CHAPTER TWO
JAXSON
LEANING MY HEAD ON THE headrest of my seat, I take a deep breath, trying to talk myself into walking into The Bottle and meeting my date for the evening. After that one night two years ago, I told Jason I didn’t want to meet dates here. So, when he told me the location my date requested, I told him to fuck off. It wasn’t happening. Then he told me something that had me stopping dead in my tracks. My date had said she needed to meet me where we had first met, and hope hit me in the chest it was the girl who got away. I had no choice but to accept.
Now, I’m second-guessing my decision. What if it isn’t her? Lil was my first date as an escort and shaped what I did from there on out. When I walked up to the table two years ago and called her name, the moment her blue eyes met mine…I knew I was a goner. Then finding out she was a virgin…let’s say the caveman in me realized that this woman was it for me. I knew the next conversation I would have with Jason would be how my first date was my last. I was ready to walk away from escorting and help Jason differently with the business. That night was more than I could have ever imagined, but waking up alone, without any way of finding her, broke me.
I hired a private investigator to track her down, but due to the fact we didn’t get information like we do now back then, he came up empty-handed. All we had to go off of was the name Lil and a disconnected phone number in the name of some guy who had passed away. Since then, we changed how we take orders. I also decided to never use the name KC again and started using the name Jax on dates.
“Body Like a Back Road” by Sam Hunt starts playing on the radio, and it has me glancing back down at my phone. My finger hovers over the gallery, desperately wanting to pull up the pictures I snapped when she fell asleep on my chest that night. Fuck it…I need this date done now because I really don’t want to keep thinking about her.
I make my way into the restaurant and smile at the hostess.
“Hey, Jax, what brings you here tonight?” she purrs at me.
“Hey, sweetheart, I have a date tonight. Anyone come in with a blue jacket?” That was the only thing I was given on how to find her.
“Yep, she’s in the back corner.” The look on her face tells me she really wishes it was her instead.
“Thanks, I’ll walk myself.” Turning, I hightail it away from her before she can say another word.
I spot the deep blue wrap hanging off the back of the chair. My eyes travel up the length of the blonde it belongs to, and my steps falter. The feeling of recognition starts to fill my chest. Taking in a deep breath, a familiar scent I haven’t been able to get out of my head since the day she left invades my nostrils. The shoulders of the woman tense as if she knows I’m close. When she turns slowly toward me, my whole world shifts. Staring right at me are the blue eyes that have haunted my dreams from the moment I woke up alone in the hotel room. My feet are no longer moving toward her while my brain is trying to come to terms that this is real and not a dream.
“Hey, KC.” Hearing that name on her lips is the wakeup call I need to pull my shit together.
“Where in the fuck have you been for two years? And the name isn’t KC, it’s Jax. I never want to be called KC again because it reminds me of what happened that night.” I cringe at the sound of my voice.
Fuck, this isn’t going the way I always imagined it would when I found her again. Her face pales slightly and the thought that I fucked up my chance of being with her has me throwing my head back and squeezing my eyes shut tight waiting for her to speak.
LILLY
Oh, fuck me. Please tell me I heard him wrong. Did he really say he changed his name because of our night together? Shit.
I realize this is a mistake as the night two years ago flashes through my mind…
Taking a seat, I smile at the hostess before she walks away. I replay the description that was given to me…
Age twenty-six, brown hair, and bright blue eyes. The life of the party. Loves to be the center of attention and will bring smiles to anyone he’s around. If you’re seeking someone to change your outlook on life…then KC is the one for you.
That’s what I need, to have fun and change my outlook on life. Because right now, life is not what I want it to be.
“Lil?” a deep voice has me snapping my eyes in his direction. Holy shit, he’s fucking breathtaking, and my panties I picked out just for tonight are now officially ruined. I’ve never reacted to a guy like this before.
“Yes, are you KC?” I realize my voice doesn’t sound like it normally does, which makes me groan in embarrassment.
He chuckles, and I blush because it makes me even wetter. Jesus, who knew a chuckle could be sexy.
“Want to get out of here?” Snapping my eyes back up to his, I smile and nod. I just want to forget I’m alone for one night, and his blue eyes are promising to do just that.
And he did make me forget. We ended up at the hotel room I rented for the night, and he showed me what I was missing when it came to sex. What I’ve been missing since that amazing night, as well. I haven’t been able to even look at another guy since then.
“I’ve been working…wait, you’ve been looking for me?” It takes me a second to comprehend his words.
“Lil, you have no clue what I went through trying to find you.” Without another word, he grabs me, and next thing I know, his lips are on mine, demanding entrance. This kiss is different from the last time our lips met. It’s claiming, dominating, branding…he’s making a statement not only to me, but to everyone else around us. A statement that has my body melting against his and my brain in a fog.
“Jax, you might want to take this outside, bud. You’re giving my customers a show that they didn’t pay for,” a voice from behind him slowly enters my brain as KC…no Jax, ends the kiss.
“Sorry, Dylan. I’ll be back tomorrow to close the tab Lil created.” Suddenly, he throws me over his shoulder and carries me out of the restaurant. And, oddly enough, I find I don’t mind it. I just hold on.