Free Pranked by Sienna Valentine Page B

calling it now?”
    She tossed a pillow at my head as she turned to go, then stopped in the doorway to the balcony. “You’ll tell me if you change your mind though, right? We might be all up alone in the mountains here, but I’m the most resourceful assistant you’ll ever have. I’ll have you back in L.A. before you can say ‘alimony payments.’”
    “Thanks, Layla,” I said, feeling my shoulders relax, like they’d been waiting for Layla’s permission.
    “Anytime, boo.”

12

Bennett
    I really did have to check in with River, but it definitely didn’t take me until dinner to finish my business, and for the first time that I could remember, I was left feeling out of place in my own home. I didn’t know if I should seek Ava out or leave her alone. The memory of the kiss in my bedroom was still fresh in my mind, and I was a little worried that if I ran into her, I would give in to that sweet temptation.
    I’d never been good at self-control.
    I was still deciding what to do as I left River’s cabin, but then the first thing I saw was Ava standing on my balcony. She’d showered and changed, and looked just as fresh and young as she had that morning. My chest constricted painfully, and I felt a peculiar surge of anger toward everyone who had hurt her. I purposely left myself out of that group. The hurt I was going to cause her hadn’t happened yet, and I was still hopeful I could figure out some way to avoid it altogether.
    That was a subject I didn’t want to look into too deeply just now, so I forced a smile to my face and waved up at her. She grinned back at me, and my stomach flipped slightly. She smiled so easily. You’d have to be an asshole to take advantage of that.
    I was such an asshole.
    Ava was practically skipping down the stairs from the balcony to the courtyard, a bright smile on her face.
    “Feeling better?” I asked, and she nodded.
    “It’s amazing what a shower and some mountain air can accomplish.”
    The constriction in my chest eased. At least, whatever else happened, I let her feel relaxed, even just for a moment. I gave her a place that was safe.
    “You wanna take the tour?” I asked, offering her my arm. “Get some more of that air?”
    “I’d love to,” she said, and she latched onto my arm like she was used to it. Maybe she was. She must have been to her share of galas and red carpet events. Or maybe she just already felt as comfortable with me as I did with her?
    “Right this way,” I said, leading her into the courtyard.
    The ranch was laid out so that there was a horseshoe shaped line of cabins surrounding the main house. Each of the cabins had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living area, and a kitchen. There was a pool in the courtyard, fed by a stone fountain at one end that was designed to mimic a series of natural rock pools, one flowing into another.
    There were ten cabins in all, not counting the main house, and I led her to the farthest one on the right, the Timberland Cabin.
    “When I was little,” I said, pushing the door open, “we used to come here every summer. We always got the Timberland Cabin. Dad said he liked being as far as possible from the hippie kumbaya circles in the main house.”
    The cabin was a little dusty from disuse, but River kept them all in good, working order. That guy smoked more weed than anyone I’d ever met, but you couldn’t slow him down. I really didn’t care if he was high at work so long as the work got done, and it always did. I sometimes wondered what my caretaker might be able to accomplish if he weren’t stoned all the time.
    Ava looked around the cabin, peeking into cabinets and shelves. “It’s so cozy,” she said. “I bet you loved it here.”
    “I did,” I said softly, entranced by watching her discover, for the first time, this place that I had always known. In a sense, she was discovering me. I don’t know why I’d taken her to this cabin. I’d never taken anyone here before. Even River didn’t know that