My Fair Billionaire(34)
Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

Yeah. That had to be why they’d ended up in bed together last night. So it made sense to conclude that today’s morning after wouldn’t be any different from their morning after sixteen years ago. Except that he and Ava probably wouldn’t yell at each other the way they had then, and he was reasonably certain he wouldn’t have to climb out the bedroom window to avoid being seen. He was likewise certain that Ava would agree.

A sound behind him made him spin around, and he saw her standing in the doorway looking like a femme fatale from a fabulous ’40s film. She was wrapped in a robe made of some flimsy, silky-looking fabric covered with big red flowers, and her hair spilled over her forehead and danced around her shoulders.

“You’re still here,” she said, sounding surprised.

“Where else would I be?”

She lifted one shoulder and let it drop, a gesture that made the neck of the robe open wider, revealing a deep V of creamy skin. It was with no small effort that Peyton drew his gaze back up to her face.

“I don’t know,” she said. “When I woke up and you weren’t there, I just thought…”

When she didn’t finish, he said, “You thought I climbed out your bedroom window and down the rainspout, and that you’d see me at school on Monday?”

He had meant to make her smile. Instead, her brows knitted downward. “Kind of.”

In other words, Ava was thinking last night was a repeat of the one sixteen years ago, too. That, once again, nothing had changed between the two of them. That this morning it was indeed back to business as usual. Otherwise, she wouldn’t look as somber as she did. Otherwise, the room would have been filled with warmth and relief instead of tension and anxiety. Otherwise, they would both be happy.

“Coffee?” he asked, to change the subject. Then he remembered he hadn’t fixed any yet. “I mean, I was going to make coffee, but I don’t know where it is.”

“In the cabinet to your right.”

He opened it and discovered not just coffee, but an assortment of other groceries, as well. He remembered from his previous visit how well stocked the bathroom was, too. Just how often did Ava use this place, anyway?

Neither of them said a word as he went about the motions of setting up the coffeemaker and switching it on. With each passing moment, the silence grew more awkward.

“So,” Peyton said, “what’s on the agenda for today? It’s Saturday. That should leave things wide open.”

For a moment, Ava didn’t reply. But she looked as if she were thinking very hard about something. “Actually, I’m thinking maybe it’s time to make a dry run,” she finally said.

The comment confused him. Wasn’t that what they’d done last night? And look how it had turned out. All awkward and uncertain this morning. “What do you mean?” he asked, just to be sure.

She hesitated again before speaking. “I mean maybe it’s time we launched you into society to see how things go.”

He felt strangely panicked. “But you said we still had a lot of stuff to go over.”

“No, you said that.”

“Oh, yeah. But that’s because there is.”

Once again she hesitated. “Maybe. But that’s another reason to go ahead and wade into the waters of society. To see where there might still be trouble spots that need improvement. Who knows? You might feel right at home and won’t need any more instruction.”

He doubted that. As much as he’d learned in the last couple of weeks, he wasn’t sure he would ever feel comfortable in Ava’s world, even if they spent the next ten years studying for it. And why did she sound kind of hopeful about him not needing any more instruction? It was almost as though she wanted to get rid of him.

Oh, right. After last night, she probably did. But then, he wanted to get rid of her, too, right? So why was he digging in?

“What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“There’s a fund-raiser for La Rabida Children’s Hospital at the Palmer House tonight. It will be perfect. Everyone who’s anyone will be there. It’s invitation only, but I’m sure if news got around that Peyton Moss, almost billionaire, was in town, you could finagle one.”

“Why can’t I just be your guest?” No sooner did he ask the question than did it occur to him that she might already be taking someone else. His panic multiplied.

Her gaze skittered away from his. “Because I wasn’t invited.”

His mouth dropped open at that. Ava Brenner hadn’t been invited to an event where everyone who was anyone would be making an appearance?

“Why not?” he asked.

She said nothing for a moment, only pulled the sides of her robe closed and cinched the belt tight. She continued to avoid his gaze when she replied. “I, um…I had kind of a falling-out with the woman who organized it. Since then, I tend not to show up on any guest list she’s associated with.” Before he could ask for more details, she hurried on, “But a word in the right ear will put you on the guest list with no problem.”

Wow. It took a brave soul—or someone with a death wish—to exclude the queen bee of Chicago’s most ruthless rich-kid high school from a major social event. Whoever organized this thing must have come to Chicago recently and didn’t realize what kind of danger she was courting, ignoring Ava.

“Then who’s going to put that word into the right ear?” he asked.

“A friend of mine who’s attending owes me a favor. I’ll have her contact the coordinator this morning. You should get a call by this afternoon.”

Of course. No doubt Ava had lots of friends attending this thing who owed her favors that could get done at a moment’s notice. Favors to pay her back for not walking all over them at Emerson and grinding them into dust.

“But…”

“But what?” she asked. “Either you’re ready or you’re not. If we can find that out tonight, all the better.”

Right. Because if he was ready, then the two of them could part ways sooner rather than later. And that would be for the best. He knew it. Ava knew it. They didn’t belong together now any more than they had sixteen years ago.

“Will you come, too?” he asked.

“I told you. I wasn’t invited.”

“But—”

“You’ll be fine going solo.”

“But—”

“You can report back to me tomorrow.”

“But—”