by Aurora, Lexi
“Who I spend my time with is no concern of yours,” he drawled. He twirled a pencil between his fingers.
“Why couldn’t you have attended the party stag? It’s not unlike you to do so. There was no reason or need to have a bimbo bitch on your arm,” Randi stated hotly.
Randi’s name-calling was grating on his nerves. He would not stand for Jess to be demeaned in his presence. He snapped the pencil and threw it on the desk. Randi jumped in alarm. He leaned forward.
“You chose to leave me blowing in the wind. From that moment on we were done. Whomever accompanied me as my escort was my business—not yours,” he snapped. “We are no longer an item. It’s over.”
“Darling, my absence was unavoidable. My mother was sick and I had to attend to her,” she hurriedly explained. “You couldn’t expect me to ignore my ailing mom.”
“Your mother is having the time of her life sailing the French Riviera,” Jax said sharply. He had anticipated Randi’s excuse, Eva having given him that storyline last night to explain Randi’s defection. He googled Randi’s mom and found a picture of the woman on Count Edward Locklear’s yacht just yesterday. He opened his desk drawer and removed the 8x10 photo of Randi’s laughing mother, slapping it on the desk. “She doesn’t look sick to me. That pic was taken yesterday and posted on the internet.”
“She is ill. I spent all of last night talking on the phone to her,” Randi insisted.
“You’re a liar. We’re finished. Get out!”
Randi gasped.
“I’m not lying! And we will never be done. We are too much alike. We will never be over,” she exclaimed.
Jax stood up.
“You’re delusional, Randi. Believe me when I say that I am through with you.”
Randi’s face paled dramatically as she stared at Jax in shock.
“You can’t mean that. We are perfect together. We are a better match than peas and carrots,” she protested. “It’s that woman you were with last night. She has somehow got you confused.”
“If by confusion you mean finally seeing things clearly then I guess she has. I now see what I really want. And it is not you. Leave my office and don’t come back,” he said brusquely.
“No. You can’t do this!” she said in raised tones.
“I just did.”
“I won’t let you. We belong together. We’re going to be married!” Randi yelled.
Jax shook his head.
“We were never going to be married and you know it. You’ve been dreaming, Randi, and it’s time to wake up.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere until we’re good again,” she said stubbornly. “We can work this out.”
“Do I need to call security? Leave. Now.” He picked up the phone to dial security.
“Fine! I’ll leave. But you’ll come crawling back to me. It’s only a matter of time.” She snatched her clutch bag from the desk and stormed from the office leaving the door wide open.
Jax resumed his seat as Amanda entered the office, intent on closing the door. She paused and looked at Jax.
“That was a nasty scene. Are you alright?” she asked kindly.
Jax smiled broadly at her.
“I’ve never been better.”
Amanda chuckled then left the office closing the door once again behind her.
Jess
Jess was dancing on the clouds as she went about her work at the bakery. Not even Madeline’s griping could mar her happy feelings. She had called Jax to thank him for his generosity but he hadn’t answered. So she’d left him a voicemail expressing her gratitude. She had used the money to not only pay her rent for the month but several months in advance. She had even given her mother money, not that she thought the woman deserved it.
“Have you had a chance to speak with Jax, Jess?” Sally asked from across the table. They were both busy icing small cakes.
It had been two days and Jess hadn’t heard from Jax. She wasn’t worried though. Not yet anyway.
“No. I’m sure he’s been really busy,” Jess answered.
Sally looked at her with a frown which Jess noticed.
“What’s wrong?” Jess asked.
“I just would have expected him to call you back by now,” Sally said. “His actions smack of love ‘em and leave ‘em,” Sally blurted.
“Jax wouldn’t do that to me,” Jess said confidently.
“How do you know? You really don’t know him.”
“Yes I do.”
“Come on, Jess! I love your optimism but Jax is a player. LA and the rest of the world know this,” Sally objected.
Jess laid aside her small offset spatula.
“It’s hard to explain,” Jess sighed. “It’s more of a feeling that I have. I know of his reputation and his womanizing ways. But it was how he treated me that night and what he said. He wasn’t lying to me when he promised that our night wouldn’t end. He meant it.”
“And you’re sure he was being sincere?” Sally was wary.
“Yes. It’s crazy but I trust him. He wasn’t lying to me.”
“I hope you are right. I really do,” Sally said.
“She is absolutely correct. I would never lie to her.”
Jess and Sally swung around in shock. They saw Jax standing in the back doorway.
“Jax!” Jess exclaimed. He held his arms wide and she ran into them. “I knew I would hear from you,” she breathed happily as she hugged him tightly.
He tightened his arms about her and kissed her deeply. She felt his cock spring to life and he groaned and lifted his head. He smiled down into her sparkling gold eyes.
“In the flesh. I wanted to come see you sooner but there were some things I needed to take care of first,” he explained. “But thank you for trusting that I would not forget about you.”
“I do trust you. More than I have trusted anyone in my life,” she said honestly.
“Can you love me just as much?” he asked. He rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. And the more I thought of you the more I knew that I had fallen in love with you.”
Jess stared at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe her ears.
“The moment I saw you piling desserts on my kitchen counter I knew I had to know you better,” he continued. “I made up the excuse of needing a date for the party. Yeah, Randi had stood me up but it was nothing for me to attend a party solo. I came up with the escort arrangement so that I could spend time with you. I was a bit high-handed but I wanted to ensure that you would do it. I fell in love with you while you slept in my bed. And I have no intention of allowing you to sleep anywhere else…ever. Please tell me you feel a little bit the same.”
Jess looked into his pleading eyes and could not deny that she loved him as well. It was her love for him that assured her that he had not walked away from her. That their time together was not just a one-night stand. She knew what her answer would be. There was only one answer in her heart.
“Yes, Jax. I love you too. With every fiber of my being, I love you,” she said earnestly.
He grinned and swung her around. Jess laughed delightedly.
“Can I begin to make your wedding cake?” Sally called out.
Jax set Jess on her feet and looked at Sally.
“Absolutely. That is if the lady will marry me,” he said. He looked down at a beaming Jess. “Will you marry me, babe?”
“A hundred times if I need to. Yes, I will marry you,” she smiled brilliantly.
“Wahoo! I will bake you the best cake in the world!” Sally exclaimed.
“You are truly my sweet love,” Jax murmured.
He then bent his head to show her just how much he loved her.
Bonus 2: The Fast Billionaire
As Tommy and I speed down the back streets of Atlanta in his red rat rod, my irritation grows nearly as high as my desperation for him to stop. We’d taken an early lead, but as usual, Tommy is driving like a goddamn maniac. I can smell alcohol on his breat
h, and I’m not about to let his blatant disregard for my life slide.
“Tommy, you been drinking again? Before a race? For Christ’s sake, you’re going to get us both killed at this rate,” I hiss out, only receiving a nasally laugh in response. I tighten my hands on the sides of my seat, gripping it as tightly as possible. Though the seat belt is securely fastened across my torso, I don’t know how much I trust this junker to keep me safe.
“Aw, hell, Felicia. You never used to be such a bummer,” he slurs out, and I roll my eyes in response. My heart leaps into my throat as one of the rival racers pulls up beside us, driving us towards the side railing of the road. Tommy swears, and instead of evading them, he swerves to slam into the side of their car. Before Tom’s car collides with theirs, they abruptly slam on brakes. I hear a scream, belatedly realizing that it’s my own as we skid across the road. Tommy struggles to regain control of the car, and I ignore his furious demands for me to ‘shut my trap.’ My life flashes before my eyes. More importantly, the time I’ve wasted on Tommy Lopez floods my mind.
It’s always been the same old song and dance when it comes to Tom. I met him in high school, a time that now seems ages ago. He had been an all-around nice guy, at least, as far as I could tell. The whole, high school sweethearts spiel had caught me in its gnarled claws though we parted ways after my first year of college. A couple of years later found us laughing it up together at some corny couple’s mixer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The problem with this little love story, as it were, is that Tommy Lopez was not the man I’d known in high school. While he’d kept it under wraps when we began dating again, he soon came to reveal a side of himself that I can’t say I was particularly fond of. He was hostile, volatile, and an adrenaline junkie to boot. To sustain his need for excitement, he regularly took part in his share of illegal street races throughout the metro area. This would not have been as much of a problem if he hadn’t forced me to join him for one of his races. Call it luck on his part, or misfortune on mine, but he won the first race of his career with me at his side. Ever since, in spite of my attempts to decline, he’d found his way of weaseling me into that passenger seat. Sometimes it was charm. More often than not, it was violence. When it came to a man who had no regard for the law, and even less regard for my well-being, I was reluctant to get on his bad side. At this rate, it seems like my efforts will have been for naught.
Jolted back to reality, I’m able to draw in a breath when it seems we might be able to get back on track. However, another car slams into the backside of Tommy’s rat rod, and another scream tears past my throat as we’re sent flipping down the road. I duck down as much as I am able, protecting my head with my arms. Tommy curses angrily, but falls silent as his head slams against the steering wheel. I can’t tell if he’s dead, or just knocked out, but I try to keep a grip on him to keep the idiot from flying out of the car. Blood pours from a wound on his head, as tears spill down my cheeks. I’m outright sobbing by the time the car stops, upside down with the two of us trapped inside. I can hear the engine continue to rev, as well as gas trickling out of the tank. It seems like a dangerous combination, and I struggle to unfasten my seatbelt so I can escape the seemingly inevitable explosion. I hear a car skid to a stop beside us, and I scream at the top of my lungs, hoping someone will help. I can’t believe I’ve allowed Tommy to drag me into a situation like this, one where I may very well lose my life. Though I’ve been with Tommy some time, and too afraid to leave him, something inside of me shifts. If I get out of this… maybe, somehow, I’ll find the nerve to get out of this gig for good. Just please, God, let me survive this crash.
“Holy shit,” I hear a smooth voice rumble, and the car shifts, if just slightly. A face peers down under the car at me, and I swear for a moment that my heart skips a beat. Before me is the most handsome man (at least, the face of the most handsome man) I’ve ever laid eyes upon. He drops to the ground, and I try to contain my blubbering in some attempt to save my dignity. He whips out a knife, and a gasp escapes my lips. He draws the knife closer to me, but upon seeing my unease, he murmurs comfortingly. “Don’t worry, doll. I’m just cutting you loose,” he says gently. “When you race the streets as long as I have, you’ve seen your fair share of crashes.” I nod, and he slices through the seat belt, managing to catch me before I come crashing down altogether. “Can you crawl out?” he inquires softly. I hesitate for a moment, glancing back to my deadbeat boyfriend.
“Yeah, but Tommy,” I find myself whimpering. He sighs, shifting out of the way so I have the space to crawl out.
“I’ll get the jackass,” he rumbles. He ducks back under the car, and moments later emerges, dragging Tommy along with him. “Get away from the car; the damn thing might blow at this rate,” the stranger sighs, hefting Tommy up under his arms and dragging him along behind me. “You can get in the passenger side of my car and take a load off. I’ll drive you two to the emergency room,” he continues, gesturing to an expensive-looking sports car off to the side of the road. I realize with a start that I recognize that car. I turn to face the man, my eyes wide and uncomprehending.
“Jeffrey Byrd?” I demand.
“The one and only,” he smiles. I’m reluctant to meet his gaze as I shuffle into the passenger seat of his car. “You know, considering I just saved your life, you could be a little more talkative,” Jeffrey hums, lifting Tom into the backseat. I roll my eyes, leaning against the closed door and staring out the window.
“You’re one of Tom’s most notorious rivals in this gig, J-Byrd. I ain’t got no business fraternizing with you,” I grumble. He chuckles, slamming the back door shut before circling around to the driver’s side. He slips inside, offering me a warm smile. “That supposed to be charming or somethin’?” I grouse, trying to ignore his presence altogether. In reality, my heart is pounding so fast that I’m worried about having some kind of attack. The way he looks at me sends unwelcome shivers down my spine, though I’m not about to let him know that.
“I’m just trying to be polite, Felicia. I know this must be a rather…unwelcome situation,” he murmurs, smiling to himself.
“You’re a bit too cheerful considering the circumstances, buddy,” I bite out. He considers me from the corner of his eye, and there’s something in his gaze that makes my breath catch. It’s familiar, but only vaguely so. “Tommy used to look at me like that, you know,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest.
“He doesn’t anymore? That’s a pity,” Jeff responds mildly. His utter calmness just doesn’t jive with me, and I part my lips to snap out a snide remark. However, I’m cut short when he swerves the car into a parking spot and shifts the vehicle into park. . “You wanna go fetch a wheelchair from the front entrance? It’d be easier to cart the sack of shit than lug him around,” Jeff rumbles, opening his door and slipping out of the car.
“How can you act like this is the most natural situation in the world?” I snap angrily, in spite of the fact that I’m following his instructions. It’s a hell of a thing, trying to retain your dignity in such a pisser of a situation. I should be thanking my lucky stars that I survived the crash, but hell, I just want to go home and sleep the whole thing off.
“No sense in getting my panties in a twist over it, like you seem to be doing,” Jeff says slyly, carelessly plopping Tommy in the wheelchair. It strikes me that I should be angry at how callous he is being with my boyfriend, but I’m too wrapped up in his disrespect for me.
“I almost died, you cocky bastard,” I hiss, feeling my insides boil as he only considers me with a small smile. There’s something about his attitude that rubs me the wrong way, but at the same time…I find myself drawn to him. Cocksure attitude and all, Jbyrd is a strange but attractive sort of guy. I sure don’t plan to let him see that though. He’s already got a big enough head, I don’t want to give him any ideas.
“But you didn’t, thanks to me. Most women would be throwing themselves at my feet, at this point,” he says smoothly, qui
rking a cocky grin. I shove past him, rolling Tommy up to the entry of the emergency room.
“Obviously, I’m not like most women,” I grumble. Jeff laughs from behind me, and I can only wonder why he’s sticking around. As I roll Tommy inside, a nurse bombards me with questions about the moron, all the while making goo-goo eyes at JByrd. I don’t know how to explain Tommy’s situation to the woman, but Jeff is quick to step in, wrapping an arm around me in the process. I stiffen beneath his touch, resisting the urge to snap like a rabid canine.
“My friends here were in a bit of a fender bender. I trust you can take care of our old pal here, right?” Jeff croons, and the nurse nearly swoons.
“I’ll see this gentleman taken care of right away,” the nurse assures Jeff, paying me little mind. I cross my arms over my chest, irritation brewing in my gut.
“Listen here, I know I’m not in the piss-poor condition that Tommy’s in, but I could use a bit of medical attention too, ya feel me?” I say loudly, catching the attention of…no one, save my smug knight in shining leather. God knows how many cows had to die for his tacky ensemble.
“Are you feeling a little affection-starved, Felicia?” He smiles, reaching out to rest a hand on my shoulder. I lurch away, narrowing my eyes at the cocky little rich boy.
“I think I’m doing just fine, JByrd. Seems to me like you’re the one aching for an ego stroke here,” I say, curling my lips in a smirk. He meets my gaze, that vaguely familiar glint making his eyes shimmer.
“I can think of a lot more than my ego that could use a fair stroking,” he grins, and it’s all I can do to keep from slapping the shit out of him. He smiles that smarmy little grin that a lesser woman could find herself falling for in a heartbeat. Fortunately for all involved, I’m not your usual pit lizard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the guy saving my ass. If I was gonna dump Tommy’s ass for another guy, it just wouldn’t be another street racer. Far as I can tell, Tom’s gonna be out of the game for a bit. His car was his pride and joy, and the thing looked akin to a smashed tin can when we’d left it at the crash site. Sure, my boyfriend is a deadbeat, but maybe being out of the game for a while will knock some sense into that dense skull of his.
