The Corruption of Mila
by J.F. Jenkins
Published by Astraea Press
www.astraeapress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
THE CORRUPTION OF MILA
Copyright © 2013 J.F. JENKINS
ISBN 978-1-62135-110-8
Cover Art Designed by For the Muse Designs
For everyone who takes the risk of falling in love.
Prologue
I can't say I'm the type of person who believes in love at first sight or some other random sappy cliché. Destiny and the idea that everything happens for a reason… I'm still trying to figure out if that exists. There are number of things that have happened to make me a little rough around the edges, jaded, and a skeptic about romance. Sappy, mushy, feelings were only supposed to exist in movies. I'm not going to say I've found one true love, but I have a lot more faith that the universe isn't simply out to get me.
Let me explain by telling you about this blind date I went on…
Chapter One
Blind dates suck. There's no way around it. Sure, some people meet the love of their life and live happily ever after. Others have the most awkward night of their life. No matter how the evening goes, the anxiety of getting to the date always puts a pretty heavy damper on the whole thing. At least with a normal first date, you know the guy/gal first. You don't have to worry about if he's cute, if you're going to get along, that kind of thing. Why? Because you at least know there's a small bit of common ground to base the date on. Even if it's just: oh hey, you're cute, let's go out! At least it's something. That's not the case with a blind date. And let me tell you, a blind date was kind of the last thing I ever wanted to go on. Okay, not kind of – it was. Who even does that anymore, anyway? Hello, we're in the twenty-first century. People don't set our friends up on blind dates, people go out with people they meet over the Internet and hope they aren't creepers.
Somehow, I let my best friend Morgan convince me that a blind date, on Valentine's Day of all days, would be an amazing idea. “Don't be alone on the most romantic holiday of the year!” she said. “That's the most pathetic thing you could ever do to yourself!”
No, the most pathetic thing is going on a date, just for the sake of going on a date, all because it's Valentine's Day. I had perfectly awesome plans made for my night alone at home: kung-fu movies and Chinese take-out. There were no plans to wallow bitterly either. Okay, maybe a little bit of wallowing. The point is, I didn't ask or need a blind date. Yet, Morgan was able to guilt me into going anyway. Then again, with a name as delicious as Jax, how could I go wrong?
So I put on my cute, tight, black pants with my matching corset top and long trench coat, and went to meet this guy at the swanky Brazilian barbeque restaurant downtown.
“Can I help you miss?” the hostess asked, looking up at me from her podium.
“I have a reservation. Should be under the name Jax?” Just saying his name gave me butterflies. It was so sexy. He had better have a tattoo… or five.
The hostess glanced over her list, nodded, and then picked up a menu to lead me to the table. I swallowed, following her, and immediately began to play with my dark hair. A nervous tic, and one I've always hated. It seems too obvious, you know what I mean? Plus, I didn't want to ruin my hair before I even got to meet my date. There was plenty of time to do that later. Wink, wink.
I went around at least five corners before I got to my table. We were way in the back of the restaurant which made for a nice private atmosphere, sure, but the anticipation made knots churn in my stomach.
“Your table,” the hostess said.
The table was the farthest from the front and tucked away in the corner. The young man sitting at the table with his back to the wall had the menu up over his face. He lowered it slowly, giving me a peek at a rather beautiful set of blue eyes, accompanied with tousled, dark hair. The menu was set onto the table top and he stood, giving me a better view. I had pictured tall, muscular, and a little rough on the edges. Some scruffy facial hair or maybe a scar, and an outfit that was more bad-boy-sexy than business casual.
Jax on the other hand was average height, clean-shaven, and wore a long-sleeved, navy button-down and khaki pants. The guy had some muscle definition, because I noticed how the shirt clung to his chest in all of the right ways, and his biceps bulged ever so slightly under the fabric. He worked out, which was always a plus, but there was more gentle than tough in him. Something about him was vaguely familiar too, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
“M-Mila right?” he asked. He actually stammered. I wasn't quite sure what to think about that. In some ways it's sweet that he was nervous enough to stutter, but it was also a little bit of a turn off. Okay, not a little bit – a lot.
I nodded, hoping that his nerves would pass and he'd take a chill pill soon. “That's me, and you're Jax.”
“Y-yeah.”
I'm pretty sure my smile twitched a little when he said it. “Nice to meet you.” Nice was not the kind of meeting I wanted to have.
Chapter Two
“So how do you know Morgan?” Jax asked as he looked over the drink menu. I did the same, taking in the list of jazzy alcoholic beverages, and more importantly, their prices. Let me just say, I've seen meals cost less than those drinks, and I'm not talking about fast food.
I glanced at him and saw how furrowed his brow was, like he was having a hard time reading the thing. “We've been best friends since, like, birth? People thought we were twins for a while. Morgan and Mila, three days apart and everything.”
“I can see why people would think that. You even look a little alike.”
He gave me a small smile and then shook his head. “I should have remembered that. She mentioned it to me.” The frown he wore on his face after he said it suggested this was a big deal. It wasn't, not by a long shot.
“And what about you?” I asked. “Morgan mentioned you worked with her, but she didn't tell me if you were close or acquaintances.”
Jax's face softened. “We go to church together too. Actually, that was how we met before working together. During college, I joined her church and we clicked. I got her the job over at Gizmo Help. She's amazing at it, and I knew it would be a perfect fit for her. We hang out about once a week.”
“So… you're pretty close,” I said.
For whatever reason, that information shocked me more than I expected. Morgan had never mentioned him to me before. Of course, we don't talk about the church side of her life all too much. Why? Because I'm not the religious type, and most of it isn't anything I care to hear. All it does is remind me about the different planets Morgan and I live on sometimes. In the past, it's caused a great deal of drama in our relationship. Once upon a time, Morgan tried to convert me to her pure elitist ways. I call them elitist because any time I do anything she doesn't approve of she gives me a look that reminds me all too much of my mother. Don't get me wrong, we respect each other enough where she no longer is trying to push me toward “the light” and I'm no longer telling her she's part of a cult, but we still have a lot of differences. Where I think she needs to get out and live more, she thinks I need to settle down. Jax being a church boy was red flag number two for the night. If he and Morgan went to church together,
chances were he would do a lot of the same things she had – primarily push.
He shrugged and when the waitress came to take our drinks, he ordered a soda. Another flag went up for me. The guy wasn't drinking. Maybe it meant nothing, but maybe it meant a lot too. His blue eyes were fixed on me as I struggled with what to order.
“Martini,” I finally said. He smiled, so that was some comfort for me.
“I'm a root beer aficionado,” he said with a small shrug.
“Cool,” I said with a nod and discreetly pulled my phone from out of my purse and sent a text to Morgan.
'You didn't tell me he was a total nerd.'
Jax looked around the restaurant. “Have you ever been here before?”
I shook my head. “Can't say I have. When do we order our food or whatever?”
“You don't. The food comes to you.” He held up a small cardboard token. One side was green and the other was red. I had one as well, come to think of it. “When you're ready to eat, you put it on the green side. Then people come from all over offering everything under the sun. Unless you want to go to the salad bar.”
“Can't say I've ever been a fan of salad. It's not all too filling,” I said, running the token through my fingers as I inspected it. My phone had a reply from Morgan on it. I carefully clicked it open.
'He's not a nerd. He's sweet. Something you could use. And cute!'
Jax was cute; I'd give her that, but maybe a little too cute. Where was the sexy fire? I shook my head and quickly typed in a response.
'He's not my type. Pretty sure I'll burn up if I touch him. Too pure for my tainted soul.'
Her comeback was immediate. 'Wouldn't hurt for you to try dating a good guy for a change.'
I rolled my eyes and flipped my token to the green side, ready to eat, suffer through the awkward conversation, and then get back home to my hole-in-the-wall apartment. Jax turned his token over as well and we were bombarded by servers carrying meat from just about every animal on the planet, potatoes, and fried plantains. Yum! I filled up my plate and then sent them away. Being able to boss the servers around as I wanted definitely gave me a diva complex.
“So you know Morgan through church,” I said in-between bites. “What else do you do besides work and church?”
“Hike,” he said in-between bites of potatoes. He smiled too. “I'm big into the outdoors and nature. Electronics also interest me. I have a lab back home where I build robots and gadgets, that kind of thing.”
“Which explains why you work at Gizmo Help.” Yeah, I was definitely right about the nerd thing. I could have killed Morgan for doing this to me. The things me and this guy had in common were probably limited to we both breathed air and converted it into carbon dioxide.
He shook his head and took a bite. After he swallowed, he glanced my way, and then down at the table. He rubbed his hands on his pants, and I knew then that I intimidated him. Either that or something was making him a lot more nervous than he needed to be.
“I don't work for the customer service department.”
“And what do you do for them?”
“Product development, advertising, PR, kind of a little bit of everything.” He shrugged.
I blinked. “You do all of that?”
“Yes.” He nodded rather slowly, and he refused to look at me.
“You must be pretty well thought of there,” I said and went back to eating.
He nodded again. “Yes, you could say that.”
“No wonder you were able to get Morgan a job.”
“It was the least I could do with how much she's helped me.”
Awkward silence smothered us for at least five minutes. I caught some good gossip at the table next to mine from a group of ladies, and even though I wasn't hungry, I flipped my token over just to have the bustle of servers around me again. To say I was desperate to fill the gap in conversation was an understatement.
Jax continued to eat, his brow furrowed slightly. I could tell he wasn't exactly enjoying the night either. “Do you want dessert?”
“No, thanks,” I said. “It was nice to meet you, Jax, but I think it's safe to say the night has come to an end.”
His blue eyes met the gaze of my dark ones. “Morgan told me I probably wouldn't fit your usual type, but she said that was a good thing. My social skills are a bit strange. Given the nature of my job, I make a good deal of speeches and I'm great with schmoozing, but I didn't want to schmooze you. Morgan said you'd be a great person to be myself and let loose with.”
Not quite the info dump I was expecting, at all. He finally said something that was interesting at least. I leaned forward and forked a piece of spicy sausage. “So you're one of those guarded types.”
“I kind of have to be, for obvious reasons.”
“What obvious reasons are those? Your robot collection? It's different, unique, dorky even, but you confessed it pretty openly.”
He shook his head. “You don't know.” He laughed. “Wow.” And his entire body relaxed. The tight, stiff, posture shifted to a slight slouch, and he had the tiniest of smiles on his face. That smile was sexy, but he also had a secret to keep me entertained with. Maybe Jax wasn't a boring doorknob after all.
“I don't know,” I said. “But you've got my interest piqued, that's for sure.”
He laughed, and it was a nice, genuine sound. It wasn't the awkward forced kind I heard from a lot of people, or the deep creepy guy kind. “I can be interesting when I want to be. I'll try to not be so careful, but I am a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of a person. There are definitely guards up, but they aren't the lying kind. I'm not as exciting as most people expect of me, I'll give you that much. But I do still know how to make an interesting adventure. What about you?”
“What about me?” I asked, not liking the shift of focus on the conversation. If Jax was guarded, I was Fort Knox.
“What kind of a person are you? What sort of things do you do in your spare time?”
I leaned forward. “I could show you.”
“It's trashy to kiss on a first date,” he said.
I hid my wince. “Not what I meant. You shouldn't be so presumptuous either. Who says I want to kiss you?”
“You can call that an example of my quirky sense of humor.”
“Oh, you were only joking, got it.” I rolled my eyes, but I was a little disappointed. Not because I wanted to lock lips with him, but a little flirting never killed a person. “Let's take care of the bill and I can show you my example of a good time. After eating all of this food, I could really use a good work out.”
He swallowed. “I'll do it so long as it has a PG rating.”
“Might have a thirteen tacked on to that as well, but I won't corrupt your innocence.” I winked and pulled out my wallet from my purse.
“I got it,” Jax said and handed over a credit card when the waiter came back to settle the bill. I didn't even get a chance to protest.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. A guy who paid for a date, especially one that wasn't going well, was definitely too good for me. We made plans, and I would follow through with them, but let me be clear when I say there were no big sparks and lustful thoughts. Jax intrigued me — a lot — and that was enough to make me not want to give up on the evening completely. Besides, I looked smoking hot. It had been a while since I last made the attempt at being so sexy.
When his card came back, Jax stood and waved for me to do the same. He walked next to me the entire trip to the front door, and I mean right next to me. While we didn't touch, he still made it clear that we were together, even if we weren't. Probably because the date wasn't over yet, and for at least another hour I was his. Upon opening the door, we were attacked by a bright camera flash. Immediately, Jax closed the door.
He groaned. “You've got to be kidding me.” Pulling out his cell phone, he made a call of the variety I never would have expected to hear in my life. “We're walking, lead the car away. Yes, I know, I saw all of the paparazzi. We'll be fine if we
go out a side exit, no problem. If you take the car out, they might follow it. Take the night off. I should be fine.” And then he hung up. His gaze caught mine and my jaw must have been dropped or something because he raised an eyebrow. “What? Oh that's right; you don't know who I am.” He extended his hand for a shake. “Jackson Hamilton. Jax, for short.”
I dropped my purse on the spot. The contents of it spilled everywhere in an embarrassing mess. A bad thing because I didn't need him to see my kitten tissue baggie, punch card for individual pizzas at the local diner, or my book shop discount card. If he noticed any of those things, or anything else that had fallen from my purse, he didn't react. I'm pretty sure he missed it, which was a relief.
Cleaning up my explosion of stuff on the floor, I tried to not think about the fact that I was standing with Jackson Hamilton. Billionaire was the first word that came to mind when I heard that name. His father was the owner of Gizmo Corporation, so when Jax said he was high up in the company, he wasn't kidding. No wonder he was so familiar! He was the face of the company! Any time there was a new product, he gave the speeches, and he did a lot of the commercials as well. He was certainly good looking enough for the role, so it made sense. I just couldn't believe I didn't recognize him before. Then again, being made up for a camera changed things about a person's appearance. Plus, a girl like me didn't meet billionaires.
Talk about a fairytale waiting to happen. It stunk that he wasn't my type.
Chapter Three
“I'm sorry,” Jax said for about the fifth time in the span of five minutes. Those were the only two words in his vocabulary for that moment in time. Annoying.
I shook my head and walked with him through the dark alleys of downtown. “It's not your fault. You didn't call the paparazzi and ask them to show up and take pictures of you.”
“Still…”
“If you say you're sorry again, I think I'm going to beat you over the head with my purse.” I glared at him, trying to keep it light, but I'm pretty sure he knew I was serious because he winced. It got him to be quiet at least.
The Corruption of Mila Page 1
