Tae carried her garment bag over
her arm, along with a small suitcase as she strode to the check-in counter at
the Hilton. The diminutive woman behind the counter aimed a bright smile at
Tae. “Welcome to the Hilton. How are you today, ma’am?”
“Good, thanks,” Tae responded.
“I’m Octavia Croft, and I have a reservation.”
“Of course, Ms. Croft. One moment,
please.”
Tae set her suitcase down and
rotated her shoulder. Tension locked the muscles across her upper back, and she
debated taking the muscle relaxer Zerita had given her before she set out to come
to the hotel. Then again, she preferred to enjoy the effects once she’d unwound
in her room and kicked off her shoes with a drink in her hand.
“Tae.”
The deep, scratchy, but without
question sexy, voice came from behind her, and she identified its owner before
she spun to face him. Rather, she turned to face his chest. Jaxon Hart stood
several inches taller, towering above her with a barrel chest, massive arms,
and a handsome face. His voice paired with his devastating dark good looks had
women dropping their panties left and right, and he had encouraged it from the
first day she met him.
“Hey, Jax,” she said, a little
breathless as she always was around him. “You’re here early. I thought everyone
was coming in on Thursday.” Tae had elected to take a rare day off to arrive at
the hotel on Wednesday. She’d thought to lounge around the hotel alone for her
mini vacation before she had to be social with people she didn’t know.
Jax smiled, flashing the most
perfect white teeth she’d ever seen. Then again, they could compare to
Daniel’s. The best friends were perfect foils for each other—Jax dark, Daniel
light.
“Didn’t Daniel tell you the
wedding party would be arriving on Wednesday for a last minute rehearsal?”
She bit off a groan. “No, I should
have realized that. The last wedding I attended was my sister’s something like
ten years ago.”
“You’re looking beautiful as usual,”
he commented, sweeping his gaze from her head to her feet. Tae found herself
toying with her hair, which she’d crimped and died bronze. She’d thought the
color a bit too stark, but it fit with her caramel skin tone, so she didn’t
fret too much. Maybe she didn’t look as hippy as usual either. After all, her
crazy exercise regimen over the last thirty days had whittled her waist down by
a couple inches and lost her ten pounds.
She blushed at his compliment.
“Thanks. You’re not looking so bad yourself.”
“From you that always sounds like
an insult.”
“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”
No way would she tell him flat out how hot he was. The man’s head might
explode. She squinted at him. “Is your head bigger than usual?”
“You cut me, Tae.” He rested a
hand dramatically to his chest. “I’m not what you think I am.”
“So you brought a girlfriend with
you?”
She thought she’d cornered him,
but he stepped closer and took her hand. A chill raced over her skin, bringing
goose bumps up on her arms. “I’m all alone. Would you fill in?”
“Not on your life, pal.” She
tugged her hand free of his grasp and turned back to the counter. Once her
business was done, she turned down held with her bags and started toward the
bank of elevators. Jax, strolling with the casual grace of a jungle cat, joined
her. She peered over at him from the corner of her eye and took in the collared
short-sleeved shirt that hugged powerful arms at the biceps and his slacks,
which hugged narrow hips but gave room to the generous rise at the crotch.
“Are you checking me out, Tae?”
She jumped at hearing his low,
sexy voice and frowned at him. “Of course not.”
“Hm.” He winked at her and held
the elevator door open while she passed by him. His fingertips grazed her lower
back for just a second until she moved away on the pretext of pressing the
button for her floor.
“How is the private investigations
business going?” she asked. “Any interesting cases?”
“Every now and then. Often it’s
following cheating spouses and gathering evidence for divorce court.”
She shook her head. “Great, more
reason not to get married.”
He gazed at her. “That why you
turned our boy down three years ago?”
She sighed. “Geez, does everyone
know my history?”
“Everyone like who?”
“Never mind.”
He moved closer, and all of a
sudden the elevator seemed no bigger than a small closet. The scent of his
aftershave tickled her nose, or it could have been cologne. Either way, he
smelled yummy. She took a deep breath, finding no reason not to enjoy it for
the moment. The problem originated with his charm and how he used it at every
opportunity, on every woman, including her. She knew he didn’t mean anything by
it, that it was just his way, but Jax was a temptation for any hot-blooded woman
who hadn’t had sex with anything other than her vibrator for too damn long.
“Are you still in love with him?”
The question caught her off guard
and ripped her from her thoughts. Odd that at that moment she’d been thinking
of touching Jax and not of Daniel. The question couldn’t have been more
ill-timed. “Why would you ask me that?”
“It’s a question.”
“I know, but—”
“I’ve known you both for a long
time,” he said, “and I watched the two of you together. You loved him, and he
practically survived off every word that fell from those beautiful lips.”
She put her hand on her hip. “Are
you trying to guilt-trip me?”
“Not at all.” When he touched a
hand to her cheek, she gasped and stared up at him. “If you still love him,
this will be hard for you, seeing him marry someone else.”
The unexpected empathy blew her
away. Never in a million years would she had thought Jax would say such a thing
to her. He and she were friends, but they never did more than flirt and tease.
They didn’t hang out except when he’d double date with whatever woman had
caught his fancy at the time with her and Daniel. He had always seemed nice but
shallow.
She lowered her gaze and pulled
out of his grasp. “I’m fine. Thanks. What Daniel and I had is in the past. I
appreciate your concern.”
The elevator dinged a floor before
hers. Jax reached out to play with a lock of her hair. A tingle of awareness
raced through her system. “I like how you keep changing it, black one week, red
the next, blond after that.”
She suppressed a grin. “You don’t
see me often enough to know if that’s true.”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
The elevator doors slid open just
as she opened her mouth to turn him down. Words died on her lips when she came
face to face with Daniel, an older woman, and a younger woman who could be her
sister.
