Page 17 of Stay With Me

“Holy shit. What did you do?”

“I wasn’t about to send her away and into another man’s bed,” I grumble. “So, I invited her in.”

His grin grows wider. “And what? You sat and watched a movie because she’s your daughter’s best friend and eighteen years younger than you?” I’m about to slap that fucking smug look off his face.

“You know I didn’t.” I narrow my eyes.

“So, what did you do then?”

“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” I’m regretting coming to this lunch.

“Yup,” he nods.

“I made a deal with her. She spends every night I’m here with me in my bed, and I’ll give her enough money to cover the reason she got that job in the first place. Then she needs to quit that job.”

“And by spending the night, you mean...”

“I fucked her, and it was the best sex of my life.”

“Fucking hell, man,” he laughs. “I’m happy for you.”

“Don’t be. Because now I’m confused as hell. One taste of her and I was hooked, man. I know I said it was only for the week I was here, but I want to keep her. I want to make her mine. To take care of her, love her, and everything that comes with that. And I know it’s crazy because she’s so much younger than me, my daughter’s best friend, and we hardly know each other outside of that, but I’m telling you, Connor, there’s something about this woman that tells me she’s the one.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” I put my head in my hands. “What can I do? If I tell her, I risk sounding like a creepy old man.”

“I don’t think she cares too much about that, seeing how she slept with you.” He chuckles.

I shoot him a glare. “It’s not just that, Ava and Tasha are best friends; they live together. I don’t want to come between them and risk ruining their relationship.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, man. The best advice I can give you is to enjoy your week with her and take it from there. Maybe you just need to get her out of your system.” He’s wrong. I know damn well that once I leave on Sunday, I won’t be able to just pretend she wasn’t mine, even if it was just for this week.

But he does have a point. “You’re right. One day at a time. Enjoy the time I have.”

“There you go! I got to say, I’m happy for you, man. You were driving me nuts with your obsession.”

“Fuck off,” I chuckle.

“Connor, I had to block her on everything; she was just too tempting. Connor, is it fucked up that I can’t fuck another woman if she doesn’t look like Ava?” he mocks.

“Alright, that’s enough. Shut up, or I’ll leave.”

“Alright, alright, I’m done.” He chuckles. “Now, tell me about work.”

We order food and move away from the topic of Ava.

I do my best to keep her off my mind, but it’s nearly impossible.

Nine more hours until she’s in my arms again. It can’t come soon enough.

Chapter 7

Ava

“Ava.”

I jolt out of my daydream and curse when I look down to see that I’ve poured too much coffee. “Shit, sorry.” Quickly, I grab some paper towels from the dispenser and wipe up the spilled coffee.