The Avoidance of Love (The Daniels' Sisters Book 2) (7 page)

He walked us to the restaurant door and opened it for me to go through first. I felt so uncomfortable. He was pure Alpha and every part of me tensed and clenched under his possessive attitude. At this moment, I felt every bit the ‘little woman.’ I wanted to bolt for my car and head home. Jace must have sensed my unease and took my hand in his, interlocking our fingers. I tried to pull my hand away without causing a scene, but his grip grew firmer and he turned and smirked down at me. All I could do was meet his smirk with a scowl.

After a few minutes, a waitress came over to seat us. She was an older lady, maybe in her sixties. I guessed this was probably a family run establishment. From the look of all the Turkish Eye’s around the place, it was a Turkish restaurant. She seated us at a nice little table by the window. It was already starting to get dark, so she lit a candle in the middle of the table. I had the urge to blow it out. I didn’t want to have to fight the ambience on top of my growing attraction to Jace. Once she had left us with our menus, Jace rested a booted foot against the edge of my seat. I looked at him for an explanation.

“You look like you’re calculating a way to escape, so I’m just giving you another obstacle to get over. I’ve been told I’m quite heavy footed, so you’ll have a job lifting my leg to run away.”

I stared at him in disbelief. I didn’t know why he was being so stubborn about this. I’m sure there was a plethora of females dying to share a meal with him.

“Mara, could you just stop resisting me enough to enjoy the food. We’re both hungry, and I just want to enjoy your company without you trying to avoid me as if I’m carrying the plague. I actually liked when we were in your office the other day talking about the project. You were relaxed and enjoying yourself, even though it was work.

“For the first time in a very long time, I was able to be in the company of someone who wasn’t trying to get close to me with some ulterior motive. You don’t care what I think about you. You’re just yourself all the time, and it’s refreshing. Would it be such a crime for you to try and enjoy being here with me?”

“I . . .” I didn’t know what to say. I’d never really met anyone else who wanted to spend to with me because they liked my company except Coops. Even my sisters probably only invited me around for dinner because they felt that they had to. Maybe I could take some of Coops’ advice and relax a little. The worst thing that could happen is that we have a nice meal together.

“I’m sorry Mr. Bryce . . .”

“Jace!”

“Jace. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m not really used to my personal life overlapping into business.”

“No problem. Let’s start fresh. I’m sure my flirting hasn’t helped things.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“No, it didn’t.” I looked down at my menu.

“I meant it, though.” When I looked back up, he was staring at his menu so I chose to act as if I hadn’t heard his last comment.

After a few more minutes, we both ordered and then sat and talked while we waited for our food. Whoever I had thought Jace Bryce was; I was mistaken. He was a racing star now, but he wasn’t a novice to the sport. He just happened to reach his peak at the end of his career.

His mother had developed Alzheimer’s when he was just fourteen and, within five years, he and his dad had to put her in a home because they couldn’t provide the level of care that she needed. He told me that his dad had taken his mother’s illness hard and became depressed.

For his sixteenth birthday, his dad had bought him a dirt bike and from there he took off. He started competing in MotoGP when he was nineteen, just after his mother went into care and his dad started drinking a lot. Although he understood what was wrong with his dad, he was glad to have where to escape. His dad had lost his best friend and the love of his life; he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, several years later he had a stroke and his health had been on a downward spiral ever since. This eventually put him in a wheelchair, and while he had caregivers come in and help him, Jace had returned home to help care for him.

I really did admire him for what he was doing for his dad. Not everyone could do it and many wouldn’t if they had a career like his. Unconsciously, my hand moved across the small table and took his in mine to comfort him, which made him stop attacking the poor paper napkin that his cutlery had rested on. He looked up at me, and I wondered if I’d ever be immune to his eyes.

“Mara, I . . .”

“Chicken Shish for each of you. I’ll bring your drinks over now.” Like that, the moment was broken, and I was glad. I was slowly but surely being sucked in to this man, and it would never have a happy ending. Jace seemed to understand and changed the subject.

“Enough about me. What about you? Lana told me that your parents died in a crash when you were all babies.” I whipped my hand back as if he’d burned me. I don’t know why, but it just felt like he’d chucked a bucket of cold ice water over my head.

“My sisters were babies. I was six; I remember them.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, Mara. I didn’t mean to bring up horrible memories for you.”

“It’s OK. Can we talk about something else though? Please?”

“Of course. Um. Why architecture?” It’s not his fault that in asking that question he hadn’t strayed far enough away from the subject.

“My dad.” His face drained of color. “Don’t worry; there was no way you could know.”

“You don’t have to talk about that either if you don’t want to.”

“No, really, it’s okay.” I took a gulp of my coke before I started. “My dad used to be a furniture maker. Original pieces that were hand crafted. On weekends, he used to take me to his shop to see his new pieces. It was our special time, and I loved it. When I was at home, I used to draw the kinds of house that I thought his furniture should live in.

“He said I had a gift, and one day I’d design houses that would make happy homes for people.” I laughed humorlessly. “Of course, at that age, I didn’t understand that a pretty house didn’t make a happy home. So, I guess I’ve always known what I was going to do with my life. I design pretty homes that make people smile.”

“The houses you design are not just pretty. They’re amazing. When Lana told me that you designed houses, I didn’t just take her word for it. I did some research, and I knew when I saw the pictures of your work that no one else was going to be able to design what I wanted. I get that it’s a bit out there for you, but I know that you’re going to give me something perfect.”

I smiled and concentrated on my plate. I knew my work was good, but it was still a little embarrassing to hear someone praise me to my face.

“Lana said that you’ve designed your own house, but you live in an apartment. What’s that about?”

I rolled my eyes. One day I’m going to gag my sister. “Lana talks too much. Yes, I’ve designed my own house. I have a plot that’s not too far from here. Building a business while saving for construction and contingency costs is taking some time. It has also taken longer because I’ve put money away for a rainy day for me and the rest of my family.”

“You save for your family as well? Wow. I don’t know anyone who does that or would even think of doing that. You’re incredible; do you know that?”

I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to do with another compliment.

We ate for a while in comfortable silence before talking about other things including our years at school. As predicted, Jace had been a troublemaker, yet he still managed to get decent grades at school and excelled at Art and Math, which was a funny combination.

He said it was no surprise that I was an A student, but he was surprised that Lana had been as well. Generally, we had very little in common. I liked documentaries and autobiographies whereas Jace liked comedies and action. I liked classical and jazz music, he on the other hand loved rock, and dare I say it . . . country music. Whatever attraction I had to Jace did not diminish because of those differences, but they reminded me that ideas of romance and love were futile.

We talked some more about this and that until we both began to yawn. It was pitch black outside and I did not dare check the time. “Jace, I need to be getting home. It’s late and I have work in the morning.”

“Oh, God. Yeah, I forgot. I guess it’s easy for me to forget. When I’m not racing, I don’t really run on any time schedule.”

“Don’t worry about it; I had a good time.”

Jace got the bill and paid then proceeded to walk me to my car.

“Mara, I was thinking and don’t shoot me down until you’ve had a chance to think about what I’ve asked. I mean there is only one answer, but I’ll give you a few days to let it sink in.”

My heart raced at the number of things that he might say.

“You said you were struggling a little with the concept of blending a race track with the house. I’ve got a race coming up in Italy and I want you to join me.”

“What? I can’t. My work.”

“Blah blah blah. That’s all I just heard. There will be Internet so if there’s anything that’s pressing, you can work from your laptop. In any case, it says on your website that you do everything in your power to make sure that your clients leave happy. I want to make sure that the design is authentic, and you can’t do that if you don’t understand the first thing about racing. Therefore, it makes sense as an invested designer that you come and learn.”

My jaw opened and closed several times without words escaping.

“I understand this is a lot to swallow, which is why I’m going to give you a couple of days to let it sink in. Especially since when I say the race is coming up, I mean it’s this weekend.” He was petting my hand as you would a damn poodle. I was beginning to feel the urge to slap him.

What the fuck! “Jace, I can’t.”

“I’ll wait for you to get the part where it’s not up for debate. I’m a client and this is what I require. Don’t worry. I’ll sort all your travel arrangements out. I’ll even be a gentleman and make sure you have your own room, even though I’d prefer if you stayed in mine.”

I needed a minute. No. An hour. No, I needed way more than that to take in what he was asking me to do. It wasn’t an unusual requirement from a client in itself, but what it meant was that I’d be spending more time with Jace. Something I really wasn’t sure I could cope with.

“I need to go to the bathroom. I’m going to go back inside. You don’t need to wait for me to come back. I’ll be fine.” I took off in a walk that resembled a sprint back inside to the restaurant and made a beeline to use their facilities. I headed straight for the sink and splashed cold water over my face before dabbing it dry with a paper towel. I needed time to think. There was too much to process. There was a little chair in the corner, so I took a seat hanging my head between my legs. What I wouldn’t give for a table to bang my head against right now.

“Are you okay?” The voice made me jump out of my seat.

What the hell! Boundaries! “What are you doing in here? This is the women’s bathroom. You can’t be in here!”

“You’ve been in here for ages. I was just checking you were ok.”

“I’m fine. You can go now.”

“Mara.” Oh my God, he growled. Shit. These panties needed to be destroyed. They’ve been soaked beyond redemption.

He moved in closer, backing me up. I turned, but that was a mistake because suddenly my back was against the door and there was no way it could open unless he gave me space to step forward.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Mara. Before you protest, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t know that you wanted me to.”

I didn’t say anything. My brain couldn’t compute what he had just said, and I did want him to kiss me. I wanted that more than anything right now. My rules and boundaries had gone right out the window. All I could think of right then were his full lips touching mine and suddenly they were. The first touch was gentle; if he hadn’t given me warning, I might have missed it. I’d frozen in place, but Jace continued to coax.

He licked the seam of my lips and the tiny little gasp I took was his invitation to slip his tongue inside. The smooth slow strokes inside my mouth were having an effect on the rest of my body. The tip of his tongue tickled the roof of my mouth. Nerve endings that hadn’t been stimulated in God knows how long were on fire. My arms came up of their own accord and my hands were in his hair.

I couldn’t control the moan that erupted from the depths of my body. He swallowed the sound and released a growl of his own. I felt his body press against mine, and all I could feel was the hard length behind his jeans.

Just when I’d lost the mental war to slide my hands over his hard body, he broke the kiss and pulled away. I felt cold, open, and raw at the loss of his contact. “As first kisses go, I’ve never had better. You’ve corrupted me, Mara. My lips will never be the same.” His breathing was heavy and matched my own ragged breath. He smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Grasping my hand in his, he stroked my knuckles with his thumb, and leaned in to whisper, “I hope you know I’m definitely not taking no for an answer now.”

Before I could respond, he nipped my lip between his teeth then sucked it into his mouth. I desperately didn’t want to be aroused by him but it was a pointless battle. He could tell I was warring with myself.

“Tell me to stop now, Mara, and I will.”

Rhyme and reason had left me a long time ago, and all I knew was that I wanted Jace right now inside of me. “You talk too much.” I grasped the back of his head and fisted my hand in his hair to pull him closer into me. He took over the kiss within seconds and I loved every second of the power he unleashed on me in waves.

I barely felt when his hips shifted away from mine so that he could undo his jeans. He was sheathed and my skirt was on the floor and kicked away promptly after. His hands grabbed my cheeks firmly, almost to the point of pain. Massaging the flesh, his hands moved lower to stop midway on my thigh.

For a second, I thought he was going to stop, but he’d been preparing to lift me up so that my legs could wrap around his waist. I could feel the tip of his cock at my entrance, which was flooding with every passing second. I held my breath as the thought of him having second thoughts entered my mind. His hesitation was brief; he entered me slowly and gently. We groaned in unison. Once the initial sting subsided, I could enjoy the feel of him inside me. God, it had been a long time.