Blown Away Read Online Free PDF

you think he
wants?”
    “He didn’t
say?”
    “No. The
subject line was: Remember Me? And there was a link to his
bio on his company’s website.”
    “Interesting,”
Tara said, reaching for her latte. “You know he’s still single,
right?”
    “Yeah.” He made
the country’s wealthiest bachelors’ list every year, and since she
moved in the same circles as Tennessee’s elite, it wasn’t exactly a
secret. She’d been very careful to avoid any party or event he was
expected to attend. “I know.”
    “I still can’t
believe you gave him the brush off after y’all--” Tara wriggled her
eyebrows “--you know.”
    “I told you why
I did.” Ava tickled Oreo under her chin. She loved that. “I wanted
to have a good time that summer. I didn’t want to worry about some
guy back home expecting me to check in every five minutes.”
    “You don’t know
he would have been that bad.”
    “He probably
would have been worse.”
    “Is that why
you stayed in Germany?” Tara asked, setting her cup down before
leaning forward. “Were you afraid of him?”
    She wasn’t
afraid of him per say, just the way he made her feel. “Don’t
be ridiculous.”
    “Then why
should it bother you that he reached out now? Just ignore him.”
    “Right.” Ava
nodded. “I’ll just delete the email and forget all about it.”
     
    ***
     
    Lena’s face lit
up when Ava walked into Alisa’s boutique. Lena was her birth
mother, and the two had developed a close relationship since Lena
maintained a friendship with Ava’s adoptive parents. She was like a
favorite aunt and trusted confidant Ava couldn’t imagine living
without.
    “There you
are,” Lena said, opening her arms. “I was just getting ready to
leave, but I was hoping to see you first. How are things?”
    “Good.” Ava
widened her smile when Lena frowned. “Great, in fact. Business is
booming.”
    “I didn’t ask
about business. I asked about you.” Lena linked arms with Ava and
led her into the ‘Employees Only’ section. “Tell me what’s up with
you.”
    “Not much,
busy, busy. One event after another. You know how it is.” Ava’s
cell phone rang, but she ignored it. Her time with her friends and
family was rare and precious, so she tried not to let work
interfere.
    “I worry about
you,” Lena said, squeezing her arm. “You can’t keep up this pace
without burning out.”
    “I love what I
do. It doesn’t even feel like work.” Ava giggled. “I still can’t
believe I get paid so well to do this. Honestly, I’d do it for
free.”
    “That’s how you
know you’ve found your calling.”
    “How’s
Alisa?”
    “She and that
gorgeous hubby of hers are off on some fabulous cruise while I’m
stuck here doing the grunt work!” Lena winked. “The cow!”
    Ava laughed.
She could always count on Lena to make her smile. Her upbeat
personality reminded the people around her that life was never as
bad as it seemed. “You don’t mean that.”
    “Of course not.
I’m the one who insisted they take the cruise.”
    That sounded
like the Lena Ava knew and loved. “Good for them.”
    Lena poured Ava
a coffee, strong and black, just the way she liked it. Brent had
gotten her hooked on the stuff that night. After his email,
she couldn’t help but think of him. If she thought he looked good
in faded jeans and long sleeved T-shirts, nothing could have
prepared her for the sight of the billionaire business tycoon he’d
become. She’d only seen his headshot though. Maybe he’d let his
body go… and maybe Oreo would be the first dog to visit the
moon.
    “Your mind is
somewhere else today,” Lena said, observing her carefully. “I can
always tell when you’re distracted.”
    Ava knew better
than to try to hide the truth from Lena. She always managed to pry
it out of her. “A guy I used to know contacted me earlier. It just
kind of caught me off guard, I guess.”
    “Anyone I
know?” Lena curled up in one of the oversized armchairs in