ALAX POVಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ

I was on a warpath, and everyone gave me wide berth as Istalked down the hall toward the elevators. My newassistant, who I’d hired after firing the congressman’sinsipid daughter for leaking my cell number to theGruppmann CEO, pretended to be on the phone when Ipassed, and the rest of the staff kept their eyes glued to theircomputer screens like their lives depended on it.I didn’t blame them. I’d been biting people’s heads offleft and right for the past week.Incompetent, every single one of them.I refused to entertain any other reason I’d been so crankysince my birthday, especially if that “other reason”happened to be five-five with black hair and lips that tastedsweeter than sin.I ignored the two people who scrambled off the elevatorwhen they saw me enter, and jabbed the button for the lobby.That ******* kiss. It’d tattooed itself onto my mind, and Ifound myself thinking about it—about the way Ava tastedand felt in my arms—far more than I should. Thanks to the“gift” of my memory, I relived those few minutes in Ralph’skitchen like they were real every night in the shower, my fistwrapped tight around my cock and my chest burning withself-loathing.I hadn’t seen or heard from Ava since that night. She’dskipped our swimming prep sessions this week, and I didn’teven hear from her directly. Jules was the one who textedsaying Ava was busy.Her absence chafed more than I cared to admit.I got into my car and deliberated. One. Two. Three. Four. Itapped my fingers against the steering wheel, torn, before Ifinally gritted my teeth and set the GPS for the McCannGallery in Hazelburg.Nineteen minutes later, I strode into the gallery, my eyesflitting over the pale wood floors, the framed prints hangingon the stark white walls, and the half dozen well-dressedpatrons wandering the space before I zeroed in on thebrunette behind the counter.Ava rang up a customer, her face animated and her smilebright as she said something that caused the woman to smilein return. She had a knack for doing that, bringing out thejoy in others.She hadn’t noticed me yet, and for a while, I simplywatched her, letting her light creep into the shadowedcorners of my soul.Once the customer left, I walked over, my custom-madeloafers silent against the polished floors. It wasn’t until myshadow enveloped her that Ava looked up with a polite,professional smile that wilted the second she saw me.She swallowed hard, and the sight of that small throatbob sent an unwelcome jolt of desire straight to my ****.I hadn’t fucked anyone except my right hand in months,and the celibacy was addling my brain.“Hi.” She sounded wary.“Here.” I placed a brand-new phone—the latest model,which wasn’t available on the market yet and cost me severalgrand—on the counter.Her brow knit in confusion.“Your current phone is clearly broken, since I haven’treceived so much as a text from you in the past five days,” Isaid icily.The confusion lingered for a beat before it melted into ateasing expression, and my heart kicked like a damnRockette at Radio City Hall. I made a mental note to discussthis with my doctor during my annual checkup.“You miss me,” she said.My hands curled around the edge of the counter. “I donot.”“You showed up at my work and bought me a new phonebecause I didn’t text you for a few days.” Ava’s eyes gleamedwith mischief. “I think that amounts to missing me.”“You think wrong. I bought you the phone in case youneeded a new one for emergencies.”“In that case—” She pushed the box toward me. “I don’tneed it. My phone works fine. I’ve just been busy.”“Doing what? Attending a silent ashram in the middle ofthe desert?”“That’s for me to know and for you never to find out.”A vein throbbed at my temple. “Dammit, Ava, this isn’tfunny.”“I never said it was.” She threw her hands in the air. “Idon’t know what you want me to say. I kissed you, youkissed me back, then you said it was a mistake, and weagreed never to do it again. I thought you wanted space, andI gave it to you. I’m not one of those girls who chases afterguys who don’t want them.” Ava pressed her lips together.“I know everything’s been messed up between us sinceSaturday. Maybe we need to…not spend as much timetogether. I can do the visualizations on my own, and whenthe time comes, I can find another swim instructor—”My blood pressure hit a record high. “The hell you will,” Isnapped. “You asked me to teach you how to swim. I’m theone who worked with you all these weeks. If you think I’mgoing to let some fucker swoop in and take what’s mine, youdon’t know me at all.” Ava stared at me, her eyes wide withshock. “We’re resuming lessons this weekend. Don’t eventhink of trying to find someone else.”“Fine, no need to yell.”“I’m not yelling.” I never raised my voice. Period.“Then why is everyone staring at us?” Ava winced. “Shit,including my manager. He’s looking right at us.” She busiedherself with papers behind the counter. “I promise only tolearn swimming with you, okay? Now leave before I get introuble.”I turned and saw an older male with an unfortunatetoupee glowering at us.“Do you get sales commission?” I asked Ava withouttaking my eyes off her manager, who marched toward us, hispaunch jiggling over his belt with each step.“Yes. Why?”“I’d like to buy a piece from the gallery.” I turned back toAva when her manager reached us. His name tag read“Fred.” Figured. He was a Fred if I ever saw one. “The mostexpensive one you have.”Her jaw dropped. “Alex, the most expensive piece in thegallery is—”“Perfect for your needs, I’m sure,” Fred cut in. He’d losthis scowl and now beamed at me like I was the secondcoming of Jesus. “Ava, why don’t you ring this gentleman upfor the Richard Argus moonlight piece?”She looked uneasy. “But—”“Now.”My smile cut across my face with the precision of a honedknife. “Careful with the tone, Fred. Ava is your bestemployee. You wouldn’t want to alienate her or anycustomers who value her opinion very highly, would you?”He blinked, his eyes darting around as his tiny brainstruggled to process the not-so-subtle threat behind mywords. “N-no, of course not,” Fred stuttered. “In fact, Ava,you stay right here with this gentleman. I’ll pack the piecemyself.”“But she’ll get the commission.” I arched an eyebrow.“Yes.” The manager nodded so fast he resembled abobblehead doll. “Of course.”While he scurried off to another part of the gallery, Avaleaned in and hissed,“Alex, the piece costs $40,000.”“Really? Shit.”“I’m sure we can—”“I thought it was expensive.” I allowed myself a softlaugh at her stunned expression. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll owna new piece of art, you’ll receive a hefty commission, andyour manager will kiss your *** until the end of days. Winwin.”Fred returned with a large black-and-white print.Fifteen minutes later, the print had been packaged withthe same care one would use to handle a newborn baby, andmy bank account was forty thousand dollars lighter.“This weekend, our usual time, Z Hotel,” I told Ava afterdismissing Fred.Her eyebrows shot up. We usually practiced at one of ourhouses or near a lake or Thayer’s pool so she could get morecomfortable near water.“It has the best indoor pool in D.C.,” I explained. “You’reready for actual swimming lessons.”She’d been ready for a while, but I’d wanted to make surebefore throwing her into the deep end, so to speak.Ava sucked in a breath. “Really?”“Yeah.” I flashed a crooked smile. “See you Saturday,Sunshine.”I left the gallery in a remarkably better mood than whenI’d entered.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***