“That’s incredible. How early did you graduate high school?”
“At sixteen.”
“You graduated at sixteen years old!?”
I chuckled at her shock. “I did, yes. I graduated law school just after I turned twenty-two. Summer school was a powerful force with that feat.”
“Did you even let yourself eat? Or breathe?” she asked.
I grinned as she leaned back in her chair.
“Some semesters. But not all the time. Sometimes I just starved or turned blue before I passed out.”
“You’re incredible, Logan.”
The awe in her voice seized my heart and stopped it in my chest.
“I knew the more time I spent in school, the less time I’d spend taking care of my mother. So, I did it as quickly as possible. Now that I have her situated in a place of her own and I know she’s safe and provided for, I’m branching out a bit. I’m socializing, giving myself some time to explore my own life,” I said.
“You deserve it, wholeheartedly,” Ava said.
“No one deserves anything. But I worked hard, and I’m ready to bask in that hard work for a little while.”
“Then by all means, bask away.”
I didn’t know if it was the wine, the full stomach, or the lilting trance of her voice. But before I knew it, I was on my feet and moving toward Ava. I set my wine glass down and allowed the food to grow cold on the table. I hovered over her, watching as her eyes followed me. I plucked her wine glass from her hand and settled it beside her plate, then placed one hand on the table and the other behind her chair.
“Logan?” she asked. Her voice was breathless, light, and filled with a want that ignited a fire in my gut. I was looking into the eyes of a wonderful woman, a powerful woman, an independent woman. And I wanted every facet of her.
“You’re a remarkable woman, Ava.”
I slowly bent down until the pulse of her breath was against my lips.
“I’m just me,” she said.
“They’re one in the same, you know. You say you’re just you, but you are pretty remarkable. So, in effect, you’re right.”
“Something tells me you’re a hell of a lawyer in a courtroom.”
“And something tells me someone, somewhere, convinced you that you aren’t.”
Her face fell, and it hurt my heart. But it was something I saw in her eyes from time to time, a self-consciousness that didn’t belong with her strength. Her gaze darted away from mine, and I waited for her to come back around. I wasn’t going to force it or guide it or do anything to make her think she had to play along. I wanted her to want this, to want us.
I wanted her to want me.
“I don’t really want to talk about that tonight,” she whispered.
“And we don’t have to. I wasn’t asking you to. But somewhere along the line, someone got into your head and convinced you that you’re less than what you really are. I see it in your eyes sometimes. You’re humble, but sometimes your humbleness borders on self-degradation. And I don’t like that.”
Her eyes fluttered back up to mine, and she looked at me from beneath those thick black eyelashes of hers.
“What I want you to know is that I see your worth, your value, your strength and your beauty. Ava, you’re an incredible woman, and I’m lucky to have met you.”
Her eyes fell to my lips before hers parted ever so slightly. I grinned at the sight. I nuzzled the tip of my nose against hers, feeling the way she tilted her body closer to me. She draped her arm over mine as I pressed my palm into the back of her chair. Our eyes connected. Our lips were mere millimeters apart. I could taste her, smell the wine still dancing on her breath.
“Ava,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Can I kiss you?”
“I already told you the answer.”
I closed the distance between us, unable to hold myself back any longer. My want for her was stronger than my will to obey the rules. As a lawyer, I bent rules all the time. They bent to my will and I didn’t let up until I had won them over. Ava was no different. Rules kept us separated, but I’d bend them any way I needed to if it meant getting to her.
If it meant bending her any way I wished in bed.
She moaned against my lips as she cupped my cheeks. I slid my tongue along the slit of her mouth, begging for entrance into her warmth. My cock throbbed. My hands curled around the edges of the table and the chair. She ran her fingers through my hair as her lips parted for me, granting me a taste of her sweetness. I groaned into her mouth. I couldn’t help it. The electricity that surged through my veins set me on fire for her. I wrapped my arms around her waist. I pulled her up from the chair and gripped her in my arms as her head tilted to the side, desperate to get closer to me.