Dax Page 3

  She didn’t answer his question, knowing where the conversation could easily spiral, yet wanting it at the same time. Instead, she moved in front of him, leaning her butt against the edge of his desk while being attentive not to bump his legs. Folding her arms across her front, she used them as a barrier between them.

  He watched her every move without ever allowing his stare to leave her eyes.

  Breathe, Ava.

  “You know, Dax, I get it.”

  He leaned back in the chair, mirroring her folded arms. She scolded herself for letting her eyes drop to look at his flexing muscles and could have screamed at the smirk Dax gave her when she looked back at him. “Get what?”

  She knew how to drop that smirk in a heartbeat. “The hospital thing.”

  That did it. His grin dropped to the beginning of a snarl.

  “I get why you don’t want to go. I’ve been there, remember?” She remembered lying in the stiff hospital bed as if were only yesterday. The sounds of the beeping monitors, the stinging smell of antiseptic, and the hazy feeling of groggily slipping in and out of sleep seemed as fresh as yesterday’s memories. Most of all, she remembered the moment the doctors had told her that her entire family had died in the house fire. But she’d been saved. She’d tried to warn her family, to save them, to help them, but she’d been too late. Her whole family had died because of her.

  After leaving the hospital, she’d sworn never to step foot inside one again. But her pregnancy had decided otherwise. With Rowdy by her side, she’d managed to walk through the front doors and the birth of her daughter had softened her anxiety of hospitals.

  The warm touch of Dax’s calloused hand on her lower arm now brought her back to the present, back to him. “I’m sorry.” His voice was softer, more sincere. He smiled with the apology. “It feels like you’ve been around forever. Like family.”

  “Like a sister.” She couldn’t believe the suggestion slipped out of her mouth. And why did it sound disappointed and sad?

  Dax rolled his chair forward. “If you have to ask, then I think I’m giving you the wrong signals.” His knee nudged her legs apart, sliding his leg between hers. Instant flames of heat scorched her flesh.

  She hated the gasp that escaped her, a mixture of surprise and desire. And hated the wanting look she knew she sent him. “What signal do you want to give me?” Her husky voice skipped a breath.

  He leaned forward, his body heat circling her like a lasso, pulling them tighter together, igniting her body.

  He didn’t stop there. How she wished he had...even if, deep down, she wanted more.

  He wrapped his solid arm around her, cupping her backside and slid her from the desk’s edge to straddle his leg. The motion felt like an eternity, even if it was merely seconds. Her eyes closed briefly, absorbing the heat of his arm flaming through the back of her blouse, the parting of her legs and the paradise as she slid onto his. Every womanly part of her screamed for her to open her eyes and locate this man’s mouth. This was the closest they’d ever been, the most they’d ever touched, the clearest his intentions had ever been.

  Crystal clear.

  She finally opened her eyes and Dax’s naked muscular physique stared back at her with broad shoulders and a chiseled six-pack. Her fingertips touched his skin and he sucked a quick breath between his teeth. The sexual attraction between them sizzled. Slowly, she traced the dipping groves of his body. “Dax....” The one word hardly sounded like an objection.

  “Do you like that?” His hoarse whisper kissed all the right places, all the places she wanted him to touch, to kiss with his lips…to devour.

  His hand slowly trailed a wild forest fire up her back before moving back down and cupping her derrière. He pulled her closer, sliding her warmth against his leg, making it impossible to want anything else except this, him, right here, right now. He stopped when her knee rubbed against him.

  Another traitorous gasp escaped her and he rewarded her with a devilish grin. Her breath caught in her chest and she held the air in her lungs as his hands ran down her denim shorts, anticipating his bare hands on her skin, waiting and wanting. But before she knew what had happened, her hands stopped him, gripping the top of his hand with all her strength, whether to stop him or remind herself it needed to be stopped.

  “I can’t.” She hated the words. Horrible ugly words of responsibility rather than the ones her true self longed for.

  “I know.” His fingers tightly gripped the sides of her thighs, digging through her shorts. “I know.” The last words came out in a breathless whisper.

  They were both breathless while having done nothing, but it felt like a whole lot of something. So much so that when Rowdy cleared his throat from the doorway, Ava’s guilt had her jumping away from Dax so quickly she rammed her rear end painfully onto the edge of the desk.

  She winced. Maybe even cursed. Definitely made a painful sound.

  “You okay?”

  Dax reached for her, but the short shake of her head and warning face stopped him. Ava couldn’t find the courage to turn around and face Rowdy.

  Dax must have caught her reluctance because he abruptly stood, grabbed the ice pack from the table and slapped it on his shoulder. “I can ice my own damn shoulder, Pa. I don’t need you sending Ava in to treat me like one of her idiot students.”

  Ava felt like one of her adolescent students right now, busted on the playground kissing. She could curl up and hide forever.

  “Uh-huh,” Rowdy said. “It sure looks like you’re fighting her off with pitch forks.”

  Oh god.

  “Don’t you knock? Do you need something?”

  “I just stopped back in to check and make sure you didn’t make her cry, but clearly, I see she can handle herself with you. I should’ve known better.”

  Please make this stop.

  “Clearly you can shut the damn door on the way out.”

  “Right. Glad to see you got the ice on him, Ava.”

  It’s never going to end.

  “Yes, sir. You’re welcome.”

  Rowdy chuckled before she heard the door close, and then open again. “By the way, the walls are glass. Just in case you two think about continuing where I interrupted. You might want to pull the blinds down—”

  “Get out!” Dax roared, before stalking around the desk. He slammed the door shut so hard the room rumbled.

  When she heard Dax go for the blinds, she pushed off the desk and whipped around. “Stop.” She walked around his desk to stand in front of him. “If you shut those, people will talk.”

  Dax sent her a confused look. “You live in Willow Valley, people always talk.”

  Ava shook her head. “Please, Dax. I’m a mom. Olivia is the closest thing you have to a niece and I can’t—” She sucked in a deep breath. “—I won’t let rumors of her mother get around this small town. And they will.”

  His hand stilled. “Rumors?”

  “Yes.”

  “What kind of rumors?”

  “Rumors that would taint and embarrass her future.”

  Dax let the string of the blinds fall, the end tapping against the glass and slicing through the sudden tension. His arms crossed against his chest again—his still bare chest. How was she supposed to concentrate on anything with Dax standing in front of her half naked?

  “You didn’t hide when you were dating that doctor last year.”

  “Daniel.”

  “Or how about the yoga instructor.”

  “Lucas.”

  “I know their goddamn names!”

  She wasn’t following.

  “You weren’t embarrassed or tainted to be seen with them. Or sit behind closed doors. Besides, this could be nothing more than you icing my shoulder.”

  Ava stilled, never having seen this side of Dax. She’d seen him angry, snarly, rude, but never had those feelings been directed at her and for something she’d had no control over. Even seeing how her insinuation had insulted him, she couldn’t help but wonder h
ow he could blame her? His reputation for loving plenty of women was pretty well known. So, yes, for her daughter, she wouldn’t be one of those women. And for the sake of their friendship, she wouldn’t bluntly say the words he was fishing for now.

  “I should go. Leave the ice on your shoulder for a while and rub gel in.” She turned to grab Olivia’s bag off the desk, but Dax caught her wrist.

  Her eyes fell closed.

  What was happening between them today? Their actions were weak, losing themselves in the underlying desire that had always been present, but they’d never pursued. Why was today any different?

  “You believe I taint and embarrass Olivia?”

  Her head spun to face him. “I didn’t say that. Of course not. You’re her hero, Dax. She loves you.”

  “But me and you, together, would taint her...or taint you?” His accusation made the room feel smaller, like it was closing in on her. With his hand still burning around her wrist, she could hardly find the air to breathe.

  “Me and Olivia are two in the same.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “What do you want me to say, Dax?”

  “That you don’t want to spoil your reputation with a womanizing man-whore.”

  At his harsh words, she bit the inside of her mouth and said nothing.

  He waited. “Well?”

  “Those are your words.”

  “And what would your words be?”

  She said nothing. What could she possibly say when his words only rang truth?

  He let her wrist go. “Tell Dad I’ll skip Sunday dinner.” He stormed around her, grabbing Olivia’s bag, tossing the ice pack and gel inside before throwing it into the chair beside the door. “Close the door on your way out. I’m working. Would you like me to come into your class with a bowl of soup when it’s your time of the month?”

  Ava grabbed the bag. “Screw you, Dax.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ~

  TWO EVENINGS LATER, WHILE ROWDY grilled his marinated steak on the barbecue and Olivia played in the backyard, Ava snuck onto the front porch for some alone time. Or so she thought, until she caught herself glancing down both sides of the streets in search of Dax’s black pick-up truck. Of course he didn’t just have any plain, old pick-up. He had a souped-up, superior truck. To be honest, Ava didn’t know exactly what that meant besides bigger wheels, louder engine, and a more detailed paint job. She was unlike her daughter, whose interest in restoring vehicles far exceeded that of most full-time mechanics’ knowledge. She knew squat.

  There was no sign of him.

  Ava sat in the swing, cradling her mug of hot tea and wondering what the rest of the neighbours would think about his absence. Wanda, who lived in the duplex attached to them, had spoiled them with one of her famous salads like every other Sunday supper. Today, a cold cucumber salad filled the kitchen with its fresh vegetable and vinegar scent. A couple of guys from the shop who lived on the street had brought a cooler of beer and bags of chips. The evening’s supper had continued without Dax.

  Ava sipped her peppermint tea, hoping the soothing liquid would calm her queasy stomach. But she knew no amount of tea would settle her emotions. The intense feeling of guilt couldn’t compare to her inability to rid her head of Dax’s touch. He’d unknowingly, but permanently, stamped his claim on every inch of the skin he’d touched. She still burned with desire at the memory.

  She sipped her tea again.

  How could she fix the rift between her and Dax without making their future encounters awkward? She didn’t know if he’d even remain in the same room as her again.

  Would she have to move out? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford her own house anymore. Seven years ago, she’d lacked a career and any source of money. But now she made a decent living teaching at the high school and Rowdy lived below his wealth, not flaunting the money from his portion of the shop, and refused to accept rent from her so she’d been able to save additional money. Willow Valley’s little cottages were now in her price range. She’d attempted to make up for Rowdy’s generosity by doing the grocery shopping and cleaning. He was so unlike his son who lived in a gorgeous condo directly on the beach and who’d hired a maid who doubled as his personal shopper.

  And there he was again, popping into her head and making her all hot and bothered.

  Shoot.

  She sipped her tea and heard footsteps beside her.

  “That wasn’t exactly what I meant when I asked you to check my son’s shoulder.”

  She winced at Rowdy’s voice. So much for avoiding this confrontation.

  She scooted over, giving him a place to sit beside her. He always smelled like oil and grease from the shop and today was no exception. Even after he’d showered, the smell lingered. A familiar smell. A good smell.

  “I don’t know what to say.” It was the truth.

  “Don’t say anything.”

  She slanted him a look. “He’s not here tonight because of me.” She’d thought a couple days would give Dax enough time to cool down. She’d been wrong.

  Rowdy’s cocky smile reminded her of Dax. “Oh, sweetheart, it takes two to tango.”

  Her mouth dropped open, horrified. “There was absolutely no tangoing.”

  He held up his hand, as if implying she didn’t have to explain, or maybe he simply didn’t believe her.

  “I’m not a reckless girl who fools herself into thinking your son is relationship material and I’m not the girl who wants the one-night stands he only offers.”

  Rowdy said nothing.

  “I’m not looking for a relationship, anyway.”

  Not a word.

  “And certainly not with Dax.”

  Not even a nod.

  “Are you going to say anything?”

  He grinned and her eyebrows drew together. “I’m enjoying listening to you trying to convince yourself of all of the above.”

  She made a harrumph sound and turned away, shoving the porch with her foot and giving the swing some movement. “I’ll fix it,” she said.

  “I don’t really think there’s anything to fix, unless you mean the misconception between you two.”

  “Stop doing that. I can see where Dax gets his annoying…” She waved a hand in the air and groaned, not sure where this sentence was headed. “…stubborness.”

  “Is that an insult?” Rowdy chuckled, continuing the swaying motion with a steady foot

  She sighed. “No.”

  Patting her leg, he said, “I love you like a daughter, Ava. But Dax is my son and I know that he doesn’t love you in the same platonic way and I know the feeling is vice-a-versa.” He winked at her. “I can see in plain sight what is oblivious to you two. So I’m just sitting back, waiting for you two to figure that out. But honestly, you’re taking forever. I thought today was about time.”

  “There’s nothing to figure out or maybe we figured it out plenty after you left. I said some things to Dax and now he’s furious with me.”

  “I’m sure he played his part.”

  “No.” Ava twisted to face him. “Don’t take my side. He’s your son.”

  “He can be an ass.”

  “So can you.”

  He laughed.

  She didn’t. “I all but called him a womanizing man-whore.”

  She watched Rowdy work his best at concealing a smile.

  Shaking her head, she turned away. “Stop it.”

  “I’m sorry…?” He snorted.

  “Rowdy!”

  “What do you think he is?”

  “I didn’t call him one! He made reference to himself being one and I didn’t tell him otherwise.”

  “You’re not a liar, sweetheart.”

  She groaned and slinked further down the seat. “You’re not helping at all.”

  “I’ve been trying to get you to face those feelings you have.”

  She snorted this time. “Feelings and lust are two entirely different emotions. And, truthfully, both get a person into trouble. Right n
ow, I don’t need any trouble.”

  “There’s never a good time for trouble.”

  She stretched her hands in front of her. “I’m good with staying out of trouble. Indefinitely. I like this peace right here.”

  “Well, aren’t you boring.”

  Ava laughed, nudging his side. “I’m a mom.”

  “Don’t hide behind Olivia.”

  “I’m not hiding. I simply know what I want and what I like. And I like my life the way it is.” She paused. “And Dax knows his life, too, and what he wants. The other day was a slip up on our part. We both know it and I will fix it.” She looked at him and found his head still slanted in her direction. “I promise he will be here for supper next Sunday.”

  “Don’t you think the old man sees enough of me at the fire station?”

  Ava stilled at Dax’s voice.

  Rowdy slapped his hands on his legs. “I sure as hell do,” he said, standing. “I was looking forward to this quiet evening without my nagging boy.”

  Dax scoffed.

  Ava dared to look up, catching the two exchanging a half-hug, and slapping the other’s shoulder. She couldn’t look away when she found Dax’s eyes burning on her. For a brief moment, she was transported back to his office, sliding onto his lap.

  Then Rowdy turned around and purposely blocked their vision. “Supper will be fifteen minutes.” He winked at Ava before leaving her alone with his son. She’d hoped Dax would follow his dad into the house, maybe even ignore her altogether and stay angry. That would be easiest. She would have jumped to her feet and ran behind Rowdy if she thought her trembling legs would hold her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ~

  DAX WAITED FOR THE DOOR to shut behind Rowdy before he walked to the spot directly in front of Ava. Leaning his lower body against the railing, he crossed his ankles and folded his arms, searching for the words to apologize.

  Her silent accusation in his office hadn’t been some sort of eye opener for him. Dax was fully aware of the reputation he’d purposely built. He was also fully aware his flirting with her hadn’t been for any other reason than a quick lay with an attractive woman on his office desk. But he wasn’t about to apologize for that.