The Avoidance of Love (The Daniels' Sisters Book 2) (14 page)

We found the others quickly in a private room at the back of the club and took a seat. Brielle’s face couldn’t be any sourer, but I couldn’t care less. The things that Jace had said to me earlier had chipped away at my defenses a little more and I wasn’t going to let her get to me even though I knew at some point that Jace was going to have to set her straight if he was serious about us.

Zack ran over to me and picked me up, swinging me in the process.

“How are you drunk already?”

“I don’t know, but I’m impressed with myself. Come on Mara, you owe me a dance.” He practically dragged me to the dance floor, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Jace.

“Keep your dirty mitts to yourself, Zack; she’s mine. One dance and you bring her back. No funny business.” I noticed Brielle baulk at Jace’s statement.

“Yes, sir!” Zack offered a mock salute, and we headed onto the dance floor.

True to his word, Zack behaved himself but we danced for more than one song since I had started to have some fun. Luke came over with a drink for me and started to dance as well. Both of them could really move.

Around us, bodies were bumping and grinding and the heat was just about unbearable. I was extra glad that I had a slip of a dress on and nothing more. I saw Zack’s eyes flick over my shoulder, and I knew the instant Jace was behind me even before I felt his touch. His arms came around my waist and he easily slipped into the rhythm that I was dancing. I hadn’t seen many men who could dance well, but Jace could really move. I had to bring my A game dance moves and, since clubbing wasn’t one of my main hobbies, it took some skill on my part to keep up with him.

Eventually, we forgot about where we were and who was around us. Zack and Luke were dancing with two other girls who looked like they wanted to hump them right there with everyone watching. Jace’s body seemed to melt into mine and we were dancing as one. I could feel his erection against my back and he held me tight, so I’d know just how turned on he was by what we were doing. It occurred to me that it might not have been a bad idea to have gone straight back to the hotel as he had suggested. The ideas that were running through my head currently involved Jace and me naked, doing a lot more than dancing.

“I need to go get a drink.” I was sweating. I could feel my hair stuck to my forehead. I needed to splash some water on my face
and
my nether regions to cool myself down.

“I’ll go get it for you.”

“No, don’t worry. I need to use the ladies room as well. I’ll be back in a bit.” I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek without thinking about what I was doing, and he returned a smile that looked like I’d given him the world.

“You should do that more often.” So I did. I gave him a kiss on the other cheek then walked to bathroom, leaving him with Luke and Zack.

I quickly used the facilities then made my way over to the sink to wash my hands and freshen up.

“Is that your boyfriend you’re with there?” The girl next to me was beaming.

“No. We’re . . . friends, I guess.” I didn’t know what we were, but I had a growing hope that we would be more very soon.

“Well, you two should definitely get together. You look so hot together out there and he was looking at you the whole time as if he utterly adores you.” I had to beam back at her.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The stall door behind me opened and out walked Brielle. She didn’t say anything to me and I didn’t think it was worth trying to talk to her either, so I quickly made an exit and went to the bar.

It seemed to take forever to get a drink but when I did, I was drawn to what the bartender called an “Alabama Slammer.” Amaretto, Southern Comfort, Sloe Gin and orange juice. Oh my good God. It slipped down like silk and warmed my insides. I had to order a second quickly because the first finished much too fast for my liking.

I turned to scan the room for to locate Jace. I barely felt the glass slip from hands and shatter on the floor. I’d found Jace. He was right where I’d left him. Only now, he was dancing with Brielle and she was working him like a pole.

Brielle looked up, saw me watching her, and smiled. Somehow, Jace saw she was looking over at something and saw me watching. He said something to Brielle and then started to make his way through the sweating bodies toward me. I didn’t wait for him. I ran for the nearest exit, grabbing Alex’s card out of my bag. He’d said to call him if I needed him and right now, I really did.

“Hello, Alex speaking.” He didn’t sound tired which made me feel a little less guilty for calling him.

“Alex, it’s Mara.”

“Hey, Pretty Lady.”

“Hey, could you pick me up please.”

“Of course, where are you? Are you ok?” I reassured him that I was fine and headed to the back of the club where I was sure that Jace wouldn’t be able to find me.

Alex didn’t take long at all to arrive. He jumped out his car when he saw me step out.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just need to get away from here. In fact, I need to go back home to England.” He looked at me hard, and I held his gaze. We needed to hurry up and get out of here so I could pack my things and get to the airport quickly. If I was fast, I could hopefully catch the last plane for the night.

Alex seemed to sense my urgency and tore down the road so I was back at the hotel in no time. I asked him to wait for me downstairs while I ran to pack my case.

Once I got into my room, I dragged the case onto my bed and flung everything in. I just made sure I had my purse and passport in hand. I was ready to go in minutes. I opened my door and Jace stood in the doorway looking furious. He looked down and saw my bag, his nostrils flaring.

“Where are you going?” He inched into the room, causing me to back up.

“Home.”

“You just left the club. What’s wrong with you?” Was he serious or was he that stupid?

“Nothing, Jace. Just go back to Brielle and celebrate your night.” I was getting more pissed off by the second.

“This is about Brielle? What the fuck, Mara? We were just dancing. You danced with Zack and Luke. You didn’t see me have a problem with that.”

“I was having a friendly dance with those guys. You and Brielle were practically fucking on the dance floor. Anyway, it’s nothing to do with me. We are nothing. You’re free to do what you want, who you want, when you want. I really couldn’t give a shit.” Even though I felt turned inside out, I was fighting back the tears with all that I had.

“God, when your sister said you could be a moody bitch, she wasn’t kidding.”

“What?”

“She said you could be a stick in the mud, and you needed to loosen up. That’s why I thought if you came to the race you might learn to have some fun, but fuck me, I was wrong.” He’d only asked me to come because of Lana. What had I been thinking? I had rules where it came to men like Jace and I had always stuck to them until now. The one time I deviated and I landed in this emotional mess. I was done.

I picked up my case off the floor again where I had dropped it when Jace arrived, and I walked to the door. Jace stepped in front of me again.

“Get out of my way.”

“We’re talking.”

“Not anymore.” He came closer and held my shoulders. His face had softened, but I knew mine had hardened. I had had enough of talking to him. He seemed so sure he could convince me to stay that he didn’t notice my knee come up to meet his groin until it connected.

“Fuck!” He dropped to his knees cradling his crotch. I made a hasty exit and ran out of the hotel.

Alex was still waiting with the engine running. I told him to take me to the airport as quickly as he could. If I were lucky, Jace would take the hint that I didn’t want to be followed, but I didn’t fancy my chances.

I checked in for my flight and said goodbye to Alex, promising that I would call once I was back home safe and sound. Lady luck was on my side and Jace didn’t appear at the airport. I’d given him a hard enough hit that he should be feeling my knee for a few days.

I just needed to get back home to my own surroundings and forget this sorry mess ever happened. I’d forget about Jace and any stupid notions I’d had about us.

I DIDN’T GO into the office for the rest of the week. I just couldn’t muster the energy. I told Coops I would work from home. I could tell he knew something was wrong, but I appreciated that he didn’t push me on it.

I ignored my phone when it rang most of the time. It was usually one of my sisters, since Grandma’s birthday meal was on the weekend, Coops, or Jace. I definitely wasn’t answering my phone for him no matter how many messages he left.

Friday morning, I felt someone watching me before I woke up and shot up in bed only to find Coops sitting at the foot of my bed.

“You look a state.” He crossed his legs over at his ankles and relaxed as if it was perfectly normal to be sitting here in my room.

“What the hell is wrong with you? The key I gave you is for emergencies, not so you can scare the shit out of me whenever you feel like.”

“You haven’t been in to work all week. You only answer your phone for me when you have to,
and
I’ve had Jace in my office every day asking me where you are, or where you live, or can I make you talk to him. I’m sick of his face. I am actually sick of his pretty face. So, since I’ve been acting as gatekeeper for you with no explanation, I now want to know what happened, and what is going on with you.”

I groaned, rolled over, and planted my face in my pillow. More fool me for thinking I’d escaped. Coops climbed onto my back and began to bounce like a child. One of these days, I was going to kill him.

“Don’t think you’re hiding from me, Mara. There’s coffee on the table when you’ve gotten up, brushed your teeth, and washed your face. I want to be able to stomach looking at you when you give me the details.” He got up and headed to my living room while I got out from under the covers.

I finally staggered into the room in my pajamas and went straight for the coffee. Heaven. Not sure why anyone would not drink espresso every day.

“So?” I sighed and updated Coops on everything that had happened since I’d last spoken to him. “So what’s the problem?” was his response when I had finished.

“What do you mean, what’s the problem?” Had I been talking to myself for the last half hour?

“You saw him dancing with Brielle and you just ran? That’s not what adults do, Mara. If you’re interested in this guy then you need to stop messing around and man up. If you didn’t like him dancing with her then you should have said so. Not that I agree with what he did, but relationships are going to have confrontations. If you walk away or knee them in the nuts every time you get pissed then things are not going to work themselves out.”

I groaned and started to knock my head on the table.

“Would you stop that shit? It’s damn creepy, you know!”

“Coops, I can’t deal with it. All the complications! Explain to me how a guy can tell you one minute that he wants you, and the next he is dry humping some skank- ass deluded whore.”

“Honey, that’s just dudes. But where are your bitch pants? You should be able to deal with this shit in your sleep.”

“The bitch pants are at the dry cleaners at the moment. I’ll pick them up on Monday.” I gave him my best half-hearted smile.

“There’s my girl.”

Coops made me breakfast and forced me to take a shower and put on some actual clothes before taking me shopping for Grandma’s birthday present. Normally, it was something I had planned and bought weeks in advance but with everything that had been happening it had fallen to the side.

When we got back home, he stuck around to watch a movie and eat ice cream with me. I was so grateful to have him in my life; I don’t know how much longer I would have festered on my own if he hadn’t come to save me from myself.

When I woke up the next morning, I realized I had fallen asleep on the sofa and Coops had left me wrapped up in a blanket. I felt refreshed, and I put it down to the fact that it was probably the best sleep I’d had in the last few days.

I spent the day cleaning my apartment before getting ready to go over to my grandparents. I was still pissed at Lana. If she hadn’t interfered, none of this would be happening. Jace Bryce wouldn’t have entered my life, and I wouldn’t be still feeling like a shell of myself.

When I got to Gran’s there was some man there that Lana had invited. Apparently, his name was Deacon, and he was a colleague of Dana’s. The fact that he was here, and Dana was not, suggested that she had no idea that he would be here. Typical Lana. Dana was less than ecstatic when she saw the guy. He had been charming in his own way, but I had too much on my brain to pay him much attention.

Dana’s friends, Saz, Mills, and her brother Joe were here, as well, but then they came every year. It was nice that my sister had friends she had remained close with since school. I never had that many friends in school and the ones I did have, I’d lost touch with once we all went to university.

Once Dana had gotten her hands on a bottle of wine, she was a little less vocal about the fact that she didn’t want Deacon at the meal. You could still see that she was seething, though. After everything she had been through with Jacob’s dad, I couldn’t understand why Lana would try to interfere with her love life and try to play matchmaker.