Blown Away (16 page)

“Does this have
something to do with Ava?”

Brent frowned.
“Why would you ask that?”

“Y’all knew
each other back in the day. It sounds like you may have thought you
wanted to reconnect, but now you’re having second thoughts.”
Tucker’s gaze was unwavering when he said, “I’m gonna warn you, you
hurt her, you’re gonna have a lot of pissed off people to answer
to, me included.”

Brent couldn’t
help it. He laughed. If there was one thing in his life he was
certain of, it was how much he wanted Ava.

“You think this
is funny?” Tucker asked, raising his voice. “I don’t give a goddamn
how much money you have, that doesn’t make you any better than the
rest of us.” He stood toe-to-toe with Brent. “You can’t play with a
woman’s emotions, especially not someone I care about.”

Brent stared
him down, trying to decide whether to shake his hand or tell him to
back off. After a beat of silence, he said, “Have you ever met
someone you couldn’t get out of your head?”

“Yeah,” Tucker
said warily, “why?”

“Ava’s that
someone for me. When I met her back in college, I knew she was
special.”

“Is that so?”
Tucker crossed his arms.

“I’ve been
around the block enough times to know girls like Ava don’t come
around twice in a lifetime. That’s why I went crazy trying to find
her when she left me.”

Tucker stepped
back. “Really? What happened?”

Brent wouldn’t
share the story with just anyone, but he felt comfortable with
Tucker. “We spent the night together back in college. She took off
for Europe the next morning.” He chuckled. “Believe it or not, I
hired a private investigator to track her down.”

Tucker threw
his head back and laughed. “No shit. What’d she do when she found
out you were having her followed?”

“She went to
the police and told them some strange man was stalking her.” Tucker
smiled at the memory.

“That’s too
funny.”

“Now it is.”
Brent grinned. “At the time I was mad as hell. I had to work as a
short-order cook in some grease pit for two months just to pay that
guy’s bill.”

“You were
really willing to go to those lengths to track her down, huh?”
Tucker rocked back on his heels.

“I was.” Brent
watched Ava’s car pull up the winding drive. “I’m still willing to
go to crazy lengths for that girl. So if y’all are worried about
her, don’t be. I’d never do anything to hurt her. If you want to be
worried about someone, you can start with me.” He watched her get
out of the car, her black jeans hugging her in all the right
places. “She’s the one with all the power in this relationship, and
once she realizes it, God help me.”

***

Ava’s heart
squeezed when she saw Tucker and Brent talking and laughing as
though they’d known each other forever. She could see him fitting
into her world seamlessly. In spite of his money and power, he’d
never forgotten where he came from. That meant he could relate to a
guy like Tucker as easily as someone like Liam or Evan.

Brent was still
the same guy who’d walked her to class in college, the same guy
who’d taken her virginity and her heart in the span of a minute.
And that scared her. She’d thought about him every day for almost a
year after that night at Tara’s party.

During her
second year of college, her first year at school in Germany, Tara
returned to the U.S. to finish her degree. Ava was alone and
scared, trying desperately to fit into a world where she didn’t
feel she belonged. The only thing that got her through was
wondering if there was a chance Brent might be waiting for her when
she returned.

Of course,
she’d stayed on to complete her graduate degree in business, and by
the time she returned home to start Lasting Connections, he had
taken the business world by storm. He often appeared in newspapers
with stunning supermodels on his arm, and Ava knew her fantasy was
just that. It was time to let go of her illusion that night meant
anything to Brent. But apparently it had, and there they were. At
the right time, in the right place, with a chance to start
over.

She smiled when
he looked up and caught her eye. Images of last night flooded her
mind, and she knew she could happily spend the rest of her life
recreating it.

“Hi there,” Ava
said, lifting her cheek to accept Tucker’s kiss. She slipped her
arm around his waist and hooked her thumb through his belt
loop.

Brent raised an
eyebrow when she didn’t treat him to a more intimate greeting. “How
was your morning?” He was obviously remembering how they’d started
it. In his shower… together.

“It was good.”
She couldn’t stop her smile from spreading when he looked amused.
“Fantastic, actually.”

“Glad to hear
it.” Brent smirked.

“The architect
should have been here by now,” Tucker said, checking the time on
his phone. “Give me a minute to call her.”

Brent waited
for Tucker to walk away before he said, “Get the hell over here and
give me a kiss.”

Ava tried to
play hard to get, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her against
his chest. He kissed her hard, his hands knotting in her hair until
he
decided it was time to let go. She held her fingers
against her swollen lips. “Was that punishment or a reward?” she
asked.

“A bit of
both.” He smacked her bottom. “Next time, the first kiss is
mine.”

She looped her
arms around his neck and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his
cheek. “I promise. It seemed like you and Tucker were getting
along. What were y’all talking about?”

He lifted her
off the ground so their mouths were level. “You.”

“What about
me?”

Before he could
respond, Tucker said, “Jasmine’s about fifteen minutes away. Why
don’t you tell me what you had in mind while we’re waiting?”

Brent set Ava
down and turned around in a half-circle, surveying his property. “I
want it to look like it belongs here, like it’s been here forever,
not like it was just built. I want to use natural materials and--”
He stopped mid-sentence and looked down at Ava. “If this were your
dream home, if you were the one building it, what would you
want?”

Caught off
guard, Ava stammered, “I… uh… don’t know. I’ve never really thought
about building a house, but you’ve probably been thinking about
this for years.” Given his childhood, she suspected he may have
been fantasizing about his own home forever. “Do you own any other
houses?”

He shook his
head. “Not houses. I own several suites that are part of five-star
resorts. I own a couple of condos, but this will be my first
house.”

Ava knew it
really was his dream home, the house he’d imagined living in since
he was a little boy. She took his hand. “Tell me about it. When you
close your eyes, what does it look like?”

He glanced at
Tucker, and she knew he felt silly. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”
She squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him. “Tell me.”

“It’s not too
big.” He made a face. “With all of the wasted space in my
penthouse, I realized I don’t need all that room, not even if I had
a wife and kids.”

During his
intake interview, he’d told her he wanted a family with three
children, ideally.

“What size were
you thinking?” Tucker asked. “Because of the slope down to the
water, I’d guess five thousand square feet is probably the max if
you want to maximize the view.”

“That’s more
than enough space.” Brent looked a little uncertain when he asked
Ava, “Don’t you think so?”

“Definitely.”
She was touched he was trying to include her. He was so used to
calling the shots, but him deferring to her proved that he’d heard
her concerns. “But it’s what you think that matters.” She’d meant
it when she told him she wasn’t ready to start thinking about
forever. Ava didn’t rush into relationships, not even when the man
in question stirred feelings she’d never felt.

“I think four
to five thousand square feet is the perfect size.” He gestured to
the peak of the hill. “Right here. I want it to be a bungalow, full
walk-out basement with wall-to-wall windows.” He raised an eyebrow
when he caught Ava smiling at him. “What?”

“I knew you’d
thought about this a lot.”

“Maybe a
little,” he said, shrugging. “So, what do you think, Tucker?”

“It sounds like
you’ve got the right idea, but Jasmine will be able to tell us for
sure. Oh, there she is now,” Tucker said as a red Porsche pulled
slowly up the winding dirt driveway.

Brent’s face
paled as the dark-haired goddess got out of the car. “Jesus,” he
whispered.

“What’s wrong?”
Ava stared at the woman while waiting for his response.

“Hello, Brent,”
Jasmine said, stepping forward. Her high heels sunk into the grass,
but she didn’t lose her footing. “I’m sure you’re surprised to see
me.”

Ava tried not
to be intimidated, but it wasn’t easy. She could practically feel
the heat simmering between Jasmine and Brent. Who the hell was that
woman and what was their connection?

“‘Jasmine’?” he
asked. “Where the hell did that come from?” Brent was still holding
Ava’s hand and she felt the tension in his body.

“My agent
suggested I change my name when I got to L.A. I kind of liked it.
When I decided to get out of the business, I kept the name.” She
flashed a quick smile, revealing perfect white teeth. “It suits me,
don’t you think?”

“Okay,” Tucker
said, chuckling. “Fill me in. How do y’all know each other?”

“We were
engaged,” Jasmine said, her dark eyes locking with Brent’s.

Brent felt as if he’d
stepped back in time, looking into the eyes of a girl he’d once
been foolish enough to think he could spend the rest of his life
with. “I didn’t even know you were back in town.” She’d left for
L.A. five years earlier to pursue a modeling career. Her decision
came when she’d told Brent she’d slept with her best friend, and he
kicked her out of their apartment.

“I’ve only been
back a year. I thought about calling.”

“It’s probably
best you didn’t.” He slipped his arm around Ava’s waist, praying
she wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the ex-fiancée he’d never
mentioned. The intake questionnaire had specifically asked if he’d
ever been married or engaged, and he’d said no because he wasn’t
ready to talk about the woman who’d hurt and humiliated him by
sleeping with her ex-boyfriend.

Ava glanced at
her watch. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I
have to get back to the office.”

Brent knew she
was angry, but he had no intention of letting her go until he could
explain why he hadn’t told her about his ex. “Jam--I mean, Jasmine,
I never had the chance to introduce you to my girlfriend, Ava
Cooper.”

Jasmine forced
a smile as she offered her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,
Ava.”

“Likewise.” Ava
looked up at Brent, her eyes betraying her displeasure. “You’re in
capable hands here. Why don’t you call me later?”

“Babe, I--”

“It’s okay. We
can talk later,” Ava said, giving him a tight smile. To Tucker, she
said, “Tell Lauren to call me later, okay?”

“Will do.”
Tucker looked uncomfortable as he shoved his hands into the pockets
of his jeans.

When Ava pulled
away, Tucker said, “I’m gonna be on my way too. Now that I’ve had a
look at the site, I’ll leave the rest to Jasmine or, uh, whichever
architect you decide to hire.”

“Tucker, you
don’t have to leave.” Brent didn’t want to be alone with her. He’d
already wasted a year of his life on that woman.

“Actually I do,
buddy. I have another meeting. Gimme a call and let me know what
you decide, okay?”

“Yeah,
sure.”

Tucker nodded
to Jasmine as he walked backed to his truck.

“Well,” Jasmine
said quietly, “I can’t believe you kept this land.”

She knew the
spot well. They’d talked about building their dream home there one
day. “I kept the land because I love it, not because it reminded me
of you.” In fact, he’d kept it in spite of that. “You took so much
from me, I wouldn’t let you have this too.”

“What are you
talking about?” she asked, her dark eyes flashing. “I didn’t ask
for anything when I left, and we both know I could have.”

“That’s what it
was all about for you, wasn’t it? My money?” He laughed. “You
should have waited a few more years until we were married if you’d
wanted the really big payoff.”

“That’s not
fair,” she said, tearing up. “I loved you. You know how much I
loved you.”

“I know you
slept with your ex when you were engaged to me. That’s the only
thing I know for sure.” Saying it aloud used to feel like a dagger
through his heart because she was the first woman he’d trusted,
except for… Ava. God, how was he going to make things right with
her?

“I slept with
him because you kept accusing me of sleeping with him!” she
shouted. “We were friends, just friends! But you refused to believe
I could be friends with any man!”

“I guess I was
right to be suspicious, wasn’t I?” Her betrayal should still hurt,
but it didn’t, which confirmed what he’d suspected: she did him a
favor by setting him free.

“No, you
weren’t!” She ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “Why won’t
you believe me? We were just friends. We’re still friends.”

Brent didn’t
care who she befriended. His only thought was Ava. “I don’t care. I
don’t have time to listen to this.”

She grabbed his
arm when he walked past. “You’re going to listen. I begged you to
listen then, and you wouldn’t. You have to listen now. Please.”

“Fine, but make
it quick. I haven’t got time to waste.”

She let her
hand fall. “I begged you to believe me, to trust me. Eli was a good
guy and a good friend. He wasn’t trying to break us up. He just
wanted me to be happy.”