. She lay on her side, an arm flung out before her, her hair fanning over the pillow.

Ava had a lot of hair. Sleek, sexy hair, which tumbled down her back in thick, black waves and glistened in the sunlight, as though weaved with strands of crystal.

He brushed his hand through his own hair, the short ends prickling his fingers.

Christ.
Over eighteen months he’d spent away from her, yet still he ached to run his hands through her hair, tug on the ends and tilt her head back so her lips faced upward…

Jared’s chest squeezed, making breathing difficult. That old proverb about time and healing was complete bullshit. His heart was still torn wide open, still bleeding…for her. Staying away hadn’t weakened his feelings at all.

It was a miracle he’d managed to stay in America after he’d discovered her marriage was over. His first instinct had been to get on a plane and come home—to Ava.

But he’d stopped himself. She’d needed time to get over Anthony. There was no way she would have fallen into Jared’s arms mere days after leaving her husband—no matter how much Jared might have wanted her to.

Hell, there was no guarantee she’d fall into his arms now. He might be back for her, but Ava had no idea how he felt. She didn’t know he’d left Sydney because watching her marry another man had almost killed him.

Yeah, he was Ava’s best friend, but that didn’t mean she’d ever return his love. All he could do was hope. And do the damn best he could to win her heart.

The question was: Would he succeed?

He knew he should leave the flat. Turn around and walk out of the room. Hell, he should get his ass over to Greg’s place. His brother was probably wondering where the hell he was. But deep as he searched, Jared could not find the strength to go. Instead, he rested his shoulder against the doorjamb, content to watch her sleep.

Wishing he could lie beside her. Hold her.

Make love to her.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimness and his ears to the quiet. Ava’s soft, even breathing echoed through the room. Her body was relaxed in sleep. The tension that held her shoulders stiff in the car was gone.

There she was, sleek and stunning. Like Gheeri.

The black panther had reminded him of Ava from the beginning, with her green eyes, shiny coat and dark hair. And those typical leopard markings covering Gheeri’s body, only visible if one got close enough to look carefully.

The fool who’d taken ownership of Gheeri had probably never gotten close enough to see the marks. Fuck knew, he’d never gotten close enough to establish the big cat was a female. He’d stupidly called her Bagheera—after the male panther from
The Jungle Book.

Ava hid her spots too. Superficially, she was sleek and perfect. She kept her worries hidden beneath the surface, far from curious eyes. Jared had been one of the few she’d shared them with.

But that was then, when her problems had been easily solved. She’d obviously collected a shitload more since last he’d seen her—and she was no longer in a hurry to share them.

He’d loved being with her tonight. It had been so long since he’d been able to hang out just with her. Distance aside, Anthony had interfered with their friendship. From the time he and Ava had gotten engaged, two months before Jared had decided to leave Sydney, Anthony had objected whenever he and Ava had tried to get together.

Ava had found it endearing. She’d adored how much time Anthony wanted to spend with her. Jared had found it pathological and begun to feel an unhealthy loathing for his friend’s fiancé.

He sighed in frustration and shifted to lean on the other doorjamb, accidentally knocking the door against the wall.

Refusing to put his happiness before Ava’s, Jared had never expressed just how much he disliked the man. Now he wished to God he had.

Ava’s breath faltered, then it stopped.

Jared held his own breath, hoping he hadn’t woken her. Probably not. Ava slept like the dead. The second her head hit the pillow, she was out. Nothing less than a bucket of ice water would rouse her from her dreams.

And Jared would know. He’d used ice water. Once.

He’d never make that mistake again.

Ava bolted upright with a loud gulp, grabbing her pillow and holding it across her body like a shield. She looked around the room wildly. “Who is it? Who’s there?”

What the fuck?
“Av, it’s me.”

She glared in his direction but didn’t loosen up at all. If anything, every one of her muscles seemed to coil and flex, like Gheeri’s did, seconds before she pounced.

“It’s Jared,” he said, keeping his voice soft. Inside, his stomach knotted.

“J-Jared?” she asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, baby. It’s just me.” This was the second time in a matter of hours she’d overreacted to his presence.

She didn’t move.

Instinctively, he held his hands up, reassuring her they were empty and he meant her no harm. The idea that she might think he did sent a surge of ice through his blood. “I fell asleep on your couch.” His tone was the same one he used on his patients when they were spooked. Soothing, low, gentle and reassuring.

She eyed him from the bed.

“Woke up a few minutes ago and came looking for you. You were sound asleep. I’m sorry I disturbed you. I never meant to.” He sure hadn’t meant to scare the living shit out of her.

Ava lowered the pillow. “Wow. S-sorry about that. You, uh, startled me.”

“My bad for waking you. You okay now?”

“I will be. Soon as my heart rate slows down to a gentle gallop.” She dropped her head back against the headboard.

Thinking of the bottle of orange juice he’d seen in her fridge just a few minutes ago, Jared excused himself. “Be right back.”

Quick as he could, he poured a glass and was back in Ava’s room in seconds. “Here you go.” He held out the drink. “Have a sip.” After the scare he’d given her, she needed the sugar.

Ava took it, but her hand shook badly, and juice sloshed over the edge of the glass.

“Why don’t I hold it while you drink?”

“
No!
Uh, no, thank you.” Ava swallowed. “Look, there’s no need to treat me like a baby. I’m fine.”

“I know you are. You just don’t need juice spilling onto your clean sheets. You’re trembling.”

She set the glass on the bedside table without drinking any of it. “Adrenaline. It hasn’t had a chance to settle.”

Jared studied her for a long time, emotions warring in his chest. Shock and worry jostled for first place.

“Av?” He sat on the edge of her bed and used his gentlest voice. It only worked on the cats sometimes. God knew if it would have any effect on his friend. “Tell me what happened.”

“You woke me. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“No.” In measured and slow movements, he stuck out his hand, showing it to her the entire time, until his fingers met hers. Carefully he twined them together, giving her every opportunity to pull away. Thankfully she didn’t, and he cradled her hand in his. “I mean what happened while I was gone?”

Ava’s gaze tracked his movement the entire time. Her fingers hung like limp spaghetti in his. “I, uh, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I’m surprised by your reaction to me. First in the car and again now.” Still moving slowly, he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Softly, gently, so she knew there was no threat to his action, only concern. “The Ava I knew wouldn’t have twitched. Not when I touched you or when I knocked the door into the wall. You’d either have grabbed my hand and held on to it or you’d have slept through the noise. Yet both times, you bolted like a spider had run across your legs.”

She shuddered. “God forbid.” Ava had an irrational fear of spiders.

“Talk to me, Torres.”

“There’s nothing to say. You’re overreacting.”

He
was overreacting?

“I was startled. Both times. That’s all.” She squeezed his fingers in reassurance, and thankfully, kept her grip firm after that.

“Look, Jar, it’s…” She squinted at her night table. “Three fifteen in the morning. The last thing I feel like doing is talking. How about you let me go back to sleep?”

Jared rubbed his free hand over his face in frustration. Greg had warned him. He’d said Ava had changed. She was different—and had been ever since she’d left Anthony. His brother didn’t know why, and none of their friends had been able to pin her down for an explanation, although they’d all hazarded guesses.

Silently, Jared had rejected the theory that Anthony had been unfaithful. How could any man lucky enough to win Ava’s heart cheat on her?
No one
would be that stupid.

Zoey and Liv suggested Anthony might have been neglectful, spending more time at work or with his friends and family than with Ava. That was a possibility. The arrogant asshole could easily have figured that once he’d married her, he’d owned her. He no longer had to make an effort to be nice.

Idiot. Ava was more interesting than any job could be, ever. More interesting than any person too—friend or family.

All the friends believed that at some point Ava had come to realize Anthony was a controlling asshole. But they also suspected something more had happened, something tangible.

The idea of Anthony emotionally or physically abusing Ava sickened them, but no one denied it was a possibility. It would explain why Ava had left after only four months of marriage.

Whatever the reason, Jared could hardly expect Ava to blurt out the truth now. This was an obscene time to have a heart-to-heart. “Yeah, of course. You’re right. Go back to sleep.”

“’Kay. Not gonna argue.” She curled onto her side, facing him. “Hey, Jar?” Ava yawned.

“Yeah?”

She tugged at his hand. “You okay sleeping on the couch?”

He grimaced. The last thing he was okay with was sleeping on the couch. All he wanted was to climb into bed with Ava and hold her tight, all night long. Just like they used to before Ava met Anthony.

Then, their sleeping together had been innocent. Two mates sharing a bed.

If Jared ever climbed into bed with her again, there would be nothing innocent about his intentions.

For long seconds Jared didn’t answer. Every ounce of blood had emptied into his groin. His skin pulled tight across his cheeks, making blinking virtually impossible.

He ached with the need to haul her into his arms. To rip the clothes from her body and make love to her until long after the sun rose. He’d ached with that need for years, yet not once given in to it.

And in all that time, Ava had never had the slightest notion as to how Jared felt about her.

He brought his mouth to her hand again, kissing her palm this time. The warmth of her skin pressing against his lips nearly did in his resolve. But Ava was scared and she was spooked. He couldn’t and wouldn’t act on his impulses.

“I’m wide awake. Can’t sleep for shit. Think I’ll head out now.”

Ava’s face fell. “I don’t want to say goodbye yet. Last time I did, I didn’t see you for a year and a half.”