Abandoned but Not Alone (8 page)

“
We
’
re just about to turn into the drive. You should have just about
enough time to repair your makeup before we arrive at our destination.
”

“
Right, makeup
…
um, purse
…
where
’
s my purse, I can
’
t find my purse.
”
She
mumbled searching the darkened interior of the car.

“
It
’
s right here, Angel,
”
Jason
murmured, handing her the small clutch.

Aviva
whispered her thanks as she took the clutch from his extended hand, ensuring
she made no contact with his skin. Jason was instantly worried about her
withdrawal. It had not been his intention to move so quickly with her and
certainly not in the back of a car, but he wasn
’
t sorry. He may never have experienced such a connection with a
woman before, yet he was under no illusions as to what he was feeling and he
wasn
’
t about to let her
slip through his fingers. He knew she felt their chemistry, her reaction to him
as swift and intense as his to her. That intensity was no doubt the reason, as
they sat in the darkened interior of the car, why she was attempting to pull
away from him. He wasn
’
t going to
let it happen. If there was one thing Jason had learned from an early age was
how to fight: fight to claw his way out of the circumstances of his birth,
fight those who wanted to take away what he had, and fight for what he wanted;
he wanted Aviva.

As the car
came to a stop outside the mansion the door was opened by the chauffeur. Jason
alighted first and extended his hand to assist Aviva. Ignoring his offer of
assistance, she preferred to get out under her own steam. The situation in the
car had got out of hand and she was determined it not happen again. She had
never acted so recklessly in her life, if Jason hadn't had the presence of mind
to be aware of their imminent arrival, she would have continued gyrating on top
of him until she came. Aviva didn
’
t attempt
to fool herself, the man was hot and it would seem he also had the ability to
make her act out of character, that one fact alone was enough to give her
pause. She needed distance from him to gather her thoughts; the mere touch of
his hands causing her to disregard all she had been taught about how a lady
should behave. Maybe with distance she would be able to reconcile the lady with
the woman and how he made her feel.

The
entrance hall of the mansion shone resplendent with a magnificent chandelier
whose lights glistened off the predominantly black veined marble flooring,
giving the appearance of being inlaid with a million stars. Staff awaited
arriving guests with trays of champagne while others directed them to where the
party was in full swing.

Not waiting
for Jason, Aviva wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.
Quickly glancing over her shoulder, although she told herself that she wouldn
’
t, she was confronted by the sight of
Jason standing with a woman draped across his body. Well that didn
’
t take long, Aviva thought, disgruntled
at the sight of the two very attractive people plastered together. Rolling her
eyes in dismissal, while muttering something about faithless men, she was
quickly swallowed up by the milling guests.

Jason had
been watching her rapidly departing back and had caught her look of
displeasure. Pleased that she hadn
’
t liked the
idea of his being with another woman; he tried to extricate himself from the
clinging arms of an old flame with mistaken ideas of rekindling the flames of a
long extinguished affair. If Jason were honest, and he was to a fault, he didn
’
t even remember her name and this whole
clinging neck thing had never been his game. He had no intentions of getting
into a round of touchy-feely with a woman whose name he couldn
’
t even remember. Untangling himself, and
without a second look, he too made his way towards the gathered guests,
determined to locate a now out of sight Aviva.

He couldn
’
t see her, there were a lot of very tall
model type people wandering around the room.  Continuing his scan, Jason
searched the milling crowd for a glimpse of Aviva. Becoming frustrated his eyes
made another pass along the beautifully dressed people when a flash of blue
caught his eyes. Aviva stood looking up and laughing at something a tall good
looking guy had said to her.  So the guy was a comedian, he had to be by the way
she was laughing and clinging to his every word. Making up his mind in an
instant, Jason decided to find out what was so funny, he liked a good joke as
much as the next guy. Deciding he too could do with a laugh, he made his way
towards them. Keeping the laughing couple trained in his line of vision, Jason
saw the tightening of Aviva
’
s shoulders
as he bore down on them. Good, serves her right he thought, pleased with her
reaction to his approach. At her
‘
don
’
t start anything
’
look Jason plastered on his most
innocent smile and slipped his arm around her waist pulling her into his body.
Stiffening Aviva was unable to resist making contact with his big body without
causing a scene, so she stepped on his foot, really hard with the heel of her
shoe. Stiffening, Jason only just managed to keep in his wince of pain. His
foot hurting like hell, he decided to pay her back. Adopting a look of mock
innocence, Aviva gazed up at him and smiled with her lips, her eyes telling him
to get lost. Oh, so she wanted to play, okay Angel
–
let
’
s play.

“
Hi Angel, I missed you, why didn
’
t you wait for me?
”

Aviva
’
s laugh sounded fake, even to her own
ears. She doubted she was fooling either of the men who stood beside her.
“
For goodness sake Jason, it
’
s not as though you
’
re my date for the evening.  We just rode
over together.
”

Not liking
her comment, Jason wondered if it had been for the benefit of the pretty boy
she was laughing up a storm with. Not knowing and not caring who the hell he
was, he continued on determined to get her way from this man who was a stranger
to him.
“
That
’
s not the impression I got in the car
earlier. As I recall the ride was very eventful. Do you need me to remind you
what we were doing as we pulled into the driveway?
”
Stunned into silence at his words, Aviva felt a rush of heat
engulf her face.
“
Oh,
silence, so you do need me to remind you; well as I recall you were on t
…”

Cutting
Jason off, Aviva started speaking before he could add any more to his
outrageous comments.
“
Jason, let
me introduce you to Carlos Ernesto.
”
Looking at
Carlos, Jason extended his hand in greeting as Aviva completed the
introductions. The dude sort of reminded him of Steve, tall, slim and too good
looking for his own good and Jason uncharitably wanted to rearrange his pretty
face for him. Instead he squeezed Carlos
’
hand in a warning to back off. Carlos returned the bruising
handshake with just as much force as a look of determination settled on his
face.

“
Pleased to finally meet you Jason, I
’
ve heard a lot about you from Steve. I
’
m thinking of purchasing this fine home
you guys just completed.
”

“
Yeah, it turned out even better than we
had anticipated. I
’
m sure your
wife and family would enjoy living here.
”

“
Oh, I
’
m not married
–
yet, but
anything could happen in the not too distant future.
”

What the
hell was he looking at Aviva for, did they have history? It sure looked like
it, if the way Carlos was staring at her was anything to go by.
Oh no, hell
no, not gonna happen, pretty boy
!

Aviva could
see the strain both men were putting on the others hand, neither of them
looking as though he were prepared to be the first to release his grip. So she
decided to do it for them, she stood on Jason
’
s foot again
–
just as
hard. Never breaking eye contact with Carlos, Jason bent his head and whispered
into her ear.
“
If you do
that again, I
’
m going to
spank you when we get home, just as hard as you keep standing on my foot.
”
Aviva
’
s eyes widened at his threat but she thought it prudent to
remain silent; maybe she had pushed him far enough. As Jason released Carlos
’
hand, he thought now was as good a time
as any to find out as much as he could about this man making eyes at his woman,
never once doubting Aviva was just that
–
his woman.

“
So, how do you guys know each other?
”

“
We met about eighteen months ago through
Steve and Hope. Aviva is going to be working on my next music project. It looks
as though we should be good to go within the next week or so.
”

“
I
’
m looking forward to it; the project should be good fun.
”

“
I
’
m looking forward to us working together.
”
Carlos agreed, a twinkle in his eyes.

“
Well this sounds like all around good
fun, I thought you were supposed to be working.
”
Jason commented, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“
What
’
s that supposed to mean?
”
Aviva asked, pissed off with his derision of what she did for a
living. Hope
’
s arrival
saved Jason from having to answer Aviva
’
s snippy question. He could tell she wanted a fight and the way
he was feeling at the moment, he was more than ready to give it to her. Not
used to feelings of jealousy, he wasn
’
t handling
the situation very well. He wanted to tell this Carlos person to take a running
jump over a high cliff and for Aviva not to care if he complied.

“
Aviva, Jason, I
’
ve been looking for you guys. Oh good, Aviva I see you found
your dinner partner, I can
’
t seem to
keep you two apart,
”
Hope joked
glancing at the arm Jason still had possessively wrapped around Aviva
’
s waist. Taking hold of Jason
’
s hand, Hope began pulling him behind
her.
“
Come on Jason, I
’
ll introduce you to your dinner partners.
A table full of long legged blondes, just the way you like them.
”
Giving Aviva one last look, Jason smiled
as she rolled her eyes at him before allowing Hope to lead him away. As Jason
and Hope disappeared, engulfed by the other party guests making their way to
the dining room, Aviva and Carlos followed behind at a more sedate pace.

“
So, am I gonna have to fight him?
”

“
Who?
”

“
Don
’
t
‘
who
’
me sweetness, the man nearly broke my
hand because I was talking to you.
”

“
Don
’
t be silly Carlos; I only met the man today.
”

“
You only met him today
–
and he's already this possessive of you.
I saw you first anyway, does this mean I
’
m gonna have to fight him?
”

“
Could you take him?
”

“
Hell no, have you seen the size of his
guns.  I
’
ll just sic Bigger on
him if the time ever comes.
”

“
Leave your brother alone, and his name is
Curtis, not Bigger.
”

“
Well he
’
s bigger than Jason
–
if it ever
comes to it, he should be able to beat him down for me.
”