“Hi.” Her eyes are widening by the second. Bless her. She’s not trying to hide her awe at all. I wish your fucking friend was as receptive.

Speaking of which . . .

“Ava?”

I get nothing but a piece of her lunch waved at me. Good god, she’s a gem. An increasingly infuriating gem. She doesn’t just turn me on, she pushes buttons I never knew I had. She won’t look at me? Fine. I’ll soon fix that.

I pull the knees of my trousers up and lower beside her, casting my eyes across the table to her friend when she appears to start choking. It’s all I can do not to laugh when I see her grab a napkin and wipe her mouth. I return my attention to Ava. Or her profile. “That’s better.” I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a woman so fucking tenacious in my life. It’s infuriating. I blow out air and offer my hand to her friend. “I’m Jesse Ward, pleased to meet you.”

“Jesse?” Her friend nearly chokes on her food again, and I cock my head. “Oh! Jesse.”

Yes, Jesse. I watch, a little confused, as the redhead glares at a still mute Ava, who is now stabbing at her lunch. The penny drops, and I smile like a loon on the inside. She’s mentioned me. She’s talked about me. Well, doesn’t that just inject me with even more fortitude.

“I’m Kate. Ava mentioned you have a posh hotel.”

Hotel. Not quite. But I don’t focus on that little issue. “Oh, she mentioned me?” I turn my smile onto Ava. And what did the lovely Miss O’Shea have to say about her meeting with me? I don’t know. But I want to. “I wonder what else she’s mentioned,” I say thoughtfully.

“Oh, this and that.”

“This and that,” I mimic quietly.

“Yes, this and that.”

I nearly fall to my arse when Ava suddenly decides to give me her eyes, even if she looks slightly pissed off.

I inhale.

“It was nice to see you. Goodbye.” Her gaze falls to my lips. Her façade is laughable, and in an effort to prove it to everyone at the table, I lick my lips slowly, watching intently as her stare follows the trail of my tongue. She’s imagining what I could do with this tongue, and I am desperate to demonstrate. I nearly drop to my arse again when she reciprocates. Whether it’s intentional or not doesn’t matter. It was natural.