We Never Kissed

Chapter 21

Ava

Looking in the mirror, I dabbed at my tears and then tried to salvage what makeup I had left. My heart was still reeling from the story Alex had told me only moments ago. Of course, my whole family knew bits and pieces of his early childhood history, and we all knew how controlling his father was despite the fact that he was also an absent parent. Thinking of my own parents gave me a wave of guilt. Why were Sammy and I so lucky and blessed to have the most wonderful parents, and Alex had two that probably never should have had a child? It wasn’t the same, but my parents loved Alex like a son, and I was going to make sure I reminded him of that.

As I brushed my teeth and stared at myself in the mirror, a burst of anger settled in my stomach as I thought of the times I had talked to Maggie, and she’d conveniently left that story out. My heart raced at her deception, and I wondered if or when I’d reach out and confront her about it. I supposed she didn’t owe me anything, and her goal was merely to learn more about her son, but I still felt a bit… I wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d had hopes for a reunion and didn’t want me to discourage it.

I shook my head at myself. You’ve meddled enough, haven’t you ? At some point I would have to tell Alex everything that went down with his mom… But not tonight. Not after he’d just seen her, not after she had gotten him so upset, not after he just poured his heart out to me, and certainly not before the first time we made love together.

I sighed and turned from the mirror, unable to look at myself any longer. Who was I kidding? I knew there was a good chance that Alex would hate me, wouldn’t want me anymore after he found out I’d gone behind his back and never told him. And I didn’t want to risk at least having this one special night with him. Maybe it was selfish, or maybe I could look at it as me being there for him in any way I could, and telling him wouldn’t accomplish that.

My mind made up, I slipped off my dress and out of my heels, planning to change into something more comfortable since we were going to eat and watch a movie, something I insisted on to give us both time to clear our minds. But when I saw the dress shirt Alex had worn on the trip here hanging on the back of the door, I couldn’t resist.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the room, waiting for him to turn around. He was seated on the couch, watching some sports news on the TV. I grinned, thoughts of us sharing a space together sometime in the future flashing through my mind.

When he didn’t turn, I cleared my throat.

He did a double take when he saw me, then stood. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He blew out a breath. “You’re really going to make this hard on me, aren’t you?”

I moved toward him slowly. “I thought I was doing the opposite.”

When we reached each other, his arms went around my waist, mine around his neck. “Damn, my shirt never looked so good.”

“Glad you don’t mind. I like it because it smells like you.”

He grinned and then dipped his head to capture my lips. His strong hands were splayed on my back, pressing me into his firm body. I’d longed for this moment for so many years my heart raced at the thought of Alex finally making me his. It was actually kind of surreal, so when Alex pulled back, it felt like he’d read my mind.

“I…” An awkward smile played on his lips.

“What?” I could feel his chest rise and fall between us.

He took my face in his hands. “This… Us. It’s—”

“Hard to believe?”

He nodded. “Ava, I’ve watched you go from a girl to a woman to…the most amazing and beautiful person I’ve ever met. I just needed a beat, you know? I…want to do right by you.”

My heart filled with warmth. “I know. But if you’re worried if I’m sure…I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.” Saying those words while his eyes were locked on mine was like a double shot of whiskey flying through my veins.

Alex’s gaze narrowed for a second before he said, “Goddamn, Ava, if you knew how much I want you right now.” He drew me back against him, then lifted me up. I gasped in delight and wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked us back over to the bed. We kissed for long moments before I felt him lower me to the ground. His eyes panned down to the top button of his shirt I wore, and he grinned. He undid the first button, then the second, his lips blazing a trail over my skin with each button lower, and when he finally pulled it away from my breast and lowered his mouth to me, my breath caught .

I held the back of his head to me, but he didn’t linger long, instead kissing a trail down to my stomach until he was on his knees in front of me. He placed soft kisses on my stomach, and when he pressed his cheek against me and held me tightly, I felt my throat tighten with emotion.

I’d almost got lost in the moment, when I felt his fingers slide along the border of my panties and then slowly lower them to the floor, where I stepped out of them. When he raised back up to his full height, the hunger in his eyes set my whole body ablaze. Deftly, I unbuttoned his shirt, and when I pulled it away from his taut chest, my eyes homed in on the scar there. I ran my finger over the rigid surface, then placed a soft kiss on it. Alex’s fingers weaved through my hair before he tilted my face up to his. He kissed me deeply, slowly, then as if a switch was flipped, he devoured me, and I moaned into his mouth. When his hands left my face, I heard him undoing his belt and then his pants.

Alex lowered me to the bed, settled on top of me, and stared into my eyes. One of his hands sought mine, and he laced our fingers together just before he connected our bodies and finally made us one. Everything about his movements felt so right, so good—the way we fit together so perfectly, the way our bodies instinctively found a seamless rhythm. And when he brought me to the height of pleasure, I didn’t hold back, took everything he gave me, calling out his name as his head fell to the crook of my neck, and he joined me in an exquisite free fall.

After, as our bodies rested, still entwined in each other, I couldn’t help but smile, even as a tear slid from the corner of my eye. As if he knew, he pulled me tighter against his body, and I couldn’t imagine another moment more perfect than this.

Chapter 22

Ava

Wearing the hotel robe, my hair still damp from the shower, I stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching Alex sleep. Lying on his back, bare-chested with the sheet tucked at his waist, he looked like one of those dreamy magazine ads for cologne or…sheets.

When his eyes opened and quickly found mine, it seemed as though it were their sole purpose. I felt myself blush. Alex reached his hand out to me, and I stepped forward.

“You showered without me,” he said when I took his hand. Then he yanked me to the bed so I landed halfway on top of him. My mouth went right to his, and we shared a deep kiss that took my breath away.

Alex pulled back, and I said, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be late to the office. We slept late…” Since I’d told my parents I was meeting with my boss, I figured I might as well while I was in Vegas.

He winced. “Damn, I’m sorry I forgot.” He gave me a peck on the lips before sitting up. “I better get in there before I won’t let either of us leave this bed.”

I was tempted to blow off my appointment with my boss, even for just a few minutes in bed with Alex, especially with the replay of last night flashing in my mind. But he was already up, helping me be responsible.

“I’ll be quick,” he said before closing the door.

I realized too late that my makeup was in there. Were we at the stage of sharing bathroom space? I decided to pack instead. I knew he took fast showers anyway.

When I went to the side of the bed to grab my shoes, Alex’s phone chimed on the nightstand. He had it set where a preview of texts showed on the screen. I shouldn’t look . Dammit, don’t look, Ava . I saw Jessica , and couldn’t stop myself. I spun the phone so it wasn’t upside down and read, Honey, are you all right? Not like you to skip out on a Monday. Called your office…

That was the bitch making herself comfortable in Alex’ s kitchen.

“Read anything interesting?”

I straightened and whirled around to him, my face burning hot. “I”—I shook my head—“have no excuse. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t trust me?” He tilted his head condescendingly but didn’t look the least bit angry. In fact, he seemed pleased, which was probably worse for me and my embarrassment.

“No…I do. It’s just. It was that Jessica woman.”

“Oh…” I could have sworn I saw him hide a smirk. In gray sweatpants, his chest and hair still damp, he flew across the room, grabbed the phone, and flopped onto the bed. “Let’s just do this thing, huh?” He patted the space next to him.

“Do what?” I climbed onto the bed next to him.

Alex pulled up his contacts list and then handed me the phone. “Go ahead. Look all you want. Ask me anything. I am an open book.” He leaned over and pointed to my name, grinning. “See, you’re right on top.”

“That’s because my name starts with A .” I scrolled up a little. “But what about this Allison?”

He reached over and deleted her. “Gone.”

I laughed and then scrolled more. “Do I even want to know what the ratio of business to pleasure is?”

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter.” He put one arm behind his head, and his muscle bulged deliciously. “This is going to make me sound like an ass, but most of the women in that phone were just me killing time.”

“Come on…” I elbowed him lightly.

“I’m serious. You don’t have to believe me, but a lot of times I was just distracting myself, waiting for the universe to deliver you to my doorstep. And that’s exactly what happened.”

I turned to him, mouth agape, and then pinched his side. “Oh my gosh. So if I didn’t come home, you never would’ve come after me?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t think I was good enough for you, Ava. I didn’t want to hurt you, and I knew your parents wouldn’t want us together.”

Still holding the phone, I turned on my side to face him. “You don’t know that. They love you, and besides they didn’t like Mark at first either. And then they ended up loving him.”

Alex turned then. “That’s because Sammy and I told your parents that he cheated on his taxes, and that instead of adopting a puppy, he bought one from a puppy mill for three grand.”

When he smiled proudly, I pushed against his chest. “Oh, my God. You did not.”

“Ask your brother.”

Flabbergasted, I turned my attention back to the phone, setting it on the bed between us. I scrolled to a few other women’s names: Bri, Cat, Erica. He deleted two of the three. Then I scrolled until I got to Jessica and then stared at Alex pointedly.

“I honestly don’t know what her deal is. She flirts with everyone, and she’s the kind of person to use sex to get what she wants. I’m sorry I still have to put up with her until I close the deal with her dad. I could delete her, but it won’t matter.”

I pursed my mouth. “Fine.” I scrolled more and stopped when I saw Lauren. “That’s the girl from the bar. She’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.” He leaned in and brushed a kiss over my neck.

“Are you going to delete her?” Not that I expected him to, but when he was so freely offering…

“Honestly, I don’t want to.” His gaze held mine. “She’s a good person, and she’s cool to be around, and I’d like to have her as a friend.”

“You went on a date with her, and she kissed you right in front of me.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t know we were together, and she went in there to explain it to you… We went on one date, and I talked about you the whole time.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s what she said.” She did seem like a genuine person. I was just about to tell him I didn’t expect him to rid all women from his life when he started laughing. “What?”

“You don’t get to be jealous of my female friends.”

“Why not?” I asked merely out of curiosity.

“Because you have Gunnar, and I’m just supposed to be cool with that. So, I get to keep Lauren.” He smiled proudly like we were trading players in some fantasy football league.

Yes, it irked me that he was right, and I was a little jealous, but I didn’t have a leg to stand on. “Can’t argue with that.” I handed his phone back.

“But we only got to L.”

“We don’t have time and besides, I trust you.” Of course I didn’t say I was worried I’d have to pull up my contacts, and I couldn’t remember if I’d saved one for his mom, Maggie. “And I’m sorry you have to wait around for me while I’m in my office, but it shouldn’t take long.”

“It’s all right,” he said, getting up. “I’ve got some calls I can make anyway.” Alex caught me in his arms when I got off the bed. “I just wish we had more time in this room.” Sliding his hand over my ass, he pressed me into him.

I allowed myself a moment to feel his strong shoulders, breathe in his fresh scent, but then his mouth was on mine, and I gave in to him. His kiss was hungry, but he didn’t move to take it further, probably because he knew we were pressed for time. When one of his hands teased along my hip, I couldn’t deny either of us any longer. I pulled back and gazed up at him as I released the tie on my robe.

Alex slipped it off my shoulders and gaped at my naked body in front of him. “Damn, baby…”