“It’s how I get to know a person.”
“Then you really do need help. I’m not the one to help you.”
She started to walk again, and for a few seconds, he admired her round ass. After a few seconds, he fell into step beside her.
“You don’t need to do this.”
“I think it’s time we establish something here, babe. I do whatever the hell I like when I like. No one tells me what to do.”
“Must be nice to have that kind of power.”
He smiled. “Anyone can have it.”
She folded her arms and didn’t ask him any question. The minutes ticked on by and all he got was more and more curious about her.
The divorce. The asshole ex-husband.
“What’s your full name?” he asked.
“Not happening. You think I haven’t seen those horror movies where the girl gives away all the dirty details?” She shook her head. “Not happening. I’m not that stupid.”
He laughed. “I didn’t say you were.”
“You’ve got my first name. That’s more than enough.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re not used to being hit on.” He watched her reaction. She merely stayed looking straight ahead. “With the imprint of the ring, you’ve been married for some time. You’re a sweet-looking kind of woman. I’m guessing your first real relationship ended in marriage.”
This made her stop. “What’s your point?”
“You didn’t get used to men flirting with you. You don’t think you’ve got it in you for men to want to flirt with you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? Then how many men have you fucked?”
She burst out laughing. “You really think I’m going to tell an absolute stranger?”
“I know people. I’ve gotten to where I am today by knowing what people are thinking. What’s going on in their head at every single moment. I know you, Ava.”
“No, Smokey. You don’t know me at all. I just want to walk home in peace and quiet, and you’re not giving me that.”
“How old are you?” he asked.
“A woman never tells.”
“I’m guessing late twenties.”
“You’re close.”
“Thirty.”
She nodded.
“So, you’re a thirty-year-old woman. Moved to a small town. Recently divorced because you caught your ex cheating on you. You don’t have much experience with men, and you’re nervous around them.”
She began laughing again. “I’m not nervous around you.”
“Exactly.”
This made her stop and frown. “You’re not making any sense. You know that, right?”
“A woman who knows men would know to steer well clear of me. Instead, you talked to me at the bar as if it’s a regular thing between the two of us.”
Ava stared at him. Her face a complete blank.
He couldn’t read her, and he wanted to know what was going on in that head of hers.
“If this is your way of trying to warn me away from you, you’re doing a really bad job of it,” she said.
“On the contrary. I’m trying to fuck you, Ava,” he said.
She didn’t stop walking. He stayed beside her, step by step.
The silence stretched on, the minutes gradually building.
They were getting close to some houses, and he saw them coming even closer, which would mean he’d have to part with her if that was where she lived. He didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone.
“Is that all you want?” she asked. “Sex?”
“Is that a deal-breaker?”
She came to a stop. Her hand went to her forehead as she shook her head left and right. “I’m so confused right now. We’re talking in riddles. It must be the alcohol, but I’m not going to agree to anything.” She smiled at him. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Her speed picked up, and he found her so utterly adorable. The way she moved and talked. He liked it.
Every woman he’d come across either gave him a withering stare or thrust their tits in his face. He was used to more women throwing themselves at him, begging for his mark. They wanted the bragging rights to have taken the president of the Hell’s Bastards MC. It was fun until it had stopped.
Now he used women to scratch an itch. He had a feeling Abriana was to blame—the woman he’d arranged to marry one of his men. She’d distracted him. He wasn’t attracted to her in any way. It was what she represented to the club, to Ugly Beast. The brother with the ugliest-looking face had been able to find true love. They now had a newborn daughter and every time he saw them, he witnessed a whole new lot of possibilities. Did he want that? Women had yet to prove they were worth his time. All he’d ever been was disappointed in them and by them.
They walked toward one of the few houses on the outskirts of town. It explained why she didn’t mind the walk. It wasn’t too far to the bar.
She stopped at the gate of a sweet-looking house. Small, but it just screamed hers.