Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

I could tell she wanted to say something. Her eyes flickered.

“Order.” The girl behind the counter placed a frozen drink on the counter.

Ava spun around. “Obrigado.”

“You speak Portuguese?” I asked, suddenly curious about what her tongue could do.

“There’s a lot you didn’t bother to get to know about me. You didn’t stick around long enough.” There was more than an edge of bitterness in her voice. She was hostile. I could feel the anger radiating off her skin.

She shoved past me on the way to the door.

I grabbed her by the elbow before she was out of reach. “Hold on. That’s not fair.”

“Let go, Blaine.”

I hadn’t forgotten. She was right—I hadn’t been fair. But I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing it.

My fingers slowly uncurled from her arm. “Just thought we could have a drink.”

She huffed. “Yeah, I know how that goes with you.”

“What? You didn’t have a good time?” I winked. We both knew the answer. I’d heard sounds from those luscious lips that night that had haunted my dreams ever since.

I saw the blood rush to her cheeks. She remembered too.

“I didn’t say that,” she whispered, trying to keep the conversation private.

I shrugged. “Then what’s the problem? You’re in Rio. I’m in Rio.”

She chewed her bottom lip, driving me crazy. Suddenly, running into this American spitfire seemed like the answer to my pent-up energy. I couldn’t swim today, but I knew what a night with her was like.

I studied her blue eyes. Ava had long legs that were sun-kissed from her heels to her sweet paradise. She had a graceful way of swinging her auburn hair off her shoulders. She was gorgeous and sexy. And fucking smart. The girl knew her sports shit.

“The problem is I’m not one of your swim groupies. I’m not one of those girls who follows you around.”

“Hey, I like those girls too.”

Her eyes flared. “Then go find one of them to screw over.”

“Ava.” My voice echoed in the café. Was it possible to convince her she was the kind of distraction I needed? The perfect workout for my body.

“Looks like you’ve landed on your feet again like a roo after—”

“Don’t try to pretend that you care what happened to me.” She stopped me.

“I did care. I do.” I breathed. “Did things work out with Sports Now?”

“No. I have a new job.” She closed her eyes. “I have work to do. I need to go. Good luck, Blaine. Really. I hope you do well. I’m sure you’ll sweep the gold. Everyone is talking about it.”

“Since there’s no pool to swim in I don’t see how that’s going to happen,” I grumbled.

“What? What are you talking about?” Her tone quickly changed.

My brow furrowed just thinking about it. “The damn pool is closed for repairs. I can’t get in for laps.”

“What? That’s ludicrous. It has to be open.” Suddenly, she seemed interested in what I had to say. I saw her shoulders relax and she spun to face me, squaring off her shoulders.

“It’s not. Bastards closed it for a broken valve or some shit. I can’t seem to get any answers.”