The Avoidance of Love (The Daniels' Sisters Book 2) (4 page)

“My integrity.” My sisters all chimed in. They groaned and rolled their eyes in unison.

“How do you know him anyway, Lana? I thought you didn’t work with male clients.” As a personal stylist, Lana dressed the rich and the famous. However, she generally refused to work for well-known celebrities since, in her words,
there was only one diva allowed in her dressing room.
She hardly ever worked with men because, as stunning as she was, she was propositioned frequently and Lana didn’t like those kinds of complications involved in her work. She earned more money than she really knew what to do with just from a few of the clients that she worked with so she could afford to pick. Of course the more she denied work the higher demand she got. Celebrities were weird.

A knot formed in my stomach at the thought that Lana knew him on a much more personal level. The thought that she and Jace had been intimate made me feel slightly sick, but I chased that thought down with another sip of wine and then decided to finish the glass.

“Mara, are you feeling alright?” Dana asked, looking a little worried. “You don’t normally drink so fast.”

“I’m fine. Busy day at work, I guess.” It’s not that I didn’t drink. I was a Daniels, drinking copious amounts of wine on a weekly basis was in my genes. All of us had a love for all things coffee or alcohol based. “Lana, what were you saying?”

“I met Jace at an after party. I think he was celebrating a win or something. He’s like some bad boy racer who’s winning everything at the moment.” She carefully eyed me over her wine glass. “He’s super-hot. You guys should Google him. He’s a serial dater, but if he knows he’s not going to get into your pants, he’s actually really nice to talk to. He had me in stitches the way he was describing some of the people he’s met while he’s been on tour for that bike thing.”

I didn’t hear much Lana said after the words
serial dater.
I knew there had been no serious intention in the flirting that Jace had done yesterday, but my teeth grated all the same at the thought of him kissing another woman’s hand the way he’d kissed mine.

“Mara? MARA?”

“Huh?”

“I said: how did you guys leave it yesterday? I hope you weren’t rude to him Mara. He is a friend. I sent him your way because you’re the best at what you do, and I thought you needed the money.”

“I do need the money, but I couldn’t help him. I was not rude. I simply informed him that I couldn’t help him and asked Coops to give him our standard list of recommended architects.”

There was more groaning in unison.

“What it means is that you were what everyone else would call frosty below the temperatures you’d find in Antarctica.”

“I was not rude!” I don’t even know why I was yelling. I composed myself. “I was not rude, Lana. I told him what I had to say, and that was it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Can we just drop it now? He’s probably signed up with an architect now, anyway, so even if I could do what he wanted, the opportunity is gone.” I reached for my glass forgetting it was empty then reached for the bottle, also empty. I sighed back into my chair. I looked up to see all my sisters looking at me. “WHAT? EAT!”

We continued the rest of the meal with my sisters talking among themselves while I brooded. Jace had flustered me, but I shouldn’t have turned down the work. As long as the house had been of sound design, it couldn’t have done anything negative to my image or reputation.

After dessert, we watched a movie. Dana had left Jacob with our grandparents so she left quickly afterward to pick him up before going home. She hugged me goodbye, which wasn’t something she normally did, and whispered, “Whatever is on your mind Mara, don’t over think it. Follow your dreams, but don’t forget to enjoy life along the way.” She gave me a squeeze and went out the door. How profound that the youngest of us was giving me life advice. Of all of us, Dana has probably had it the hardest. But she knows the most about taking advantage of a second chance.

I went back into the living room after Dana left and lounged on the sofa with Tara and Lana. Tara was next to go.

“I’ve got to get to work early in the morning so I better get going. I’ll catch you girls later. Lana, text me about Friday night.” She hugged her twin and then bounded over to me. She gave me a squeeze and kiss. “Call me if you need me.” I hugged her back and for a second I let her take some of my stress away with her.

I padded back to where Lana sprawled out on my sofa.

“Crack open another bottle of wine while you’re up.”

I rolled my eyes at my sister but went to get the bottle she had so politely asked for. We stayed up for hours talking about work and other things. It was nice. I probably didn’t spend as much time with my sisters as they spent with each other, but I cherished the moments I got.

“So?”

I looked at Lana out of the corner of my eye. “So what?”

“You and Jace?” she prompted.

“There is no me and Jace and what are you implying?”

Lana did a mock yawn and turned to face me. “You nearly killed yourself with your wine when I mentioned his name and you’ve been brooding ever since. Not to mention, you were barking at us more than usual, and that is saying something. I know how much of a flirt he is. I’ve seen him in action. You’re my sister, so gorgeous by association; so I know he let you know that he finds you attractive.”

“I don’t know why you keep going on about Jace Bryce. Thank you for thinking of me when he said he needed an architect. Unfortunately, nothing came of it.” And secretly, I was disappointed for more than one reason.

“Hmmm, ok; if you say so. You want to watch another movie?”

“Don’t you have to work in the morning?”

“Yeah but I’m going to crash here since I’ve drunk so much. My first client isn’t until after lunch, so I’ve got plenty of time to get ready.”

I picked up my laptop and fired it up. While Lana watched the movie, I did some work.

“Don’t you ever just take a break from that thing?” she asked, looking at my laptop in disgust.

“I took a break when you guys came over for dinner. I’ve got a lot to get through.”

“I think you just make stuff up to do to keep your mind occupied, so it doesn’t dwell on other things. When was the last time you took a holiday?”

I finally looked away from the screen. It was a good question. To be honest, I had never really taken a proper holiday. I travelled sometimes for work to get inspiration for designs, but that wasn’t what most people would call a proper holiday. I did what I needed to do then I came home. I didn’t have a big group of friends to do the girlie holiday to Greece or whatever boozy holiday was the in thing. I didn’t have time to do holidays during my studies since I took on extra classes and then Dana had Jacob. I had wanted to be around to help her so that she could finish her studies, carry on with her life, and not become a teenage parent statistic.

“Oh, my fucking God! You’ve never been on a real holiday. You only travel for work, don’t you?” She turned the movie off. My sister’s perceptive nature pissed me the hell off. It was always in top form when you didn’t want it to be. “How the hell did you let this happen? Are you really telling me that you’ve not been on a proper holiday since we stopped travelling with Ma and Pops?”

Ma and Pops were what my sisters called our grandparents when they were little and unable to say Grandma and Granddad properly. The names stuck as they got older; I think partly out of respect for the fact that they raised us.

“I’m going to bed, Lana.” I closed my laptop and rushed away, leaving her speechless for once. Just as I reached my bedroom door, I heard her call out.

“Get your vacation clothes together, Mara. The Daniels sisters are taking a girly vacation.”

THE NEXT FEW weeks at work were slow. Hardly any new contracts came in. I was beginning to kick myself more and more for not taking on Jace Bryce’s project. It’s not that business was bad, but things were quiet and slow, which meant I had way too much time on my hands. When things were quiet, Coops used the overtime he had earned to take paid time off since I could manage calls and the general office tasks by myself. That left me even more time alone with my thoughts.

By the end of the day, I was more than ready to escape the office. I’d rearranged my filing cabinet, tidied my stationery, and even reordered the files on my desktop into alphabetical order. I was well and truly out of things to keep me busy.

There was a sharp rap at the door and I called out for the person to come in.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” I recognized the voice before I took in his face. His voice wasn’t deep. It was light and playful and caused butterflies to spring from nowhere. Jesus, he looks good. Rein it in, girl.

“You’re not disturbing me, Mr. Bryce. How can I help?” I sat back down at my desk so I could at least maintain the façade of being professional when all of a sudden, speech felt difficult, and my knees felt a little weaker. How pathetic!

He took the seat opposite my desk and got right to the point. “I know you said you wouldn’t be able to help me with the build of my new house, but I haven’t found anyone else who comes as recommended who fills me with confidence. I’ve seen the work that you’ve done, and if you’re not happy with the suggestions I’ve made, then I’m willing to go with your ideas.”

I would have answered him, but I really didn’t know what to say. I felt my mouth open and shut several times before I was able to respond coherently. I’d been sitting here wishing that I’d accepted the contract. It had the power to make my dreams come true, and now that second chance had walked through my office door in a very sexy package.

“Mr. Bryce, I’m not an easy person to work with, and I take each project I take on very personally because as long as that it stands it will be associated with my name.” He actually looked like he was holding his breath. I did my best to hold my smirk at bay. “So that said, if you’re willing to take my advice on board I think we should be able to come up with a design that provides you with what you are looking for and can maintain the Daniels Architecture reputation.” I stood to shake his hand, keeping it as professional as possible.

While, inside my heart was doing backflips. Jace let out the breath he’d been holding and smiled. His smile was actually dazzling, his eyes bright with excitement, and his teeth gleaming. And my heart stopped.

Jace Bryce made me feel something unfamiliar in the pit of my stomach. It was a feeling that I liked, but at the same time, it was a feeling that scared the ever-living shit of me. I needed space. I needed to regroup. This project was going to take a lot of time and a lot of my attention. There was so much I was going to need to do before I even started this project and I couldn’t allow whatever effect he was having on me to affect the quality of my work.

We spent the next hour going over his requirements, his wants, and his needs for the development. I took notes frantically while he talked, making sure that I didn’t miss an iota of information that he was giving me. The only way I could give him what he needed was to listen to him and make sure that I was prepared from the beginning; it’s what I was well known for.

I have to admit I was somewhat excited about doing this with Jace. I mean the project. I mean I probably wouldn’t even see him that often while the project was underway. He didn’t appear to be the hands on type. That thought drew my attention to his hands. They were large, and I could tell they weren’t smooth.

Granddad had always said real men had rough hands because they weren’t afraid to work. I imagined those hands in front of me holding my hand, caressing my cheek the way I had seen my dad caress my mum so many evenings. I looked up to find Jace watching me intently. He didn’t seem bothered that I had been staring so hard at his hands. He also didn’t look amused, which he had been by most of the things I had said this evening. I needed to escape.

“Right. Well. I think that about wraps things up for this meeting, Mr. Bryce. I don’t think there’s much more that we can do right now. I will take all that we have discussed today and do some research. It’s going to be interesting to see how I can incorporate a racetrack into the design, but there’s a first time for everything, and to be honest I welcomed the challenge.

“At some point, I will want to go and have a look at the site so I can get a feel for the space and the surrounding views but we can arrange that at a later date. I will have Mr. Cooper get in contact with you when I’m ready to arrange another meeting.”

He looked surprised, and I guess from his perspective, my abrupt change of tone probably did come out of nowhere but after our last meeting and the thoughts that were running through my head at the moment, I really needed to end this meeting.

“I get the feeling I’m being dismissed.” He smiled as he rose to his feet, but it wasn’t sincere. I didn’t know what his expectations were but I know exactly where my limitations lie.

“Of course, I’m not dismissing you.” My laugh to ease the tension was hollow at best. “You’ve given me a lot to go on and work with and the sooner I get started with it the better. I just hope you’ll be more than happy when it’s all finished.”