Logan: Where are you?
Ava: Sebastian and I are meeting the wedding planner.
Right, Sebastian did mention that. My assistant is off for lunch, so I go to Ava’s office myself to find the report on her desk. To my surprise, there’s someone inside. I recognize her immediately, even though all I see is her back. A smell of oranges lingers in the air. Nadine’s staring out the window, giving me a chance to observe her. Fuck, she’s sexy, wearing a white, figure-hugging dress, a red jacket on her arm. Her round ass is particularly perfect.
“Nadine.”
She turns around, her eyes widening in surprise as I walk into the office. God, she’s beautiful. And just like that, my control slides away. The more she talks, the more my resolve to keep my distance from her weakens.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her.
“Waiting for Ava to go to lunch. She was supposed to meet me in her office.” Nadine taps her foot, her lips forming a thin line. She’s adorable.
“Ava’s not in the building. She and Sebastian are meeting the wedding planner.”
Nadine frowns. “What?” Pulling out her phone, she dials furiously before pressin
g it to her ear. “Hi, Ava. I’m waiting in your office. We planned to eat lunch together.” There’s a small pause, and then Nadine groans. “You forgot?”
I pick up the report, pretending to look through it, disguising my smile. Ava never forgets anything. She’s an organizational genius. She did this on purpose.
Nadine finishes the conversation in a clipped tone.
“My best friend stood me up. She has a good excuse, though. Wedding stuff.” As our gazes meet, I’m confident Nadine doesn’t buy the excuse any more than I do. Pippa canceled on me, Ava on Nadine. This smells of a setup. “I’ll have to join them in a few of those meetings. As the maid of honor.” Her eyes light up as she says the last words, and she squares her shoulder with pride. Damn, she’s so cute. I’d love nothing more than to kiss that sinful mouth of hers.
A recognition hits home. As Ava’s friend and maid of honor, she’ll soon become one of our closest family friends. Dating family friends is not a good idea. Daniel did that, and things went wrong, fast. If I date her for a while, even if we break up amicably, it will still be awkward at family gatherings. Nadine deserves to be happy here. I can’t mess that up.
“I’ll go,” Nadine says. “Lots to do.”
I open my mouth to say okay, and something else comes out instead. “Stay.”
She peers at me from behind her eyelashes with uncertain eyes. Her chest heaves up and down, red splotches appearing on her cheeks and neck. Finally, she looks away, licking her lips. Jesus. She’s fighting this as much as I am. Who’ll give in first?
“I’ll grab a sandwich on the way. I have a lot to do,” she murmurs. “It’s better that Ava couldn’t make it. That way, I can check more things off my to-do list today.”
“Take it easy, you don’t have to do everything at once,” I say, remembering how crazy those days when Sebastian and I started out were.
“I don’t mind hard work,” she responds.
“Of course you don’t.”
It shouldn’t surprise me, but since we’ve made it big, I’ve met plenty of entitled people. They expect things to be handed to them. Nadine works hard, and she got back on track after every setback. She’s a fighter, and I love that. I respect that.
As I watch her small frame, it’s hard to believe she has so much strength in her. I want to hold her in my arms and make sure no bastard ever hurts her again, like her ex. My protective instincts are on high alert. Damn it. I reserve my protective instincts for my family. The women I date are on the receiving end of other types of instincts. My limits blur when I’m around Nadine, and that won’t do.
“Stay,” I repeat. I tilt her chin up and leave her no option but to look at me. She swipes her tongue over her lower lip, and I nearly lose my control and kiss her. “You have to eat. This’ll be quick.”
As Nadine nods, I realize something. She’s lovely, on the inside and the outside. Eventually, someone will ask her out, and that’s something I can’t live with. The only solution is to ask her out myself, consequences be damned. And there went my resolution to stay away from her. I blame it on that beautiful ass of hers.
You’re screwed, Bennett.
***
Nadine
I will murder Ava. First, I’m going to ask her how the meeting with the planner went, and then I will murder her. She did this on purpose. Ava believes my self-imposed dry spell is nonsense, and that Logan’s the solution.
Logan is trouble. I know that by the way not only my body reacts to him, but my mind as well. I squirm just looking at him, all strong and tall and man.