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I know God has to be a woman because no man has a sense of humor this good.
“Don’t fall in love with me, big guy, okay?” I ask, reaching up and patting his cheek. His jaw goes tight. “I promise that won’t be a problem.” “Is that a challenge?” For the first time, he smiles back. From here, I see one dent in his cheek. A dimple. “Do your worst, Princess.”
“If there’s one thing I love, it’s a challenge. Literally won an entire pageant just to see if I could. But you? You might become my favorite challenge yet.” I almost don’t hear him mumble under his breath as I walk out “And you might just be mine.”
"You're going to be a pain in my ass this summer, aren't you?" "You say pain in the ass, I say fun."
"We are going to be great friends, Jaime Wilde."
The woman is a puzzle. And I am a giant asshole.
my god,” I say with a realization, leaning against the counter, arms crossed over my chest. “What?” His face goes slack with panic, then he looks around the living area, suddenly on guard. “It’s just…you really like me, don’t you?”
Sighing, I once again guide Ava to the parking lot. “Hey, what the hell? I wanted to say goodbye to everyone!” she pouts, holding her big bag close to her body. “Everyone thinks you’re fucking missing because you couldn't follow one fucking instruction.” “Oops,” she says through a cringe of a smile. “My bad.” It’s clear she doesn’t think this is a big deal, that she often gets out of trouble with a cute smile and a faux apology.
I take a deep breath. “You can't just keep a stray cat because she fits your aesthetic.” "Why not?"
“And because if they knew you, they wouldn’t be trying to change you, Ava. You’re perfect the way you are.”
“I have one job, Ava. It’s to keep you safe. Part of that is looking into you.”
“What the fuck are you doing!?” I shout, birds flying off as I stand tall, pulling her body to mine, my arm still on her waist. She gives me a small cringe before answering. “Having fun?” “Can you have fun without giving me a fucking heart attack?” “I mean, I guess I could, but it sounds substantially less fun.”
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My mind moves to when his hands were on my shoulders, the way he looked at me, the way he calmed me down, the way he called me Princess, the way he kissed the top of my head before going to check my room out.
“Your room was broken into and destroyed, this after you’ve had multiple threats and messages sent to you on multiple platforms. If it were up to me, this would be the bare minimum of what we do.” His jaw goes tight, and I try to parse out what he means. Then I decide I don’t really want to know what drastic steps his crazy ass would take.
“No, you doofus. Romance. The one-bed trope is a classic in romance books.”
“Because have you met men these days? I barely trust them to take me to dinner, much less choke me while they fuck me.”
“My job is to protect you, Ava. Not flirt with you.” Funny that he said flirt with me rather than me flirting with him, which is intriguing. Has this been his brand of flirting? If so, he is really bad at it. Something about that makes me smile, knowing that Jaime Wilde is actually bad at something.
I say oh, because, when I open the phone, there’s a Jaime0914 username with no followers and…one account he’s following. Me. The man follows me. “Ava—” “When did you start this account?” I ask, but when he doesn’t answer, I look up at him, seeing a deep red flush and a tight jaw. I think I know why when I navigate to his liked posts, trying to see what he’s liked recently. My content. The man only likes my content. “You got social media,” I say, an accusation of sorts. He sighs, then nods. “Yeah,” he admits reluctantly. “Because of me,” I say. Again, he lets out a deep sigh. “I didn’t get it
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long beat passes, during which I assume he won’t say anything, so I pick my book back up and start to read. But a few long minutes later, under his breath, I hear him. “You know, Peach, your mom might be cute, but she’s a real pain in the ass.” And honestly? I’ll call that one a win. * * * “So those books…they’re all romance?” he asks an hour or so later once I close my book for a short break, stretching my neck and pulling Peach from him into my lap for some snuggles. “Yup.” “What’s your favorite kind?” “What?” “There are different kinds, right? Like funny ones, sad ones…” I put a hand to my
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I love grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, opposites attract.” I pause, then smile. “We fit a lot of my favorite tropes,”
“You know, she’s small and short and dainty. He’s a big, tall, muscled man. It’s hot, but I always wonder about the logistics. Just look at you and me. You’re a giant. We’d never be able to do doggy, you know?”
“I can’t believe you actually just told a joke. And that it was kind of funny.”
“You know, for a self-centered princess, you’re pretty damn smart.”
"You know, Jaime, I think that was almost a compliment,"
"You're on much higher alert in public, for one," she says, which is valid. "And you definitely aren't letting kittens sit on your lap and scratching behind their ears or buying pageant queens a dozen types of ice cream because you feel bad out in the world."
"They'd love the real version of you too, Ava,"
"I'm the furthest thing from hating you, Princess, for better or worse. I think it's pretty clear."
"No, sweetheart. If you were mine, I'd take you everywhere. Anywhere. Show you off any chance I got. A woman like you, you don't tell her what to do, what to wear. You let her do it, then prepare to watch her ass as she moves, stay alert while she lives her life, ensuring no harm comes to her. You make it so she never has to realize there's a world outside of her bubble that isn't sunshine and rainbows."
"I could be,"
I thought I was in my head. I thought she was just gorgeous, and we were around each other too much, because there is no way this all-consuming attraction I feel for Ava is anything more than convenience or in my head. Then she kissed me, and that theory was thrown out the window. Now, I need more. I am so fucked.
"This is how it works, Ava. I kiss you. Every time, I kiss you, and I do it in a way that you can never forget what it's like to be kissed by a man wholly and completely obsessed with you."
Each time she asks me, bugging me about liking her, I have to force myself not to say, Yes, I like you, Ava. I more than like you—I'm fucking obsessed with you, and I can't seem to do a single thing without you on my mind. Ava Bordeaux is the first thing I think about the moment I wake up and the last thing I think about as I'm falling asleep, and it has nothing to do with my need to protect her. Not even a little.
"Teasing me and telling me I'm into you when all I want to do is do my fucking job and try to forget how much I want you. You know how much I want you, though, Ava, don't you? You've known since that first day. I'm shit at hiding it."
"Your safety is worth that and more."
"I don't like this," Jaime says, finally. "Why, because you're so in love with me, you can't bear not being by my side every second of every day?" He rolls his eyes. "No, because I know you, and even when you're not trying, which you usually are, Ava, you find trouble at every turn."
