Chapter Six

Ava’s mouth hung open in surprise as she stared at the silhouette standing before her. She had already deduced that it certainly wasn’t Chloe, but Noah and his voice had sounded husky.

He had thought she was pretty!

Butterflies erupted in her stomach, and she felt her face grow warm from that thought. Then Noah had taken a step towards her, and her breath hitched.

She could see him from the faint ray of light penetrating in through the blinds. He was standing very close to her now and she sucked in a sharp breath when his hand trailed down her cheeks.

His fingers lightly grazed her cheeks and tucked a strand of her wet hair behind her ear.

“You’re much more beautiful than those clothes,” he murmured his words so low she barely heard him.

Ava felt her chest rising and falling rapidly as he ran a hand through her wet hair and dipped his lips down towards her.

He was going to kiss her!

The butterflies in her stomach increased and left her nervous as she waited for his lips to come crashing down on hers. Then when she felt his lips were a whisper away, she closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

Then she waited for his soft lips on hers. She wondered if it would feel the same as their first kiss. Any second now their lips would connect and send jolts of electricity through her body making…

“What the hell are you doing in my room?”

Wait…what? She blinked, opening her eyes, and staring straight into cold green eyes. She felt her face flush with warmth as she blinked back the tears brewing from her embarrassment.

“I asked a question, Ava, or are you still expecting that kiss?” he asked in a smug voice.

Ava's face grew hot with embarrassment as she prayed he wouldn’t open the curtain and see her. But he did and she wished the ground would open and swallow her.

“Chloe gave me this room!” she snapped glaring at him.

He nodded his head and walked out without a second thought.

Ava leaned against the wardrobe breathing heavily as she tried to steady her erratic breathing, her mind replaying the feel of his fingers grazing her cheeks.

She shook her head to banish those thoughts from her mind. Noah wasn’t the right person for her, why would she even think he would want to kiss her?

She needed to ask her questions and make peace with him so she could move on. She most certainly did not want to feel his hands on her skin or his lips on her skin or how it would feel to have him buried deep inside her.

A moan slipped past her throat, and she gasped as she felt the throbbing in her core.

“You have it bad for him, Ava!”

Ava gasped embarrassed again at the sound of Chloe’s voice.

“The door was shut. How long have you been standing there?” she squeaked, hiding her face.

“Don’t get embarrassed. I knocked but you were engrossed in your dirty thoughts,” Chloe chuckled.

“Shut up, Chloe!” she snapped her face still flaming from being caught in her fantasies.

“Relax, I won’t tell,” Chloe winked at her, “Here are some clothes.”

Ava sighed. “Thanks, Chloe, now leave me alone.”

“Sure, keep fantasizing,” Chloe giggled, wiggling her eyebrows, and leaving the room.

Ava felt herself die from embarrassment. This wasn’t going according to her plans. She needed to be careful before she loses herself to Noah again.

***

Noah punched the training bag repeatedly hoping to rid him of the memory that wouldn’t stop haunting him.

He had seen her half-naked with her wet hair looking so fucking beautiful. He had walked into that room because it was his room, had always been only to be assaulted with her strawberry and vanilla soap.

He had felt the urge to pull her close and rip off the towel draped around her. He had leaned towards her, inhaled her scent, and yearned to kiss her.

He had seen the hurt look in her eyes when he didn’t, and he had forced himself out of the room to prevent her from seeing his bulge and to stop him from taking her immediately.

What tortured him most was the fact that he was going to be with her for three fucking days! It’s going to take everything in him to keep him sane within these few days.

An angry scream ripped from his throat as he delivered one final punch to the punching bag and the thing tore apart.

“Stop taking out your anger on the poor thing.”

He whirled around quickly with anger visible in his green eyes. “How could you, Grandpa?”

Faustino blinked looking innocent. “What did I do, son?”

Noah snorted. “I’m not falling for your stupid game. I thought only Nat and Chloe played matchmaker. When did everyone join them?”

Faustino shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, boy.”

Noah’s eyes flashed. “Why do I have to share my room with her?”

“Oh,” Faustino smiled, “The other rooms are under maintenance.”

Noah narrowed his gaze at him. “It’s a freaking mansion, grandpa. There are at least twenty spare rooms here.”

Faustino nodded. “Yeah, they’re all locked and under maintenance.”

Noah sighed running a hand through his hair, damp from heat.

“This is going to be a disaster.”

“You never know until you try, Noah,” Faustino sighed.

“Grandpa, I don’t have time for a commitment right now. I have a lot going on.”

“You’re scared, Noah. Why are you scared of acknowledging you have feelings for her?”

“Because it doesn’t change anything!” Noah growled, “At the end of the day love is just another fucking thing that leaves you hurt and vulnerable. No matter how much we love each other we’ll still get hurt in the end.”

“That’s not true, Noah. Love conquers all.”

Noah snorted. “Just like how my grandma died because you abandoned her or how my mom ran away from you and got married to a psycho who had her killed and almost killed us. Is that love?”

Faustino sighed. “I admit that I made some wrong choices in my early days, and your father too, but we’ve rectified our mistakes. He saved your sister’s life and died, I saved your life, Noah. Your sister is happily in love with Dante.”

Noah scoffed. “Dante was the reason my mom died, he put Natalie’s life in danger not once but a lot of times. He has a son from a dead woman who almost killed his wife and you’re talking about love!”

“Your sister will be having her baby in a couple of months—”

“A baby that might kill her,” Noah interrupted him sharply, “She’s terrified, grandpa.”

Faustino sighed placing a hand on his grandson’s shoulders. “You have seen things and experienced things no child should be allowed to go through, and you survived. Everybody knows our families have a pretty shitty experience in the past years but don’t let it dictate who you should be Noah.”

Noah nodded. “I’m sorry, grandpa.”

“All I’m asking is for you to give yourself a shot at happiness. You deserve to be happy and loved too.”

Noah’s shoulders slumped as his grandpa walked away and he wiped the sweat coating his brow. His life was far from shitty. A lot has happened in their families since he was six years old, he just couldn’t start explaining it. But then, he wouldn’t let Ava anywhere near him because he would only bring her heartbreak and endanger her life.

Nobody knew half of what he had gone through and everything he had seen in the course of love. It was a very dangerous game; one he wasn’t willing to indulge in.

He headed inside to take a quick shower and was relieved to see Ava wasn’t present. After his shower, he headed downstairs for dinner when Pedro beckoned on him.

He followed him to the porch and was surprised to see a haunting look in his fearless bodyguard’s eyes.

“What’s the matter, Pedro?” he inquired.

Pedro swallowed and took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay.

“There’s a serious problem, boss,” he gulped.

What could be more dangerous than sharing a room with Ava? He mused.

“What happened, Pedro?”

“A package arrived here by the courier service, and I know I’m not supposed to but since it was marked with your name I decided to investigate,” Pedro rambled.

“What did you see, Pedro?”

The huge man gulped. “It’s in the garage. Come see it yourself.”

Noah hastened and followed him to the garage where he found a huge box sitting on the floor. He ripped the card pinned on the box and read the words written in bold letters:

‘Happy early birthday, Noah. I hope you like my gift.’

He tossed the card aside then yanked the box open and gasped.