Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5), Natalie Ann [world of reading TXT] 📗

These things didn’t get resolved fast or easily.

She had a job.

She had a roof over her head.

She had money in the bank and her bills were paid.

There wasn’t much more she could ask for and she wouldn’t have had any of it without her family’s help.

Well, there was more she could ask for. She could ask for a night with Seth.

She liked what they had going. She liked that they could be open to a point in front of Adele.

But what she wanted more of, she believed was on the horizon.

That is if her on call rotation played nice with her next weekend.

16

No Hiding

The minute Ava finished up with her last patient, she was walking out the door and heading home to change for her date with Seth.

He picked Adele up from school when his mother normally did, but they spent a little time together and then he was dropping her off at his mother’s for the night and they were meeting for dinner. She wasn’t sure what would happen after dinner, but she was packing a change of clothes and leaving it in her car just in case.

They were eating at her cousin Duke’s place. She wasn’t sure if Seth knew about her connection to Duke when he texted her the reservations earlier or not. She hadn’t had time to tell him either as she was in with patients. It wasn’t like their relationship was a secret with family knowing, but her extended family might very well find out if Duke came out of the kitchen and saw her.

Maybe she’d get lucky tonight and he’d stay in the back.

After she decided on what to wear—a pair of sexy jeans and heels again with a fitted summer sweater—she took a quick shower, then packed an overnight bag for the car after making sure she had a few condoms in her purse.

Yes, she took the Depo shot like she’d given her cousin Emily months ago. She’d started it herself a month ago. It was a backup plan because, though she delivered babies, they weren’t in her future right now and she didn’t think they were for Seth either.

She looked at the clock and saw it was time to leave since she was meeting him at Duke’s and it was about twenty-five minutes away. It would make no sense for him to come get her and she was on call so she needed her vehicle anyway.

When she pulled into the parking lot, she saw Seth getting out and took a minute to admire him from a distance.

He was much taller than her and she liked that. She was used to being around bigger men and felt comfortable with them. She felt safe, not that she ever felt unsafe, but considering what happened with her identity, maybe she should feel a little nervous.

This wasn’t a physically violent crime, but it felt personal even if it seemed somewhat random.

Though something made her wonder if it was. Seeing the purchases in and around Massachusetts didn’t make sense to her, but then again, maybe since the person had all her information, it wouldn’t look odd to the credit card company if the purchases were local. The bills had a PO box address, but were emailed to a bogus address set up under her name too.

Whoever this person was, they were smart, there was no doubt. But her team was being smarter and nothing else had happened that she was aware of since this was all discovered months ago.

Seth turned and saw her watching him, his brown hair blowing around slightly. It wasn’t that long, but wasn’t so short that it wouldn’t move in a slight breeze.

He was dressed in jeans and a nice short sleeve cotton shirt with dressier sneakers on his feet. She could appreciate him in a suit and tie, but dressed like this got her juices pumping much more.

On Sunday, they were both in shorts and she got her first look at more of his body and realized he was in darn good shape. She’d noticed muscles in his thighs when he squatted down, and his biceps flexing a little when his arm was bent holding his housewarming gift too.

If the Amore Island lore and legend were aligned tonight, she might get to see more of what was under his clothes.

“Look at you,” he said, moving toward her as she made her way forward. “I see you went for those sexy shoes again.”

“You seemed to appreciate them more than my UGG boots and sneakers the other time I wore them.”

“Oh, I did,” he said, leaning down to give her a kiss. Yeah, that was what she was talking about. No hiding anything and he was fast to do it.

“So,” she started with, “before we go in, I should mention that Duke Raymond is a distant cousin.”

He laughed. “I knew that. Or figured it out. Gossip flows in the bank as if it were a winery ready to open. I also assumed you’d been here before and I wouldn’t have to worry about a bad meal to ruin the date.”

Which was considerate on his part. “No bad food here. And I’m hoping nothing could ruin this date.”

He winked at her. “Fingers crossed I don’t mess up too much.”

“I don’t think you will or have it in you. I’m more worried about being called in.”

“And if you are, you are. It’s your job and we know that. I’ve got the whole night free and could wait for you if that was the case.”

“Which is super nice of you, so thank you.”

“I’m not sure how many times we will get a night without Adele, so I’d like to take advantage of it.”

She wasn’t sure if she should read between the lines, but decided if he was trying to get a feel for her, she was going to let him know where she stood. “I want you to take advantage of it,” she said, running her hand down his arm.

The smile that filled his