Blown Away Read Online Free PDF Page A

baby.”
    Tara rolled her
eyes. “You spoil that little diva. She thinks she owns the
place.”
    “She is not a
diva,” Ava said, rubbing noses with Oreo. “Are you, sweetie? You’re
just misunderstood.”
    “You haven’t
seen what she does when the courier drops off a package. She may be
small, but she’s feisty. I’m telling you, she’s going to bite
someone one of these days. Then you’ll be sorry.”
    Ava frowned.
“Oreo would never do that. She’s a little protective of me, and she
doesn’t really like men, but she would never hurt anyone.”
    “Whatever you
say.” Tara blew the dark bangs out of her eyes before reaching for
her latte. “Okay, get out of here. I have to get back to work.”
    “Yeah, me
too.”
    “By the way,
that new promo we’ve got going with Bryson’s is really paying off.
We’re up twenty-three percent this month.”
    “That’s great.”
Ava smiled. More business meant more people were finding their soul
mates thanks to her. She poured everything she had into Lasting
Connections, and nothing gave her greater pleasure than
bringing two people together and watching them build a lasting
bond. She’d attended more engagement parties, weddings, and
christenings than she could count, and her calendar was full again
this year. She loved celebrating the best moments of their lives
with her former clients.
    “You want to
grab a late lunch?” Tara asked.
    “I can’t. I’m
going to check my email, then I have to pick up my dress from
Alisa’s. It was nice of Bryan to offer to take me to the fundraiser
tonight.”
    “Please. You
know my brother. If there’s free food, he’s there.”
    Ava crossed the
hall to her cozy office, feeling infinitely better after clearing
the air with her best friend. She hated fighting with Tara, but
every friendship had to have clear boundaries, and Tara had just
crossed one. Big time.
    “You’ve got
mail.”
    Ava wrinkled
her nose. She really should turn off that notification. She cringed
every time she heard it. She’d already responded to half a dozen
emails when one caught her attention. The subject line was: Remember Me? Curious, she opened it. There was no message,
just a link to the bio of the Chairman of the Board of an
investment company. But not just any investment company.
Armstrong’s. Oh my God. Brent Armstrong was contacting her.
How? Why? Of course, his brother had told him they’d crossed paths.
Her heart thumped and Oreo whimpered at her feet, obviously sensing
her mistress’s distress.
    She hadn’t seen
or heard from Brent Armstrong since the night she snuck out of
Tara’s bedroom. That was ten years ago. Why was he reaching out to
her? A sickening thought occurred to her. Had he seen her profile?
Did he think she was still prowling for a man? Thinking about the
way she’d practically begged him to take her virginity made her
skin crawl. She’s been too ashamed to respond to his voice mails
and emails in the weeks after she left Nashville. That, and she
heard the irritation in his voice. She knew he would demand to know
why she hadn’t told him she was leaving. The truth was, she was
afraid he may have been able to convince her to stay.
    Ava ran back
across the hall and closed her friend’s office door after Oreo
slipped inside.
    Tara barely
looked up from her computer. “Didn’t I tell you I have work to do?
You’re not paying me to socialize, are you?”
    “You’re never
going to believe who emailed me!”
    Tara gave her
friend her full attention. Gossip, chocolate, and lattes were her
weaknesses, in that order. “Who?”
    “Brent
Armstrong.”
    Tara slapped a
hand over her mouth, her green eyes wide. “Shut up!”
    “I’m serious.”
Ava chewed on her lower lip.
    “Stop doing
that,” Tara lectured.
    Another voice
saying that slipped into her consciousness. It had the same effect
as always. She couldn’t think of Brent Armstrong without thinking
about the best sex she’d ever had… bar none. “What do