Free The Avoidance of Love (The Daniels' Sisters Book 2) by J. L. Monro Page B

eat the food in front of him.
    Hold on! Did he just say he doesn’t take girls out to dinner? He took me out to dinner. Does that mean I am the first girl he’s taken out to dinner? Why is my heart beating so fast and why does that thought make me so insanely happy?
    “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a sec.” I abruptly stood up and my heart fluttered wildly when Jace did the same in a gentlemanlike gesture. Grandma always told us that real men were hard to find, and a gentleman is harder still.
    “There are no bathroom windows in there to climb through if that’s what you’re thinking about doing.” I tripped at the comment he made, but didn’t retort.
    I practically ran away from the table to the nearest restroom. I just needed a moment to collect my thoughts. I reapplied some lipstick before running my fingers through my hair. I went to retie my ponytail when my band snapped. I hated having my hair down. It made me feel like a wild woman and out of control. Lana said that kind of look made men imagine what you look like under their sheets and was the main reason I never let it down.
    I made my way back to where Jace sat and my stomach churned at the sight. He was standing with a beautiful blonde haired supermodel-esque female draped over him. I composed myself before they saw me approach. I was practically in my seat before either of them noticed.
    When Jace finally became aware of my presence, he distanced himself slightly, looking a little awkward, from his friend. Like I gave a shit who this bitch was. “Oh, hey Mara.” I managed to stretch a fake smile across my face. “ This is my friend, Brielle.” Brielle barely managed a smile that was even worse than mine was. I put out my hand anyway out of politeness to shake her hand. She paused before taking it for one shake and turning her attention back to Jace.
    “Brielle, Mara is designing my dream house for me. She’s the absolute best at what she does. I’m taking her along for the Italy race so she can get a feel for what I do.” Understanding suddenly appeared on her face and she visibly relaxed.
    “Oh, so you’re the architect I heard about. For a moment, I thought you were a new girlfriend that Jace was bringing with him.” She sounded like the thought was ludicrous. “I would have been utterly devastated at the thought.” She pouted in his direction, a face that made her look like a constipated goldfish. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
    “Well, I’ll leave you two to catch up. It seems like you have a lot to discuss. I’ve got work I can be doing anyway.”
    “Mara, wait. It would be nice if you stayed as well.” I was already grabbing the bag that held my laptop.
    “That’s all right; I saw a little computer area not far from here. Brielle, it was a pleasure meeting you. I’m sure I’ll see you over the weekend if you’re going to be around for the race.” I was already a good distance away from them both before Jace had the chance to say anything else. Once I reached the computer area, I saw Brielle snuggle in to him about as close as she could possible get without climbing on top of him and dry humping him.
    I spent as much time on my laptop as I possibly could before we boarded the plane. Even when we got on the damn thing, Brielle was stuck to Jace like glue. Thank fuck she wasn’t seated anywhere near us, although all that meant was that she wasn’t around during take-off and landing. The rest of the time, she was practically in his lap again. I put my eye mask on and pretended to sleep for the short flight so Jace wouldn’t even attempt to include me in their conversation. It seemed to revolve around several parties that he and Brielle attended together that were ‘messy.’ Whatever! The skinny bitch even managed to get in our taxi since she was staying at the same hotel as us. Fuck my life! I was seriously going to strangle her. She never stopped talking. Where the hell was her off switch?
    When we got