“Perfect!” She handed me the cardboard box full of ice cream sundaes.
I heard Sheriff Crowe’s warning in my head:leave the detective work to me.
But I wasn’t doing detective work. Not technically. It was just a town meeting.
And Ididlive in Blackwell Hollow.
For now.
28
NOAH
I spent the day outside,tending to the kitchen garden and cutting fresh flowers for the house, trying not to think about the fact that Avery was with Beck at the bakery. She’d been in the house for less than a week and already it felt as if my world had tilted on its axis.
Everything reminded me of her: the blush of a perfect rose, the shy voluptuousness of the pink peonies, the cheerful songs of the birds.
And of course the nude statues Evelyn had placed throughout the gardens. I felt like a horny teenager, art turned into pornography in my mind, because I was walking around with a perpetual hard-on, memories of Avery’s legs spread on the kitchen island, her head tipped back in pleasure while Beck fucked her with his fingers.
I’d been able to smell the orgasm on her when I’d leaned in to kiss her.
So yeah, I needed a shower for more reasons than one when I came in from the garden, and I beat one out thinking about burying myself in Avery’s pussy, with or without Beck.
At this point I was willing to share just to get a taste.
I felt better when I left my room, more in control — right up until I practically mowed Avery down on my way to the stairs.
“Sugar!” Avery said, breathless. “Sorry!”
I steadied her shoulders, grateful for any opportunity to touch her even though the softness of her arms, bare under her silky flowered tank top, made me horny all over again. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Um…” She looked away. “Going to meet a friend.”
“A friend?” The surge of jealousy that rose in my veins made me question my sanity. I hadn’t known Avery Hart long enough to be jealous, but I suddenly wanted to rip her new “friend” limb from limb.
“Uh… yep!” She avoided my eyes as she edged past me.
The forced cheer in her voice and the way she avoided my gaze bugged the shit out of me.
What the fuck was she up to?
I trailed her down the stairs and into the foyer. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to walk around town at night after what happened to Harold?”
I honestly didn’t give two shits what had happened to Harold — I’d always thought he was kind of a smarmy bastard — but it was as good an excuse as any to ask questions.
Plus, someonehadbeen on the property, something we hadn’t told Avery in an attempt to avoid freaking her out.
“I’m not going far,” she said, grabbing her bag off the coatrack by the door. “And I won’t be late. Have a great night!”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions but she shut the door before I could get them out. Following her wasn’t even a question, although I did wait a few seconds before opening the door.
“Where are you going?”
I turned toward the voice and felt strangely guilty when I saw Beck watching me from the hallway. “Um… nowhere. Out.”
Beck narrowed his eyes. “You never go out at night.”
“How would you know?” I couldn’t help being offended even though he was right.