Kissing Fire (6 page)

Shiz, I can’t even make a decent exit.

I wandered around the yard, thinking that maybe it
would lead me to the front, but it was walled off. I turned around
and slammed right into Justin’s chest. Then I immediately broke
down and cried. What the hell was wrong with me?

He didn’t say anything until my tears turned into
the sniffles and I was making those awful gurfing noises.

“You better now?” he asked as he patted my back.

“How can someone that sounds like this be
better?”

“That’s what Caroline always says. Why the
tears?”

“I was humiliated. You looked at me like I’d grown
an extra head. I know I’ve grown an extra stomach, but I still only
have one head.”

“I was surprised is all Ava. You were the last
person I thought I’d see today. And there you stood. I was
processing. You haven’t been around me in such a long time. You’re
not used to my goofy assed looks you know. They’re usually
disguised by a surgical mask too. I’m gonna have to make a note of
that.”

“You’re not mad that I’m here?”

“You thought I was mad at you?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course I’m not mad.”

“Not even for all of our past crap?”

“Oh hell, Ava, that shit is so old already. It’s
been long gone for me.”

“Really?”

“Really. So Seattle, huh?”

“Yeah. You should’ve seen Mom when I told her.”

He pulled back and looked me in the eye. “You did it
yourself, with no one running interference?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. My baby sister is all grown
up.”

********

We walked back in the house, arm in arm.

“Dayam, Justin, this is some kind of a house you’ve
got here.”

“So I’ve been told,” he laughed.

He walked me back to where Caroline and that other
guy were. They were sitting and talking, with some kind of baseball
game in the background on TV. When we entered, the guy stood up and
Caroline said, “Avery, I’d like you to meet my br...” but at that
point, the hot guy interrupted and said, “Friend.”

The three of them looked at each other and I was
sort of lost in the shuffle. I jumped in and said, “Hi, I’m
Avery.”

Caroline said, “Avery, that’s Pres...”

And hot guy interrupted again and said, “Miles.”

“Nice to meet you Presmiles.”

He laughed and said, “No, it’s just Miles. Miles
Patterson.”

I nodded and said, “Okay Just Miles. You’ve got
it.”

Boy oh boy, was Just Miles hot. Make that boiling.
Scorching. Molten lava kind of hot. Messy dark brown, slightly wavy
hair that was not long but not short either. And, oh what a mouth
he had. It made me want to jump on board and ride that train for
life. His lips were the perfect kind of full and every so often,
he’d run his tongue across them and I’d automatically squirm. His
face was pure angular perfection...high cheekbones with those
slight hollows beneath them, that were the perfect shape to
accommodate my lips. But those eyes...my oh my. They were golden
brown, like coffee with lots of cream. I could only imagine what
they looked like right when he was climaxing.

Cheezits Ava, get your head out of the bedroom!

“Wouldn’t you agree Ava?” Justin was asking me.

I shook my head and swallowed. “I’m sorry, what did
you say?”

“We were talking about the weather here in the
summer and I was saying how much more pleasant it is than in
Charleston?”

“Oh, yes it is.” Was my voice breathy sounding, or
was it my imagination?

Just Miles was wearing jeans that rode low on his
hips. They were tight and he had a superior set of buns. What would
I pay to see those babies?

“Ava? What do you think?”

“Buns!” I blurted out.

“Excuse me?” Caroline asked.

Holy Toledo, did I just say buns out loud? What the
hell Ava!!!

“Fun! Anything sounds fun!”

“Ava, you look a little flushed. Are you sure you’re
feeling okay?”

“Hot. I mean no, I’m fine.” I looked across the room
and my face totally flamed. Everyone was staring at me. I had
unbuttoned my blouse and was fanning myself. I’d noticed that Just
Miles had a gloriously hot tattoo of a sideways cross on his arm. I
think I needed to go home.

“So Avery, where are you staying?” Caroline
asked.

“Oh, I’m at the Four Sexy. Seasons! I mean the Four
Seasons.”

Oh good lord, I need to pull my
act together here.

“I need to look for a place to live, but I was going
to rent an apartment for a month until I can land something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You must stay with us. My God,
we have all sorts of room here. It would be crazy for you to rent
someplace. As a matter of fact, you should move in right away.
Isn’t that right Justin?”

“Absolutely. Do you need a car to drive?” Justin
asked.

“Yes, but I’m going to rent one. The company is
going to pay for it until I move.”

“Good or you can borrow one of ours.”

I was already going to be enough of a burden, so I
declined their generous offer.

Justin looked at me and made a suggestion. “Look,
why don’t you let me take you back to the hotel and you can get
your things and check out. Then we can get you settled in
here.”

“Are you all sure about this? I do not want to
impose.”

Justin bit his lip for a minute and then said,
“Caroline, take her on a tour so she can see we have plenty of
room.”

Then he turned to me and said, “Ava, this house is
bigger than Mom and Dad’s.”

Caroline took me from room to room and Justin was
right. I could live here for months and they’d never know it. Their
master bedroom suite was in a whole separate wing of the house, so
I wouldn’t be intruding upon their privacy. I felt a ton better
about staying here.

“This house is really something Caroline!”

“Thanks. It was all Justin’s idea. He fell in love
with it and had to convince me, but I’ve fallen in love with it
too. At first I was really intimidated by it but now I’m good. The
thing is, all of this part where the guest side is, we usually
don’t use. We only use the other parts. Maybe someday if we have
kids or something. Who knows?”

“Well, I love it.”

We made our way back to where the guys were and
Caroline showed me where everything was. “If you can’t find
something just ask or dig around,” she said.

Before she could get any further, I pulled her to me
and hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you for making me feel so welcome
into your home. And thank you for loving my brother.”

“Oh Avery, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said as she
hugged me back.

Justin and I were getting ready to leave when he got
a phone call. He checked the caller ID and said, “I have to take
this. Hang on.” After several minutes, he hung up and said, “I have
to go in. The surgeon on call has a major case of food poisoning.
They had to admit him. I’m next on rotation. Sorry guys.”

“Me too honey. Hope they don’t kill you tonight.”
Caroline kissed him.

Just Miles looked at me and asked, “Would you like
for me to take you to your hotel so you can get your things?”

No. What I’d really like to do is drag my tongue all
over your body but...

“Well, I can do this another time.”

Caroline piped in, “Don’t be silly. Miles, that
would be awesome. While you two are gone, I can get dinner started.
Here are my keys. Take my car.”

We went out through the side door and into the
garage--what, were there six stalls in this thing? There was the
customary Range Rover. Justin had this thing about safety and he
thought those were the best. We got in and off we went. I think I
must have been drooling because there was a wet spot in the front
of my blouse by the time we got to the street. Even Just Miles’
hands were sexy.

“So, is it Ava or Avery? I was getting conflicting
messages back there.”

“Um, both actually. Avery is my given name. I was
named after my grandmother, Avery. I was called Ava to avoid
confusion. I truly prefer Avery and now that I’m not living in
Charleston, I think it’ll be easier.”

“What’s so bad about Ava?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I always felt like it was an
older woman’s name. I never felt like a little girl. All my friends
would have an ‘ie’ on the end of their name. Like Lizzie, or Katie,
or like my sister-in-law, Lexi. And there I’d be...Ava.” I used a
deep, dramatic voice when I said my name and he laughed. “It was
always sort of grumpy sounding to me.”

“I see. And Avery represents what?”

“Well, if you ever met my grandmother, you’d get it.
She’s a total sparkler, that one. And that’s exactly how I want to
be.”

“Hmm. So exactly how do you see yourself now?”

“Miles and miles from being a sparkler, I can tell
you that.”

He gave me a quick glance but his eyes went straight
back to the road. I felt like he wanted to learn more about me and
that topic, but yet, he didn’t ask. He switched to my job and he
kept my brain occupied all the way to the hotel. I blabbered on and
on about me the entire time. After I shut up I thought to myself
what a bore I had become. What kind of a person does
that...blathers on and on about themselves without regard for
anyone else? What the heck was wrong with me?

He came up to my room and when we
got there I was immediately aware of
him
. His presence filled that space.
Then I became acutely embarrassed because all my things were strewn
everywhere. My panties were on the floor, along with my pink and
lavender polka dotted nightie. All my intimate garments were out on
display for anyone to inspect. It was like I was having a show and
tell. And so help me, there were my Spanx. Holy Mary Mother of
God!

“Oh dear God!” My hand flew to my mouth as I looked
around the room.

His eyes were absorbing everything...and I mean
everything. And then, there it was in all its glory...my newest and
greatest best friend in the world. My Magic Wand, out on display,
with all of its attachments right next to the flat screen, propped
up no less, like they were all begging, yes begging to be
noticed.

I gulped, not once, not twice, but three times.

And then, I thought I said it in my head, but
apparently I didn’t. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what the hell am I
gonna do now?”

“Well, Avery, I think the best thing you can do is
pack everything up like we originally intended.”

Did Just Miles really say that? I whipped my head
around and there he was. Staring at my toys with a smile on his
face.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I clapped my hand over my mouth
again. That was one word I had stopped using a couple of years ago.
Or I had tried very hard to anyway.

Then I started chanting out loud, “Ohmigod ohmigod
ohmigod ohmigod whatamigonnadonow?”

The next thing I knew, strong hands were on my arms
and he was gently pushing me into a chair. “I think you need to sit
down for a minute. It’s not the end of the world Avery. Matter of
fact, I think it’s kinda cute. Especially the attachments. Yeah, I
really like the attachments. And the purple and pink polka dotted
nightie.”

“You like the attachments?”

“Yeah. Now that we have that established, let’s get
your stuff packed up, okay?”

I nodded at him. I thought he was kidding me, but he
wasn’t cracking the tiniest hint of a smile. Maybe he liked girls
with toys. Maybe I needed more toys. I could do more toys. I liked
this one. I would be open to more. I smiled.

“That’s better,” he said as he
patted my arm. An arm pat. What I really wanted was an ass pat. I
was gonna have to work on that. My hand and his ass because I swear
to God his was made to order.

Chapter 6

Just Miles

When she walked in the room, I couldn’t think
straight. Tall, curvy and undoubtedly the most gorgeous woman I’d
ever laid my eyes on, I felt my lungs empty of every last tiny bit
of air that had been in them. She had the face of a goddess, heart
shaped and gentle, not chiseled and hard like many of the women had
today. Okay, that goddess thing was one gigantic cliche, but it was
true. Full lips that complimented her captivating smile drew me in
like a gigantic magnet. I was in serious trouble here.

When Caroline had started to introduce me as her
brother I had to think fast so Miles Patterson popped into my head.
I think I had a passport with that name on it which is why it
rolled off of my tongue so quickly.

Just Miles, she called me. She could call me
anything and I’d answer to it. Damn, she was really something. How
could fate have intervened so cruelly? Now she would haunt my life
forever.

When Justin’s phone rang and he had to back out of
taking her to the hotel to get her things, another force took over
my mouth and spoke those words of offering to do it in his place.
My brain was not cooperating with my mouth in the least today.

On the way over there, I laughed to myself because
she wasn’t catching my diversionary tactics at all. I didn’t want
her asking me one question. With the way my brain was functioning,
no way in hell would I be able to stop myself from answering
her.

Entering her hotel room nearly took it out of me. I
wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of that mouth
of hers. Her panties were tossed around the room and I had a vision
of her...a very naked vision that made me jerk in my pants. I could
imagine her long, shapely legs, wrapped around me, and her voice,
husky with passion as she cried out my name. When she started
asking Jesus, Mary and Joseph for help, it took every bit of self
control I had not to lay her down on that bed and show her that her
little wand was nothing in comparison to what I could do to
her.