A Bravo For Christmas. Christine Rimmer

“Everything looks terrific. You’re a lifesaver, Ava.”

      Ava straightened her shirt, smoothed her hair and tried on a smile. “Already done shopping?”

      “We’d had enough,” said Nell, “so we came to help out.”

      “Believe it or not, I’m pretty much done. Where’s Jody?”

      Elise shook her head. “She took a pass.”

      Clara said, “I think she’s feeling down about poor Nick Yancy.” There were sympathetic noises all around.

      And Nell was watching Ava much too closely. “You look kind of flushed. What have you been up to?”

      Ava knew she shouldn’t say it. But she couldn’t resist. “Having sex with Darius.”

      The kitchen went dead silent. Then everybody laughed. They all knew that he flirted with her shamelessly.

      And that she never had sex with anyone.

      * * *

      That night, as soon as Sylvie was in bed, Ava sent Darius a text: Tomorrow night Sylvie has a sleepover at Annabelle’s. You available?

      He answered a moment later: A text isn’t good enough. I want to hear your voice. Call me, Ava. Now.

      Ava stared at the message on her phone. Her cheeks felt hot, and her core felt all melty. Who got turned on because a guy got bossy via text?

      Apparently, she did. When the guy was Darius.

      She made the call. “So, then? How about tomorrow night?”

      “How’d it go after I left today?”

      “It was fine.”

      “Fine tells me nothing.”

      She grinned to herself. “Well, Nell said I looked flushed and asked what was going on. So I told them I was having sex with you. And they all laughed because everyone knows that’s never gonna happen.”

      “You’re bad,” he said, that voice of his in honey-dripping mode. “A bad, bad girl.”

      That melty feeling down low got more so. “Tomorrow night?”

      “Tomorrow night is good. Come out to my place. I’ll cook you dinner.”

      “Dinner.” Was that wise? “I don’t know. Dinner’s a little too much like a date.”

      “Ava. I have to tell you. You’re starting to make me feel cheap and used.”

      “Don’t be ridiculous.”

      “What? Only women can feel used? Because face it, you are using me.”

      That gave her pause. After all, it was true. “I...well, I guess I kind of thought we were using each other...”

      “Ava.” He said it gently, kindly. “I was only teasing you. Sometimes you take things way too seriously.”

      Did she? Maybe so. And it really was very sweet of him, to offer to cook dinner. Plus, she’d always kind of wanted to see where he lived. “All right, dinner. Thank you. Seven?”

      “Seven works.”

      “What can I bring?”

      “Nothing. Just you. See you then.”

      She thought about that afternoon, the dizzying power in his kiss, the smooth, sexy way he’d half undressed her and then so swiftly covered her right back up again. Since she was a little girl and learned how precarious life could be, she’d been so careful to stay focused on the future, not to mess up and get distracted from what really mattered, which was to make a safe place in the world for herself and the ones she loved.

      Was she messing up now, getting into this thing with Darius? “Dare, I...”

      But he was already gone.

      * * *

      At the open house the next day, Ava served hot cider and Christmas cookies. She put the Christmas tunes on shuffle, and the house looked amazing.

      Garrett, Nell and Chloe all stopped in to see how it was going.

      And it was going very well, with potential buyers in and out all day and several couples talking about making offers. Bravo Construction had five other lots in that development. This house should go far toward getting them buyers for those properties, too.

      Darius came by at a little after two. He ate a cookie and stayed out of the way as she chatted with potential customers.

      She loved it, that he stopped in, loved pretending there was nothing going on between them, that nothing had changed, all while the awareness of the evening to come pressed in on her, making a rising feeling in her belly, putting a secret grin on her face.

      It was exciting. Her doubts of last night didn’t trouble her at all today.

      Now, she felt really young, and that was a whole new feeling for her. She’d never felt young. She’d always been goal-oriented and determined to wrestle a little security out of life.

      Well, she had security, finally, as much as anyone did. She had money in the bank, a college fund for Sylvie and a solid retirement plan. Her house was half paid for.

      And for this Christmas season, with Darius, she could afford to feel like a girl again, to get all flushed and breathless, to have this secret sex thing between them. It made her smile to herself to think that nobody had a clue what would happen out at his place tonight.

      Before he left, during a lull when there was no one in the house but the two of them, he pulled her into the master bathroom and shut the door.

      “One kiss. And then I’ll go.”

      She started to argue that she had a job to do and he was interfering with it, but why get on his case for something she wanted as much as he seemed to? So she tipped her face up to him, and his beautiful mouth came down on hers.

      The kiss hollowed her out down low and left her wonderfully breathless. He tried to steal a second one.

      But she put her fingers to his soft lips. “Tonight.” He sucked those fingers into his mouth and swirled his tongue around them. “You say I’m bad,” she accused.

      He laughed then—and stole one more kiss before he let her go.

      * * *

      Dare’s house on the edge of the forest was two stories, the porch wide and welcoming, sided in natural wood shingles and stone. He was waiting on the step, wearing his usual jeans and boots and also a heavy red-and-black plaid jacket, the collar turned up against the cold. Apparently, he’d been sitting there for a while. The brim of his black cowboy hat held a dusting of snow. A floppy-eared white dog sat beside him.

      Ava stopped the Suburban in front of the porch, and he rose and came down the steps to her, pulling open her door and leaning into her, bringing the sharp, cold scent of snow and a hint of evergreen. “You made it.” She nodded, feeling strangely shy and way too excited at the prospect of the evening ahead. “This is Daisy.” The dog, who’d come to sit a few feet away, cocked an ear at Ava.

      “Hello, Daisy.”

      “Now you can come meet my horses,” he said.

      She grabbed her wool beanie off the passenger seat and put it on, then took his offered hand. His fingers were surprisingly warm as he helped her down to the snowy ground.

      Gathering her coat a little closer around her, she went where he led, across a cleared space, past a faded red barn to a stretch of paddock fence.

      The horses spotted them and trotted over—three of them, a white mare and two geldings, one black, one a bay. “Josie, Clem and Sweet Sam, meet Ava.” They greeted her with soft snuffling sounds. Dare had three small half-withered apples in his pockets. “Here. They’ll love you forever.” He passed them to her, and she gave each horse a treat.

      Then