4. – Jaxon
I was sick, seemed too conventional. I would hope I could come up with a better excuse than that one for when Sam asked why I’d bailed on his stupid wedding breakfast. Who honestly had a wedding breakfast five days before their actual wedding? Fucking guy needed to get over himself. We already had the pre-pre-wedding dinner and a rehearsal dinner squished somewhere between those. He’d invited me to dinner the night before as well, but I’d had a sobriety meeting to man.
It was Saturday. I couldn’t stand the weekends. Two days all to myself. My monster wanted free. I crammed him down in his hole and got out of bed, padding out of the room and up to my attic to workout. It was four in the morning and I couldn’t sleep.
In five days Miya would be in the same city as me. She’d probably run away screaming, but a little screaming never scared me. My blood sang at the prospect of getting to touch her again. I’d play it cool and try not to scare her away.
At first.
By the time I was done working out, the sun had risen. I showered in the gym bathroom and walked naked downstairs to get dressed. I took my time getting dressed, hoping to arrive late for breakfast. I chose black suit pants and paired it with a gray dress shirt and a black suit jacket. I combed my hair. I tied my shoes. I put on cologne. I grabbed my car keys, stuffed my pockets with my wallet and phone, and the entire time I felt absolutely nothing.
I was a robot moving around and on the edge of short circuiting.
Hearth and Brine was in a renovated warehouse on the edge of the Columbia River. Reservations were impossible to get, or at least I was told by Sam as he went on and on, as I tried not to tear my ear drums out. Parking was done only by valet and the chef had won a James Beard award two years in a row.
I didn’t know who James was, but I didn’t want his beard anywhere near my food. I’d shaven this morning. Fucker should too.
I was agitated by the time I made my way inside. The valet kid had conned me out of a fifty buck tip. I walked through the huge—and packed—waiting area for the hostess stand.
“Name?” she barked.
She needed her panties crammed in her fucking throat for being so damn disrespectful. I gave her a forced smile. “Jaxon. I’m here for the Carter party.”
She flipped her book over and scrolled until she found my name. She tapped a girl on her shoulder and nodded at me. “The Carter party upstairs.”
She gave me a huge fake smile. “Right this way, sir.”
There were private rooms upstairs. She picked the door on the right and waved her hand for me to go ahead and enter. I wondered how much they paid her for that. I glided past her and pushed the door open to find the entire area decked out in wedding décor—knife, gouge eyes now—and crowded with people I didn’t know. There were two large stretching tables set up, waiters milling around, and champagne and orange juice everywhere I looked.
I ached to have a glass, but drinking wasn’t on the cards anymore. I was tired of being a hypocrite and if I wanted my clients to remain sober, they needed me to be, too.
I scanned the crowd for a familiar face. Finally, I caught Livie near the back corner, her head thrown back in a laugh. I wondered if anyone else saw how she’d tried to cover up a killer hickey with foundation.
“I got carried away,” someone whispered in my ear. “She tastes so good.”
I grinned and moved to give Sam a hug. “No more of these fucking wedding meals, please.”
He wiggled his brows. “Sorry. What the lady wants, she gets.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s a precursor for your entire life.”
He didn’t seem to mind. “I hope so.”
I put my hands in my pockets, looking around. Sam was looking at me funny, and it was pissing me off. I turned my back to him and kept my gaze bouncing. Maybe if I didn’t look at anything for too long, I wouldn’t fall asleep or worse, bolt.
The door behind me opened.
Sam gave me a blinding smile.
“Sorry I’m late,” a beautiful voice said, and even I heard the lie in her tone.
I turned.
My monster tore free from his cage.
A woman closed the door behind her and turned. Our eyes locked for the first time in two years. Every single inch of me was alive in seconds. I didn’t realize how truly empty I was, until I saw the same emptiness in her baby blue eyes.
She was heartbreakingly beautiful. She wore a simple red cocktail dress that hugged her tiny waist and accentuated her glorious legs. Only a hint of cleavage showed her heavy breasts. Her heels were blood red. Her hair was darker and longer, wavy down her back. Her blue eyes were rimmed in charcoal liner and red wine-colored lipstick painted her plump lips.
Sam caught her before she could stumble.
I should have, but I was on the edge of doing the same.
“Miya, this is my long-time friend, and best man, Jaxon Damon. He’s a bit of an asshole, but most people let it slide because he’s disgustingly handsome.”
I didn’t appreciate his wit but wasn’t about to tear my eyes off of my heart to glare at him now.
Not when she was that close.
“Jaxon, this is Miya Reemond. She’s from Vegas. Came up for my wedding. She’s Livie’s bridesmaid.”
My hackles rose. Sly bastard. That would put Miya in my path for the next five days.
Miya recovered first. She closed her shocked mouth and then held her nude clutch in front of her tightly. The leather whined beneath her hold.
Don’t scare her away. I had five days to convince her that this was where she belonged.
I gave her my hand and cleared my throat, throwing together my thoughts to form words. “It’s nice to meet you, Miya.”
Her eyes fluttered when she heard my voice. She moved to lick her lips, remembered she was wearing lipstick, and then stuck her sweet pink tongue back into her mouth. I wanted her tongue.
She gave me her small hand. “Hi, Jaxon,” she said softly, giving me a small smile at the game we were playing.
Hearing her voice did the same thing to me. My eyes fluttered wanting to close and savor her words. I held on to her hand. Hers was cold. I wanted to bring it to my lips and warm it up.
Instead, I let it go so I’d get the chance to have it later.
Sam clasped my back and put his other hand around her shoulders. “Guess what? You two are sitting together. Come.”
He pulled us both over to the table and pulled out the only free chairs in the room. How long had we’d been staring at each other? The guests had taken their seats and the waitstaff was plating our first course.
I sat down, stared at my plate, tried to come down from the high of seeing her again. Instead, I smelled her perfume. So different but still somehow her. Roses and something else, something sweet, like honey. Roses and honey. Shit. My cock was so hard I couldn’t think around the blood lust.
She smelled divine.
I could hardly breathe.
My pulse was hammering.
I could smell her everywhere.
I felt… alive.
For the first time in two years. My heart was desperate for this. For her.
We had to find a way to keep her.
Or my heart and I would wither and crumble, become dust for her to walk on with her pretty red heels.