Chapter 3
Viviana glared at the pile of dresses strewn across the bed. Dammit, she couldn’t decide what she wanted to wear tonight. Part of her wanted to find the most shocking dress she had, if for no other reason than to see how Jax would respond to her provocation. Remembering how he’d reacted to her outrageous gold lamé dress, she decided that while she might be able to shock the rest of the elite attendees, Jax was more than prepared to handle her outrageousness. In fact, she admitted, fighting against the shivery sensations fizzling in her core, he’d made it clear in any number of ways that no matter how she raised the ante on their tumultuous relationship, he would always call her bet.
Reliving the scene with Greg Bannon, she admitted that Jax was right. She was far from over what had happened in Belize. Seeing the charming man she’d met in Belize and remembering him as he’d appeared to be brought back with stunning clarity the fact that Greg Bannon, along with the rest of Jax’s team, had deceived her. When they’d discovered who she was, at Jax’s command they had devised a scheme to ensure that she wouldn’t blow their undercover operation. At one level she understood the necessity of keeping her in the dark. What she couldn’t understand or, frankly, forgive was that Jax had ensured her compliance by seducing her. A seduction that had been astonishingly successful. She’d not only believed that he’d fallen for her but she had fallen head over heels for him—if not in love, in lust for sure.
Returning wounded physically and emotionally to her home base at the SJPD, it had taken Viviana nearly three months of hard work to heal her body. It had taken more than that to come to grips with the arrogant man’s deceit and to begin to salvage her pride. Just when she’d finally convinced her waking brain that she’d banished the duplicitous man to the ash bin of her soul, he resurfaced. When he coolly assumed command of the SJPD Violent Crimes Unit, where she was the declared superstar, it was a given that sparks would fly. It had taken weeks of challenging skirmishes between the two of them to reach the point where they both conceded that the overwhelming passion that had consumed them in Belize was anything but over. Memories from the breakthrough night when Jax cut through their subterfuge and reclaimed her were indelibly imprinted on her mind and spirit. How could they not be? Outraged by what even she admitted was her deceitfulness, Jax had done something that no man had dared to do. He turned her over his knee and spanked the hell out of her. Following that arrogant assault, he’d proceeded to make love to her in ways she hadn’t known were possible, making it clear that their outrageous fling in Belize had been only the beginning of a riotous affair.
She was thrilled that Mayor Simpson convinced Jax to accept the chief of police position. It meant he would stay in San Jose. That he wouldn’t leave to take an even more prestigious position in a faraway city. Moreover, now that he wasn’t her direct supervisor, the rules against fraternization, which they’d clearly broken, were no longer a barrier. Granted, both she and Jax were acknowledged rule-breakers, but at least now the Travis Jensens of their world would have to find something or someone else to report to their superiors.
Viviana admitted that a huge bonus of Jax leaving the VCU to become the chief of police was that once again she would have her autonomy. Now that the arrogant man wasn’t her direct supervisor, he wouldn’t constantly be haranguing her. Insisting that she be a team player rather than the lone wolf she’d always been and needed to be again. But Jax being Jax had ensured at least her surface acquiescence by insisting that one of his trusted operators become the commander of her division. At base, Viviana believed that she could make short work of Greg Bannon’s ability to “tether” her. The two of them had enjoyed flirting with one another in Belize, and the blond-haired, irreverent guy hadn’t hidden his admiration for her outrageous, in-your-face style. Whether he’d roll over the way all of her previous supervisors had was a question to be answered. Viviana reminded herself with a smug grin that except for the blatant exception of Jaxton Hughes, her track record as an uncontrollable solo player was unblemished. It was a track record she fully intended to reassert.
Thinking back on their tussle today, Viviana acknowledged that the simmering volcano underlying their volatile relationship was as clear to Jax as it was to her. This afternoon was a good example. Just the hurtful reminders of Belize had shaken her, ramping up her antagonism toward the arrogant man who casually assumed that he could and would interject himself into her life whenever and however he chose. His assumption that she would accompany him to what she’d snarkily called his “coronation,” even suggesting what she should wear, had tripped her ever-ready fuse. She’d tried to act unconcerned, indicate that she knew he was teasing her when he talked about corralling her, but his conceit rankled. Without intending to, she’d given in to her pique and had come close to throwing one of the temper tantrums that Jax claimed she was given to. In front of Greg Bannon, no less.
With a hard sigh, Viviana admitted the problem with Jax’s commanding arrogance was that in addition to annoying the hell out of her, it also turned her on. All he had to do was send Bannon out of the room and capture her in his strong embrace. Refusing to let her pull away, he’d made it clear that she would be coming home with him tonight, and he would appropriately deal with her rude snappishness at that time. The sensations swarming her overwrought nerves at his implied threats confirmed that whatever he chose to do to her would be anything but appropriate. And that she would end up loving every outrageous thing he did.
***
“Here you are, Greg. Mac and I were looking for you. I wanted to introduce you to Mayor Simpson. We can do that later. He and Mac are off manning the receiving line. The last thing I want to do is to get ringed into that tedious drill. We’ll have more than enough opportunities to press the flesh throughout the evening. How about you and I grab a shot of the expensive booze they’re swilling while we can.”
Walking Greg over to the bar, Jax appreciated the debonair appearance of his former agent and longtime friend. He smiled, remembering Greg chatting it up with Viviana in Belize when she thought he was a bartender. He could only hope that Greg’s easygoing personality and quick wit could help him remove some of the unwanted barnacles clinging to him and Viviana from their compromised Belize misadventure.
Jax raised his glass to Bannon. “I want to say again how glad I am that you are on board, buddy. I need your law enforcement experience and your ability to take command. I also need someone I can trust to handle a very sensitive task.” He laughed, then shrugged. “It’s just as well that you saw a few ricocheting sparks this afternoon. Forewarned is forearmed, I always say.” He added with a sigh, “I admit, in the case of our prickly sergeant, a hell of a lot of forearming is likely to be necessary.”
Greg lifted his glass and took a hearty swallow of the potent alcohol. He hesitated, then said with a slight frown, “Damn, Jax. You aren’t shooting the shit. Regarding that little renegade cop, who from what I can see is loaded for bear, be straight with me. Am I walking into a minefield? If so, buddy, the least you can do is ensure that they aren’t the anti-personnel variety or, if they are, that they can’t be remotely delivered like the motherfuckers we sprang on the hajis in Afghanistan.”
Jax allowed himself to smile. He’d sought out his friend to clear the air. He wasn’t surprised that Greg had been taken aback by the scene in his office. He should have known that as much as Viviana had liked the man she’d known as Marcus the bartender, Greg’s presence would stoke the smoldering coals that churned beneath the subterranean layers of their Belize affair. Her bad temper this afternoon confirmed he had some serious fence mending to do. Not the least of which was to be straight with his former agent. Jax leaned against the bar and faced his friend, determined not to minimize Greg’s concerns.
“Look, man. I admit the situation is dicey. You, along with the rest of our guys, know how challenging Belize was. Particularly for Viviana. When she found out the truth, she insisted that the only reason I came on to her was to keep her from blowing our op.” He shook his head and said with an ironic shrug, “Or as she’s said more than once to me, ‘when it looked like she might fuck up the mission, I decided to fuck her instead.’ ”
Greg raised a questioning brow, then said carefully, “Even though we both know that isn’t true, being fair, Jax, you can understand why she might come to that conclusion.”
Jax snorted. “Do you think I don’t know that? Which is why once I was sure she’d fully recovered from that fucking bullet wound that could have killed her, I decided I would never blacken her doorway again.”
Nodding thoughtfully, Greg sipped on his drink, then asked blandly, “What changed your mind?”
“Are you asking why I accepted Mac’s request that I take over the SJPD Violent Crimes Unit? Even knowing that their superstar, the woman they called the Enchantress, was the woman I’d seduced in Belize? The woman I’d promised myself that I would never approach again?”
Greg shrugged. “Yeah, Jax. That woman.”
Jax breathed out a hard sigh and shook his head. “You know me well enough to know that if ever there was an egotistical asshole, it’s me. I honestly believed that I could maintain a professional relationship with her. And to be frank, the VCU slot put me in good stead for a chief position at the LAPD or even the NYPD. In retrospect, accepting Mac’s offer was not only crazy as shit but bordered on the unethical.”
“Why did you accept it, Jax? You had to know you were taking a huge chance. Christ, man, it’s Maja, I mean, Viviana, we’re talking about. You thought you and she could be friends? Professional colleagues?”
Jax shrugged. “Yeah, man, with the distance of time and my enormous ego, I convinced myself that’s exactly what I could be.” He shook his head and met Greg’s frowning gaze, then raised his hands in defeat. “The problem was that I did something in Belize that I never in a million years thought I would.”
“What was that?”
“I fell deeply, passionately, wildly in love with her.”
Greg let Jax’s admission stand for a long moment, then nodded in agreement. “How could you not, Jax? She is one remarkable woman.”
Jax breathed a heavy sigh. “Yes, she is that. And the miracle of it all is that even if she’s doing her damnedest not to admit it, she’s ass-over-elbows in love with me. Which, as you can understand, made my position at the VCU untenable.”
“And that’s why you called me in from the field? You needed a wingman? Someone to watch over her when you couldn’t be hovering inches away? Jesus, Jax, I don’t know if I’m up to it. Every damn one of us on the op would have given our left nut to have her look at us the way she did you. And I’m supposed to come in here and make sure that she stays on the straight and narrow?”
Jax laughed, then said with an ironic snort, “No, man. I’m expecting a lot from you but keeping her on the straight and narrow, tethered, as you suggested today? Not an option. Not because your all-American poster boy looks mask one of the most dangerous, toughest SOBs I know. No, buddy, this isn’t about you. It’s about her. It’s critical you don’t underestimate her. She has an independent streak that could span the Grand Canyon. She’s made a career of emasculating any guy who thinks he can contain her, be they her boss or the criminals she’s taking down. If she isn’t blinding you with her sassy and sweet act, she’s lying to your face. Although she prefers to see it as necessary prevarication.”
Greg laughed and held up his hands. “Once more, I ask? What the hell am I doing here? And have you at least marked all the mines?”
Jax grinned at him. “Just be sure you wear your titanium nutbucket at all times, dude, and never turn off your shit detector. Also, know that I’m down the hallway and just around the corner. Like James Taylor says, ‘if you need me, I’ll come running.’ ”
Hearing the startling sound of silence settling over the ballroom, Jax wasn’t surprised to hear Greg’s low whistle and passionate curse that ended in an incoherent groan. “Jesus, Mary, Joseph . . . ” All Jax had to do was look to the doorway to see the stunning vision entering the ballroom to know what had stolen his friend’s breath and likely that of every man in the room, his included.