The Avoidance of Love (The Daniels' Sisters Book 2) (6 page)

I threw my stapler at the door after him and heard him cackle some more.

The rest of the day went by quickly and I hadn’t heard from Coops in a while when the intercom rang.

“Yes, Coops?”

Sniggering and then full-blown laughter. “It’s still so damn funny.” He hung up before I could scream at him.

“Urghhhhhh.” I hated him sometimes. I gave in and packed up for the day. I was going to need my head screwed on for the meeting with Jace tomorrow.

THE MEETING WITH Jace came around way too quickly for my liking. I had hardly eaten anything all day because of nerves. In the morning, getting ready for work, I had changed my outfit seven times before settling on the first one I tried on. It was a tailored grey suit. I wore the jacket over a white blouse. I slipped on some matching grey pumps and tied my hair in a low bun. My look was complete. I carried wellington boots in my car for when I actually got to the site, just in case I needed them; I wasn’t about to ruin my good shoes for nothing.

I couldn’t focus on anything once I got to the office. Coops brought me in my morning coffee and went over the things I would need to look out for on the site visit. He could tell I was anxious over the visit and was doing his best to help me get everything ready.

“Jeeze, Mara. Stop tapping your foot and biting your lip. You’re driving me crazy.”

“I can’t help it; I just want to get this visit over and done with.”

“Well, the sooner you get going, the sooner you can escape the hot love god.”

“Not helping, Coops.”

“Not trying to.”

“Grrrrrrrr.”

“Stop growling at me and just go.”

I pulled all the papers across my desk into a neat pile and put them into my trusty briefcase. Hopefully, if I exuded enough professionalism, Jace would take note and follow my lead.

Jumping in my car, I felt a little better once I was behind my wheel and in control. I drove an Audi A6 coupe that I loved with all my heart. Thank the Lord for built in GPS or I would have never been able to find the place. I eventually turned into the right lot and saw a super-bike parked on some sort of make-do driveway. There was no sign of Jace, so I concentrated on getting my pumps off and my boots on because I could see, even from where I sat, that there was mud everywhere.

Just as I tugged my last boot on, my car door was yanked open by none other than Jace Bryce himself.

“Hey Mara. What’s taking you so long?” He looked at my boot still hanging slightly off my foot. “Always prepared. I like that. Let me help you.”

“It’s quite all right Mr. Bryce, I don’t need . . .” I didn’t get a chance to finish before he grabbed my leg, spinning me in my seat in the same motion. He placed my foot up against his thigh and tugged at the top of the boot. I only had a second the catch the hem of my skirt before it rode up higher than I was prepared for. His hand slowly cupped the back of my knee while his thumb gently massaged the area, his gaze locked with mine.

I’m not entirely sure how long we stayed like that, why I allowed it to happen, or how much longer it would have continued if the moment hadn’t been broken by the sound of
Boom Boom Boom
by the Out Here Brothers coming from his phone. I swiftly removed his hand from my leg and shuffled out of my car, getting as far away from him as possible without looking as uncomfortable as I felt. He tilted his head to the side watching me, then smiled, and turned his attention to his phone.

Even with his back to me I could see his muscles contracting as he continued his conversation. He tensed every other minute and when he put his fingers through his hair I thought he was going to pull every strand out. Whatever he was discussing was somewhat distressing however, it was none of my business and none of my concern.

I used his distraction to my advantage and collected myself. Jace’s touch had left me unsettled, and I’ll admit this to myself, yearning for more. My panties were definitely going to need changing. They’d been soaked through within seconds of him touching me. Even thinking about it brought the heat right back and my skin was tingling. I needed to get my head in the game and remember the job I was here to do. Coops would be on the floor rolling with laughter if he could see me now.

The sad thing was I couldn’t stop watching him. I took him in from his feet to the top of his head. His feet played with the gravel under his boot and kicked the little stones away in frustration. His legs were long and anyone could see from the way his jeans cut in that they were muscular. Those very same jeans were perfectly molded to his bum. His waist tapered in and led to broad shoulders and very muscled arms. I noticed a partially covered tattoo on his left arm that begged me to uncover it.

I clenched and unclenched my hands to help me ignore my urges. His lips were the most kissable things I’d ever seen. The bottom lip was full and plump asking you to take them between your teeth and bite them. My gaze settled on his eyes. They really were like chocolate swirls. I’m a female and I typically love my chocolate so his eyes were like a wet dream come true. I suddenly had a very vivid image of him holding me against a wall with those arms holding me up and his lips possessing my mouth.

I sucked in an involuntary breath in at the thought. That’s when I realized I was able to take in his lips and eyes because he was looking straight at me and he was smiling.

“I am going to have to start charging you for staring at me.”

“I wasn’t staring.” How fucking embarrassing? I was definitely staring and he’d caught me.

He laughed at me. “You were definitely staring. Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.” His hand was stroking my arm. I hadn’t even realized he’d gotten so close.

“Mr. Bryce, I’d appreciate it if you removed your hand. I believe you need it to steer your bike, so I’d be sorry if I had to break it.”

This time his hand dropped and so did his gorgeous jaw. Then he let out an even louder laugh.

“I like you, Mara. I didn’t expect to, but I really do like you. Come on; let me show you the site.” He offered me his hand, but I turned to finish getting my papers out of the car letting him know that I would not be taking his hand no matter how much my body wanted to grab him and show him exactly how much I liked him. He took the hint and started down the path with me following right behind him.

It was a good thing I hadn’t expected to go back to my office today since it took forever to walk around the site. Even in my boots, which were supposed to be comfortable, my feet were hurting, but I had to admit it was worth it. The views around the plot were breathtaking. It was as if you were on your own private island.

There were no roads or people to be seen in any direction. It was completely isolated. While he enjoyed the social aspects of biker-boy stardom, he wanted to keep his home life private and wanted to create a safe haven to escape to when he wanted to get away.

By the time we finished, I had seen everything I needed to. I had mapped out the location where the house would go to enjoy the best views. There was also a perfect spot for the racetrack, although at this point, I still didn’t see how it would completely blend with the house, but I was willing to go with it. It’s not as if I had much of a choice anyway.

“So, what do you think?”

“I think the site is amazing and I can’t wait to get started on designs. The sooner I get them done, the sooner you can see things come together and get the house you want.”

“Well, there’s no rush, really. I want everything right and I know that will take time. Who knows? I might reject every design you submit just so I can get to keep spending one-on-one time with you.”

Suddenly, all my alarm bells were ringing, and I needed to get as far away from Jace as possible. I ignored his statement and started to make my way toward my car. “Well, I better make my way home. This visit took a bit longer than anticipated.”

“God, yeah. It’s late. You probably haven’t had anything to eat since lunch.”

“Well, no, but . . .”

“That settles it. I’m taking you to dinner.”

“You really don’t need to, Mr. Bryce . . .”

“It’s Jace. If we’re going to be working together, you need to call me Jace. No one calls me Mr. Bryce.”

“Yes. Well, I’ll see what I can do about that. In any case, you don’t need to take me to dinner.”

“I don’t
need
to do much in life. I
want
to take you to dinner.”

“I don’t . . .”

“Mara, just stop thinking of reasons to tell me
no
for once. Let me just take you for food. You’re hungry. I’m hungry. Let’s go get some grub. Since I don’t have a spare helmet, you can follow behind my bike.”

With that, he turned away without giving me a chance to argue and I had no choice but to do as I was told. It was not something that happened often, nor did it sit well with me. However, I’ll admit that in the corners of my mind it made me a little damp between my thighs at the way Jace did it.

I FOLLOWED BEHIND Jace for what felt like miles. Left alone with my thoughts, I was positively shitting myself. Why had I agreed to go with him? I doubted he’d pull his contract away from me if I’d put my foot down and said no. I could just turn around now and zoom off without him. I could stop my car right now, make him pull over, and tell him that I didn’t want to go. The problem was that a small part of me knew that I
did
want to go. It was the same part that had been imagining his body pressed up against mine, stroking me in all right places.

My ringing cell phone brought me out of my erotic daydream. “Mara Daniels.”

“Hey. You’re still in your car. Have you just finished the site visit?”

“Hey, Coops. Yeah, it took a lot longer than expected.”

“So where are you now? I thought you would have been in a rush to get away and come back to the office.”

“Um. I’m sort of on my way to dinner with Jace.”

“Pardon me.” I could hear the sniggering bubbling on the line and then came the howling of laughter. “For someone who didn’t find Jace attractive and didn’t want to be alone with him, can you explain how you’re now going to dinner with him?”

“You’re an ass; you know that? I didn’t say I didn’t find him attractive. I’m pretty sure I didn’t say
anything
to you about his looks. I didn’t want to be alone with him because he has no concept of boundaries.”

“You’re difficult; you know that. Mara, you can’t spend every hour of every day working or just making sure you’re available to dig your sisters out of whatever mess get themselves in. On that note, I’ll add that you’re sisters don’t even get into messes. You know I love you, despite your bitchy nature. I wouldn’t work anywhere else, but you need to add another dimension to your life.

“You’re on your way to dinner with this guy. See what happens, because let me tell you something, when you’re old and alone with your twenty-five cats and they need their litter trays emptying, I will not be fucking helping you. You’re on your own with that shit.”

“Coops . . .”

“Coops nothing. You always manage to chase away any man interested in you. For some reason Jace is still there trying to get through to you. Yes, he might just want in your panties for a night of passion, but is that so bad? You need some passion in your life that doesn’t revolve around work or your sisters. Just think about what I’m saying.”

He hung up before I had a chance to argue with him some more. I hate when he’s right, but that doesn’t mean I intend to listen to him. Even if I suddenly wanted to change what I’d been doing for the better part of thirty years, Jace Bryce wasn’t that person.

All my internal musings meant I didn’t notice we’d arrived at our destination. It was a quaint little Mediterranean restaurant, which looked very quiet. I watched Jace hop off his bike, my eyes fixated again on those long legs, but this time I was smart enough to look away before he caught me watching him.

Jace came to my car door, opened it before I had a chance to, and offered his hand for me to take. I looked at his hand and offered him a tight smile before getting out of my car. He chuckled and waited for me to lock my car before snaking his arm around my waist and pulling my body into his. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the way he smelled. It was all man and spice; it was truly intoxicating.