then said, “We’ve still got our deal, right? No judgments.”
Rover thumped his damned tail just as Dern heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs leading to his apartment. The dog gave off a soft, and much-too-late warning bark.
He glanced at the clock. It was after ten-thirty. Odd time for a visit. Who knew what was coming? Quickly, he pocketed his phone. When he opened the door, Ava Garrison stood on the landing at the top of the stairs.
His gut tightened as she turned those incredible gray eyes up at him. Shit, what was she doing here?
“I saw that your light was still on, that you were still up and . . .” She shrugged. “I’d like to talk to you.” Then, as if realizing she could be interrupting something, added, “If you’re not busy.”
“Come on in.” He pushed the door open a little wider so she could enter and see that he was entirely alone, only the muted TV and the shepherd for company. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Stepping inside, she glanced at the small plank table in the kitchen and the open bottle of whiskey. Without a second’s hesitation, she nodded. “You know what? I could use one.”
CHAPTER 41
“. . . and so that’s what happened last night,” Ava admitted, staring into her small glass of whiskey where a couple of ice cubes were slowly melting. She’d decided she had to tell Dern her side of the story because she was certain he’d heard about her fight with Jewel-Anne the night before in bits and pieces from members of the staff, and she wanted him to hear her version. “I got angry and pushed it too far, but I couldn’t take the lies and the gaslighting another minute.”
“Don’t blame you.” Dern was straddling his chair, arms resting over the back, his drink for the most part untouched. Without interrupting, he’d listened to her tale as she’d explained about Jewel-Anne’s complicity in terrorizing Ava, the recording that was wired to play a little boy’s frightened screams, and the fact that Jewel-Anne claimed to be Noah’s birth mother.
“That was something I didn’t remember at all. There’s just a big blank hole there. I was pregnant, though not as far along as Jewel-Anne was . . . and with Kelvin’s death and Jewel-Anne’s paralysis . . .”
“But she can walk. She’s not paralyzed.”
“She can stand, and she’s working with a PT. On the camera, I saw her moving but not walking exactly. More like hauling herself along with her upper body.” Ava felt a twinge of guilt at that, at the fact that she’d let her pent-up rage control her actions. “I know she’s been through a lot, but man . . .”
Dern reached across the table and took her hand. “So have you,” he said, his strong fingers tightening, as if to reinforce his words. “She tried to ruin your life by manipulating you, making you think you were losing your mind, teasing you with terrified recordings of a child you thought was your son.”
Her heart warmed at his words. Could she trust him? Who knew? But at least for the moment, he seemed sincere and that alone brought a lump to her throat, made her feel closer to a man she barely knew. “Thanks,” she said.
Again his strong fingers tightened, and for just the tiniest of seconds, his thumb ran over the inside of hers.
She glanced up, caught him staring at her, and in that instant she once again imagined making love to him. She pulled her hand away quickly and cleared her throat. “Anyway, I thought I’d better give you my version, though after our last fight—”
“We didn’t just fight.” His gaze found hers again, and she remembered all too vividly what it had felt like to kiss him and feel his rock-hard body against her own.
“We didn’t.” Feeling suddenly awkward, she picked up her glass and swirled the contents, sending the ice cubes swaying in the amber liquid. “But I think I accused you of being part of a conspiracy or something.”
He smiled slightly, a crooked grin buried deep in his beard shadow. “Or something.”
“So . . . I’ve decided it’s not such a bad thing to have someone looking out for me.”
The grin widened. “Let me guess: You could have used someone on your side last night. The bodyguard you thought was a pain in the backside.”
She finally smiled back and hated the warmth she felt with him, here, in the small apartment, the dog