Stay with Me

by Jules Bennett

  Jax knew that same girl who used to have grease beneath her nails as she helped her father with his planes still lived in that big-city-girl body. She’d loved flying when they’d been up. He’d seen her gripping her hands and he knew she wanted to take the controls. Something that deeply rooted didn’t just disappear simply because you wanted it to.

  “You can’t just drop news like that and walk away.”

  Jax kept his back to Livie. Her footsteps echoed in the open hangar. “I shouldn’t have told you anything,” he stated. “Your father didn’t want you to know.”

  “Why the hell not?” she demanded.

  Jax spun around and for the first time since she’d come back, he saw something he didn’t think existed in Livie . . . guilt. That’s exactly what Paul didn’t want.

  “He didn’t want you or your mother to stay out of pity.” Jax figured now that Paul was gone, revealing the truth wouldn’t much matter. Maybe if Livie saw exactly how things went, she wouldn’t be so bitter. “He loved you both. Yes, he had an odd way of showing it, but you have to know that everything he did was for you.”

  Livie crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up in that scooped tank. Damn if she wasn’t one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen. That crush as a preteen and teenager had been mild compared to the ache and need he had flooding him now.

  But he’d gotten tangled with a beautiful woman once before and Livie wasn’t sticking around. She wanted the hell out of Haven once and for all.

  “Since you know so much about my father, please, enlighten me.”

  Propping his hands on his hips, Jax pulled in a deep breath and willed himself to remain calm. “It’s a moot point now, Livie. He’s gone. We’re at a standstill until you can come to grips with the fact that I will never sell. Ever. There’s no money you can wave in my face, there’s no way you can mastermind your way into this sale. The airport, flying, and the people that need these services are the second most important things in my life.”

  Her eyes never wavered from his and he wondered if he was actually making headway with her. Was she grasping exactly what he was saying? He was done playing games, he was done trying to be nice about the situation. She was wasting her time and she was wearing him out.

  “What happens if I go back to Atlanta?” she asked. “We’re still legally partners in this business. I should have equal say.”

  Jax laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “So now you want to be partners? As in, you want to decide what’s best for the airport so you can rake in half the money? I assure you, it’s not much.”

  He’d been scraping every extra penny and dime for years to get a new Skyhawk. He’d managed to squander away a good amount so far, but planes were damn expensive, even used ones. But he knew this Cessna wouldn’t last forever. No matter how much he babied the beautiful piece, it was nearing time to retire. He wanted to invest in the future, in a plane that would hopefully be something he passed to Piper as she grew older. If she loved the sport as much as he did and opted to turn it into a career, he wanted to be able to give her something nice.

  “You can keep the money, but this place needs some sprucing up in a major way.”

  “There you go with the material things again,” he told her as he took a step toward her. “As long as my plane flies and my clients get to where they need to be, they don’t care if the building needs paint or if the weeds are out of control. It’s a small town, Livie. I work by reputation alone, not the beauty of my building.”

  “Our building,” she corrected.

  Jax stepped forward once again, towering over her. Her eyes flared as she stared up at him.

  “Is that how you’re going to play this game?” he murmured, raking his eyes over each one of her striking features. “You think you’re going to keep up your half of this legal binding?”

  Livie’s tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip and he couldn’t help but track the seductive movement.

  “I don’t know how to play this game,” she admitted. “We both want different things and I’m used to getting what I want.”

  Her floral scent hit him in just the right, or wrong, way. Arousal churned deep in his gut and he hated that he had this strong of a pull toward someone so hell-bent on stealing his life.

  “Ironically, I’m used to getting what I want, too.”

  That was all the warning he gave her before he crushed his lips to hers. He was done listening to her talk, he was finished with this conversation that was obviously going nowhere. He’d wanted to kiss her for years and now that she was right in his face, why the hell not?

  When she opened to him and leaned into his body, that was all the green light he needed to wrap his arms around her and thrust his hands into all that silky hair. She clutched his shoulders, her fingers bruising him, but he didn’t care. There was a fine line between hate and desire. He’d obliterated that invisible barrier the second he touched her . . . maybe before. Maybe when he’d shown up at her house with this insane plan to take her up in the plane.

  But he’d wanted her to get that smack in the face from her past and see exactly what she was doing.

  Instead, his control had snapped and now he had his arms full of Livie. Jax slid one hand down to the small of her back and leaned over her. That grip she had on him tightened even more as she was only being held upright by him. Again, he wanted her to know exactly who was in control here.

  When she moaned and arched against him, Jax wondered exactly who held the reins because he was drowning in this woman and that was a damn problem. This was the first kiss they’d shared . . . but he knew it wouldn’t be the last.

  Livie tore away from the kiss and stumbled back, leaving him cold and aching for more. One shaky hand went to her lips—his ego liked to believe he’d made her shaky and just as needy.

  “Why did you do that?” she whispered.

  “I wanted to.”

  Her eyes were a darker shade now—from arousal?

  No matter, he’d never seen a sexier sight than Livie with her hair in disarray from his hands, her lips swollen from his touch, and her body trembling. Yeah, there would definitely be a next time.

  “You can’t—we . . .”

  She shook her head and spun around. Jax waited while she gathered herself. Another boost to his ego. She smoothed her hair with her fingers, straightened her tank, and squared her shoulders before turning around. Sure, she could try to get back to that stuffy Livie, but her moist lips puffy from his assault couldn’t be so easily tamed.

  “We just did,” he countered with a grin he couldn’t suppress. “And I plan on doing it again.”

  One perfectly arched brow lifted. “Is that a threat?”

  “More like a promise.”

  Livie marched past him. “Take me home.”

  Jax turned, reached out, and snaked an arm around her waist, hauling her back against his chest. He must have been a masochist because he should have just let her walk away—but he could still feel her lips, her body, against his.

  “Are you offended because I kissed you or because you liked it?” he whispered in her ear.

  Her body stiffened against his, but he didn’t turn her loose. “I didn’t like it.”

  Jax laughed, brushed her hair off her neck, and replied, “I bet I’ll have bruises on my shoulders that say otherwise.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  He released her long enough to spin her around. “I don’t need to flatter myself. Not when you were arching that sweet body against mine and moaning. I bet those uptight city boys don’t even know how to treat someone like you. I bet they take you to a fancy restaurant, bring you flowers when they pick you up, and give you a polite kiss good night.”

  She blinked and tilted her chin in defiance and he knew he’d hit the proverbial nail on the head.

  “No wonder you responded so passionately.”

  Livie narrowed her gaze. “You’re not my type.”

  “I’m not asking for you to walk dow
n the aisle with me. I already did that and it was a disaster.” He leaned in just enough to torment himself with that floral aroma once again. “Although I’m positive you don’t even know your type.”

  “It’s not someone too young for me.”

  Her weak defense was muttered, which only proved she was losing her grasp on her self-control.

  “Baby, I’m not young,” he corrected. “I’ve seen and done things you could never imagine and I assure you, you weren’t thinking of my age when you had your hands all over me.”

  He leaned in just a bit closer, pleased when her eyes dropped to his mouth. Jax came within a breath of her lips, she parted . . .

  “I better get you back home.” He skirted around her and headed toward the door. “Your roommates will be worried.”

  As he stepped out into the night and headed toward his truck, Livie followed behind him, muttering under her breath some extremely unladylike expressions. Jax had a difficult time keeping his laughter under control.

  He wanted her to be achy because he was damn uncomfortable. She couldn’t throw their ages in his face and she couldn’t lie, either. She’d been just as invested in that kiss as he had.

  Jax would drive her home and he’d lay money on the fact she wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. She’d try to rationalize that kiss, question why she liked it so much, and start formulating some other plan to get what she wanted. She could try, but he planned on kissing her again, he planned on keeping her thrown so far off her game she forgot why she came, and he sure as hell planned on keeping this airport.

  * * *

  Olivia practically crawled down the stairs the next morning to the blissful aroma of coffee. After being awake nearly all night, she was going to need copious amounts of caffeine today.

  She jerked her hair up into a loose knot and wrapped a thick band around her mop to hold it out of her face. She was not in the mood today for hair, for real clothes, for . . . well, anything. Except caffeine, in which case she could use an abundance.

  With a yawn, Olivia padded into the kitchen. Her friends’ chatter didn’t even lift her mood. Nothing was helping because for once in her life she was at a complete loss. The kiss was one thing, but it was all those damn emotions that assaulted her after that had her so disoriented.

  How could she have enjoyed his touch? Why had her body betrayed her, because she knew full well she’d arched into him and groaned?

  Ugh. The groan. That should’ve never slipped out. Now she was working backward because how could he take her seriously when her actions indicated she was easy to manipulate.

  “Well, look who’s up,” Jade said around her mug that said THROTTLE IT UP, BABY. Her father always had silly mugs and tees with random sayings. She used to find all of that embarrassing, but now . . . well, she kind of found it humorous.

  “No walk of shame this morning?” Jade asked. “I was so hoping you’d take advantage of Jax now that he’s all grown up and looking damn fine. Why didn’t you tell us exactly what you were up against? Did you see that set of shoulders?”

  Had she seen them? She’d clung to them while he’d practically made love to her mouth and had her forgetting everything, including her own name for a minute.

  “No walk of shame,” she grumbled, sliding onto one of the empty barstools. “I’m not here for booty calls, Jade. I need to wrap this mess up and get back to my life.”

  Melanie sat a steaming mug of coffee in front of Olivia. “You look like you need something stronger than this.”

  “I need to get my head examined,” she muttered as she took that first sip, which touched her soul. “I mean, he can’t just kiss me and think that I’ll—”

  “Whoa.” Jade sat her mug down and slid in beside Olivia. Mel instantly flanked her other side. “Start from when you drove away from the curb and leave nothing out. Extra details about his lips, too, for those of us who aren’t kissing anyone lately.”

  Olivia gripped her mug and shook her head. “We argued, we took a flight, he told me my father had been sick when my mother and I left years ago, and then the jerk kissed me.”

  “Was it a bad kiss?” Jade asked, her nose slightly wrinkled.

  “What did he say about your dad?” Mel chimed in.

  Olivia truly didn’t have the emotional stamina to keep up. “I don’t know what was wrong with my father. Mom and I had no clue anything was wrong when we moved. And the kiss . . . well . . .”

  “I knew it.” Jade pumped a fist in the air. “So awesome it left you speechless. I’m guessing that’s why you’re so grouchy today, because he left you frustrated. I’ve been there.”

  “Shut up.” Olivia took another sip of her coffee and refused to look at her friend, whom she knew would be smirking. “I need to figure out how to get him to sell. If half is mine, I want my money and I want to sign it over to someone else.”

  “This isn’t about money,” Melanie stated softly. “Don’t kid yourself.”

  Olivia shook her head. “Not completely, but I feel that it’s owed to me.”

  “No, you don’t,” Jade interjected. “That’s the hurt talking. We know you’re a shark when it comes to your career, but this is personal and you’re still facing these feelings from the past.”

  Yeah, she was. There was no way to dodge them . . . she’d tried.

  “What am I going to do?” she asked, setting her mug back on the counter. She ran her fingertip over the crack in the handle. “I have half an airport that I don’t want and Jackson clearly isn’t budging either. It’s impossible for both of us to get our way.”

  Well, except for when his lips were on hers, but that was another matter entirely. There was no denying they’d both wanted that. Unfortunately, the sampling of Jackson Morgan only left her wanting more, and acting on her wants and needs and this damn achiness was only a recipe for disaster.

  “Why don’t you join as partners?” Melanie stated simply, as if that were the answer for them all.

  Olivia came to her feet and circled the old island. She grabbed a granola bar from the counter and ripped the wrapping off before taking a bite.

  “This tastes like sawdust,” she muttered around the dry bite.

  “That’s mine,” Jade growled.

  “Well, it tastes like I’d rather be fat.” The second the words were out of her mouth, Olivia turned to Melanie. “I’m so sorry. That was uncalled for and insensitive.”

  Mel waved a hand and smiled. “You’re having a rough morning and I love you. You get a free pass at any fat jokes.”

  If there were ever a real-life saint, Melanie Ramsey was it. She forgave easily, loved freely, and was always the peacemaker. Which is most likely how she remained in an abusive marriage and overweight for too many years. She’d taken the attention offered by a ruthless man and mistaken it for love. It was only after they married that the verbal and physical abuse started. Melanie was stronger than she thought because she’d not only escaped that nightmare, she was thriving.

  Olivia tossed the bar onto the island in front of Jade. “You can have the rest.”

  With a shrug, her perfectly fit friend finished the bar claiming to be akin to s’mores. The next time Olivia had a s’more, it better be with a campfire and a stick with a gooey marshmallow on the end.

  Olivia leaned back against the counter and sighed. “I guess while I’m formulating a game plan, I’ll start cleaning out these closets.”

  “We’re here to help,” Jade stated. “My morning run is done. It was actually nice with the warmer temps; I didn’t need to pack my inhaler. So, use me where you want. I’m yours the rest of the day. Unless some hunk knocks on the door and offers to take me out.”

  Rolling her eyes, Olivia glanced to Melanie. “What about you? You ready to tackle my demons with me?”

  “Do we need to go ahead and open the wine and get tissues?”

  Olivia pushed off the counter with a laugh. “It might not be a bad idea, but let’s do champagne and at least call them mimosas. Hold off
on the tissues. I’m going to try to keep it together and get this done.”

  Jade turned her attention to her phone as Melanie started working on their cocktails. Olivia hadn’t bothered to bring her phone down. She didn’t want to look at e-mails or texts from work. She had to finish putting together an ad for one of her top clients, but she was nearly done and she planned on doing that after she tackled the past.

  Leave it to her to use work to unwind and relax. She truly needed to get a life, but she was happy with the one she had . . . wasn’t she?

  Damn it. She never questioned her happiness in Atlanta before coming back . . . and she’d only been back a few short days.

  “Maybe we should book a few days at Bella Vous before we leave,” Jade suggested as she kept scrolling through her social media. “Or at the very least get some massages.”

  Bella Vous had the most remarkable masseuse and despite the fact the resort was booked for months in advance, they knew Cora and she would squeeze them in.

  Going to the old antebellum estate was relaxing enough even without the massage. The grand home had been transformed into something from a magazine.

  Olivia and Jade had gone to school with the Monroe boys and nothing shocked Olivia more than knowing those guys had managed to pull off such a remarkable business. Of course, maybe that had something to do with the women in their lives, but who knows.

  “I could definitely use a hot stone massage,” Olivia stated. “But the resort is getting so popular with the tourists coming in from Savannah, I’m not sure we could get in.”

  With a shrug, Jade replied, “I’ll at least try.”

  Melanie sat three glasses on the bar and poured their drinks. “Did you guys hear the rumor about the movie crew coming to Haven?”

  Georgia was well-liked by the film industry because it was less expensive to shoot in and the scenery was simply gorgeous. Olivia wouldn’t want to live anywhere else; she just preferred the city over the small town.

  “I didn’t know one was coming to Haven,” Olivia replied. “Where did you hear that?”

  “When I grabbed the paper off the sidewalk this morning, I overheard your two neighbors talking.”