“I’mnotcalling you! Weirdo!”
I glanced over my shoulder, giving her a wave.
We’ll see about that, I thought, the rain coming down harder as I made my way down the winding streets of the market.
* * *
“What happened?”
I was back in the hotel, the speaker phone on as I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Presidential Suite. The view was amazing— it looked out over the northern half of the city, the Space Needle rising into the air in the distance. The Pike Place Market where I’d been only an hour or so before was just down below, still a bustling little area. I wondered if Ava was still there. Rain drizzled down, leaving rivulets of water trailing along the window.
“She was not receptive,” I said. “At first.”
“At first? What does that mean?”
The voice on the other end of the line belonged to Alaric, my boss, and not to mention, my closest friend.
“She was more resistant than I’d anticipated, didn’t care for me trying to speak to her during work.”
“Work. At that fish stand?”
“Crab cake food truck, to be precise.”
Alaric chuckled, a disbelieving tone to his laugh. “Can you believe it? A woman like her, coming from the background she does, working as… a crab cake maker? Never in a million years would I have guessed.”
“Her food has quite a reputation around town,” I said. “Not to mention her personality.”
“That’s all well and good. But the whole trip will be a waste if she doesn’t speak to you.”
“I’m confident that she will, within forty-eight hours, at the latest.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. And once I get her in front of me again, I’m sure that I’ll be able to talk her into getting on the plane with me and coming back to Edoria, where she belongs.”
“I don’t even want to think about it for fear of getting my hopes up. Suffice to say that I wouldn’t even know where tobeginrepaying you if you’re able to pull this off.” He sounded enthusiastic and hopeful despite having his guard up.
I chuckled. “Alaric, I assure you that you owe me nothing. You’ve given me more than enough already.”
“All the same, this task is no small thing. I’ll insist on rewarding you in some way if you’re successful.”
“We can cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted.”
We said our goodbyes, then hung up. The call over, I turned my attention back to the city. Alaric was right about the task in front of me being no small thing. It’d take some convincing to get Ava on that plane, not to mention some serious restraint in ignoring the effect her gorgeous face and irresistible body was having on me.
I was confident, however. A man like myself always got what I wanted.
Chapter 3
Ava
Mist stayed in the air at Pike’s Market all the way to closing time that night. The weather of the Pacific Northwest wasn’t for everyone, but I loved it. As Hailey and I closed up the food truck for the day, I was already dreaming about getting home to shower, change into some comfy clothes, and get a little reading done with some tea by the window as the rest of the rain came in.
“You going to tell me about that weird-ass dude?” Hailey hopped out of the back of the truck, shutting the doors and taking the keys out of her pocket to lock up.
“Huh?”
Hailey paused mid-turn of the key. “You know, tall, blonde, and handsome? The weird guy who barged to the front of the line?”