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Now, that got her attention "U

"Take your shirt off I need to see if you have any dae to your back or your stole inch of your body"

Ava sat silently for athe old familiar panic set in Damn it, if she couldn’t even take her shirt off in front of the man she was supposed to love, then hoould she ever convince him that she was ready for a real relationship with hi a deep breath, she silently cursed the fact that she had worn a plain white cotton bra this ht tree of her top and slowly pulled it over her head He re it to the floor His gaze seemed to zero in on the creamy swells of her breasts exposed by her no-frills bra, and she was horrified to feel her nipples hardening under his attention

After a roaned inwardly as she did a full-body shiver So about the feel of his war her pulse to rocket Theunder his breath before touching an area of her upper back that felt as if it were on fire "Ouch!" Was he? Alar with my bra?"

With obvious strain in his voice, Mac said, "Relax, Avie; I need your bra strap out of the way You’ve got a nasty laceration back here The asphalt ripped a hole in your shirt You ht You’re da" Suddenly, his face was back in front of hers, looking her face over anxiously "I didn’t see you hit your head" His hands started roans of injury "Shit, tellIf there is any possibility of a head injury, we need to go to a hospital and have it checked out I should have checked for that before I rabbed his forear his hand back down "Mac, e was to my butt and my pride" When he looked down at her shorts, she kneas co in response

"Ertake your shorts off, then I need to see e’re dealing with"

"No! I’ at ht have caved to pressure to reainst the scrapes on her back was painful But there was no way she was reranny panties, and it’d be over her dead body that he would get a look at them When she finally worked up the nerve to disrobe co sexier than one hundred percent cotton He looked ready to argue with her, so she shifted his attention back to her upper body by wincing andthere? It hurts like the devil" Now that she’d mentioned the pain, it seemed to be all around her As her adrenaline dropped, her body started throbbing Running into a parked car was daet you some Advil before we clean all your cuts"

Ava wanted to shen Mac called her baby He had used the endearment a few times over the years, but that ice already today He mostly called her Avie, which had always made her feel special, but babyyeah, she liked that a lot Unlessdid he call Gwen that? She looked down at the couch she was sitting on Had Gwen been here with Mac? Had they held hands, touched each other, had sex togetherright where she was sitting? The thoughtbut run She didn’t want to be anywhere that another woman had staked a claim to the man Ava loved

Ava winced as she tried to h her body as she leaned down to pick up her discarded shirt She needed to get out of herenow She was balancing unsteadily on her feet when Mac walked back in carrying a bottle and a glass of water He looked surprised to see her standing there, with her shirt gripped tightly in one hand "MacI’et back to my car"

He shook a couple of tablets fro it down He handed the until she had taken the on her sudden need to leave "Aviesit down, please I need to patch you up before I take you back"

She stood there uncertainly before asking, "Could we use a kitchen chair? I, umjust don’t want to sit back down on the couch" No doubt, he thought she was cracking up, but after a moment’s hesitation, he walked toward his kitchen and returned seconds later with a wooden chair She was so glad that he hadn’t questioned her aversion to his leather couch What could she possibly say? "Oh, sorry I’irlfriend on it and the thought of sitting there e about that statement at all Especially when she had handed him to Gwen on a shiny platter with a damn red bow attached to it

Mac picked up his first aid kit and started cleaning her abrasions with an antiseptic wipe that stung bad enough to bring tears to her eyes Having his hands gently touching almost every exposed inch of her skin was torture for a different reason She only hoped that he thought the few ti was fro of his war her body She both feared and craved his touch Hownext to her? Wishing she were a normal person who could wake up in the ar anotheraway her innocence? The one thing she had wanted to give Mac fro more than her brother’s friend It was always supposed to be him and only him, and that had been brutally stolen froet that back, but if she continued on the path of avoidance that she had taken for so many years, then the bastard who had raped her was still ruining her life, and she didn’t want that She wanted to be free She wanted to knohat it felt like to be touched by someone who cared about her It had to be Mac, as it was always meant to be