The ride to the restaurant was silent. Which was to be expected. We were two strangers, and with how we met, it was normal that we didn’t have anything to say to each other. The thought of dropping Reine off had crossed my mind several times. I could just tell her it has been a stupid prank. But the idea has dropped itself in my mind and i knew it would be impossible for me to ignore it. So I decided to go through with it.
As soon as I got home, I called Dylan. He was my best friend, my advisor and the person who got me out of all the sticky situations I had a knack for putting myself in. We had been friends since childhood and I knew I could trust him with anything. And this whole situation was definitely one of those things I could trust him with.
Chapter SevenReineI stared at the phone after Jax hung up. This man had a lot of nerve. I had wanted to cuss him out, ask him who he thought he was exactly. However, it would have been a dumb question. I did not know him well enough, but I knew that he would have given me the obvious answer to that question. He was Jax Coleman, and anything he wanted, he got. It was exasperating bec
Chapter EightI stared at my closet the next evening, wondering what I was going to wear. I had no desire to wear something suggestive and give Jaz the wrong idea. But I couldn’t go to his place looking frumpy. I knew that this meeting was going to be the turning point in our relationship and no matter how much I was starting to not like the condescending attitude he had towards me, I had to admit I wanted to make a good first impression—or second first impression.If Sand
Chapter NineJaxI watched Reine who looked like she was in a battle with her mind and I stifled a chuckle. She fascinated me. I enjoyed watching her fight whatever effect I had on her. The joke was on her though, because she had an effect on me as well. I was not going to push it though. I knew I could if I wanted to. And I knew that if I pushed it, she was most likely going to fall like a house of cards. But that would be no fun
Chapter 10ReineI had not expected it to turn out like this. Sometimes, I needed to keep my mouth shut. I was too outspoken at the wrong moments. Exhibit A: right now. I shook my head and stared at Jax who was looking at me with a questioning look on his face. I sighed then shook my head again. With the little I knew about Jax now, I knew tha
Chapter 11I got back home a little dazed, with no desire to talk to anyone. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts. But I knew it was not going to be possible when Sandra was there. And it was normal. I had dropped her a text at the start of the evening telling her I was going to be out, but I had ignored every subsequent text. Or no! I had not ignored them. I had just been sidetracked. That was it.I knew she was going to ask me one mil
Chapter 12JaxI found myself thinking of Reine even after she had left. She was something. I knew that she was attracted to me, but I also knew that her walls were erected very high. Something was telling me to stick to the business side of our agreement, but that would be a little too easy. Plus I needed to work that fascination I had with h
ReineI was scared.I couldn’t even explain why if you asked me.Maybe it was the fact that I had realized that Jax was affecting me more that I had bargained for. When he had spoken to me seriously, asking me if he had made me uncomfortable at some point when I was at his place, I don’t know how to explain it, but some part of me just flipped a little switch.I had to admit that he had not behaved like I had expected him to. Not once had he pushed, not even when he had offered me alcohol and I had said no. Sure, he had asked the second time. But it had not once been forceful or anything. Maybe I was being happy about the bare minimum, but he was one of the first people, apart from Sandra who had not made me feel like a freak of nature because I didn’t drink s
Jax stared at Reine with a fascinated look on his face. There was no more pretending that he was not completely obsessed with this woman. And the more the days went, the more he felt like she was made for him. It was a few weeks after their truce and after a dinner home, they had ended up in the bedroom. Reine was standing naked in front of him and he had apologized beforehand because he didn’t think there was going to be anything gentle about the sex they were about to have. Jax placed his cold fingers on Reine’s aching nipples. Reine gasped and looked up at him. "Jax?" she let out breathlessly. "Shhh," Jax said, then bent his dark head and slipped one nipple into his mouth. Reine arched her back involuntarily and clutched at Jax so she wouldn't stumble and fall.
JaxI stared at the expectant look on Reine’s face. I didn’t know what exactly she was expecting me to say but I knew she thought it was nothing good. For what seemed like the thousandth time, I wondered who exactly had hurt her to the point where she didn’t trust anybody at all. I stared at her in silence for a while, marveling at her beauty.I couldn’t even deny it at this point. I had feelings for this woman, no matter how much I had tried to turn them off. I hated the fact that she was keeping secrets from me and I had wanted to punish her for it by being distant.I didn’t know how to even start asking all the questions I had. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was a clearly questioning look on her face, and I knew she expected me to speak.
I almost couldn’t believe my ears. After I had spoken out for him, defended him, even though my heart had been racing, he was treating me so coldly. I was beginning to hate the fact that I had growing feelings for this man. I was a little numb. Rejection had never had me feeling this way. If anything, before I had been used to it so it was never something that I particularly dreaded. But with how Jax’s tone switched when we got into his office, I wondered just how much I had attached myself to him, how much importance I had given him. Because the way my heart had shattered in that moment was not healthy. I was definitely going to cry tonight. I had pushed the tears away enough. It wasn’t even healthy at this point. Honestly, I couldn’t explain why exactly I was so hurt by Jax’s rejection if anyone asked. It wasn’
JaxI stared at Reine as she stood next to my desk, my mind racing. I didn’t know what to make of her demands of the previous day. Of course, it was part of the contract that she got whatever sum of money she asked for, so long as it was a reasonable sum.For some reason I couldn’t explain though, yesterday had put things into perspective. No matter how great the relationship between us was, it was still business. She and I were using each other to attain our objectives.I had no idea what she needed the money to do and after the previous night, I had almost given in to the temptation of calling Dylan and getting him to send over what he had found on her. But I had told Reine I wouldn’t pry into her life and I was going to respect that promise.She looke
The next morning was terrible. Sandra had come to check on me and I had muttered something to get her to leave. I wanted to be alone. I had sent the money to my dad as soon as Jax had sent it and there hadn’t been as much as a thank you.I had called him and he had confirmed that he received it.Jax on the other hand, I had texted him and told him I had received the money, with a thank you attached to the text. I don’t know what I expected after his sudden change of attitude but it was not for him to ignore my message so blatantly. I felt so embarrassed.But I asked myself why exactly he had kissed me.I had to admit that my mind had gone to the kiss more times than I wanted to process. It had been very short, with minimal contact. Just his lips and the tip o
ReineI stared at Jax then looked away. I didn’t know how exactly I was going to tell him I needed money. I had thought about it a thousand times and still no damned idea. The best thing was to just ask directly. If the esteem he had for me, if he ever had any at all, dropped, I was going to have to accept it. Just like I had accepted every other terrible thing that had happened to me.“Jax…” I started.He furrowed his brows and leaned towards me. There was worry written all over his face and I felt it was genuine.“What’s wrong? Talk to me,” he said.I resisted the urge to let out a bitter chuckle. In that moment, I could not explain how much I hated my father. I had never imagined t
JaxFascination.I couldn’t explain it.I couldn’t explain how Reine occupied my thoughts, I couldn’t explain how much I wanted to strip her of all her defenses and know all of her thoughts. I knew it was impossible, given how long we had known each other. But it would happen eventually.I still didn’t even understand why I wanted to go beyond business with this girl. And I didn’t know if I was trying to console myself when I thought the fascination was nothing but novelty and that it would disappear with time. I was going to hang on to that hope anyways. The last thing I needed was an emotionally unavailable woman with lots of baggage.We were supposed to meet in the evening and it dawned on me that we
And agonize I did. I wondered what exactly Jax had meant by that. Did he appreciate me as friends? Or was it something more? I was so confused. I had to admit that the past few days had been amazing with him. But I felt a sense of foreboding, like something was going to come and ruin everything. And I was right. My dad called me a few days after Jax’s cryptic words, and his first words were, “So you forgot me, huh? Went to the big city and forgot that you had a father you owe everything back here.” My mood got ruined instantly. My dad had that thing about him that no one else could match, he could get me low with one word and in literal seconds. Which was why I avoided talking to him. I hated this feeling. Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more it made
The lunch went well. It was way better than the dinner we had had at his place. But what was surprising to me was that, not once did we bring up the engagement and its terms. I thought that was going to be the main discussion but Jax had other plans. It had felt so much like a real date, and I actually thanked the universe for the fact that I had not gotten the job, because I knew I would never have met Jax under any other circumstances. I was starting to appreciate the man. Starting? Maybe that was a lie. But I would rather lie to myself than accept whatever turmoil my heart was already facing. The day went by fast, and the first thing I heard when Sandra got back home was the door banging. I already knew she had something exciting she wanted to tell me and I sat up, placing my phone down. The texts I was sending to Jax could wait.