Ignite: Book 2 (The Heat Series 1)

by MJ Masucci

  Rachel wanted to know what color her dress was. Ava told her she would just have to wait until tomorrow. Now that Rachel was involved in making exclusive wedding dresses for top end clients, she rarely designed clothing for Ava. It was alright with Ava though, because she wanted to pick this special dress for Xander all by herself.

  Exhaustion took over, and she went to bed early but was restless throughout the night. In the morning she woke up and vomited. She was a bundle of nerves, which would only get worse as the day continued. She decided to go for a run around the perimeter of Washington Square Park. It was very chilly outside being the last day of November, but she didn’t care. She needed the fresh air to feel better. She pulled on her yoga pants, a long-sleeve shirt, heavy sweatshirt and a wool cap. She would warm up and probably want to remove her sweatshirt mid-run.

  She ran around the park that was practically empty. It was still early, and her breath formed white plumes as she ran. She tried to keep her mind focused, but it kept drifting to the what ifs, leaving her calming run giving the opposite of her intended effect. It just made her more nervous, and she gave up and ran home after a half hour.

  She stretched when she got upstairs to her apartment. It was nearing nine; her hair and nail appointment started at eleven. Isabella Verona always accommodated her because she was good friends with Rachel, who had designed her wedding dress. She had been going to Verona for over four years, ever since she went to get her hair done for the first Kids Afloat Gala, the night that she and Xander were assaulted by Liam that landed that creep in jail for twelve years.

  She took a shower and shaved her legs. The appointment would probably take two hours. She needed to be at The Pierre no later than three, so she was cutting it close. When she got to the salon, Isabella directed her to Jorge, who was one of her favorite stylists. He planned a fabulous updo for her. She wanted her hair lifted high because Xander loved her neck.

  After Jorge had finished with her, she went to have her manicure. She loved French manicures and pedicures. When she was finished, she wrapped a kerchief around her hair to keep it straight from the breeze that had kicked up outside. She didn’t want to have to start fixing Jorge’s beautiful work.

  She walked through the door and began removing her clothing. It was 1:45 which gave her just over an hour to dress, do her makeup and get to The Pierre. She went to her dresser and selected a black lace lingerie set, then moved to her vanity to apply heavier makeup than usual. Her next mission was to hunt in her jewelry box for the right pieces.

  She was searching through for a ring and came upon the one Xander had given her. She slipped it onto her ring finger and then angrily threw it back into the box. Damn him. She laid out the jewelry she would wear. It consisted of a gold necklace with a diamond pendant, a diamond tennis bracelet and her favorite teardrop diamond earrings rounded out the ensemble.

  She pulled on black thigh highs and then slipped on her dress. She twirled in the mirror. It hugged her in all the right places and showed quite a bit of cleavage. She was sure that her father wouldn’t approve, but she was twenty-eight, and he couldn’t control her. Next, she put on her jewelry. The necklace hung just low enough to have the pendant sit just above her cleavage, almost as if pointing for all to see. She grabbed her five inch black Manolo Blahnik heels, and her ensemble was complete. Then she snagged the matching clutch from the hall table, after she put on her black wool coat.

  As the elevator doors opened and she stepped out, Gage at the front desk whistled at her. He told her she looked like she was dressed to kill. In a way, he was right. She hailed a cab and gave the driver the address for The Pierre.

  Texting Sam after she arrived, she let her know that she had things well in hand. She had located the party planner, and they were going over several details that had been missed. By the time 4:45 rolled around everything was in place, and Ava breathed a sigh of relief. Several party attendees had come early, and they were milling around in the lobby waiting for the room to open.

  Even though she hadn’t had a drink for several weeks, she needed something to calm her anxiety. She waited until the doors opened and ordered a glass of wine and took it to her seat near the main table. Most of her family was sitting here including David. He was still furious at her, and she was sure that he would sit on the other side of the table. She was wrong.

  He came in with her father and stepmother and sat right next to her. He kissed her on the cheek brushing his lips against her ear.

  “I want to talk to you later.”

  She smiled at him and wished she hadn’t invited Tim, who arrived just after her family did and tried to dominate her attention. Luckily, David returned her attention to him, and they started to talk about things in general, but in the middle of the conversation, he noticed that her demeanor change and her eyes fix on the door. He turned to see a strikingly handsome man enter the room with a smaller attractive dark-haired woman. He leaned into Ava and whispered in her ear.

  “Is that him?”

  She didn’t answer him because she was transfixed. He reached out and gently turned her chin, so she was looking at him.

  “Ava, is that him?”

  “Yes,” she said, barely able to get the word out of her mouth.

  He reached under the table and squeezed her knee.

  “You’re beautiful, sexy and any man would be happy to have you. Don’t get upset with him,” David whispered.

  She excused herself to use the restroom, practically running. She was starting to lose control. The anxiety attacks that she had kept at bay for the past four years threatened to take hold of her. She sat on the toilet seat in the far stall trying to breathe. Several minutes later she heard Sam.

  “Ava? Ava, where are you?”

  “Sam?” She managed to choke out as she tried to calm herself.

  She unlocked the door, and Sam came into the stall with her. She kneeled in front of her using toilet paper to hold back the tears from ruining Ava’s makeup.

  “It’s okay. Don’t let him get to you.”

  “How did you know I was in here?”

  “I saw you leave the room. David told me you were upset.”

  She took Ava by the hand and led her out of the stall and back into the party room. Ava scanned the room for Xander and spied him near the bar. He was drinking a double scotch and talking with Jacob. She looked away before he caught her staring at him.

  She tried to enjoy herself through the evening. Tim dominated most of her time on the dance floor, but she did manage to squeeze in a few dances with David and her cousins. Tim’s attentions were diverted when he discovered that Roger was a fellow techie. He became engrossed in a conversation with him, and Ava was able to escape from Tim suffocating her time. It allowed her time to circulate the room talking to people that she had met through the Poulos family and her own. But she always had a corner of her eye on Xander to see if he was enjoying himself more than her.

  Xander saw her watching him throughout the night. But he was also watching her and doing a much better job of hiding it. He knew that she wore the lavender colored dress for him. It showed off her shapely body and cleavage. The necklace she wore might as well have been an arrow that pointed to her breasts. He wanted to bury his head between them. She had put her hair up so he could see her lovely neck. He wanted to kiss that neck and suck on her earlobes. But he couldn’t do any of that.

  It was hard for him to control himself, but he had to with Kaycee sitting next to him. She kept watching his eyes, and he not only had to be careful of her seeing him but Ava. Towards the end of the night, he slow danced with Kaycee, and she put her head on his chest. Ava was dancing with David and his eyes locked on hers. She looked like she wanted to cry.

  The song ended, and she hurriedly walked ahead of David and out of the room. She needed somewhere to rest and get away because she was being torn apart by watching Xander with his girlfriend. She quickly walked down the hall and noticed one of the banquet rooms had its door slightly
ajar, peeking in, she saw that no one was there. It was dimly lit, and she sat down in one of the comfortable chairs in the corner away from the tables.

  Xander watched as Ava practically ran out of the room. This was his chance to talk to her. He excused himself and told Kaycee he needed to use the bathroom then he ran to follow her. She had gone down the long hallway of banquet rooms, but he didn’t see her anywhere. He continued down the hall and noticed one of the rooms had a door that was slightly open, looking in, he saw her tucked into the corner. He quietly walked in and reached out to the hand that held her cheek.

  She smelled him before she opened her eyes. That familiar cologne he always wore. She didn’t open her eyes or even move when he touched her. It made her sigh deeply before she spoke.

  “What do you want, Xander? Please go away and don’t ever touch me again. Haven’t you damaged me enough? How much am I to take before you stop wounding me?”

  “Sweetheart, I don’t know what you mean. I damaged you? You damaged me. I’m no good for anyone else because of you. You have wounded me.”

  She opened her eyes, and Xander saw fire in them.

  “I never sent you an email breaking up with you and telling you I cheated on you, did I? No! You sent that to me? How could you, Xander? How could you do that to me?”

  The tears started to flow. He reached out to wipe them away than thought better of it and handed her his handkerchief instead.

  She snatched it out of his hand.

  “I would never cheat on you, ever. Please, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t call me that again. You don’t deserve me. You never did.”

  She wanted to hit his gorgeous face. Make him hurt the way she was hurting. He put his hands on her face and went to kiss her. She slapped at his hands.

  “I never want to see you again. Go back to Kaycee. Maybe she can deal with your lying and cheating, but I will never do it again. You disgust me.”

  She started to cry harder, and David came into the room and pushed Xander from her.

  “Get away from her. She doesn’t need you anymore.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Xander said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m her stepbrother. She has done enough crying over you. Please, if you want to do something for her, leave her alone.”

  Xander backed out of the room, and David took her in his arms. She was crying so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath. He calmed her.

  “Take me home, David. I want to go home.”

  “I will. Let me get our coats.”

  He left the room and saw Xander in the lobby waiting for a cab as he went to retrieve their coats. David helped her on with her coat and took Ava to the lobby. Xander and his girlfriend were gone by the time they arrived. He hailed a cab and gently pushed Ava inside. She buried her face in his chest on the way to her apartment. He took her upstairs and opened the door for her. Meanwhile, her phone was going off like crazy. David looked at the text messages. Tim was wondering where she was; it was time to leave. He texted Tim and told him that Ava was not feeling well and he was taking her home. He didn’t wait for a reply.

  David removed his jacket and tie, than held Ava in his arms. They sat that way for several minutes before she looked up at him and pressed her lips to his. He responded but then pulled back.

  “You don’t want me. You want him. I know I would be a poor replacement for him.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I saw the way you were looking at him. Ava, even enraged you still want him. Whatever happened between you two has to be resolved.”

  “I questioned him about the email he sent. He said I wounded him; I never did that. He sent me an email wounding me. How could he be so deceitful to me? I don’t want to see him again, ever.”

  David held her in his arms until she fell asleep. He slipped himself away from her and laid her on the couch, covering her with a blanket. Then he left her apartment. She needed time to think about what she wanted to do. He would only be a distraction. He would have gladly taken her for his own, but he wasn’t going to compete with a memory. She was destined to be alone unless she could work out her issues with Xander.

  As they arrived at his parent’s apartment building, Xander gently pulled Kaycee out of the cab. She had questioned why they left early. She was enjoying herself speaking with his friends. He only told her that they needed to go. He felt miserable because of the exchange between Ava and himself. Why would she say he cheated on her and sent her an email about it? He would never do such a cruel thing. The look on her face tortured him. He would never forget it.

  He was quiet on the way up in the elevator, and Kaycee sensed he didn’t want to talk. His parents were not home yet, and Kaycee took the opportunity to start opening his belt and zipper. She slipped her hand into his boxers and grasped his flaccid cock. Normally he would be hard the minute she started to unzip him, but he didn’t desire her. He only became semi-erect and then pulled her hand out telling her no.

  She was shocked by his actions since he had never turned down her advances. She demanded to know what was the cause of his behavior. He ignored her and went to the bar in his parent’s den. He poured himself a double scotch and sat down in the leather wing backed chair by the window.

  “Are you going to talk to me or drown yourself in scotch?”

  “I don’t want to discuss it right now, can’t you understand that?”

  “Xander, there are some things that I will never understand about you. When you are ready to talk, I will be waiting.”

  She turned and went back down to the guest bedroom. A little while later he heard his parents come home and go to their room. By then, he was on his third double scotch and was feeling quite drunk. He ended up falling asleep in the wingback chair until dawn.

  He woke up with a start not knowing where he was. As his eyes adjusted to the surroundings, he realized he was in his father’s den still dressed in his suit. He picked up his half empty glass of scotch and poured it out into the kitchen sink. Then he crept down the hall to the guest bedroom and removed his clothes. Kaycee was curled up in the fetal position on her side of the king sized bed. He slipped in dressed only in his boxers, but he kept his distance from her. It was the end for them. He didn’t love her the way she needed to be loved. He doubted he could ever love any woman more than Ava.

  Xander woke at 9:00 AM to the sound of drawers slamming. He was sleeping on his side of the bed facing the wall. Kaycee was packing her suitcase. They had a noon flight and had to get to the airport. She was upset with him that was obvious. She sat on the bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to her expecting to see the anger in her face, but there was none.

  “I get it now.”

  He looked at her puzzled. “What do you get? I don’t understand.”

  “I always felt you were holding back something from me, and now I know.”

  “Kaycee, I’m…”

  “Look, you don’t have to apologize. I like you a lot, Xander, but it’s just not going to work out for us. You don’t love me, and I don’t know if you ever would. Your heart belongs to someone else.”

  Xander sat up in bed and looked at his hands.

  “I never meant to hurt you. I hoped I would forget but I can’t.”

  Kaycee leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  “You don’t belong in California; you belong here.”

  She went back to packing, and he slipped out of bed to get dressed. He felt a little better, but the fact that Ava hated him made his heart feel heavy.

  He needed to have the conversation with his father that Peter had waited four years to have. He was coming back to the firm if they would have him. Peter was elated to have his son back on the East Coast. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to leave his position in Los Angeles until after Christmas. He had signed a contract that stated he must give four weeks notice for resignations. He would miss Christmas in New York, but there would be plenty of those once he got back.
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br />   Surprisingly, Kaycee was in good spirits even though they had broken up. She chatted with the man next to her on the plane as she noticed he was reading a surfer magazine. It turned out that he was on the pro-circuit and had just visited some relatives for the holidays. Xander was happy she wasn’t taking their separation that hard.

  When they arrived back in Los Angeles, they took separate cabs back to their respective homes. Lidia and Brett were anxious to hear about the engagement party and if he saw Ava. He told them exactly what transpired, and they were floored that she would accuse him of cheating.

  He told them that he was leaving to go back to the East Coast and hopefully a future with Ava. He needed her, and his life would never be complete without her. He knew he had a huge mountain to climb to get her back.

  Chapter 26

  Ava woke up with the sun’s rays bouncing off the floors of the living room and blinding her. She turned away and realized she was not only on the couch but still dressed in her party clothes.

  “David?” She called out for him as she remembered he took her home last night. She got no response and rubbed at her eyes. Her clutch was on the table, and she reached for it to retrieve her phone. It was well past ten. She had slept for hours. David had texted her at 8:00 AM to ask if she was alright. He, her father and Felice was going back to Georgia this morning. She had missed the chance to see them off because she had overslept. She texted David letting him know she was fine and to tell her father she was sorry to miss him before they left.

  I had to make an excuse for last night. I told your father you were sick and asked me to take you home.