Melting The Ice (8 page)

Chapter Eleven

Ava flipped through the pages of the countersuit Jason would be filing on their behalf the following day and passed them to Macy.  Jason had outdone himself again.  She felt a momentary twinge of pain at the thought of Joey, her baby brother, giving her no other choice.  He hadn’t always been like that.  He knew damn well not one penny of their money belonged to him.   In the past few years, Joey had made every bad decision possible; not once had he done the right thing.  Macy had let him come back two times after the divorce for a week at a time but a week seemed to be the maximum length of time they could live together without him doing something stupid, like getting caught talking on the phone to the other woman, or meeting her out in public.  He was an idiot and no one blamed Macy for dumping him; well, except for their father, but he thought Joey did no wrong and always had.  Apparently, it had never occurred to Ben Talbot that not endorsing everything his son did might be the way to make him a productive adult.  The saddest part of the whole scenario was Ava believed Joey really did love Macy in his own misguided way.  This lawsuit was just another way to get under Macy’s skin and punish her for not taking him back.

“Do you two have any questions?” Jason inquired solicitously, reaching into his inside jacket pocket for the $1000 Mont Blanc fountain pen Ava had given him for his birthday the previous year.  Jason Carson looked like every other $500 an hour attorney Ava had ever met; well dressed, well groomed and well paid, but he had made himself indispensable to them over the last few years, despite her earlier threats to replace him.

“Give me a pen.” Macy muttered.  She quickly scrawled her name where Jason pointed before passing the pen to Ava.  Ava signed for herself and Lena, being Lena’s proxy in her absence. “When will he be served?”

Jason looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll be filing the paperwork first thing in the morning so…within a couple of days Joey should have his papers.” He answered. “Just as a word of warning, avoid any contact or altercation with him and let the attorneys handle it, okay?  I’ve never been overly impressed with your ex-husband’s intelligence.” He directed his remarks to Macy before flushing slightly in embarrassment when he remembered Joey was Ava’s brother.       “No offense, Ava.” Jason quickly added on.  Ava laughed.

“None taken, Jason.  Thank you for getting on this so quickly.”  She smiled a sweet smile of thanks for Jason, never giving any indication that just a few days previously; she had threatened to replace him completely.  Jason spent the next hour going over various other legal matters that pertained to them and their wide ranging interests.  Ava and Macy walked him to the door when they had concluded their business.  They were in the foyer making small talk as Jason prepared to leave when one of the massive double doors swung open and Cian, sweaty and half-naked came into view.  He’d obviously been out for a run dressed in nothing but athletic shorts and running shoes, his sinewy body glistening with perspiration.  A dark blue bandana covered his hair, keeping the sweat dampened curls out of his face and a pair of black Oakley Split Thump shades with built in MP3 covered his eyes.  He was heading for the stairs but came to an abrupt halt when he saw them and pushed the sunglasses to the top of his head.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked, assessing Jason.  Macy moved to make the introductions while Ava struggled to not drool on herself.  Looking at Cian had become one of her guilty pleasures.  She’d always been a fool for tall, dark and handsome and he was that in spades. Visually, there was nothing about him that was not pleasing to the eye.  He was tall, broad shouldered, slim-hipped, and long legged.  His chest was finely sculpted with a light fur of dark chest hair, narrowing down over washboard abs.  Thickly muscled thighs, calves rippling with every movement; his ass was truly in a class all by itself.  His face was movie star handsome and his perfect smile blinding white.  She had adopted a strict ‘look but don’t’ touch policy with Cian.  But no matter how much her head was telling her to stick to that policy, her body was all about violating it.

“Ava!” Macy’s amused voice brought her back to the conversation.  She blushed when she realized she’d been staring at Cian’s chest.  She shook Jason’s hand and bid him a good day while behind him; Cian rubbed his hand over his chest and down his ripped abs to the waistband of his shorts.  Her eyes had been following the path of his wandering hand.  When he reached the elastic waistband, her eyes abruptly shot back up to lock with his.  He smiled knowingly at her, winking before heading upstairs to shower.  She exhaled slowly, able to focus on something besides Cian now that he was out of her line of vision.  Macy grinned at her, shutting the door behind their lawyer’s departing form.  Ava hadn’t even realized he was gone. “You need to get you some of that.”

“Jason?” Ava queried, choosing to intentionally misunderstand her friend’s statement. “Ewwww!  He’s old enough to be my father!”  Macy shot her a withering glare.  Ava ignored her and headed back into the living room they had just exited with her friend hot on her heels.

“Let’s go to Charleston for dinner and hit the Regatta.” Macy suggested, referring to the Stern Wheel Regatta that ran for ten days every summer in the capitol city of West Virginia.  It was basically a festival centered on honoring a time when sternwheeler riverboats traveled the Kanawha River…whenever that was.  There were street vendors hawking everything from funnel cakes to hand-tooled leather belts to scented candles.  There were different musical groups performing riverside nightly and the beer and wine flowed freely.  Many revelers came to the festival in their boats, dropping anchor to listen to the entertainment at the amphitheater or flying up and down the river to be seen.  Ava considered Macy’s suggestion before shrugging negligently.

“Nothing else to do.” Ava responded.

“Great!  That will give Cian a chance to get out and take in some of the local color.” Macy stated, coming to her feet, her gaze taking in Ava’s shocked expression with a smirk.  “Surely you weren’t planning on going without inviting
your guest
, were you?”

Ava sighed heavily, realizing not inviting him would be beyond rude behavior. “I guess not.” She said reluctantly.

“I’m going to my house to get changed.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to do a little shopping at the Town Center Mall before we go eat.” Macy suggested.  Ava shrugged her acceptance. “Alright, then.  I’ll pick you all up in an hour or so.” 

Ava climbed the stairs and started towards the massive double doors leading to her master suite at the end of the hallway.  When she passed the doors that belonged to Cian’s suite of rooms, she heard him moving around and knocked lightly on the wooden panel.   The door swung open and she felt every thought flee her brain.  He leaned against the doorjamb, naked except for a towel wrapped low around his hips, steam rising from that bare expanse of skin and his wet hair combed back from his face.  Her mouth watered when he grinned at her and held up a Louis Vuitton shaving kit.  “I was getting ready to shave.”

“Uh…Macy and I are going to Charleston for the evening and…uh, Macy thought it would be a good idea to invite you.” She stammered through the invitation, blushing like a schoolgirl.  She really needed to learn to control her reactions to him, she thought with disgust or it was going to be a long, humiliating summer.  He gave her a happy smile.
 

“I’d love to go with you.” He agreed without even questioning what they would be doing when they got there, his dark eyes caressing her while he talked.

“Aren’t you even curious what we’ll be doing while we’re there?” Her question came out sounding very skeptical.  He laughed.

“Whatever it is, it has to be better than being holed up here alone for the evening while
y’all
go have fun without me.” While he gently mocked her accent he reached out and lightly ran one finger down her forearm in a teasing little caress, sending a zing of sexual awareness through her body.  It appalled her that such a little touch could cause such a big reaction.  His deep, dark eyes smiled down into hers while his voice went all deep and husky. “Thank you for inviting me, Ava.”  His eyes held her mesmerized like a snake charmer with a flute…as soon as that thought crossed her mind a snort of laughter escaped her mouth and the spell was broken.

“Yeah, well, it was Macy’s idea, like I said.” She muttered as she turned to head for her own room…where she should have went in the first place; sometimes she was baffled by her own behavior.

“What time are we leaving?” His deep gravelly voice had her wanting to turn back around and take full advantage of everything he had to offer; but she was stronger than that…or maybe just chicken…whatever it was, she continued on to her room.
 

“In an hour or so.  I’m gonna get ready.” Throwing open the doors to her room she had almost

made good on her escape and was closing the door when he called her name, the sound of his voice stopping her dead in her tracks.  She turned slowly as the towel around his hips very deliberately hit the floor, giving her an excellent view of his centerfold-worthy body.  Dear God…no man should look like that…

“Oops...” His shark-like toothy grin completely ruined his look of false chagrin.   Her momentary shock was quickly replaced with fury; she growled at him and slammed the door so hard it rattled the hinges.  His delighted laughter followed her all the way into the shower.

Chapter Twelve

She had learned a lot over the last two weeks.  At the grand old age of thirty-nine, she had learned exactly how long it took to be driven insane with lust.  She had always believed her father’s side of the family was the best at justifying their own wrong actions.  There was nothing too bad or shameful for them to explain away or blame on someone else.  She’d always felt she was above that but apparently she had harbored a completely false sense of superiority when it came to her genetic makeup.  Over the past two weeks, she had come close to attacking Cian on several occasions.  It had taken every ounce of willpower to keep her hands off of his fine, mostly unclothed body that he flaunted in front of her at every opportunity.  For God's sake, did he ever wear clothes?  The laugh that slipped out was full of derision.  Every effort had been made to avoid him; it was impossible to avoid someone living in the same house that refused to be avoided.  It never failed; if she left the sanctuary of her room, it was like he magically appeared with his shirt off or strutting through in nothing but a towel and a smile, fresh out of the pool with water running down his chest in rivulets…he always seemed to be half naked and wet.  She still didn't know where she had developed the will to not drop to her knees in front of him and start licking water droplets off his corrugated stomach; it had been a close thing on more than one occasion.  And he knew exactly what he was doing, every move he made carefully planned to entice her into getting naked with him again. 

They had spent a lot of time together over the last couple of weeks along with Macy.  Macy’s presence hadn’t slowed down his pursuit one wit.  She had known she was in serious trouble the day they had went to Charleston for the Regatta.  He had been witty and charming throughout the evening, accompanying them through the mall without complaint, insisting on carrying their shopping bags and offering his opinions on their purchases.  He had kept them laughing, opened every door for them and played the part of the gentleman to the hilt.  That was when she discovered he was not only sexy as hell and drop-dead gorgeous; he had a great personality to go along with the incredible body.   Generally, she didn’t get to know any of the guys she spent time with on more than a superficial level and she had always preferred it that way.  It was easy to hit and run when you didn’t waste time with idle chitchat and getting to know each other.  Cian wouldn’t be kept at a distance.  He asked questions and seemed very interested in the answers.  He had an opinion on everything and wasn’t shy about voicing those opinions.  She had discovered he was mostly liberal in his political leanings, was an avid fan of sports in general, and loved rip-roaring action flicks and blood and gore horror films.  They shared similar tastes in music, both of them loving hard-driving rock and roll with a little rap and R&B thrown in the mix.  He cheated at gin rummy, pouted when he lost anyway, and crowed like a rooster when he won.  She had learned that he had a scent all his own; a combination of warm male skin and the spicy aftershave he wore.  After the last two weeks, she could tell when he entered a room by smell alone no matter how quietly he slipped in. 

Trying to fight her body’s response had been pointless so far; just his scent brought her body to painful and immediate arousal.  She had also learned that he liked to touch.  They couldn’t seem to hold a conversation without him touching her whether it was lightly grazing her arm with his finger, laying a caressing hand on her shoulder, or guiding her with his hand in the small of her back. 
The sexual attraction could be ignored on its own, but she found that she genuinely liked him and that was a lethal combination she was hard-pressed to resist
.  This heightened state of arousal and awareness of him had her feeling irritable and edgy.  Macy had been alternately amused and disgusted with her best friend’s predicament.  Ava had shamelessly enlisted her friend to run interference between her and her persistent houseguest.  It never failed when he made an appearance, her eyes followed him like a cat with a string; he seemed to enjoy taunting her with his body and his knowing grins.  She felt like some perverted, lecherous old woman lusting after a much younger man, but no matter how many times she told herself she couldn’t have him, it didn’t stop her from wanting him with every breath she took.  All-consuming lust was something she had read about in steamy romance novels; she hadn’t really believed it existed until Cian.  Each and every day he had caught her watching him and each and every time he had flashed her that knowing smile along with the reminder his services was a standing offer.  He irritated her with his assumptions, true or not, but he also made her hot as hell. 

How could she not be flattered when a man that looked like Cian Secord, twelve years her junior had launched a full-scale seductive assault to get her back in his bed?  Three years previously when they had lucked on the winning lottery numbers, she had been trying to settle into middle age, dealing with the day to day frustrations of her job and raising her son on her own.  Thanks to the years with Patrick, she’d had absolutely no interest in a relationship with any man.  In hindsight, she knew she’d probably been suffering from depression and not dealing with it very well.   She’d let herself go, gaining weight, not taking the care of her skin and hair the way she had when she was younger; she had put very little effort into her appearance.   Winning the money and becoming the focus of so much attention, positive and negative, had changed everything.  She’d tired quickly of hearing people make catty comments about everything from how she dressed to whether she needed to have her roots done or not and decided to shut them up.  It was utterly amazing what an endless supply of cash could purchase.  A personal trainer had been hired; she had worked her ass off with him until she had gotten where she wanted.  She’d researched plastic surgery thoroughly before settling on just a few nips and tucks rather than anything drastic and with the kind of money Ava had access to, her very pricey hairdresser kept her looking like she’d stepped out of a Pantene commercial.  After her reinvention, as she liked to call it, she had started attracting younger guys and had been more than happy to engage in a few steamy flings over the last few years.  She couldn’t have cared less if they were with her because they genuinely liked her or were just trying to get to her money; how could she criticize their motives when she was using them for sex and so she didn’t have to eat alone? 

Never having lived with a man besides Pat for a few months during one of their good times, she was accustomed to living alone and her boy toys didn’t interfere with that in any way.  The men in her life the past few years been pretty much interchangeable with very few distinguishing characteristics amongst them and she could hardly even recall their names.  Some had lasted a few weeks, but she could say with all honesty she had missed none of them when the liaisons had ended.  She wasn't sure what that said about her as a person but it couldn't be good.  There was no escaping Cian.  He had been in her home for the last three weeks and planned to be in West Virginia for at least another month, maybe longer.  All she knew for sure was that he had to leave by early September and it was only mid-July.  How was she supposed to resist him for two more months?  He usually took off in the mornings for several hours on his own but the rest of the time, he was with Ava and Macy.  His constant presence was making her desperate for a repeat performance of the night they met.  It was rare that she passed an hour without thoughts of the things they had done to each other in bed running through her mind, keeping her in a constant state of arousal.  How could she not think about it when he was constantly parading back in forth in front of her damned near bare-assed, his eyes promising her he would rock her world? 

She had irritably commented on his lack of clothing one morning when the sight of his rippling abs had kept her from enjoying her breakfast because the jolt of lust that hit her in the gut.  He let out a bark of laughter and asked if it bothered her.  She’d told him it did and with a wide, satisfied smile he had offered her a solution; she needed to become more comfortable with the naked form and he very gallantly offered to work with her on that.  If she got naked with him, he promised her she would feel
much
better.  Her stomping off in a huff had cracked him up.  He’d been laughing when he called after her that he was there if she needed
anything
.  She was afraid she was fighting a losing battle, not only against him but against herself.  This constant craving she had to finish stripping him out of his clothes and take complete advantage of everything he was offering was becoming unbearable and her buffer was fleeing the scene.  Macy was flying out to Los Angeles to meet up with Nate later in the day.  Nate's band, Mojo, had suddenly reached an amazing popularity and had been asked to be the opening act for one of the hottest rock bands in the world, Detriment.  Since Macy's parents had decided to stay at the beach for another month and Ava was in West Virginia to deal with the legal matters, Macy had the free time to join Nate on tour, starting in L.A. in three days and traveling around with them for the next month or so.  She hadn't gotten to spend any time with Nathan since his band had blown up and she was really looking forward to this time with him.  Ava couldn't in good conscious beg Macy to miss out on this chance to spend time with her eldest child because she was afraid to be left alone with the hot and irresistible, Cian Secord.

"You ready?"  His deep voice interrupted her reverie.  She turned quickly from the window she had been gazing out blindly; surprised to find the object of her obsessive thoughts standing there, talking to her.

"For what?"  She snapped irritably.  He looked at her like she was stupid and rolled his eyes.

"To take Macy to the airport, what else?"  He responded, a confused look on his face before switching to a knowing grin.  "Ah...you thought I meant ready to hit the sack with me."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation.  "You are certifiable, do you know that?"  She asked as she turned to precede him back down the hallway.
             

"Yep, so I've heard."  He chuckled.  "So…
are
you?"  He asked in a low, husky voice.  She didn't even pretend to misunderstand what he meant but hoped if she ignored him, maybe he would drop it.  His hand lightly gripped her upper arm, not hurting her in any way but halting her forward progress nonetheless.  A thrill shot up her spine when she felt his big body move in close behind her, his hands settling on her shoulders, his hard muscled, chest against her back and his lips brushing the highly sensitive shell of her ear.   "Ava," he whispered. “Are you ready?"  Then his lips ran lightly down her neck, his tongue teasing the tender cord. "It's gonna be just the two of us.  Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" he questioned in a low, rough growl not letting up his sensual assault on her neck.  Her head tilted back against his shoulder and his arms slid around her waist to snuggle her closer against him, her rear pressed tight against his erection.  A moan escaped her when he lightly nipped the skin at the base of the throat before sucking it into his mouth.  Her arm rose behind her to sink fingers into his thick, dark hair, turning her head to meet his mouth in a hot, open-mouthed kiss that quickly flared out of control.

"This is not going to get me to the airport, children."  Macy chided loudly as her heels tapped noisily into the room.  To her amusement, they jerked apart with such force, they both nearly ended up in the floor.  "Let's go.  You all will have the whole place to cavort in while I'm gone."  She gathered up her purse and exited the room as quickly as she entered.  Ava sighed and turned to look at the man she had been so recently grinding her rear against while his tongue had made love to her mouth.  The sheepish grin on his face brought a wry smile to hers.

“What am I gonna do with you, Cian Secord?” she mused aloud, giving him a long, considering look.  He returned her look with hot eyes that left no doubt as to his thoughts on the subject.

“I have several suggestions I would be willing to share.”  The husky tone of his words sent a shudder through her body.

“I just bet you do.” A rueful smile spread over her face.  She looked at him for another long moment.  He made to reach for her but she quickly stepped back out of his reach.  “We have to go.”

Ava slid into the backseat of Macy’s Mercedes so Cian could have the longer legroom the front seat provided.  She listened to them chat while her thoughts kept wondering back to the kiss she had just shared with him.  Of all people for her to get worked up over, Cian Secord had to be close to the worst possible choice ever but that didn’t slow it down one little bit.  The man only had to get in close proximity and her hormones set up and begged like a bitch in heat.  Despite the effort she had put into avoiding him, it wasn’t working and she was afraid it was just a matter of days, maybe even hours before she relented and gave her hormones the green light.  More than anything, she didn’t want a fling with him to end up causing problems between her and her son or with Cian’s parents.  She didn’t think it was too much of a stretch to assume his parents wouldn’t be overly thrilled with their son having an affair with Jameson’s mother, despite him being twenty-seven years old.