in his child’s life.
With a glance toward her right, she took in the male beauty of a chiseled jaw, a nose that was a little longer in profile than one would notice facing him. Tension etched creases in his forehead, and the tiny lines that appeared around his eyes just reminded her how much time he spent outdoors.
Jace’s professional career gave him the freedom to afford to do what he wanted, when he wanted. And what he wanted did not include a family.
Gently rubbing her temples in the hope of avoiding the quickly approaching headache, Ava tried to rationalize the decisions she’d made to protect Jace, herself and the most important person, her daughter.
She’d seen pictures of him with supermodels and actresses. She even felt envious of his date to the Cannes Film Festival last year with Carmen Lopez, one of the country’s top new Latin actresses. Their physical beauty was undeniable, hers, with long, thick wavy black hair and gorgeous bronze complexion, and his, standing so tall beside her petite frame, with his sexy playboy grin and those eyes that haunted her dreams.
Jace interrupted her thoughts, asking if she had a headache. Before she could brace herself for his touch, he reached out and began to rub her neck in slow circular motions.
Ava let out a soft moan at the feel of his hands on her flesh. No sooner had the sound escaped, she jerked back from his touch. “Are you still dating Carmen Lopez?”
Jace looked stunned by the sudden change in subject and responded to her as he had to any number of reporters that asked him about her. “Carmen and I are just friends. We met each other for the first time at Cannes.”
Shocked to hear he was not dating the talented actress, Ava tried to play off her surprise with a simple shrug of her shoulders. The movement of the cars in front of her gave her the opportunity to avoid his curious look.
When the car stopped again after only moving up twenty car-lengths, they were beside a Ford pickup with a guy driver who had stickers representing his love of the Tennessee Renegades plastered all over his back window. When the guy’s gaze drifted over the car, Ava noticed he didn’t even bother to look at Jace. The creeper’s gaze zeroed in on the length of her skirt and the ample breasts her suit jacket did little to hide. A look of barely concealed rage covered Jace’s face.
Why does he care if a random man ogles me? He only thinks of us as friends .
Ava was stuck on the issue of him and Carmen dating. In an attempt to distract him from the man currently in his cross hairs, she questioned him about his appearance in Cannes.
“I didn’t go to Cannes with Carmen. Alex and I thought it would be a fun trip to take during the off-season. You know, party in a country where we wouldn’t be recognized for anything other than our good looks. You know how cheap Alex is?” Jace accepted her nod as confirmation. “We figured we would be able to get all of the benefits by going during the festival, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to be linked to an actress because we sat beside each other in a room with a hundred other people. What you don’t see in all of the pictures is Alex is on her other side talking to us. She was actually more interested in Alex than me, but some genius at the newspapers thought we looked better together. There you have our instant relationship.”
Jace studied her face, and she could tell he was confused by what he saw. She was confused too. Was she disappointed, excited, relieved?
When she turned her head to look out the side window, she admitted to herself she was relieved. Of course, she was not naïve enough to believe Jace and Carmen were only friends. She saw a text message on the phone, which he had left on the counter just that morning. He addressed her as baby and said he couldn’t wait to see her sexy photos from her latest photo shoot.
In the car beside her, Ava noticed the Renegades fan was studying Jace. “Duck! Get your
With a glance toward her right, she took in the male beauty of a chiseled jaw, a nose that was a little longer in profile than one would notice facing him. Tension etched creases in his forehead, and the tiny lines that appeared around his eyes just reminded her how much time he spent outdoors.
Jace’s professional career gave him the freedom to afford to do what he wanted, when he wanted. And what he wanted did not include a family.
Gently rubbing her temples in the hope of avoiding the quickly approaching headache, Ava tried to rationalize the decisions she’d made to protect Jace, herself and the most important person, her daughter.
She’d seen pictures of him with supermodels and actresses. She even felt envious of his date to the Cannes Film Festival last year with Carmen Lopez, one of the country’s top new Latin actresses. Their physical beauty was undeniable, hers, with long, thick wavy black hair and gorgeous bronze complexion, and his, standing so tall beside her petite frame, with his sexy playboy grin and those eyes that haunted her dreams.
Jace interrupted her thoughts, asking if she had a headache. Before she could brace herself for his touch, he reached out and began to rub her neck in slow circular motions.
Ava let out a soft moan at the feel of his hands on her flesh. No sooner had the sound escaped, she jerked back from his touch. “Are you still dating Carmen Lopez?”
Jace looked stunned by the sudden change in subject and responded to her as he had to any number of reporters that asked him about her. “Carmen and I are just friends. We met each other for the first time at Cannes.”
Shocked to hear he was not dating the talented actress, Ava tried to play off her surprise with a simple shrug of her shoulders. The movement of the cars in front of her gave her the opportunity to avoid his curious look.
When the car stopped again after only moving up twenty car-lengths, they were beside a Ford pickup with a guy driver who had stickers representing his love of the Tennessee Renegades plastered all over his back window. When the guy’s gaze drifted over the car, Ava noticed he didn’t even bother to look at Jace. The creeper’s gaze zeroed in on the length of her skirt and the ample breasts her suit jacket did little to hide. A look of barely concealed rage covered Jace’s face.
Why does he care if a random man ogles me? He only thinks of us as friends .
Ava was stuck on the issue of him and Carmen dating. In an attempt to distract him from the man currently in his cross hairs, she questioned him about his appearance in Cannes.
“I didn’t go to Cannes with Carmen. Alex and I thought it would be a fun trip to take during the off-season. You know, party in a country where we wouldn’t be recognized for anything other than our good looks. You know how cheap Alex is?” Jace accepted her nod as confirmation. “We figured we would be able to get all of the benefits by going during the festival, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to be linked to an actress because we sat beside each other in a room with a hundred other people. What you don’t see in all of the pictures is Alex is on her other side talking to us. She was actually more interested in Alex than me, but some genius at the newspapers thought we looked better together. There you have our instant relationship.”
Jace studied her face, and she could tell he was confused by what he saw. She was confused too. Was she disappointed, excited, relieved?
When she turned her head to look out the side window, she admitted to herself she was relieved. Of course, she was not naïve enough to believe Jace and Carmen were only friends. She saw a text message on the phone, which he had left on the counter just that morning. He addressed her as baby and said he couldn’t wait to see her sexy photos from her latest photo shoot.
In the car beside her, Ava noticed the Renegades fan was studying Jace. “Duck! Get your
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