I was a selfish bastard. I’d fight the angels to keep her, because Ava was worth all that hell could throw at me.

“Let’s shower.” I lifted her in my arms, glad that my hurt shoulder barely gave a tug of pain.

“We’re naked.” She whispered and wriggled against me.

“Makes showering much easier.” I let her down before twisting the door knob.

She threw herself at the door. “There are people downstairs. We can’t just waltz out there naked.”

Turning around I snatched the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Better?”

“What about you?”

Rolling my eyes I lifted part of the blanket that trailed on the floor and wrapped it around my waist.

By the time I’d coaxed her into the shower her face was pinched in thought. I would have paid to know what she was thinking about, but I didn’t feel that I had the right to ask. We were all entitled to our meditations. Instead I focused on getting us clean, taking my time to enjoy the way the water ran over her breasts and down the planes of her stomach.

“I’m not sure how I can go downstairs and look them in the eyes.” She had one foot propped on the tub and was drying her leg with a towel I’d found. “They have to know what we were doing.”

My dick jumped as I watched her bend further over to dry her foot. You’d think three times in one day would be enough to keep him satisfied, but I was quickly learning it wasn’t possible to get enough of Ava.

And she had a killer ass.

“Earth to Owen.” She straightened and pushed her wet hair behind her ears. “Are you listening to me?”

“Of course.”

“Really? Because it looked like you were busy staring at my ass, not listening to me.”

“Your ass is worth appreciating.” I smiled at her wide eyes. “But I did hear what you said. Who cares if they know what we were doing?”

“I’m serious, Owen.” Her scowl would have worked better if she hadn’t been fighting so hard to keep from smiling. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Mavis could care less and the kid will be jealous. No judging. Put on your old man clothes and let’s go get some food.” I pulled her against me, kissing her quickly. “I’m starving and we need to start planning.”

She grumbled but pulled her jeans up over her naked rear. “I can’t believe you tore my panties. I don’t have anything to wear now.”

“You didn’t seem to mind when I did it.” I pulled my own pants up before grabbing the clean shirt from the sink ledge. I grabbed her bra and held it up. “At least this doesn’t seem any worse for the wear.”

“I really need to get some new things. Or at least a washing machine.” She snatched the lacy black thing from my hands and slid it on before grabbing a white tank top.

“I don’t think we’ll be here much longer.” I hung our towels on the rack and picked up the discarded blanket. “We need to move on. We’ve been here too long as it is.”

“Where will we go?” She chewed on her bottom lip. It seemed to be her tell for when she was nervous.

“That depends on what kind of information Mavis and the boy wonder have found.” I opened the door and motioned for her to walk out.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before marching down the stairs. I kept my chuckle to myself. I could care less who knew that I’d just spent the last two hours inside Ava. In fact, I was feeling quite proud about it.

Downstairs was a mess of computer cables. Kenny was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch as he stared at his computer, pointedly ignoring our entrance. Mavis was on the couch, papers spread in her lap.

“Food’s in the kitchen.” She didn’t look up as we walked past.

“Thank you,” Ava said as she walked past. In the kitchen she found two plates and set about spooning pasta for us both.

“Milk?” I opened the fridge and lifted the jug.

“Thanks.” She smiled at me before turning back to the plates.

We moved around the kitchen, getting the food ready with little talk. When we sat at the table, the silence was comfortable, and the pasta was good.

“Cucumber pasta salad. Much better than tiny tea sandwiches.” She smiled at me.

“Better than soup, anyway.” I wasn’t sure either really counted as a meal.

“Ava? Can you look at some of these?” Mavis’s voice drifted back to the kitchen.

“Sure.” Ava stood up, taking her plate with her.

I finished the food on my plate and washed it quickly before following her out. She was sitting on the couch arm and reading over Mavis’s shoulder.

“Those planes are from the company I worked at.” Ava leaned forward.

“Do you remember who bought them?” My pulse quickened. This could be our link.

“Not really.” Ava frowned. “I mean, these aren’t painted in a way that makes them stand out. Some people have crazy paint jobs and it’s easy to remember who picked out the pink and leopard print plane. These aren’t meant to stand out in any particular way. They’re fancy on the inside and used to carry self-important people back and forth.”

“So, corporate planes?” I shrugged. “That should be easy to figure out.”

“It could be a charter company.” Ava looked up at me. “Someone that hires out planes to people that don’t want to fly commercial.”