my chair, transfixed.
Last night had been one of the best of my life. I’d slept with plenty of women, but none had engaged with me in the same way Ava had. She’d come alive when I got her clothes off, not expecting me to do all the work, but at the same time, letting me take charge of her pleasure.
As soon as we’d both come. It had dawned on me that I’d just brought her into my bed.
There was no fucking way I could let her stay. Or if she stayed, I couldn’t sleep there.
The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her feelings. And selfishly, I didn’t want to lose my brand new maid just few days after I’d found her.
But I couldn’t fall asleep with her. It would be too easy for me to hurt her. And there was no way I could explain my nightmares to her. If I didn’t have to work the next day, I could stay up all night. But I had the morning shift, and I wasn’t going to slack on my job as sheriff.
Thankfully, she’d taken the hint, and didn’t seem to have any resentment toward me getting up out of bed and getting dressed.
She even seemed a little relieved. Maybe she had her own reasons for not wanting to sleep in the same bed with me.
Now she placed a plate in front of me, filled with mouth-watering lasagna. The scent of Italian food filled the air.
With Ava around, my evenings were a far cry from what they’d been. For the first few months that I was here, I’d kept to myself. That had been what I wanted. But after I was elected sheriff, that was impossible. I was with people all day, interacting with them, talking to them, encouraging them.
So when I’d gotten home, I just sat in silence.
Now with Ava around, that wasn’t possible. But I did enjoy her company at night.
The next day, while I was at the office, I got an irritated visit from my sister.
Abigail plopped herself in the seat across from my desk. “Why are you keeping Ava locked away like Cinderella?”
“I’m not keeping her locked away. She has a car. She has time off. She can go anywhere she wants.”
“You idiot. She feels grateful to you, so she’s staying at your house and cooking for you at night.”
“I didn’t ask her to do that. In fact, I told her not too,” I said.
“Are you stupid?”
No matter what Abigail said to me, in my mind, she was always my baby sister. The one my parents had wanted so badly. When she was born, we’d all cherished her. She’d looked up to me, and followed me around. She had been so sweet too. I’d never be able to shake the image of her in pigtails running after me. I never could get very angry with her. “I’m sure you’ll explain to me why you showed up to the office to insult me.”
“Because I think there’s more to her story. She feels beholden to you for some odd reason.”
“Because I gave her a job?” I asked. I didn't want Ava to feel beholden to me. I really hoped she did not. Mainly because I wanted to take her to bed again soon, and I wanted us to be on equal footing when that happened.
Abigail crossed her arms. “Because she’s here for a reason. Gorgeous young women don’t just show up in Pine Hills and stay.”
I tried to keep my face blank when my sister mentioned that Ava was gorgeous. It was futile for me to argue that she wasn't. Objectively, anyone would think so. And my sister had a point about young women not staying in Pine Hills if they didn't have a good reason to be here.
My sister pointed at me. “Yes, she’s gorgeous. Don’t pretend like you haven’t noticed.”
Oh, I had noticed all right. But I was not going to discuss my sex life with my little sister. “Yes. She’s pretty.”
Abigail scowled. “She’s more than pretty, and you know it. But anyway, I think she ran away from something.”
“Like what?” My sister was intuitive. She was always observing the people that came into the library and drawing conclusions about them. Often, she was right. I was curious about her theories on where Ava came from.
“Maybe an abusive ex.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She’s always looking around. She jumps when she’s startled.”
Come to think of it, my sister was right. I’d noticed Ava go to the front