can see it didn’t work out so well, and the cake looked almost wrecked before Ashlyn even had a chance at it. Don’t get me wrong. It tasted delicious, but it was nothing to look at.”
Before Jace could comment on Roxi’s observations, Ashlyn came running into the room and right into her aunt Roxi’s arms.
“How about you and I go in and get you your breakfast and let Mommy and Jace talk.” Roxi spoke to Ashlyn as they walked into the kitchen.
“What do we have to talk about?” Ava asked Jace as they watched Roxi disappear into the kitchen.
“Well, you know I have to keep a low profile so no one knows where I’m staying.”
Jace looked at her as if he expected her to answer, so she responded with a nod.
He took the simple gesture as an opening to ask his question. Jace blurted out, “So I was wondering if I could ride to your office with you today. Once I meet with the lawyer, I could take your car and just pick you up later. I know I keep asking you for favors, but this will be the last one. You were kind enough to get me an appointment first thing this morning, so I was hoping you could give me a ride to your office.”
Ava stared at him, as if she didn’t know what to say. He could almost hear her brain rationalizing the sense of them driving in together. If she said yes, people would know they were friends, and then they might start to piece the puzzle together and realize he was staying with her. But if she said no, she would appear to be a bitch.
When she finally smiled and gave a nod to affirm her response, she replied, “You can go with me, but you can’t keep my car. I don’t want anyone to know you are staying here. The fact that you’d be driving my car would look suspicious.”
Jace ran his hand over his face as he tried to figure out a way to get home from downtown Knoxville. It was not as if he could just take a cab back to the house or even rent a car. He didn’t want the media finding out his location yet.
When everyone had gone to bed last night, he had stayed up and watched both the local evening news and then the sports channels. As a professional athlete, making headlines for the number of passes he had thrown or for his quick decisions made during the crunch plays was commonplace, but seeing his image with the headline “Jace Johnson: Deadbeat Dad?” was disturbing.
Jace knew his best play would be to let Ava have her way, for now, and then tackle the issue of his ride home after he spoke with the lawyer. He smiled his thanks. “I’m ready when you are. Do you want to have breakfast with Ashlyn before we head out?”
Chapter Five
With Jace sitting right beside her in the cramped car, Ava questioned her decision to let him ride shotgun. The close proximity allowed the scent of his aftershave to fill her senses with want and memories. The bumper-to-bumper traffic, from the fender bender just outside the city limits, made the normal thirty-minute drive turn into an hour of sensory torture.
As the cars crept on the highway, Ava leaned back against her seat. How did she manage to get in this predicament?
After a fitful slumber wherein dreams about an ultra-sexy football player plagued her, being trapped in a car with him was torturous. Hell, this would be most females’ fantasy, but Ava held secrets that would hurt him, and he was in enough pain with his own problems. Under different circumstances, when her dream guy was the father of their child, she should be over the moon; when he didn’t even know, it complicated things.
When Ava walked into Ashlyn’s room that morning and found her wrapped in Jace’s arms, she physically felt her heart break. The reality of her secret weighed on her. She not only was hiding from Jace, but also denying her daughter the one thing every little girl deserved: a daddy. The one man who would cherish her and slay any dragon to keep his princess safe. Contrary to what Jace thought of himself, she knew he could be that man
Before Jace could comment on Roxi’s observations, Ashlyn came running into the room and right into her aunt Roxi’s arms.
“How about you and I go in and get you your breakfast and let Mommy and Jace talk.” Roxi spoke to Ashlyn as they walked into the kitchen.
“What do we have to talk about?” Ava asked Jace as they watched Roxi disappear into the kitchen.
“Well, you know I have to keep a low profile so no one knows where I’m staying.”
Jace looked at her as if he expected her to answer, so she responded with a nod.
He took the simple gesture as an opening to ask his question. Jace blurted out, “So I was wondering if I could ride to your office with you today. Once I meet with the lawyer, I could take your car and just pick you up later. I know I keep asking you for favors, but this will be the last one. You were kind enough to get me an appointment first thing this morning, so I was hoping you could give me a ride to your office.”
Ava stared at him, as if she didn’t know what to say. He could almost hear her brain rationalizing the sense of them driving in together. If she said yes, people would know they were friends, and then they might start to piece the puzzle together and realize he was staying with her. But if she said no, she would appear to be a bitch.
When she finally smiled and gave a nod to affirm her response, she replied, “You can go with me, but you can’t keep my car. I don’t want anyone to know you are staying here. The fact that you’d be driving my car would look suspicious.”
Jace ran his hand over his face as he tried to figure out a way to get home from downtown Knoxville. It was not as if he could just take a cab back to the house or even rent a car. He didn’t want the media finding out his location yet.
When everyone had gone to bed last night, he had stayed up and watched both the local evening news and then the sports channels. As a professional athlete, making headlines for the number of passes he had thrown or for his quick decisions made during the crunch plays was commonplace, but seeing his image with the headline “Jace Johnson: Deadbeat Dad?” was disturbing.
Jace knew his best play would be to let Ava have her way, for now, and then tackle the issue of his ride home after he spoke with the lawyer. He smiled his thanks. “I’m ready when you are. Do you want to have breakfast with Ashlyn before we head out?”
Chapter Five
With Jace sitting right beside her in the cramped car, Ava questioned her decision to let him ride shotgun. The close proximity allowed the scent of his aftershave to fill her senses with want and memories. The bumper-to-bumper traffic, from the fender bender just outside the city limits, made the normal thirty-minute drive turn into an hour of sensory torture.
As the cars crept on the highway, Ava leaned back against her seat. How did she manage to get in this predicament?
After a fitful slumber wherein dreams about an ultra-sexy football player plagued her, being trapped in a car with him was torturous. Hell, this would be most females’ fantasy, but Ava held secrets that would hurt him, and he was in enough pain with his own problems. Under different circumstances, when her dream guy was the father of their child, she should be over the moon; when he didn’t even know, it complicated things.
When Ava walked into Ashlyn’s room that morning and found her wrapped in Jace’s arms, she physically felt her heart break. The reality of her secret weighed on her. She not only was hiding from Jace, but also denying her daughter the one thing every little girl deserved: a daddy. The one man who would cherish her and slay any dragon to keep his princess safe. Contrary to what Jace thought of himself, she knew he could be that man
Similar Books
