I realized what a good time I’d had on our non-date. Far better than any real date I’d ever been on.
Ava threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you so much for tonight. I had a great time.” Then she disappeared up the stairs and closed the door to her room.
So we obviously weren’t having sex tonight. That was okay. Maybe she wanted to go back to just being my maid. Or maybe she wanted to cool off a little after we’d spent so much time together.
I took Sadie and went to sit in my office to think.
My sister was right. There was something off. Not with Ava exactly, but with her situation. I could press her for more information, but I didn’t.
I could admit it to myself. I was enthralled by her. The sheaf of papers she’d filled out still sat on my desk. Now they were buried under the electricity bill. I should do a background check; I knew that. But it would have to wait. I was going to take my sister’s advice and try and get Ava out of the house more often.
Pine Hills was a nice town, full of nice people. She might as well enjoy the benefits. I was certainly going to enjoy having her here with me for as long as possible.
Chapter Eleven
Ava
So Tyler had taken me out to dinner.
What the hell did that mean?
We’d slept together. He’d been amazing in bed. And then a few days later, he’d awkwardly told me not to cook for the evening, and then he took me to meet his coworkers, and then to eat at a steakhouse. I’d had a great time, I was pretty sure he had too.
I couldn't tell if he wanted to ask me out, or it was an obligation he’d planned to fulfill, and we’d never speak of it again.
I certainly didn’t consider him under any obligation to entertain me just because we’d slept together.
I’d thought I’d caught him scowling at Barrett, his deputy at the sheriff’s department, but I couldn't be sure. I’d been pretty sure that Barrett had been checking me out, but he’d abruptly stopped. Maybe he’d thought Tyler and I were on a date.
Most people would think that a guy’s best friend would know if he was on a date, but it seemed like Tyler kept his business to himself. His own sister and his best friend probably were in the dark most of the time about what Tyler was thinking.
He claimed his sister told him to get me out of the house more, and I didn’t doubt that. Abigail was curious about me, and about my role in her big brother’s life. I had the impression that she could tell something had happened between us, but she was considerate enough not to ask outright if we’d slept together.
After our non-date at the steakhouse, I was pretty sure Tyler was turned on when we got home. I was too. My core ached, ready to be filled by his cock again. But I needed to think first. I was getting so invested in him, and this community.
And he was still paying me to be his maid. I had to remember that was my priority while I lived in his house. He’d saved my ass, and there was no way I was going to take advantage of that.
I was surprised at how time consuming taking care of this house was. It took hours each day, and Tyler didn’t even have children. I couldn’t fathom what kind of time a few tiny humans would add to the workload. No wonder my parents had employed so many different people. They’d had drivers, chefs, landscapers, housekeepers, a laundry service and a nanny, when we were younger.
Having live-in staff had been the norm in my world. But now that I was living in Pine Hills, it was clear that employing people for personal tasks was a rarity in this small town. Most people mowed their own yard, cooked their own food, and washed their own clothes. They only hired childcare during the hours they were working, and when a parent was off work, they took care of their kids themselves. Most people didn’t even have a housekeeper.
It was a brand new world to me, and I found that I liked it quite a bit. Doing Tyler’s laundry was no on my to-do list, but I needed to wash my own clothes, and I wanted to be able to wash his dish towels too, as