sets the tone for my entire weekend. I feel flat and uninterested in doing much at all. Laundry and housework are as exciting as my life gets nowadays.
My housemate Rachel is away on a work trip, so it’s not like I even have anyone to moan to.
Jaxon’s words just kept going around and around in my head. “It should never have happened…. you deserve more.” Please, as though I’m going to believe he feels bad about it. He’s probably only saying something because we have to work together, and he doesn’t want it to be awkward. I bet I would never have heard from him again otherwise. But then, the way he held my chin, just like that first night, and the evening in Phil’s office… what on earth was that about? He blows hot and cold. One minute he’s glaring at me, and the next, he’s saying he can’t forget about that night.
Talk about mixed signals.
I have absolutely no idea what’s going on in his head.
His unfairly handsome head.
And frankly, with all that’s going on with work and how busy it is, I can do without his mind games.
But despite all of that, I can’t help thinking the man I met that first night is the real Jaxon King. I just don’t know where he’s gone or why.
The only positive from the last couple of days is I manage to get in two Barre classes. Abigail is there both times, and we grab a coffee after the one on Sunday morning. I feel like a total scruff next to her. Even in gym gear, she looks immaculate. She’s sweet and insisted we meet for lunch one day during the week as the school office she works in isn’t far from Articulate.
“Morning,” I say to Frankie as I pass him on the way into the office.
“Hey, Megan. Good weekend?” he asks, lifting his full coffee mug to his lips to take a sip. I swallow down a queasy feeling in my stomach.
Not this again.
I’ve been mostly okay all weekend. I thought I’d finally got rid of this bug.
Maybe it’s this office I’m allergic to.
“It was okay, thanks. You?”
“Fabulous!” He grins. “Rick and I went to Calvin’s for our anniversary dinner.”
“Oh, nice.” I smile in appreciation at the mention of the new restaurant down by the river. It’s been open a month but still has a waiting list a mile long to get a reservation.
I head to my desk and place my bag down on the floor.
“Erm, guys, did someone…?” I look around the room but am met with shrugging shoulders and blank faces as I point to the giant bouquet on my desk.
I drop into my chair and stare at the beautiful orange tulips, leaning forward to inhale their scent.
It’s barely a quarter to nine in the morning. Who delivers this early?
I find the card fixed to the cellophane wrapper and detach it.
Forgive me, Megan. I did not mean to cause you any upset. You have such a wonderful talent; I hope we can continue working together and maybe even be friends? JK.
“Okay,” I mutter, blowing a wisp of hair out of my eyes. I turn the card over in my fingers as I chew on my lip.
Friends? He wants to be friends?
I just can’t work this guy out.
I turn my computer on to power up as I read the card again. Maybe he’s just worried about working together. I mean, it’s bad luck to work with someone you had a one-night stand with… someone you were never planning to call.
I can’t believe I did that. I don’t do casual sex. I’m such an idiot. I do it one time, and look where it’s got me.
I flick the card across my desk, and it flies over the edge and onto the floor. It sits there, taunting at me in all its bright manilla glory.
“Ugh, fine.” I bend down to pick it up, muttering to myself as I tuck it in between the flowers. I’ll decide what to do with it later.
For the rest of the day, I work on more sketch ideas for White Fire, stopping for a quick lunch at my desk. Lydia’s got a dental appointment today, so she can’t meet me. I’m going through my emails, getting ready to leave for the day.
Somehow, I’m one of the last ones in the office.
“Hey, I text you. Are you ignoring me?”
I pull my phone from my bag as Lydia approaches, her eyebrows raised in question.
“Sorry, Lyds. I forgot to turn the sound on.” I groan as I realise what’s happened.
I’ve missed two texts from Lydia and a call from Jaxon. I only know it’s him as I saved his number after he texted me Friday night. He obviously had my number all along, so he can’t even say he lost it and use that as an excuse for not calling.
Why’s he calling me though… at four-thirty? That was forty-five minutes ago.
“Earth to Megan.” Lydia snaps her fingers in my face.
“Huh? Sorry…” I trail off, eyes glued to the missed call log as though it will provide answers.
Lydia doesn’t notice as her attention is now on the bouquet of tulips that take up half my desk. She reaches out to stroke a petal.
“Who’s apologising?”
“What do you mean?”
She points to the flowers, then rolls her eyes. “Haven’t you heard of the language of flowers?”
“Um, nope.” I look at her expectantly. “But I guess you’re about to enlighten me?”
“Those,” she points to the tulips, “symbolise forgiveness… and… penis.” She breaks into a laugh as my mouth drops open. “I mean peace.” She pushes my shoulder playfully. “They symbolise forgiveness and peace. So, what does Jaxon need forgiveness for now?” She raises an eyebrow as she leans back against the desk, watching me.
“What makes you think they’re from Jaxon?”
“The way you went bright red when I said ‘Penis’.” She grins. “Plus, I read the card when I passed your desk earlier, and you were in the toilet. There’s only one ‘JK’ I know who would word a card like that. Forgive me, Megan. Most guys would say I’m sorry. But the Fox is a different kettle of fish. He’s sophisticated. I Googled him, by the way. He went to Oxford University to study.”
Lydia looks at me as though this is crucial information.
“And?” I shake my head.
“Megan,” she tuts, “I’m just saying, he’s not just got where he is through luck and charm, he’s educated too.”
“It doesn’t matter what he is. He’s not interested in me. You read the note. He just wants to make sure that night—which he told me was a mistake, by the way—doesn’t interfere with us working together. That’s all there is to it.” I fold my arms as I look at Lydia. “How do you know all that stuff about flowers, anyway?”
“Oh, my aunt’s friend is into it. She lives in California, but whenever she sends gifts, they’re always flower related, and she writes a card with the meaning inside,” Lydia says as she picks Jaxon’s card out from the stems and reads it again. “It’s quite interesting, really. I’m impressed Big Dick Fox knows about it.”
I snatch the card back. “Shh, don’t call him that. Especially not here.”
“Are you kidding?” She opens her arms wide and gestures around at the empty office. Everyone has gone home as we’ve been talking.
“Okay, point taken. But you never know. I wouldn’t put it past Phil to have installed bugs to listen in on our conversations.”
“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see Phil in a bright yellow suit. Bright custard yellow!” Lydia calls out into the empty office, a wicked grin on her face. “I don’t know how I would keep my hands off him. Probably drop and blow him on the spot.”
I tip my head back and laugh. “You’ll regret that if I’m right!”
She grins at me. “Cheered you up, though, didn’t it? You’re the only woman I know who can be sent flowers like these from a hot guy with a big dick and not look happy about it.”
“Lyds,” I groan.
“I know, I know. I’m just saying. Okay, he never called, but he seems sorry about it now. Guys who are worried about working together don’t need to send half the tulips in Holland to a woman to show it. He says he wants to be friends. Personally, I think he wants to be friends that also fuck.” She tips her head to one side as she watches me.
I shake my head with a frown. “I don’t have those kinds of friends.”
“Yeah, you’re waiting for Mr Hallmark movie to sweep you off your feet.” She sighs. “You could at least have some fun whilst you’re waiting… hop on Fox King’s dick if you get the chance.”
I tidy up my desk and slip my sketchpad into my bag, pretending not to listen.
Lydia chuckles and wraps an arm around me as I stand. “I’m just saying, why turn down hot sex?”
“I’m not turning down anything, Lyds. They’re just flowers.”
She raises her eyebrows at me with a grin. “We’ll see.”
I smile at her and shake my head as we walk out of the office together.
“You ready for the day with the test audience tomorrow?” she asks as we reach the lifts.
“Yeah, I think so,” I reply. “Kids can be tough critics, though. So at least we will know if we’re on the right track if they like it.”
“Nope. They’ll be savage.” She laughs.
“Okay, now I am nervous.” I laugh along, knocking my shoulder against hers.
The lift doors open, and my laugh withers in the air as Jaxon steps out.
“Good evening, Megan, Lydia.” He addresses us both, but his eyes are fixed on mine; his expression is unreadable.
“Good evening, Mr King,” Lydia says sweetly. “You’re coming in a bit late tonight. You’ve missed Phil.”
I stand there frozen and mute as Jaxon’s brow furrows, and his gaze eventually turns to Lydia.
“I have some things to collect from Tina’s office.”
“Megan could help you, couldn’t you, Meg?” She turns to look at me, her eyes sparkling, grinning from ear to ear. “She could just hop along and help get you what you want.”
I glare at her, heat pooling in my cheeks.
“I’m sure Mr King can find it himself.”
“I think it takes two,” she answers.
“I’m sure he can manage,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“Maybe he would like the company?” she fires back, turning her question towards Jaxon.
He’s glancing back and forth between the two of us, but if he wonders what the hell’s going on, he has the good manners not to show it.
“That would be helpful, Megan. I was hoping to talk to you if you have time? I don’t want to hold you up if you have somewhere to be?” he asks.
“She doesn’t,” Lydia replies.
Jaxon’s face softens, and he gives me a small smile.
“Her date is tomorrow night, but tonight she’s free as a bird,” Lydia adds before stepping into the lift behind him.
My eyes widen at her as she presses the button and gives me a wink.
“Well, I appreciate your help, Megan. It seems I’m lucky that your date isn’t tonight. Would that be the same person who sent you the gift you opened at your desk?” Jaxon practically growls.
I tear my eyes away from the closing lift doors behind him and look at his face. His eyes are dark, and he’s glaring at me. I could tell him the truth, that I don’t have a date tomorrow night or any other night. I haven’t had a date in months. But somehow, I can’t seem to get the words out.
Or maybe I don’t want to.
He holds out a hand, gesturing for me to go first. I walk back towards my desk, turning right before I get there, towards Tina’s office. I glance back over my shoulder. Jaxon has paused, his eyes resting on the orange tulips on my desk. They’re hard to miss; the bouquet is so large.
I walk back to him.
“They’re beautiful, thank you. But you didn’t need to send me anything.”
He clears his throat. “I expected to see them in the rubbish bin.” His jaw is set as he stares straight ahead.
“That’s not fair to the flowers.” I offer him a small smile as he looks at me.
“I’ve not been fair to you, Megan,” he whispers, his eyes searching mine. “I’ve confused things… not acted like a gentleman. I would like you to believe I’m not usually like this, but I realise I have given you no reason to think otherwise.” His beautiful lips curl downward into a sad frown as he looks at me.
I shuffle on the spot, twisting my fingers around the handle of my handbag. He’s really worried about this affecting us working together. Doing the covers for the books is an enormous deal to me and could help me even more with setting up on my own. I never stopped to think about what it means to him and King Publishing. This book series must be an enormous deal to Jaxon, too. I know from that night how passionate he is about his work.
We both need to make it work.
I just need to forget about that night and move on. Put my career first. It’s why I left my job as a flight attendant. This is what I want to do, fulfill the creative need inside me.
I take a deep breath, looking into Jaxon’s eyes.
“It’s in the past. Let’s forget about it. We work together now. There’s no need for it to be… awkward.”
“No, of course not,” he says in that deep, sexy voice.
His gaze drops to my lips.
Not awkward at all.
He’s still looking at my lips, a beautiful look of concentration on his face, which he had the night I met him.
Definitely not awkward.
The night I let out my inner champagne-fuelled porn star and rode him cowgirl… on his face.
Totally not awkward.
Then gave him a blow job like the world was ending and could only be saved by me giving head—the best head ever—and swallowing down every drop of him. All whilst his hands fisted in my hair, and his lips groaned my name in a way that still makes my stomach flutter if I even think about it.
Fuck.
“I think I should go,” I murmur.
Jaxon thrusts his hands into his pockets as he nods at me.
“I’m glad you still want to work together, Megan. You’re very talented.”
“Thank you. It’s an exciting project.”
He gives me a nod. “See you tomorrow.”
Shit. The test day.
“Oh, you’re going?” I ask, trying my best to keep my voice casual. I can’t believe I have to spend almost an entire day in the same room as him. A few minutes is torture enough.
“Yes, it’s an important part of the process. I want to be there. That won’t make you uncomfortable, will it?” He raises a brow at me in question.
Yes.
“Of course not.” I fake my best smile at him.
“Good,” he replies, although his face looks like he finds my answer anything but ‘good’.
“See you in the morning then.”
I walk past him, holding my breath in the twisted hope he reaches for me. Holds my chin in his hand again and looks into my eyes.
He doesn’t.
Instead, he stares at the tulips on my desk.
I’m weak. Everything I just told myself about forgetting that night and moving on… what if I can’t?
“Good night, Megan.”
My step falters at the sound of his voice saying my name.
“Good night, Jaxon.”
I walk back toward the lifts, my stomach sinking. I’m kidding myself. I can’t work with him, and it not be awkward. As annoyed as I am at Jaxon King, there’s another emotion that’s even stronger when I’m near him.
Desire.
The desire to kiss him.
Kiss his beautiful, soft lips.
And never stop.
