Free Ever After (The Christmas Cottage - Book 2) by Samantha Chase

Five
     
    The next several weeks flew by.  Between her job at the book store, her search for a career, spending time with Lacey and Olivia, and settling into her relationship with Brian, Ava’s life was beyond full.  Each day she woke with a smile on her face and a sexy man by her side.  They went on dates to the movies, museums, and dinner.  They talked for hours about their jobs and careers and mostly, Brian encouraged Ava to share her dreams. 
    In all of their conversations, Brian was careful to neither fully encourage nor discourage Ava when a job opportunity presented itself that would have her moving away from Raleigh.  Should she decide to take a job that meant relocating, well, he’d deal with it when the time came.  He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that everything would be perfect but Brian was also walking a fine line of learning from experience; he remembered well enough what had happened a year ago when Mason had tried to control Ava’s future and that was not something that he ever wanted to be accused of doing. 
    Ava was an intelligent woman; a free spirit.  He could only hope that the things that drew him to her also didn’t take her away from him.
    As Brian was trying to find the proper balance where Ava’s career search was concerned, Ava had a dilemma of her own; wondering why Brian wasn’t weighing in more.  If he truly felt for her the way he said he did, wouldn’t he be trying to persuade her not to even look at jobs that would take her out of the area?  Granted, there hadn’t been that many but when they came up, he wished her luck on her interviews and was waiting for her when she came back; anxious for a report on how it went.  He never mentioned moving his business and it didn’t take long for Ava’s insecurities to come to the surface.
    They were sitting on the sofa in Ava’s condo watching a movie when she finally decided to broach the subject.  “I was thinking more about the job with the med school up in Richmond,” she said casually, reaching for the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them.  It was said without eye contact, just something that she seemingly threw out there and waited for his response.
    “ Richmond, huh?  I didn’t think that you were all that crazy about that one.  The starting salary was a little low, wasn’t it?”
    Ah, so he had paid attention to her ramblings about the pros and cons of the job; that was promising, wasn’t it?”
    “It was a little low but the area was really nice and I’ve been looking at houses online and I think that I can find something a little newer and a little bigger than what I’ve got here for around the same price.  It might be nice to upgrade in the process,” she said, still looking as if she was actually interested in what was on the TV.
    “So this is about a house?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.  Grabbing the remote, he muted the television.  “You’d take a job that you weren’t crazy about because of a house?”  Now his tone was slightly irritated.
    Ava finished chewing her snack before turning to face him.  “Of course it’s not just about a house, Brian.  I’m trying to look at the total picture.  I mean, the job has potential.  I may be starting out with a lower salary than I want, but the possibility of expansion and growth within the company is promising.  If I’m going to find the perfect job then I want to have the perfect house to go with it.  You know me, Brian, I want the total package.”
    He groaned inwardly.  Her and her damn perfect.  Mentally counting to ten, he did his best to plead his case without being overwhelming.  “I think your quest for all-things perfect is very noble, Ava, but life isn’t always perfect.  Sometimes you have to take a good look around you and realize that what you have is satisfying and good and be happy with it.”
    “So I should settle?” she said a little too defensively.
    “No, not settle; just have