Ignite: Book 2 (The Heat Series 1)

by MJ Masucci

  Georgia was humid but not as hot as she anticipated, so she was able to drive her rented sedan with the windows open on the way to her father’s house. The early evening traffic was heavy, and the trip took her over an hour as she drove the twenty miles from Atlanta to Sandy Hills.

  No one but Natalia was there. She expected her father, but he was out to dinner with Felice. She decided to forgo staying in the main house for the pool house. She rolled her suitcase down through the pool enclosure and selected the bedroom where she made love with Xander when they were last here together.

  She had just unpacked and was sitting on the couch when she got the scare of her life. A young, tall, handsome man with dark brown hair came out of the bedroom on the other side of the house with a towel around his waist. She jumped off the couch and grabbed a vase from the end table.

  “Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?”

  The man backed up with his hands in front of him.

  “Don’t throw that. I’m David, Felice’s son. I just got home a few days ago, and your dad said I could stay here until I get settled in my own place.”

  Felice had sold her home a couple of months ago and moved into the main house with her father. She never mentioned she had a son much less that he would be staying here in the pool house.

  She put the vase down and sat back on the couch while David went to his room to change. When he came back he was dressed in shorts and his chest was bare. He sat on the love seat opposite her.

  “So,” he began with a bit of skepticism, “what are you doing here?”

  “I came for a visit to see my new nephew. I want to stay down here.”

  “Hey, I don’t mind a female roommate, but your father might not like it.”

  “I have as much right to be here as you do, more because it’s my father’s house.”

  “I don’t want to argue with you. And you could introduce yourself, but I’m guessing you’re the younger daughter.”

  “Oh. I’m Ava.”

  She could see him looking her up and down with his bright blue eyes. She didn’t look her best after the last two weeks of over-indulgence. But he didn’t seem to have a problem with what that.

  “You’re very pretty. You kind of look like Brooke.”

  “Gee, thanks for the compliment. And I look very much like Brooke; we are sisters you know.”

  “How old are you?”

  “That is rude to ask. How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-six. I just graduated from FSU law. Your turn.”

  “I’m twenty-eight. I just graduated from NYU law.”

  “Oh, so we have something in common. Are you studying for the bar exam yet?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. I wish February would get here already.”

  They had other stuff in common, too. They found out that they loved the same type of movies. He also loved the Atlanta Braves as much as she did. They made small talk until Ava heard her father’s voice outside the pool house. He came into the sitting area not looking too happy. She got up to hug him as David said hello.

  “Ava, I thought you were staying in your old room?”

  “I’d rather stay here if you don’t mind. But you didn’t mention you had any company out here. It’s okay.”

  “Yes, well I see you met David, and he is staying here. You can’t stay in the same house as him.”

  “Daddy, I think I can handle living in a house with a male for the next week. I’m not a baby anymore. What does it matter if I stay down here with David or if he was in the main house with me?”

  “Because I would be there. I won’t be here.”

  “I’m sure David will keep his hands to himself, won’t you, David?”

  David nodded his head because he wasn’t sure what to say. Her father told her to make sure she called her sister and brother to let them know she was here and then he left, closing the door a little too hard.

  She called her siblings, promising Michael that she would come over first thing tomorrow to see the children. Brooke said she would be over the next afternoon so the kids could swim. Ava wanted to swim right then and start getting her mind and body back into shape, but she had been told that she would have to wait for her tattoo to heal. So she just went out to dangle her feet in the pool. David followed and sat next to her.

  “Why don’t we take a swim together?”

  “I can’t. I just got a new tattoo, and I need to let it heal.”

  “Can I see it?”

  “It’s in a place that’s private.”

  “I’ll never understand why people do that. It’s a piece of artwork that should be shown and you hide it under clothing.”

  “It’s for my eyes only. I don’t need to show it to the world.”

  “Suit yourself.” He jumped into the pool and started to swim laps.

  She watched him for awhile and then went into the pool house to watch TV. She was tired and ended up falling asleep. She woke up as droplets from David’s hair dripped onto her arm.

  “Hey, do you mind? You’re getting me wet.”

  “Sorry, I was going to wake you to see if you wanted to watch a movie. Rear Window is on and its one of my favorites.”

  A smile bloomed on her face because unbeknownst to him, it was her favorite, too.

  “Sure, I love that movie.”

  He pulled up the movie and went to change. He came back wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. He went to make popcorn in the microwave and sat next to her to share the bowl.

  When her favorite scene played, where Grace Kelly was sitting on James Stewart’s lap, kissing him, she fixed her eyes on the television. After it was over, she sighed loudly.

  “I just love that scene. It’s so sexy.”

  David laughed. “You think that’s sexy? I guess when you think about it, it sort of is.”

  She had dropped a piece of popcorn on her shirt, and he plucked it off and offered it to her. She took it off his fingers with her lips. He offered her another, and she did the same. She knew she was going down a slippery slope, but she couldn’t stop herself. He leaned over and put the bowl on the table then took her face between his hands and kissed her gently.

  He moved his mouth from her lips to her neck and sucked at it while his hands cupped her breasts. She placed her hand between them and grasped his growing length. He moaned against her neck, which caused her to wake out of the trance.

  “David, we have to stop. This isn’t right,” she whispered as she removed her hand from him.

  He pulled back, brushed the hair from her face and looked into her eyes.

  “What isn’t right about it? You want this; I want this. We aren’t related.”

  “We don’t know each other very well. Suppose our parents get married? Then we have this between us, stepchildren that screwed each other.”

  He pulled his hands away, exclaiming “Geez, when you put it like that it sounds so, so, incestuous.”

  “Ugh, I’m sorry I said it like that,” She groaned.

  He picked up the bowl of popcorn and they went back to watching the movie. After the movie was over, Ava said goodnight to David and went to her side of the pool house to go to bed. The day of travel had taken a lot out of her. She got undressed and put on a t-shirt and slipped under the covers.

  During the night, she had a horrible nightmare, and she woke up screaming. David showed up at her bedside trying to calm her down. When she was calm enough, and she assured him she was okay, he went back to his room. She hadn’t had a nightmare in over four years. This one was the worst. She was attending Xander’s funeral after he had died in some kind of accident. The dream was so vivid with her seeing his face as she walked by his casket. She had laid herself across it telling him not to leave her. She didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

  The second morning she was there, she met David coming back from an early morning run as she was starting hers. After that, they took their runs together. She lagged behind several times, but by the end of the
week, she was back to her usual stamina. She avoided alcohol the entire time she was at her father’s home, and she started to eat better. The day before she was to leave she weighed herself and was back to one hundred ten pounds.

  She was sitting on the couch relaxing when David came back from an interview with a local law firm.

  “How did it go?”

  “I’m not sure. There were several people waiting to be interviewed while I was there.”

  “When are they going to let you know?”

  “They said in a couple of weeks.”

  “You could ask my father for a position.”

  David furrowed his forehead, “I don’t want to do that. I know he would hire me immediately, but I want to do this myself.”

  “I understand, but you should consider it.”

  “Are you leaving tomorrow?”

  “Why, are you going to miss me?”

  “Yeah, you’re a pain in the ass, but I’ve gotten used to you being around.”

  “I’ve been considering staying here another week.”

  She saw his face brighten and decided that she would. He made her feel good when they were together. There was no pressure to impress him.

  “That would be great. Then I will have a partner for another week to go on runs with and watch the Braves.”

  She went up to the main house to let her father and Felice know that she decided to stay another week. Her father grew suspicious that she was taking time off when she had to go back to work. She lied and told him that she took a leave of absence for a month to study and relax. She had been so busy the last three years with school and work that she needed the rest. He seemed satisfied with her explanation and left to go back to the office.

  She made a couple of phone calls, one to Gage to ask if he could take care of Boomer and Riley for one more week and another to Sam, though she had to leave a voicemail to tell her she was doing much better, but wouldn’t be home for another week.

  It was true; she did feel much better. She was back to her daily routine. The last thing she did was call Tim and let him know where she was. She had not told anyone but Sam and her family that she was coming down. She had avoided his texts and calls until she got her head together. He told her that he missed her, and he understood that she needed time to herself. She didn’t know that he knew exactly where she was by the GPS tracking he had put on her phone.

  Tim had also noticed that she had been texting a new person, David. Who was this David? When was he going to get his chance to be with her? He couldn’t wait for her to come home so he could start pressing her to date him again. He had changed his hair style from a crew cut that he normally wore to parted down the side. As it grew longer, it looked more stylish. He also started to grow a thin beard and mustache. He changed his glasses from the thick dark square frames to frameless, thinking it made him look more distinguished.

  He found that this school was much better than the old one he had previously taught (for dealing anyway). Security wasn’t as tight as he had anticipated and his business was growing. From the first week of school to the third week, his business had increased fivefold. He started stacking wads of cash under a floorboard in his apartment. It wasn’t like he could go to the bank with all that cash. But he also started spending some of it. He purchased a couple of Brooks Brothers suits and several expensive dress shirts and ties.

  On a whim, he bought Ava a gold locket that he would eventually give to her. With all the money he was making, he could afford to take her out in style. She would see the changes in him when she came home, and he was sure that she would like what she saw.

  Chapter 21

  When Ava got back from Georgia two weeks later, she noticed that the weather had gotten cooler as the end of September usually does. Gone were the sweltering afternoons and comfortable evenings. Now she needed to wear a sweater or light jacket at night. The Saturday she came home, Tim insisted on taking her out to dinner even though she was tired from her trip. She told him it had to be casual because she wasn’t in the mood to dress up.

  Tim took her to a small pizza place in The Village. They used wood fired ovens, which were her favorite. Ava noticed right away that Tim’s appearance had changed. Gone were the large framed glasses and crew cut, now he had stylish wire frames and his hair was parted to the side with a bit of styling gel added to keep it in place. He also had started to grow a beard and mustache that he was keeping neatly trimmed. She commented on the changes, and he smiled at her compliments.

  He ordered a glass of wine and offered her one, but she declined. She was determined not to indulge in alcohol and hadn’t since she went to Georgia. That afternoon she dumped out all the leftover vodka and wine that she had in her cabinets. She didn’t need the temptation.

  They ate their meal, and Tim told her about his new job. He was enjoying teaching the kids in the robotics club after school. At the end of the meal, he took out a large roll of bills. Ava was surprised that he was carrying around so much money. He couldn’t be paid that well, can he? He took her home and expected her to invite him up to her apartment, but she begged off saying she was very tired and wanted to go to bed. He kissed her cheek in the lobby and left.

  On Sunday, she slept late and would have remained in bed dozing if Riley hadn’t sat at the foot of her bed meowing. He was hungry, and she was sure that Boomer was, too. She dragged herself out of bed and fed them. Then she got the Sunday paper that was at her door and sat down on the couch. Though she was tired, she wanted to run and went to put on her gear.

  While she was stretching at the entrance to the park, she saw Tim with the same man she had seen him with weeks ago. They exchanged bags, his larger than the one he handed to the man. What was he doing? Her curiosity was piqued, and as he turned to walk away, she called to him. He looked around and upon spotting her she saw that his demeanor changed. He slowly came over to her. She asked about the bag, and he said it was some stuff for the robotics club. Then he made an excuse and hurried away.

  How strange? Maybe what was in the bag had to do with why he had so much money with him? She had plenty of time to think about it while she ran through the park. After three miles had logged, the sky started to turn dark, and she ran for home hoping to get there before the skies opened up.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t make it and by the time she entered the lobby she was soaked through and her clothing was sticking to her. She hurried to the elevator so she could get up to her apartment to change into dry clothing. She shivered as the door opened on the fifth floor. It brought about a memory when Xander had gotten soaked on his way back from court. She smiled to herself when she remembered what he looked like in his wet business suit; hair plastered to his head. She shook the memory away because thinking about him made her sad.

  Ava slowly undressed and put her clothes in the sink and then she took a hot shower. She had no idea what she was going to do for the next two weeks. Her uncle had suspended her for a month, and it was only half over. Tim and Sam were at work (though she was seriously having second thoughts about Tim and his bag of whatever), and Luca was on another business trip.

  Aside from them and her cousins, she had no other real friends in the city. They were all busy. Rachel was working on her designs and dresses from her bed. When Rigo wasn’t around, she got up to sew. Dani was working on her paintings and sculptures for her next show, and Robert was in the midst of working on the plans for his next gym location. She should have stayed in Georgia for another week.

  She decided to call David. He was probably at home since it was Sunday.

  “Hey, stranger, how was the flight back to New York?”

  “It was good, but I should have stayed another week.”

  “I’m flattered that you’re missing me already.”

  “Oh, yes. I cried myself to sleep last night.”

  He chuckled into the phone, and she realized that she missed him. She blurted out, “You should come visit me one of these days.”

  �
�How about this week?”

  “Are you serious? I didn’t mean tomorrow, but really?”

  “I got the job!”

  “You should have told me that first. Congratulations.”

  “The problem is that I don’t start until mid-October, so I have three weeks to go. That was why I thought maybe I could visit you. I have plenty of time, and I have a few bucks saved.”

  “If you want to come you’re welcome. Maybe we can study for the bar while you’re up here.”

  “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Let me make arrangements, and I will text you when I’m coming up.”

  They chatted for a few more minutes and then they hung up. She was excited to show David the sights around the city. She hoped that if he told her father about his visiting her that he wouldn’t think anything was going on between them. There wasn’t, and she was pretty sure there wouldn’t be even though she got the vibe from David that he wanted her.

  A little while later he texted her flight information and told her he would probably be at JFK by 1:00 PM on Tuesday. That gave a full day to get everything squared away in her apartment. She needed to clean and get some groceries in her pantry. She had nothing to eat but a few canned goods and some crackers.

  The next day she got up early and started to clean, do laundry and order groceries. She wanted to make sure that David’s stay in the city was enjoyable. She printed out a bunch of places she could take him. She would let him pick since he had never been here. She was sure there were plenty of places that would interest him. She also wanted to introduce him to her family since she was pretty confident her father had plans to ask Felice to marry him. David would then be family.

  As Ava made plans with David through text, Tim became very unhappy, and it reflected in his tone with his students the next day. Last night he had seen texts to David. The man was coming to stay with her in the city. He wondered if she was fucking him. She mentioned a David when they had dinner on Saturday. She said he was the son of her father’s girlfriend but said nothing more. He wondered what happened between them when Ava was down in Georgia.