Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(40)
Ava tilted her head to one side. “Man, I wish I had a neighbor like you. Mine are more likely to hold me at gunpoint than bring me food.”
Suzanna’s brown eyes went wide in shock. “Oh, okay then. Well then, I hope you both enjoy it.”
Dominic started closing the door with his foot.
“I’ll come back tomorrow for the pot.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll drop it back onto your doorstep as soon as we’re done. I don’t want to cause you any inconvenience,” Dominic insisted.
“Okay—” Suzanna’s reply was cut off by the heavy door slamming shut.
Ava stared at him knowingly in the damp cold of the quiet hallway. “That was mighty neighborly indeed.” Her expression was an invitation to share.
He grunted. “Hold you at gunpoint? You live in Fredericksburg.”
She laughed. “A little color doesn’t hurt from a colleague.”
He ignored her smug expression and headed into the kitchen, putting the pot in the oven and leaving it on warm. Suzanna did make great stew.
“Funny how she knew about the state of your fridge.” Ava’s eyebrows did the rest of the talking.
He rubbed his face and gave up. “She stayed over after a party at another neighbor’s house last Christmas.” He had little recollection of what happened between them except for the fact they’d both woken up naked in his bed. He’d been mortified. “I should never have…” He pursed his lips. “Anyway. She, hmm, wanted more.”
“You didn’t. I get it. Trust me, I get it.” She smoothed her hands down the front of her jeans, and he felt like an asshole.
“She deserves a lot more than I have to offer. She has a kid, although I’ve never met him. Lives with his dad apparently.” He cleared his throat feeling sheepish. The guilt he’d felt for the last eight months swirled inside him, amorphous and unpleasant.
Ava breathed out heavily. “Did you ever think that if maybe you talked to her like an adult, she might stop trying so hard?”
Why was he immediately the bad guy? “I did talk to her. I sat her down the morning after we had sex. I sat her down again a week later after she came to my door hoping for a repeat.” And again, a month later. Talking hadn’t worked, and every time he saw the woman, he felt more and more of a reprobate.
Ava’s mouth thinned in disapproval.
“It didn’t make me feel good, Ava. I felt like a jerk, but I’d have been more of a jerk not to have that conversation. I don’t ghost people, I’m upfront and honest.”
She looked at him dubiously.
“And I like sex, okay? Is that a crime between consenting adults?” Christ, why was he even talking about this?
“Of course not.” Her voice squeaked. Her cheeks flamed beet-red. The idea he could make Ava Kanas blush did something to his insides. He didn’t like that either.
She hadn’t seemed bashful yesterday when they’d been discussing blow jobs. But they’d gotten personal rather than talking about work. Ironic, as he was not the sort of person to over share. Something about Ava Kanas made him do things he didn’t normally do. He wanted to know her. Wanted to know what made her tick.
Not physically. Nothing physical could happen between them. He was too old for her and did not date other agents, especially junior agents. He wasn’t about to take advantage of someone younger or more vulnerable. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I thought we were working this case?”
She chewed her lip, which didn’t help his resolve to keep things strictly professional.
“How can we if we don’t have access to the case files?” she asked.
The doorbell rang again.
“We have something else. Something better.”
“More beef stew?” she asked dryly, trailing behind him to the front door.
He turned so abruptly she bumped into him. Electricity shot through him. It had nothing to do with the pain from his injuries.
He steadied her with his good hand. “There’s no line up of ex-lovers. I don’t usually get involved with women who don’t realize upfront what I’m interested in, and I’m only ever interested in short-term.”
Their gazes locked, and he could feel his heart beating just a fraction too hard. He wasn’t proud of his commitment issues, but his mother’s death, combined with a rotating door of temporary step-mothers had left him leery of even the pretense of emotional attachment. Why get invested when chances were it wouldn’t work out anyway?
He reached out and couldn’t stop himself from hooking a lock of hair that had escaped out of her tight bun behind her ear. “I’m sorry I used you to try to drive Suzanna away, even if it was only implied. I won’t do that again.”
She trembled in his hold.
Was she cold or did she feel this inconvenient attraction too? He hoped to hell it was all one-sided, because that would make it much easier to keep his hands to himself.
Her hazel eyes were huge and full of shadows. She swallowed noisily. “Sorry. I was projecting. I’ve been on the receiving end of enough brushoffs to feel sorry for Suzanna. It sucks.”
“I’ve been there too, Ava. Most people have.” His gaze flicked to the blemish on her brow and the fresh graze on her cheek. “Is that how you got the scar?”