Avalyn didn’t have the strength to pull her eyes from Bridger and explain to her dad that this man was no friend of hers.
Bridger reached out and took her hand. Avalyn’s stomach tumbled. She should’ve pulled her hand free, but it felt so cozy and nestled perfectly in Bridger’s larger palm.
“Would you excuse us for a moment?” he asked her parents.
Her mom’s eyes lit up. Avalyn knew she’d prayed for most of Avalyn’s life that she would marry a Hawk brother. Seeing how all the other ones were taken, this was probably a last-ditch hope for her mother. “Of course, Bridger. No one’s in the study.” Her mom gave him a warm smile.
Bridger guided Avalyn that direction with their hands clasped as if they were a couple or something. No. They weren’t anything. The walk to the study seemed to take forever and pass too quickly at the same time. What was he doing here? What was he going to say? What if he kissed her again? How was she going to stay strong?
They walked into the room, which was softly lit with lamps and the glow of the gas fireplace. Bridger shut the double doors and guided her to a leather sofa. They sat side by side. She turned so she could see his handsome face and get a read on this situation.
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
Bridger squeezed her hand. “Ava.” He took a slow breath and said, “I haven’t seen you in years, before yesterday.”
She acknowledged this with a lift of her chin.
He searched her face, his dark eyes warm, imploring. “Did the kiss yesterday mean anything to you?”
Her fingers involuntarily went to her lips. “You mean kisses?” she murmured.
Bridger smiled. “Yes, kisses.” He leaned closer as if he would initiate that lovely sequence again.
Avalyn was in so much trouble right now. How could her family be a hundred feet away in the living room, oblivious to the current that threatened to sweep her away? Avalyn closed her eyes and prayed for strength. She opened her eyes and steeled her spine. “The kisses were … very nice, but they didn’t mean anything.”
His brow furrowed. “I’m sorry to hear that, because I’ve never been so affected by any kiss.”
Avalyn’s eyes widened. Bridger was a smooth talker, but would he outright lie to her? The Bridger she’d known never would, but they’d hardly spoken since she’d left home at eighteen. She latched on to the way he’d phrased “any kiss.” That was her out. His playboy ways. “You’ve kissed hundreds of women. Thousands! Don’t try to act like I’m something special.”
Bridger leaned closer. His breath brushed her cheek as he ran his hand along her jaw. “You are special, Ava. To me, there’s no one as special as you.”
Avalyn’s breath caught. Oh, he was good. Too good. He was a professional playboy in every sense of the phrase.Stay strong, stay strong. “Why did you come here?” she demanded again.
“For you,” he said as if the answer was that simple.
Avalyn pulled from his tender touch and stood. He slowly stood also, facing her. Every movement he made was glorious, sexy. But she didn’t live her life for cheap thrills like Bridger Hawk. “I’m sorry you wasted a trip, Bridger, but you should go be with your family for Christmas.”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand, Ava Baby. I only want to be with you.”
Avalyn backed up, clenching her hands behind her. “No. You live for the challenge, Bridger Hawk. I am not your next conquest.”
His eyes darkened, determination evident in every line of his face and body. “I live to succeed. I won’t give up on you, Ava.”
She wanted to scream,Ha! Exactly!He only wanted to succeed. It wasn’t about her. It was about the fact that she had slapped him and told him not to kiss her. “Go back to your family and Britney. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to be your Christmas girlfriend.” Even as she said the words, her stomach soured. She hated seeing Bridger with any other woman on his arm.
“I don’t want Britney,” he said in measured tones.
“Well, she wants you.”
His eyebrow arched up. “And what does that mean? You don’t want me?”
Avalyn jutted her chin out. “That’s right. I don’t.”
Bridger’s eyes swept over her carefully. Avalyn thought he might argue with her some more. The man didn’t know how to lose, and she was more certain than ever that was the reason he was pursuing her.
“I’m sorry to have interrupted your Christmas Eve,” he finally said.
Avalyn tilted her head, folding her arms across her chest so she didn’t reach for him. “It was nice of you to stop by.”