Ava took a bite of duck and shook her head. “You’re a piece of work, Officer.”
And I like you,
she added silently.
Very much.
After dinner, Ava let him walk her home. And by
let
, she actually crossed her fingers in hopes that he would offer.
He did.
“I still can’t believe you paid for dinner,” Ava said, giving him a chiding look as they strolled in the general direction of her apartment.
He glanced down at her. “Let a woman pay on the first date? Never.”
“I told you, the station would pay,” she said. “And the fact that my employer would foot the bill should make it rather clear that it wasn’t a
date
.”
He smiled and held her elbow as they crossed an uneven part of the sidewalk so she wouldn’t teeter in her high heels. “You keep telling yourself that, Sims.”
She huffed out a breath.
He really was cocky as all hell. He’d slipped the server his credit card while she was checking her phone. It wouldn’t have bothered her if she hadn’t known that his cop salary likely didn’t have room for trendy dinners. Especially when it had been her idea.
But he was right about one thing…
It
had
felt a bit like a date. Even more so now that he was walking her home on a warm spring evening.
“So you never answered my question,” Luc said as they wove around a group of drunken businessmen. “Why did you trick us into this story?”
She glanced up at him, making her eyes go wide. “It isn’t all written right here, in my eyes?”
He gave a half smile. “That only gives me the highlights. I want the full version. The what-makes-Ava-tick account.”
She looked away. “I don’t know how to explain it without sounding…driven. Ambitious. Aggressive.”
“Well good news, Sims, the cat’s already out of the bag on all those traits.”
His tone was teasing, but her smile slipped a little all the same.
It was true…she
was
driven in her desire to succeed in her career. And that trait had never bothered her before.
If anything, she’d been proud of being a modern woman, or whatever.
But tonight, she was seeing herself through Luc Moretti’s eyes. And Ava wasn’t entirely sure she liked what she saw.
Still, she had promised him the truth, so…
“I want to be anchorwoman,” she said, stopping when she realized they were outside her apartment building.
He stopped and turned to face her. “Sounds like a reasonable goal for a TV reporter.”
Ava shrugged, feeling oddly restless. “Yeah. But it’s competitive and political, and I’m worried by the time something opens up, I’ll be too old.”
Luc’s eyebrows lifted. “Old? You’re what, twenty-five?”
“Twenty-eight. And don’t start in on me about how I’m a spring chicken with my whole life ahead of me, because time and age work differently in TV.”
“If I look like the type of guy that would use the phrase ‘spring chicken,’ I need to do some serious reevaluating of my manliness.”
Trust me. Your manliness is just fine.
Two women came out of Ava’s apartment building, and she gave them a little smile and wave. Like most New Yorkers, she wasn’t necessarily buddy-buddy with her neighbors, but you never knew when you’d need someone to pick up your mail or loan you coffee.
One of them gave Ava a little wave, but the other was too busy checking out Luc, and curse the man, he wasn’t exactly oblivious to the attention. He stuck his hands in the back pocket of his jeans and smiled, looking very much like a gorgeous single guy and less like the superstar cop.
“Did you just wink at that girl?” Ava asked incredulously after the two women were out of earshot.
“What’s it to you if I did, Sims?”
“Nothing.” She pursed her lips. “For a self-proclaimed ladies’ man, I thought you’d have smoother moves.”
“Could be that my moves are
so
smooth you don’t even know they’re moves.”
“Doubtful, Lothario. Most women over the age of fourteen know when a guy’s into them.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Do they?”
For a second her breath caught, and she might as well be back in tenth grade because she really, really wanted to ask if he was implying what she thought he might be implying…that he was into
her
.
But before she could get up the courage to ask, he poured ice water all over the moment. “So you never really answered the question…am I your ticket to the anchor seat?”
Right.
Right
. Because ultimately this evening wasn’t about winning over Luc, it was about gaining Officer Moretti’s trust. And to do that, she needed to lay all her cards on the table.
Almost all her cards.
“Yes,” she said succinctly. “I heard about your hero antics, saw the videos, and followed my instincts that it could make for a career-changing story.”
Luc studied her as he rocked back a little on his heels. “The thing is, Sims, I’m not sure you’re right about that. At the end of the day, I’m just a man in a uniform, you know?”
His expression was so open and honest that her heart melted.
Just a little.
Sometimes Ava felt like she had a little wall of ice around her emotions. Not because of any traumatic breakup, or angsty romantic past, but just like she was sort of born without that softness that most of her girlfriends seemed to have.
But now…now it was occurring to her that maybe she just hadn’t met the right man. Hadn’t met the person who cared enough to look beneath the surface.
And
this
man had. He’d asked about Ava the person. Not Ava the talking head on TV.
Ava’s emotions felt anything but frozen at the moment.
“The man beneath the uniform is exactly what I want to show people,” she said, keeping her voice soft. It’s that human element that made you pseudo-famous in the first place.”
Luc’s eyes went warm, and he took a half step closer. “Now who’s putting on the moves?”
She hadn’t realized how close they were standing before, and now there were only inches separating them. The world around them seemed to go quiet, and her gaze dropped to his mouth.
It would be so easy to lean into him.
So easy to take this simmering attraction between them to the next level.
And yet…
He was a
story
.
Her
story.
The
story.
And if this thing between them went south…
Ava took a quick step back, then another. Luc gave her a small smile that said he knew exactly what she was up to, but he didn’t fight her on it.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and gestured toward the door as though the heat of the previous moment had never happened. “Come on, Sims. Let’s get you home.”
“I am home.”
“You’ve met Nonna. What do you think she’ll do to me when she finds out I didn’t walk a lady to her door?”
“All right, Moretti. But let it be known that I will be calling you old-fashioned at some point in my story.”
“Bring it on. The kind of girls I like
love
old-fashioned.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what kind of girls he liked, but instead, she rolled her eyes and headed toward the front door of her building.
She looked at him expectantly when he reached out to hold the door for her, and he shook his head. “No way, Sims. All the way to your door.”
“Said the stalker,” she muttered.
“Said the cop,” he corrected.
“Fine,” she said, oddly charmed by his old-school ways. It had been a long time since anyone had walked her to a door. “But the elevator only works about half the time, so stairs it is.”
Stepping into the stairwell, Ava had already reached into her purse and was pulling out her flip-flops before she remembered that she wasn’t alone.
She halted in the process of pulling off her stiletto heel and gave a curious Luc a sheepish smile. “Sorry, habit.”
He waved a hand. “Don’t change routine on my account.”
Since it was too late to reverse the process without looking like an idiot, Ava quickly slipped her feet into her flip-flops before scooping up her stilettos and carrying them by their heels in one hand.
She eyed him testily. “What, no lecture on how we women shouldn’t wear uncomfortable shoes if they make us miserable?”
He held up his hands. “I said nothing of the kind. I’m not going to stand here and tell you that I don’t think the four-inch heels are dead sexy.”
Ava huffed and headed up the stairs. “Then
you
wear them up three flights of stairs!”
“A well-fed Sims is an ornery Sims,” she heard him mutter, as he followed her up the stairs and down the hallway to her third-floor apartment.
Ava dug her keys out of her bag and turned to face him. If this were a date—a
real
date—this would be the moment of truth.
The kiss-or-no-kiss moment, which if ended in the
kiss
option would have turned into the nightcap or no nightcap, which would turn into sex or no sex…
Not a date, Ava. He’s just a job.
“Thanks again, for dinner,” she said, giving him a bland smile. “You really didn’t have to pay, but I appreciate it.”
He nodded, but didn’t respond.
Huh. Charming Luc was apparently gone. She didn’t know if she was disappointed or relieved.
“Well, good night, Officer. It’s been nice talking to you when you’re not carrying a gun around your belt.”
His smile tipped up a little at that. “Good night, Sims.”
Always
Sims
.
She’d never really noticed before, but the man hadn’t used her first name. Not once.
Strange.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one with boundaries. Maybe he was protecting himself too.
Ava clenched her fingers around the sharp edges of her key to keep her from throwing herself at this generous, kind man who would be so easy to care for.
Instead she turned and slid the key into the lock, giving him one last half smile before slipping into the safety of her apartment.
And damn her hormones, because she closed the door as slowly as possible, giving him the chance to make a move.
He didn’t.
When the door finally shut between them, Ava told herself she was relieved. Glad, even, that a night that had had distinct moments of
sexy
had ended so harmlessly platonic.
It was a good thing. Really.
Her lady parts, on the other hand, were screaming
moron
.
Dropping her heels by the door, Ava went to the table and set down her keys and purse before making the cooing noise she always used to summon her cat.
As far as cuddly, supportive pets went, Honky Tonk was a dud.
She’d rescued him a couple of years ago thinking he’d be great company, but mostly he did his own thing.
The only time he really let her pet him was when she got sushi.
Smart cat.
Ungrateful. But smart.
“Here Honky Tonky Tonky,” she said in her cat-call voice.
An orange head peeked out from under the couch, gave her a sleepy blink before promptly disappearing again.
“Okay then,” she muttered. “Good talk.”
Ava put her hands on the small of her back, stretching and debating whether a long, hot shower would help ease her restlessness, or make it worse.
Then the image of Luc in the shower with her, pinning her to the wall as his hands skimmed over her wet, soapy body, his mouth…
Damn it.
So that was a no on the shower then.
Ava made it only two steps toward the fridge for a much needed glass of water when she heard the knock.
Luc.
It had to be him. The only people who ever knocked on her door were the sushi delivery guys that she saw way more than she probably should.
She opened the door, and he was there.
One hand was braced on the door frame, and the other…
His other hand reached for her.
Luc’s palm slipped around the small of her back, barely giving her a chance to gasp her surprise before he tugged her to him.
And then he kissed her.
His lips were firm and smooth as they moved against hers with just the right amount of roughness as his other hand slipped around the back of her head to hold her still.
It was the kiss of a man who knew what he wanted. And if the way his lips pulled at hers was any indication, right now he wanted Ava.
And Ava wanted him right back.
It took her only seconds to adjust to the feel of his mouth on hers before her arms found his waist, clutching at the soft fabric of his shirt.
Luc tilted his head just enough to take the kiss deeper, and Ava was right there with him, reaching for his tongue with hers. Luc let out a raspy groan as the fingers in her hair tightened and Ava was forced to face a rather disturbing reality:
It was without a doubt the hottest, most perfect kiss she’d ever had.
It was the rightness of it that finally had her coming to her senses, although it took her several moments before she could force herself to break away from his lips.
She was slow to open her eyes, and when she did, she was braced to see triumphant male ego on his face. But although he was watching her, the only things she saw on her face were the very same things she was feeling: heat and confusion.
“Well,” he said, his voice raspier than she’d ever heard it. “That’s…inconvenient.”
She nodded slowly, touching her fingers to her swollen lips. “It probably shouldn’t happen again. Conflict of interest and all that.”
He shook his head just as slowly as though also convincing himself. “Right. Shouldn’t happen again. Our lives are incompatible. I want to be left alone to do my job; you want to push me into the limelight.”
Right.
That
whole thing.
She didn’t blame him for wanting to keep his distance, and he didn’t know the extent of research she was doing on him
behind
the scenes.
“So this is good night, then,” she said. “For real this time.”
“Night. And Sims?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He winked and was gone, and it wasn’t until after she’d closed the door and opted to take a hot shower after all that she realized this was the most she’d looked forward to
tomorrow
in a long, long time.