*   *   *

Mac scowled as he watched Ava limp to her car and drive away. She had him reeling and he didn’t know whether to kiss her or spank some sense into her. Both options held strong appeal. He and Ava seemed to be on the same page with the kiss today . . . oh, fuck, the kiss. Ava finally laying her lips on his, taking the initiative. His cock had already been straining the zipper of his jeans ever since she had removed her shirt. The plain white bra she wore had somehow seemed sexier than every piece of lingerie that Victoria’s Secret had in their whole damn store. It was Ava to a tee. Innocent white cotton, but add in her full breasts straining against the cups, and it was enough to bring him to his knees. Truthfully, he had been grateful that she refused to remove her shorts. He wasn’t sure he could have held out with Ava in front of him in nothing but her panties. As it was, he’d taken a few deep breaths when he went to the kitchen for some Advil for her. He’d also adjusted his throbbing cock, trying to make his state of arousal a little less noticeable.

Now he felt something he didn’t often feel—complete and utter confusion. If asked, he would have said that he knew Ava better than anyone else, including her family. He knew her favorite color, how she liked her coffee, how she loved watching reruns of the Golden Girls and, when she was feeling particularly daring, Sons of Anarchy. She always cried at every remotely emotional scene in a movie, even an action film. She was addicted to green apple Chap Stick, had a serious hang-up on buying shoes that she rarely ever wore, and sometimes she snored, even if she’d never admit it. He knew that from the many nights he had fallen asleep on her couch after watching a movie.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, thinking back to her interest in Sons of Anarchy. Maybe she really was attracted to Dominic. Hell, he was probably the closest thing to a biker that she’d ever come across. However, if that was true, why had she kissed him as if she was starving for his taste? How far would things have gone if Gwen hadn’t called when she did?

Oh, great, Gwen . . . truthfully, he’d been so caught up in Ava and Dom being together the night before that he had given little thought to the woman he was supposed to be dating. Moving on had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he had to wonder if he hadn’t just complicated an already impossible situation. Ava had been showing no signs of ever letting him out of the friend zone, and it had become more and more painful to pretend that he was content with that place in her life.

If he was honest, maybe he thought it might shake her up to see him moving on, but that hadn’t appeared to happen. Sure, she seemed sad when he stopped spending so much time with her, but she didn’t show up at his house naked and professing her undying love. Instead she had given him looks around the office that had made him want to slink off while apologizing for being such a fucking prick to her. The fact of the matter was that time waits for no man, and he was getting older. Sure, he was only in his early thirties, but he was tired of spending his life alone. He fucked when he felt the need, but that was it. There was no one waiting for him at the end of the day, and it had gotten old. He could admit that he wanted a wife and a family sometime in the near future. He didn’t still want to be sitting around ten years from now hoping that Ava would let him love her.

Yeah, it all sounded perfectly reasonable and rational. However, if that was true, why was he so conflicted about his master plan suddenly? Maybe the same reason he had yet to return Gwen’s call. As he pulled into the near-empty parking garage for Danvers and saw Dom pull up beside him, he gnashed his teeth. This wasn’t a good time to see his best friend. If Dom had any sense of self-preservation, he would crawl right back on his Harley and hit the road.

Instead the bastard walked over to his door as he opened it, giving a lazy grin at Mac’s closed-off expression. “Morning, bro. Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Mac looked into the other man’s eyes and tried to talk himself out of the unfamiliar feelings of jealousy coursing through his veins. This was Dominic, his brother. He’d never hit on Ava. He knew how Mac felt about her. “Morning,” he answered, trying his best to keep his tone light.

“You’re here early,” Dominic said, looking down at his watch. “I thought you were having breakfast with your mom first.”

“Yeah, so did I. I ran into a little problem on the way and had to cancel.”

“What kind of problem?” Dominic asked, looking curious. No doubt, he thought it was something to do with their business.

Walking toward the doors of Danvers, Mac said, “Well, Ava decided to try some sidewalk skating and wrapped herself around the bumper of a parked car not far from my house. I saw the whole damn thing happen on my way.”

Dominic looked surprised before bursting into laughter. “Holy crap, that girl’s just not right, is she?” Before Mac could chew Dominic’s ass out for insulting Ava, even if what he said did appear to have some truth at the moment, Gage came swaggering across the lobby as they walked inside.

“Good morning, ladies. You two need some extra beauty sleep this morning or something?”

Mac grinned as Dominic flipped off their annoying coworker before he could work up the effort. Out of the three of them, Gage was probably the most laid-back. Their employees and every woman within a hundred-mile radius seemed to love his infectious personality. If there was ever any bad news to impart, Gage was nominated to do it. He could tell a woman her hair was flat, her shoes were ugly, and her butt was big and the woman would probably hug his neck and thank him. He was just that good.

Dominic was more of an “it is what it is and fuck you if you don’t like it” kind of guy. And Mac was more of a details man. He liked making things work, making them better. His life mostly revolved around making the rules and seeing that they were enforced. After being in the military, he enjoyed structure and didn’t like it when things didn’t adhere to the norm. That was one reason that Ava’s sudden need to endanger herself doing something crazy was freaking him out. It was out of the normal for her, and he sure as hell didn’t understand it.

Yeah, he, Gage, and Dominic were as different in personality as night and day, but the differences worked well. Between them all, they had every aspect of their business covered. Mac had grown up as an only child, but along with Declan, these were the brothers of his heart. He couldn’t imagine loving a blood relative any more than he loved the men he had served alongside in the marines. They all had a tattoo that said “brotherhood,” and it wasn’t just an inked word to him.