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“No, I know it. I have no plans to exit this earth anytime soon.”
The conversation ceased as the door to the room opened. They were hidden by the book shelves, and he planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.
“I love you,” he whispered as he backed out of the room.
Ava continued to work until her stomach was growling so loud that the woman opposite her on the table kept looking up. She finally went to the break room to see if she could scrounge a smoothie from the refrigerator. She had forgotten to bring her clean food today with all of the chaos of last night.
She hunted through the refrigerator for something to eat and found a mango smoothie. Not her favorite flavor but it would be nourishing. She sipped at it with a straw and went to Jacob’s office. She wanted to see if he had any extra work to add to her list of items. His office door was closed, and the light was off. She went to Xander’s office; his door was slightly ajar, and she could hear him talking on the phone. She peeked in, and he looked up to nod for her to enter.
She sat on the couch and sipped at the smoothie, wincing occasionally. Using the straw was the lesser of two evils since the plastic lip of the bottle would press against her wound. She paged through a magazine on the coffee table while he finished up with his phone conversation. Then he turned his attention to her. She was unaware he was watching her sip until she heard him sigh deeply.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“For two reasons, one, because I love you and two, because even with that wound, you sucking on that straw is sexy as hell.”
“If you would stop being so stubborn I would suck something else.”
Xander felt his cock twitch at the thought of her red lips wrapped around his girth. He shifted in his seat.
“Not with that lip like that. I can’t even kiss you.”
“I can deal with the kissing and maybe even the sucking.”
Xander put his hand up to stop her. He wasn’t going to entertain the conversation. They did a little more work together, but it was already nearing the end of the day, so she went back to her desk to get ready to leave. The investigation officer in her complaint had called her to let her know they were charging Tim with assault and battery. She was asked to come to the station to allow them to take pictures of her injuries. She complied, and that was when she found out about the other charges against Tim, the ones Xander hadn't read aloud from the article.
After photos at the police station, she went home and right to her bedroom. Tim had given her a bracelet with several gold charms. She had commented that it was too expensive for her to accept but he insisted. Now she dropped the bracelet like it was on fire. He had purchased this with drug money. She wanted to throw it away, but she would donate it and hope it helped someone in need.
Xander came by shortly before seven. He had brought over tacos, but she was in no mood to eat. The news she now had about Tim made her sick. How had she been so wrong about him? Besides, she had to stick to soft foods until her lip was better. She made herself a small bowl of oatmeal and she sat with Xander while he ate. She barely touched the oatmeal and dumped most of it out in the garbage.
“Sweetheart, is that all you’re eating?”
“I just don’t feel very much like it. My lip hurts, and my stomach is in knots. I found out some horrible things about Tim.”
She told him about what she read, and he just nodded.
“You knew, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was waiting. You didn’t need anything further added to it.”
“I wish everyone would stop telling me what is good for me. I told you, I’m not twenty-three anymore. I can handle things like any other adult.”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you, but I can’t break out of that need to protect you.”
“You don’t need to anymore. I can handle my own life.”
He hugged her and kissed her cheek. Tonight there would be no kissing since her lip was injured. Instead, they lay on the couch, and she leaned against him until she fell asleep. She was exhausted from lack of sleep the night before. He gently slipped out from behind her and carried her to bed. She didn’t stir when he tucked her beneath the covers, and he kissed her forehead. He had watched her slumber before he left.
On the way home he thought about how it would be when he lived in his own apartment. They could start sleeping in the same bed. He missed having her in his arms at night. Xander knew that sleeping together without sex would bring on its own new sets of arguments. He was determined not to rush into sex with her a second time.
The rest of the week went quickly though they didn’t see each other as much as they wanted, it gave Ava time to do more cramming for the test. Lidia and Brett had come to visit. Kaycee had settled the lawsuit against the trucking company for seven figures. She had remained on the case after she and Xander had gone their separate ways. She wasn’t the type of person to let her personal feelings get in the way of her professional life.
Lidia had told him that she was dating a professional surfer. He thought back to the man she had struck up a conversation with on their way home from New York. He was happy for her. She deserved someone that would love her and treat her better than he ever would.
During the evenings they were apart, Ava took the time to study as much as she could. The bar exam was coming quickly, and in a few short weeks, she would be sitting for it. She felt prepared, but a small bit of self-doubt would creep in when she got too confident. She spent several hours on the phone trading questions with David. He was to sit for the exam soon, too. He was one of the few people that knew of her relationship with Xander and would often ask how it was going.
She told him that they were abstaining from sex and it was making her crazy to be so close to him and not be able to make love. He told her he would be a stand in if she needed it. She knew it was a joke, but deep down she couldn’t help feeling that he was hurt that she hadn’t chosen him.
The next week, she and Xander were able to spend early evenings together again. Pre-trial motions on the corporate case had started, and both he and Jacob were in court for most of the day. She looked forward to seeing him at her place. They were back to the same old routine. Her lip had healed, and most of the bruise on her neck had turned shades of yellow and green but it no longer hurt. She was able to hide it with makeup and went back to wearing more provocative clothing.
