Avery took advantage of the silence and leaned in to kiss her sister on the cheek. “I’ll call you tonight,” she said, not wanting to explain herself in front of Rick.
But she didn’t blame Olivia for being shocked. Avery had just made the decision herself, after realizing her choices amounted to slim … and none. She couldn’t stay in her apartment. She wouldn’t put a family member in danger, and she couldn’t stay at a hotel, not when Grey was offering her two viable alternatives. His extra apartment was nice, but she’d be fooling herself to think she could stay there, with him right next door. There was no reason. She was already invested in him … in them, and she’d be lying to herself to think otherwise.
Chapter Ten
Grey spent an hour at the gym in his building, taking out his frustrations with Simon and life in general on a punching bag. He let himself back into his apartment and immediately stripped off his sweat-slickened shirt and tossed it into the laundry pile in his bedroom. Towel wrapped around his shoulders, he headed for the kitchen, needing a cold drink. At least he felt better, having exerted energy on the inanimate object while pretending it was his ex-manager’s face, he thought wryly.
A knock sounded. He wiped his damp head with the towel and opened his door to find Avery standing there, surrounded by suitcases, plural, and Rick, her bodyguard, by her side.
Grey nodded at the other man, acknowledging him, then braced a hand on the doorframe and met Avery’s gaze. Before he could speak, the elevator opened behind Rick.
“Call if you need me,” the bodyguard said, then stepped back into the waiting car.
Grey looked from her bags, up her long, sexy legs, taking in her cute, flirty dress, before meeting her wide-eyed gaze once more.
“Is this what I think it is?” he asked.
“If you think I’m taking you up on your offer, then yes. It is.” She bent down and picked up one of the suitcases. “Help me?” she asked.
“Gladly.” She didn’t have to ask twice. Except he didn’t know where she wanted to stay. “You can keep your stuff in the guest room, where there’s more room.” He gestured behind him to his apartment. “Unless you want to stay next door?”
She bit down on her lip and shook her head. “No. I want to stay with you.”
He hefted the rest of the bags. “Guest room it is,” he said, attempting to play it cool and not show his relief at the fact that she didn’t want to be an entire hall and apartment and too many locked doors away from him.
He started for the extra bedroom when her voice stopped him. “Grey.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “You can put my bags in there, but I want to sleep in your bed. With you.”
His breath left him in a rush, pleasure and relief soaking into his pores. “Not that I’m not grateful, but what changed since last time I saw you?”
“Let’s get rid of the heavy stuff first, okay?”
He nodded and led the way. They unloaded her luggage, freeing their hands. He hadn’t been expecting company, and the bedroom was dark, shades drawn.
“Can we talk outside?” she asked.
“Sure.” He led her to the terrace, taking her literally, whether she’d meant it or not.
Though it was humid, it was nice to be outdoors. As always, the fresh air and the view of the city reminded him of how lucky he was to live here. And when Avery settled against one of the oversized loungers, looked up at him, and smiled, he knew his luck was holding.
He sat on the edge of her lounge and waited for her to talk, sensing she had a lot on her mind. She glanced up at the sky, her eyes narrowing, her cute nose wrinkled against the glare of the sun. Light freckles dotted the bridge, and he had the sudden desire to taste each one.
“I saw my father today,” she said.
Her words brought him down from the beginning of a light, fun fantasy.
“On purpose?” he asked. Because she hadn’t mentioned seeing the parent she had a difficult relationship with as being part of her day.
She shook her head. “You know Olivia, Sienna, and I had lunch at The Meridian. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but Sienna was already there at the beach with her friends. Like I told you, we were planning for the hospital prom, and my father walked over.”
She hesitated, and Grey gave her all the time she needed to gather her thoughts.
“I haven’t heard from my dad at all. Not when our picture was in the paper.” She gestured between them. “Not after the paparazzi swarmed my apartment or when some crazy person left a message on my door. And the family is big enough that someone had to have told him.” She raised her shoulder in a nonchalant shrug he wasn’t buying for one second. “He must have heard about it … and dismissed it from his mind.”
Shit, Grey thought, his heart clenching at the hurt she tried so hard to pretend didn’t exist. Her old man had no idea the emotional damage he’d caused all of his kids, but because Avery had been the donor to his other child, her emotions had been hit the most directly.
As someone who’d been belittled by a parent, Grey understood that no comment could be as painful as a negative one. Both kinds of behavior left a kid feeling unworthy and unimportant, two things he never ever wanted Avery to feel. But he had caused her to experience that feeling of abandonment, and he was coming to realize putting it behind her wasn’t as simple as he’d naively hoped it would be.