Thawing Ava Read Online Free PDF

you keep out of trouble, not be the next notch on your bedpost.” She didn’t look at him to gauge his reaction. Instead she moved into the living room area. The words were harsh and would be at odds with her feelings, but she had to draw a line in the sand and set some boundaries.
    A plush leather couch, sofa, and padded chairs were arranged around a low wood coffee table strewn with hockey and sports magazines along with some mail. The massive TV sat against a whitewashed brick wall between two black steel shelves laden with DVDs and a few books. A black-and-white rug with an abstract swirl pattern lay on the floor, rich and plush but not Brice in the least.
    “I know why you’re here, Ava, but can’t I appreciate the woman you’ve become? The curves you now have? The beauty you possess?” he asked, again so close.
    “Smooth, Douglas, real smooth.” This time she turned around fully to face him.
    He gave her a small smile and shrug. “I have to say what I see. You’ve always been intelligent, beautiful, and curved in all the right places.”
    She pointed at him. “Exactly. Intelligent . I don’t need another smooth talker who will leave me high and dry. Been there, done that, returned the ring, and moved out of the apartment. I’m your babysitter, not your lover,” she said firmly. Even if she still felt that tight ball of arousal low in her belly.
    “I heard about that asshole you were engaged to.” He looked down, hiding his face and expression from her view. Now his voice was harsher, no desire anywhere to be found. “I’d like to meet him one day, so I can beat the shit out of him.” He glanced up, a tight smile on his lips, anger blazing in his eyes.
    Just seeing him so mad on her behalf sent part of her reticence crumbling. And yet she couldn’t understand it, so she said, “Why? We knew each other in passing and stayed in tight quarters during Christmas in college. Not long enough to really—”
    He closed the distance between them so quickly she didn’t have time to steel herself. He kissed her hard.
    It was a gesture to shut her up, a kiss that stole her air and scattered her thoughts and cracked a few walls she hadn’t realized were weak. Though closemouthed, it branded her with a restrained heat she hadn’t expected. She wanted to open her mouth for a taste, give in and urge him to unleash all that heat. Ava could smell that clean scent of soap and male with just a hint of musk that sent the fire in her body spiraling through her. His body heat seeped past the barrier of her jacket and the denim into her skin. She wanted to touch him, anywhere, everywhere, to pull the hardness of his body against hers. Ava wanted to peel off his clothes, gaze upon all that tanned skin, and explore every inch that she hadn’t seen in pictures.
    She reached out to touch him, but he stopped the kiss so quickly she could only whimper in response. When he lifted his head, she found herself panting and confused, any thought of why she was here gone. She brought her fingers to her lips and pressed them to the tingling flesh.
    “That Christmas was the best Christmas I’d ever had because I was with you. May have been two weeks, but I never forgot that time. Two weeks wasn’t long enough for us, for me,” he said before he stepped back. His face, ears, and throat red, desire and something else swirled in his eyes. “I have to go shower. You can just wander around, okay? Nothing to hide from you. I’m an open book.” He gave her another devilish smile and took off for the bathroom like demon dogs were on his heels. All she could do was stand there and touch her bruised lips. Damn it . She cursed herself, but she wouldn’t have taken that kiss back for anything in the world. She’d always wished she had gotten up the courage to kiss him that Christmas.
    He paused before he entered the sectioned-off room and looked over his shoulder at her. “By the way, I like to cook, and I’ll be making dinner tonight.