I drop my gaze to my bare feet and circle back to the one question he didn’t answer as I chide myself for leaving my phone in my purse when I got home. “What are you doing here, Harry?”
“You lost something.” His hand dives into the front pocket of his pants. “I came to return it.”
I had no idea that my pride could fit in his pocket because I feel as though I lost that at dinner when I was sitting across from him, and he blatantly ignored me.
My hand darts out, palm side up. “Give it to me.”
“I will if you let me in,” he tries to bargain with me.
With a shake of my head, I start to close the door. “Whatever it is, I don’t need it.”
His foot moves to stop the door in its path. “Let me in, Ava. If you’re not busy, I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
I catch the way he gazes past my shoulder into my apartment.
“Two minutes,” I warn him. “You have two minutes, and then I’m heading to bed.”
I didn’t factor having to grab him a glass of water into the two minutes I granted him, but I couldn’t refuse when he requested it.
He’s flushed, and a light sheen of sweat is noticeable on his forehead.
“Did you walk here?” I ask as I hand him the water.
“Part way,” he says before he swallows it quickly, shoving the glass back at me. “I took the subway, then walked.”
I set the glass on the table next to the couch and take a seat as far away from him as possible. It’s not that I don’t want to be cozied up next to him, but all of my senses are in overdrive at the moment, and I’m worried I won’t keep my wits about me.
“What did I lose?” I play along with his excuse to gain entry into my home.
I suspect it was a ploy to get a foot in the door, so he can explain why he stopped whatever was happening between us the other night. Maybe he couldn’t find the words at Sean’s apartment, or perhaps he wanted to wait until we were alone.
For all I know, he’s here to warn me to stay away from Ryden.
He shifts his ass so he can reach a hand into one of the front pockets of his pants. He tugs it out in a fist and then opens it. “This.”
My gaze lands on his palm and the small silver charm sitting there. It’s a crown. My eyes dart to my bracelet. I twist it around, searching for the charm I have that is identical to the one in his hand.
Of course, it’s missing.
“That’s mine,” I point out the obvious. “Where did you find it?”
He moves to drop it on the coffee table. “In the hallway at Sean’s apartment. It must have broken off.”
That charm shouldn’t mean as much to me as it does, but it was a gift from my dad. He sent it to me in a small blue box with a note addressed to his ‘Piano Princess’. I received it on the last day of my first semester at the Royal Academy of Music. It had meant everything to me. I cried when I had it attached it to my bracelet at a jeweler in London.
I’ve always felt closer to him when I notice it on my bracelet.
“I’ll need to get it fixed,” I mutter.
“I can do that for you,” Harry offers. “I can drop it off at a jeweler in the morning and have it back to you by noon.”
It’s a lovely gesture, but I shake my head. “Decky got me a gift card for a jeweler in SoHo. I’ll go there and see if they can fix it and pick out a new charm too.”
He didn’t need to know all of that but judging by the grin on his face, he’s glad I told him.
I push to my feet. “Thanks for dropping it off, Harry.”
He doesn’t move a muscle. “Sit, Ava. We need to talk.”
I take a step toward the door. “We don’t. You went out of your way to return the charm, and I appreciate that, but it’s late, and I’m…”
“Trying to get rid of me,” he interrupts.
Honesty is always the route to take, so I nod. “I am, yes.”
He laughs. “I want to say something to you about the other night.”
I don’t want to hear him explain again why we can’t be more than friends if we’re even considered that. We shared a brief moment, but it passed, and it’s behind us now.
“There’s no need.” I edge closer to the door. “Let’s forget it ever happened.”
“I can’t, Ava,” he rasps. “I can’t stop thinking about that kiss; about you, and I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do with that.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Harrison
Well, fuck.
That was not supposed to come out of me. I had no intention of confessing that to Ava, but now that it’s out there, I need to own it.
I move to stand, and when I turn, I find her staring at me. She doesn’t say a word, but the shock on her face does the talking for her.
Unsure of what to say next, I follow up on what I just said with more clarification. “Kissing you was incredible, Ava.”
A smile darts across her soft lips before it disappears. “I liked it too.”
Judging by the way she pressed her body against mine and the sounds flowing out of her, she fucking loved that kiss as much as I did.
“It scared me,” I admit. “It felt too good, and given who you are, I didn’t handle things well.”
Her finger trails over her chin. “You completely ignored me at dinner tonight.”
I want to correct her and tell her that I didn’t speak to her, but in no way could I have ignored her presence. I barely ate any of the food on my plate because I couldn’t tear my gaze from her face.
“I was gathering my thoughts,” I explain. “And there were a hell of a lot of people there, so I admit that I was worried about saying anything that would give away what I’m feeling.”
She wastes no time in responding to that. “What are you feeling?”
Something I can’t describe. Maybe this is what pining for a woman feels like. It could be that I just want to fuck her raw to get her out of my system, but whatever it is, it’s eating me up inside.
“I like you,” I say in a low tone. “I liked kissing you, Ava.”
“And?” she presses. “There must be more.”
If she needs to hear it, I’ll lay it all out for her. I came over here to do that. I tried to convince myself it was to return the charm, but I found it before she left Sean’s apartment. I could have easily handed it to her there or passed it off to her brother, but I did neither.
I took Roxy to my home, tucked her in bed, waited for Jos to show up, and then I left to come here so I could speak to Ava alone.
When she didn’t answer my calls or texts, I had visions of another guy in her bed. That set my blood on fire, so I got off the subway and sprinted here to stop whatever the fuck was happening within these four walls.
It’s ludicrous and makes no sense, but I’m consumed with thoughts of her.
“There is more,” I say as I round the couch to be closer to her. “I want you, Ava.”
I see the shift in her expression almost immediately. It softens as her eyes widen. “You want to take me to bed?”