She puts the tray on the counter, away from the other cupcakes she’s already baked.
“What?” she asks, obviously frustrated.
“Never mind. Do you want me to help you make more?” I offer.
She tosses the potholder onto the counter, rounds the island and sits down on a stool. “No. I’m not sure why I even do a whole recipe. I mean no one eats them.” She almost seems down. I wonder why. Usually Ava is the happiest roomie of the bunch.
“I’ll eat them,” I walk over to take one. “What kind are they?”
“Don’t eat the ones from the floor. And you have to wait until I frost them.” She stands from the stool and moves back behind the counter. “They’re cookies and cream.”
I spot the pieces of Oreos in the white cake batter. “Yum,” I say, unwrapping the cupcake I picked up.
Ava takes it from my hands and throws it in the trash.
“Um?”
“I told you, no to the ones that fell.”
“It was less than ten seconds.”
“That is the stupidest rule ever.” She shakes her head. “I’ll frost these and then you can have a cupcake.”
I shrug, knowing my hips don’t necessarily need another sweet. If Ava keeps spending all her free time in the kitchen, I’ll be heading to New York three sizes bigger.
“What did you need?” she asks and I tilt my head not remembering what we were talking about.
“Oh, I need to know where someone lives, but I don’t want to hear anything about it.” I pin her with a warning glare.
She laughs, moving to her teal Kitchen Aid mixer. “Okay.”
Her back is turned to me and the mixer is going, so I step closer. “I need Marcus Kent’s address.”
The spatula keeps scraping the sides as the mixer goes through her frosting and she doesn’t answer me.
“Ava?” I question and she turns my way.
“Marcus Kent,” I say his name again.
A slow smirk slinks across her lips. “I’m sorry who?” She acts like she can’t hear me over the mixer, which is bullshit.
“Marcus Kent,” I say a little louder.
Her smirk turns into a full smile. “Is this the dad who was giving you grief?” she asks.
I blow out a breath. She’s never going to let this go.
“Maybe.”
“And now you want to go to his house?” She turns down the speed of the mixer and walks over to a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen.
“That bracelet we found is his daughter’s.”
She nods nice and slow, pulling out a plastic bag in the shape of a triangle.
“And that’s the only reason? I mean, you are going there at close to nine o’clock at night.”
I say nothing, jut my hip out and wait for her to grant me her undivided attention.
She peers up from placing the frosting tip in the bag and cracks up laughing. Bent over, she hits the counter a few times, obviously finding herself funny.
She’s the only one in this room who does.
“Okay, okay. Man, you are no fun. I do know who he is. He was building a new house when I was here a few summers back. It’s on Greyfalls Hill. If you go through downtown, it’s like the fourth streetlight. He’s the only house on the Hill, so it should be easy to find.” She smiles overly sweetly as though she didn’t drill me. “Don’t go getting lost and find yourself in say…his bedroom accidentally.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m going to drop it off and I’ll be back for those cupcakes in fifteen minutes tops.”
“Well, he looks like a man that probably rocks some serious groin cleavage. Like I said before, anything can happen when there’s groin cleavage involved.”
“Groin cleavage?” I question.
She looks at me over her shoulder. “You know that V thing we were talking about before. Take it from me, groin cleavage can make you do some pretty stupid shit.” Her back is turned to me once again as she scoops the frosting into the bag.
“I’ve never heard it called that before.” I chuckle.
She shrugs. “Meh. Got it from some jerkoff who landed me in bed once. I just remembered it. What can I say? He used the power of his groin cleavage against me.” She gives a wry laugh.
I grab my keys and walk over to the screen door. “Nothing to worry about here. I’m impervious to the power of groin cleavage and sex packs.”
“Sex packs?” she turns and asks me.
“Yeah, you know like a six pack or an eight pack. They’ve been known to have the same effect as groin cleavage.” I wink and then head out the screen door.
“I’m going to use that lingo,” Ava calls out after me.
The night is warm and the few lightening bugs flitting around makes the feeling of summer that much more prevalent.
The town is empty at this time of the night. A few lingering couples walking in the marina, but all the families must have retired for the night.
As I’m stopped at the red light outside Breakers, one of the only places that make this town look like it entertains living people this time of night, I spot it. The truck. The gray pickup truck that belongs to Marcus. It looks freshly washed, and there isn’t any lumber coming off the back like there usually is. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t guess it belonged to a man that does physical labor every day.
My eyes are so transfixed on the truck, that I don’t notice a couple approaching it at first. My heart skips a beat when he comes into view under the street light he’s parked near. I can’t get a good look at the woman he’s with, but Marcus’ hands are stuffed in his pockets like they seem to be a lot. He’s wearing a pair of slacks and a button-down that doesn’t scream small town father of a five-year-old who likes to spend his nights watching CSI. I made that last part up. Not that I’ve given any thought to what Marcus might do with his evenings when he’s alone.
The slacks mold to his ass, his shirt fits snug around his broad shoulders, tapering into his taut waist, his hair is gelled and perfectly placed. His look screams city man, single, rich, and promises nights filled with satisfied screams and multiple orgasms.
A horn honks behind me and I snap to attention, glancing in my rearview mirror. It’s another sports car with classic rock blaring from it. I press the gas immediately, not slowing down until I’m through downtown.
This is a good thing, I tell myself. I can drop the bracelet off and get the hell out of here . He isn’t home, so maybe there’s a babysitter, or I can leave it by the door.
A minute or so passes after I turn onto Greyfalls Hill before a lighted house comes into view. It’s gorgeous, dark, and more contemporary than I was expecting. I park in front of the garage, and light pours from every window.
Grabbing the bracelet, I hop out of the car, knowing I have limited time before Marcus returns. If I’m lucky, he’s going to drive his date home. Oh, God. What if he planned to bring her home to…
My hand moves up and massages the knife-like feeling in my heart as I bound up the cement steps and press the doorbell. Lily comes into view from the side window. She’s barreling down the hall in her nightgown, her hair wet.
Another girl, a teenager follows behind, telling her not to open the door.