Chapter 34
He stared at her like she was a lunatic. "What's so funny?"
She looked up at him, not bothering to move away and create distance between them. "The deja vu."
The words had rolled off her tongue with a hint of longing and he immediately knew what she was talking about.
____
Six years ago.
"I'm hungry." Avery complained after an entire day of waiting for a business partner. Mr. Bryce was one of the tycoons they needed to talk into investing in their test project. It was already hard enough to convince anyone to invest in any company's project. The fact that theirs was a startup company with no defined future made it even harder.
They had used up all their brain juices and came up with nothing, and she slumped into the passenger seat as soon as they were in his car.
He checked their location and found that they were close to his apartment. "We can go to my apartment and make something to eat. If you don't mind, of course."
"I could eat that steering wheel and the hand on it if you asked me, let alone whatever is at your apartment." She exaggerated and yawned. The hunger was definitely not being exaggerated.
He chuckled and drove to his apartment.
Soon after she walked in, she found it strange. "Don't you live with your family?"
He took out the most basic ingredients for a quick meal. "Not anymore. I prefer being on my own."
"I see."
He unhooked aprons from their rack and gave her one of them. "Don't get your clothes dirty."
She laughed but tied it around her waist anyway. She observed him as he took down a jar of flour. "To tell you the truth, you seem to be much better lately. If it has anything to do with you leaving your family, then you did the right thing."
"My family is toxic." He spoke of it nonchalantly like it didn't matter anymore.
She looked away with a bitter smile. It was the biggest similarity between the two of them. What an unfortunate coincidence.
"What are you planning to cook?" She asked to change the topic.
"What would you like to eat?" He threw a question back at her, realizing that he had not asked for her opinion.
"Anything." She said, and when she felt his gaze on her, she tried not to blush. Why did it feel like he had picked a naughty meaning to her words even though that was not how she meant it?
As expected, he stepped closer into her personal space. "Does that include me?"
Her face flushed. "Of course not."
"Why not? I'm certain that I would be quite delicious. Do you want to try?" He didn't give her the chance to respond before his lips landed on hers. Her eyes widened in shock. That was her first kiss!
He pulled away when he realized what he had just done in the heat of the moment, equally shocked even though he was the one who had initiated it.
"I'm sorry. I…"
"No." She placed a hand on his lips to shut him up. She didn't know what to say to him after that so she looked around for something to distract her. When she saw the jar he had placed on the granite counter, she rushed to grab it. "We should cook! What's in here?"
She shook the jar.
"Careful! That's…"
It was too late. She had opened the lid too fast and sent the flour exploding in her face.
He bit his lips but couldn't hold it for more than two seconds before bursting into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" She angrily grabbed a fistful of flour and threw it at him. When he didn't stop laughing, she poured the entire jar on him and laughed her ribs out at how ridiculous he looked.
_____
Avery gazed up and found that Damon was looking down at her face. Their gazes collided and he stepped in her personal space. She knew that they had thought about the same thing.
Her lips twitched slightly as his face lowered. He held the sides of her shoulders for a few seconds before his hands eased onto her waist and he pulled her against him. He brushed a strand of hair that was covered in flour out of her face and cupped it gently, before placing a soft kiss onto her cheek.
Her eyes closed and he pressed his lips gently against hers. She raised her hands to place them around his neck.
"Papa!"
An excited yell interrupted them.