Free Melting The Ice by Amy Leigh Napier Page B

length of time they could live together without him doing something stupid, like getting caught talking on the phone to the other woman, or meeting her out in public.  He was an idiot and no one blamed Macy for dumping him; well, except for their father, but he thought Joey did no wrong and always had.  Apparently, it had never occurred to Ben Talbot that not endorsing everything his son did might be the way to make him a productive adult.  The saddest part of the whole scenario was Ava believed Joey really did love Macy in his own misguided way.  This lawsuit was just another way to get under Macy’s skin and punish her for not taking him back.
     
    “Do you two have any questions?” Jason inquired solicitously, reaching into his inside jacket pocket for the $1000 Mont Blanc fountain pen Ava had given him for his birthday the previous year.  Jason Carson looked like every other $500 an hour attorney Ava had ever met; well dressed, well groomed and well paid, but he had made himself indispensable to them over the last few years, despite her earlier threats to replace him.
     
    “Give me a pen.” Macy muttered.  She quickly scrawled her name where Jason pointed before passing the pen to Ava.  Ava signed for herself and Lena, being Lena’s proxy in her absence. “When will he be served?”
     
    Jason looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll be filing the paperwork first thing in the morning so…within a couple of days Joey should have his papers.” He answered. “Just as a word of warning, avoid any contact or altercation with him and let the attorneys handle it, okay?  I’ve never been overly impressed with your ex-husband’s intelligence.” He directed his remarks to Macy before flushing slightly in embarrassment when he remembered Joey was Ava’s brother.       “No offense, Ava.” Jason quickly added on.  Ava laughed.
     
    “None taken, Jason.  Thank you for getting on this so quickly.”  She smiled a sweet smile of thanks for Jason, never giving any indication that just a few days previously; she had threatened to replace him completely.  Jason spent the next hour going over various other legal matters that pertained to them and their wide ranging interests.  Ava and Macy walked him to the door when they had concluded their business.  They were in the foyer making small talk as Jason prepared to leave when one of the massive double doors swung open and Cian, sweaty and half-naked came into view.  He’d obviously been out for a run dressed in nothing but athletic shorts and running shoes, his sinewy body glistening with perspiration.  A dark blue bandana covered his hair, keeping the sweat dampened curls out of his face and a pair of black Oakley Split Thump shades with built in MP3 covered his eyes.  He was heading for the stairs but came to an abrupt halt when he saw them and pushed the sunglasses to the top of his head.
     
    “Hey, what’s up?” he asked, assessing Jason.  Macy moved to make the introductions while Ava struggled to not drool on herself.  Looking at Cian had become one of her guilty pleasures.  She’d always been a fool for tall, dark and handsome and he was that in spades. Visually, there was nothing about him that was not pleasing to the eye.  He was tall, broad shouldered, slim-hipped, and long legged.  His chest was finely sculpted with a light fur of dark chest hair, narrowing down over washboard abs.  Thickly muscled thighs, calves rippling with every movement; his ass was truly in a class all by itself.  His face was movie star handsome and his perfect smile blinding white.  She had adopted a strict ‘look but don’t’ touch policy with Cian.  But no matter how much her head was telling her to stick to that policy, her body was all about violating it.
     
    “Ava!” Macy’s amused voice brought her back to the conversation.  She blushed when she realized she’d been staring at Cian’s chest.  She shook Jason’s hand and bid him a good