Chapter 7 NOT A COINCEDENCE
Ava's POV
Saturday morning came with sunlight streaming through my apartment windows, and for the first time in weeks I didn't wake up with that heavy weight pressing on my
chest about money or my mother or how I was going to make it through another day.
I got dressed in jeans and my favorite sweater, the soft blue one that made me feel a little less like I was falling apart, and headed to my usual coffee shop on the corner of Fifth and Main.
The coffee shop was busy but not packed, and my corner booth by the window was empty like it always was on Saturday mornings. I ordered my usual caramel latte with an extra shot because I'd barely slept again, and settled into my seat with a book I wasn't actually reading.
My mind kept wandering back to him no matter how hard I tried to focus on the words in front of me.
To the way Dominic had looked at me like I was the only thing that existed in his world.
To the way his hands felt on my skin, rough and possessive and careful all at once.
To the way he'd made my body respond in ways I didn't think were real outside of romance novels.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice him until he was standing right beside my table.
"Is this seat taken?"
My head snapped up and my heart stopped completely because there he was.
Dominic Hayes, looking like he'd stepped out of some expensive magazine in dark jeans that fit him perfectly and a black sweater that showed off every muscle in his chest and arms, standing there with a coffee cup in his hand and a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Ava." He said my name just like that night and my pussy immediately dripped out wet liquid.
"What a pleasant surprise."
My mouth had gone completely dry and I had to swallow twice before I could speak.
"Is it?" The words came out sharper than I meant them to.
"A surprise, I mean."
His smile got wider and there was something in his eyes that told me he knew exactly what I was asking.
"May I sit?"
I should have said no, should have told him that one night was all we agreed to and he needed to leave me alone, but instead I found myself nodding like an idiot.
He slid into the booth across from me and suddenly the space felt too small, I fanned myself hard with the novel as het suddenly flooded me
"How have you been?" he asked, casual as anything, like we were old friends catching up over coffee instead of two people who'd had sex for money two nights ago.
"Fine."
"Your mother?"
My whole body went rigid and I felt my eyes narrow as I looked at him across the table.
"How do you know about my mother?"
"You told me," he said easily, taking a sip of his coffee.
"The night we met at the club."
Had I? I honestly couldn't remember what I'd said to him that night because most of it was a blur of terror and arousal and desperation.
"She's doing well," I said carefully, watching his face for any sign that he was lying.
"The treatment started yesterday and the doctors say she's responding better than expected."
"I'm glad to hear that." He reached across the table and took my hand before I could pull it away, and the moment his skin touched mine I felt electricity shoot straight up my arm and settle hot and heavy in my stomach.
"I've been thinking about you, Ava."
"Dominic, we can't..."
"Have you been thinking about me?"
The question caught me off guard and I felt heat flood my face because of course I had been thinking about him, I'd barely thought about anything else.
"That's not the point. We agreed it was one night."
"I know what we agreed." His thumb was stroking slowly across my palm and it was making it very hard to concentrate on anything else.
"But I think we both know that one night wasn't enough."
My breath caught in my throat because he was right, God help me he was absolutely right, but I couldn't just admit that.
"I can't do this," I whispered, finally managing to pull my hand away from his even though my skin immediately felt cold without his touch.
"What we did, what I did, I'm not that kind of person."
"What kind of person?"
"The kind who sleeps with men for money."
Something dark flashed across his face and his jaw tightened.
"That's not what happened between us."
"Then what was it? Because you gave me fifty thousand dollars and I let you fuck me, so I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it was."
"It was me wanting you so badly I couldn't think about anything else." His voice had dropped lower and there was an intensity in his eyes that made my stomach flip.
"It was me offering you what you needed because I wanted to help you. It was both of us feeling something we didn't expect and giving in to it because we couldn't stop ourselves. Don't reduce it to just a transaction, Ava, because we both know it was more than that."
I wanted to argue with him but the words stuck in my throat because maybe he was right, maybe it had been more than just money and sex, but that was even more terrifying than the alternative.
"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly.
"I want to see you again and again" He leaned forward and the intensity in his gaze pinned me to my seat. He stood up and moved closer to me that I could feel his breathe all over my face. My pussy clenched with excitement even though I had no idea what was going on.
Oh my God, what going on with me?