The Forbidden Spark

2.

Cara’s POV

Columbus in July was hot and a bit dry, and the sun baked the streets, and everywhere in it so sweating this badly was inevitable. I was going to have to take a shower if I wanted to feel any relaxed, so I did.

After drying my hair and wrapping it in a bun, I started to walk to my room to change out of the toweling robe I was wearing when I heard the knock on the door of our apartment.

Grunting, I started to walk there to open the door. Megan was so bad with keys that she always ended up knocking when she should just be walking in. She had probably forgotten to grab it before going to the café like she told me when she left the house.

“Chill your hot ass, okay. I’m coming.” I said as I neared the door and heard her knock again.

When I opened the door, all I could do was suck in a long deep breath. The person in front of me wasn’t Megan at all as I thought, it was Jason.

“Damn you, Hunter.” I thought as I stood there looking up at him. Last night after I came back from dinner with my parents, I had called to tell my brother that asking Jason to help me wasn’t necessary, but he had obviously disregarded my words and went ahead to do as he pleased.

I craned my neck as I looked up at the man that towered over my small stature by at least a foot, making my body tremble with intimidation. But it wasn't just his tall and muscly physique that led to my trembling knees, it was his god damn gorgeousness. He had always had this stupid effect on me even though I knew he was an ass sometimes.

His dark brown hair was slicked to the side, and the intense blue eyes I knew he had were concealed under the dark sunglasses he was wearing. All six feet of him clad in a dark washed jeans with a dark blue tshirt that was just fitted enough to show off his muscles.

And let’s not forget how he looked, like he had just been summoned out from those male model glossy magazines.

“Jason.” I finally breathed. Yes, that’s right, I breathed out his name.

He grinned.

Oh heck, no. The damn ass was grinning at me probably because he could see how he made me feel. What in the world kind of crack was he on, showing up here?

I mean, I knew my asshat brother sent him over but really, shouldn’t he had turned him down?

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“That’s no way of greeting a long term friend, Peach.” He said and I rolled my eyes. The moment I heard his voice, my blood pressure just spiked for no reason.

That stupid, stupid nickname. That name I was a sucker for since he thought it was nice and started to call me that. And what the heck was he talking about, calling me his long term friend, anyway? We were never friends and I didn’t think we would ever be.

That wasn’t who I wanted to be for him anyway, so…

Sighing, I looked back from his chest to his face. “What are you doing here?” I asked him because I really wanted to know.

He lifted an annoyingly broad shoulder in a shrug. “I came to help.” He said, looking at me from head to toe, and my brain became aware at that moment, of what I was wearing. His mouth curved into a smirk, revealing a tiny dimple on his left cheek.

Damn, I hated that darn dimple, because every time it appeared, it always seem to mock me. “I don’t need your help, Jason. I already told Hunter that if he would get his head out of his ass enough to listen.” I said.

Jason nodded, then he pushed past me into the house like I had just not told him indirectly to f**k off and get the hell away from me. Rolling my eyes, I dropped open my mouth as I turned to see him walking into our living room space and making himself at home. That was nice of him to do, right?

Whatever was in his mind when he came here thinking, I didn’t care. I just wanted him out of my space, so instead of closing the door, I walked to him and stood in front of him with my arms folded across my chest. “I don’t know if you can understand me, Jason, but I don’t need your help. Please leave.” I said.

“But your brother said you needed my help.” He retorted.

I scoffed. “Well, I don’t. I never told him I needed your help. My boyfriend can help me with that.” I used Hunter’s words there. I was single as a lone star in the night sky could be, but I somehow felt good saying that I had one to Jason’s face. I didn’t want him to think I was just here pining away for him even if I was.

He squinted his eyes at me. The ass looked me dead in the eye for what seemed like eternity and then he threw his head back to laugh in my face. “Oh, come on, Peach. We both know that’s not true.” He said.

I swallowed hard, but I refused to let him see that he was right. “What isn’t? The fact that my boyfriend is coming to help?” I asked.

He shook his head. “The fact that you don’t have one, Peach.” He said.

“Um,” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But even if that was true, it’s none of your business. I don’t need your help, so leave.” Lying through my teeth like this wasn’t my strong suit, and he somehow always caught on, the ass.

Jason stood up from the couch he was seated on, and he slowly stalked towards me. I started to move backward, but I stayed put. The last thing I wanted to show this smug i***t right now was how intimidated I was by him, or let him see how much my body reacted to him standing this close.

“Actually,” he started, probably pausing after one word just to get me worked up. If that was his plan, it was almost working, almost. “Helping you move isn’t the only reason I’m here.” He said.

I squinted my eyes at him, at the same time, peeking from under my lashes. “What do you mean?” My voice came out better than I expected, and I did a mental fist pump.

“I came here to offer you a deal.” He said. “A job more like it. I want you to come live with me.”

Was that a joke? I snorted. “Funny because I almost thought you were serious.”

He nodded. “I am. I want you to come live with me, and while you do your residency, you’ll help me with my daughter.” He said.

Daughter? Live with him?

This must be some kind of dream, it couldn’t be real. Wait, did I feel asleep in the shower and this was just a cooked up dream I was having? I asked myself, but the smell of the tea cooking in the kitchen told me it wasn’t.

Oh, fudge me!