Bruiser: A Lonely Housewife Embarks on a Passionate Affair with an Alpha Male MMA Fighter by Simone Scarlet Read Free Book Online Page B

looked up at him innocently.
    “ W-what ?”
    “Oh, come on,” Mia shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious. I’ve been watching since she came in the other night, and you two are hardly discreet about it.”
    Brandon blinked, absolutely flabbergasted.
    For a moment or two, he was speechless. Then, finally, he looked into Ava’s bright, brown eyes and realized that lying about it would be useless.
    “Are you always so blunt?” Brandon asked.
    Ava flopped down into one of the chairs behind the reception desk and said: “Clark tells me I have no filter.”
    She elaborated, “Like, normal people have this filter in their brain which stops them saying shocking or disturbing stuff.” The pretty housewife shrugged. “At this point, if it’s not shocking or disturbing, it’s probably not worth talking about.”
    Brandon looked down at Ava in shock.
    “So,” she continued, her lips curling. “How long?”
    Every instinct in him warned Brandon to shut up – but a more powerful need burned inside him. He’d never really spoken to anybody about this before – after all, if Mike ever found out, who knew what trouble would come of it.
    But now, especially with the way Mia had been acting recently, the whole thing was burning him up inside. He needed to talk about it – and Ava was already standing there, listening.
    “Just over a year,” he told her.
    Ava pursed her lips thoughtfully.
    Prompted by her silence, Brandon kept talking.
    “It happened kind of like this,” he admitted. “She stayed late… We got chatting. She was complaining about her husband, and about feeling taking for granted.” He shrugged. “She looked so beautiful… So vulnerable. I leaned over and kissed her.”
    “Like you tried to kiss me the other night?”
    Brandon flinched. He’d taken a thousand punches in his career as an MMA fighter, but what Ava had just said bruised more than any of them.
    “That night,” she continued, digging the knife in a little deeper. “You told me ‘you don’t do stuff like that.’ Hitting on the moms who go here.” Her eyes flashed. “Well, you could have fooled me.”
    “I-I’m really sorry about that,” Brandon couldn’t look her in the eye any more. He turned and tried to wipe the spurted-up coffee off the books and folders on the reception desk. “It was late… I was feeling very…” He gulped. “ Emotional .”
    Ava snorted.
    She reached over, and laid a soft hand on his bare forearm.
    “It’s okay,” she shrugged. “Look, I was flattered.” The curvy mom scoffed, “It was nice to think somebody found me attractive, for once.”
    Brandon turned and looked at her.
    “Well, you are attractive,” he replied. Stepping back, pulling his arm away from her hand, he explained, “I’ve always thought you were attractive.”
    Ava’s cheeks burned, but she didn’t let up.
    “Seriously, though. When I figured what was up between you and Mia.” She shook her head. “That’s kind of cold, dude.”
    Brandon cleared his throat, and walked past Ava towards the office. He couldn’t sum up the courage to look at her right then.
    “So is it just Mia?” Ava called after him. “Or are you banging any of the other moms, too?” She snorted mockingly. “You know, Susanne’s not a bad looking woman. I’m sure she’d be up for it.”
    Brandon paused in the doorway, and wheeled around.
    “It’s just Mia, okay?” He snapped.
    Ava’s smiled, nodding derisively.
    “I mean it,” Brandon promised. “And… Well, as for you …” His cheeks burned a little pink. “That was because it was you .”
    Ava crossed her arms.
    “I-I mean it,” Brandon repeated. “I just looked at you, and…” He practically squirmed. “Well, it felt right.”
    Ava narrowed her eyes. She didn’t look convinced.
    “Did you just hang back to give me a hard time?” Brandon asked. “Because as much as I appreciate the effort, I don’t need that right now. I’ve got enough to worry about already.”
    Ava’s