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This was it, Mac thought, the official hellish ending to a hellish evening After having one wo rando hi and he just wanted to o inside He couldn’t do that to Gwen, though He owed her the truth Walking closer to her chair, he squatted in front of her, halting the rocking motion of her chair "I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you, Gwen Believe ht; my attraction to you has never been the probles for her for years that she hasn’t returned I needed to move on withjust that with you until this last week" When she flinched, he took her hand, nestling it in his larger palms "No, I haven’t slept with Ava; I don’t want you to think that There have just been things happening that have shaken ht now and that isn’t fair to you"
She squeezed his hand back for aforward to trace the curve of his face "No, it’s not You’re a good man, Mac I could see the conflict in your eyes the last few tiether and I know you have been desperately trying to figure out how toh and that’s clearly what I ah I’ll probably kick myself later because, God, you are a catch, I think we need to move to the friends portion of our relationship and stop trying to ether that don’t work"
Mac looked at her sad sret He had enjoyed his time with her, but he knew that he had hurt her Maybe that hy he had held back on having sex In the back of his mind, he knew he’d never be able to co with her and walking away Hell, she’d deserved better than everything he’d given her during their ti her to her feet and into his ared for a few moments before he walked her to her car He dropped a kiss on her cheek and stood watching her taillights as she left He felt like a bastard as he turned toward his house, because along with sadness he felt relief that he no longer had to pretend to beon with his life--because even nohen he was close to hating her, it was always Ava ned his heart
Chapter Thirteen
Ava slu the activities calendar on the Chamber of Commerce Web site for Myrtle Beach, but her heart wasn’t in it Mac had been avoiding her for teeks now and it was starting to really get to her She knew from a happy Dominic that Mac and Gwen had called it quits and that Do his time until he asked her out She’d pointed out that he al his time with her once before, but he let her know quickly that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones She insisted that she deserved so clean with Mac even if it hadn’t done anything other than drive therabbed it eagerly and then felt a surge of disappointment when she saw Declan’s name on the caller ID Ava tried to keep the depression from her voice when she said, "Hey, Dec"
"Hey, Av How are you?"
"Just great," she answered, and winced at how absurdly high her voice sounded
"Uood Hey, listen, I need a favor Are you busy today?"
Soh hysterically Ava wanted to ask hiazines qualified, but Brant usually handled her sarcasestions to solve her problems Declan would throw the phone to Ella and run the other way "Not so much," she said instead
"Cool Do you think you could pick Ella up today froet houys there and dropping Ella off to spend the day Suzy offered to let her stay at her house, but Ellie gets so tired that I know she’ll be ready for bed early"
"Umsure" Ava knew that Jason and Gray had recruited some of the others to take a trip to Charleston and look at soht it was also a chance for the uise of business Suzy had invited all the women over for a day on the beach, but Ava had declined, preferring toby there around four, and we can stop for dinner somewhere on the way home"
Declan sounded relieved as he said, "Thanks, sis It pisses Ella off, but I don’t want her being alone right now so close to her due date She can barely reach the steering wheel in her car over her sto"
Ava sround "You better go take care of that," she teased her brother as he said a quick good-bye She loved the es, but his life revolved around his wife and now his family She only hoped that so like that
She was e ad on the local Web site cALLING ALL BEGINNERS! SET YOURSELF FREE, LEARN TO SURF TODAY! Bingo! There it was, her next hobby Since the whole disaster with the hang gliding uy who bothered her ht have just been a harmless creep, but she couldn’t take any chances The idea of setting herself free as the ad pro class was located just a ood likelihood she’d run into hi the beach She quickly filled out the online registration form and clicked SEND before she chickened out She could swihts went to E accident and she froze Oh God, there was no way she could tell Emma about this For a inner, though, so surely it was perfectly safe
It was a little after four when Ava pulled into the driveway of Gray and Suzy’s large, but surprisingly homey, beach house Mac lived only a few miles down the road, so she was very familiar with this part of town When she walked up the pathway and rang the doorbell, Suzy opened the door wearing tiny white shorts and a blue halter top "She’s on the couch asleep," Suzy said with a grin and gestured toward the living room