‘What the fuck?’ I growl, glaring at the Bentley pulled up outside of Jessa’s apartment.
‘What?’ she says from the passenger seat, looking around. Her gaze lands on the Bentley, her brows furrowing. ‘Who is it, Jax?’
‘Fox,’ I mutter, pulling the Sian into her spot since her car is still at the hotel. I planned to drop her off there after she packs enough shit to stay the weekend with me. She has classes until three today and works tonight and tomorrow night. But I still have my apartment here. We’re staying there. If I have my way, she’ll be living with me there until she graduates.
She already agreed to move into the mansion when she comes to Nashville. If Gwen doesn’t want to live alone in Nashville, she can come too. The house is big enough for her…though I have a feeling that won’t be necessary.
Cyrus and Gwen are both radio silent. Jessa and I both suspect that’s because they’re together. Cyrus isn’t the type of man who gives up easily. I’m guessing he’s got Gwen locked up at his place, refusing to let her leave until she hears him out. Either that, or she’s busy hiding his body.
‘Fox?’ Jessa asks. ‘DEFCON Billionaire Fox?’
‘Daniel Fox.’ I exhale a frustrated breath, pretty sure he has me microchipped with a Lo-Jack. Doesn’t matter where I go, he seems to find me if anything out of the ordinary pops up. His definition of emergency and mine are two entirely different things. But as much as I hate to admit it, the things he hunts me down to tell me in person are usually important.
‘He knows where I live?’ Jessa asks, curiosity sparking in her eyes. She looks beautiful in her blue pencil skirt and cream top. Her hair is pinned back at the nape of her neck. If she’s wearing makeup, I can’t tell. She’s fresh-faced and innocent, too damn sweet for words. There’s a contented gleam in her blue eyes this morning, one that seems soul deep.
I know exactly how she feels. For the first time ever, I feel settled, at ease.
Letting her out of bed this morning wasn’t easy. I know she’s tired. I couldn’t keep my hands off her or my dick out of her last night. We made love four times. She has to be sore, but she keeps saying she’s fine. Which is a hell of a relief because I already know I’ll be in her again by morning.
For four years, I’ve lived without being able to touch her, kiss her, or make love to her. Every time I looked at her, I wanted to shout from the rooftops that she was mine but couldn’t. Those rules no longer apply. I can put my hands on her beautiful body whenever I want.
Nothing has ever felt as good, looked as good, smelled as good, or sounded as good as she does when I’m inside her. Not even my most elaborate fantasies did her justice. Nothing compares to Jessa. She’s soft and sweet everywhere.
‘Jax? He knows about me?’
‘He knows about you,’ I murmur. Fox is…Fox. He’s one of the only people at Concord I trust. He’s fussy and obsessive and drives me up the wall. But he’s probably better qualified to run the company than I am. He knows everything that happens.
I asked him once why he cared so much.
His fiancée died in a car accident a dozen years ago. He never got over him. So he pours his soul into Concord. I can respect that. God knows, even when I thought I couldn’t have Jessa, every part of me still belonged to her. Being a SEAL gave me something to focus on when I thought not having her would kill me. Without that, I’m not sure what the last four years would have been like.
I don’t know how Concord felt about my mom or why he never married after he walked out on us, but I know he didn’t love her. If he had, he never would have left her. Whatever was between them…maybe one day I’ll know the truth. Maybe I’ll never know. All I know for sure is that not even hell itself could drag me away from Jessa now.
When she has our kids, nothing could drag me away from them either. I figure that already makes me a better father than the one I had. I’ll learn the rest from loving Jessa and letting her love me. She’ll guide me. She’s my northern star, my rabbit…my soul.
‘Come on. Let’s go see what fresh hospitality hell awaits me.’
Her soft laughter burbles out, soothing the edges of my irritation at Fox. It’s impossible to feel anything less than sheer bliss now that she’s got my ring on her finger, my marks on her body, and my seed in her belly. As far as I’m concerned, nothing else matters.
I hop out of the car and circle around to open her door for her. She flashes me a big smile, slipping her hand into mine. I pull her out of the car and then kiss her just because I can.
It’s barely even light outside, but a few people are up and moving. A blonde woman glances our way and then smiles before hurrying toward her car. A couple on the far side of the parking lot stop to gape at the car. The others plod wearily toward their vehicles, heads down and coffee mugs in hand. Most everyone here attends college at UTC with Jessa and Gwen.
Daniel’s waiting at the top of the stairs, dressed as impeccably as ever in his customary three-piece and colorful tie. His blond hair is combed over. He’s short and stocky, with a crooked nose and icy blue eyes.
‘Fox,’ I mutter.
‘Sir,’ he says, running his eyes over Jessa. Even though he’s gay and still hung up on his dead fiancée, I still pull her closer to me. He sees the ring on her finger and his upper lip curves into a tiny smile. ‘Miss Jordan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.’
‘Jessa, this is Daniel Fox. Fox, this is my fiancé.’
‘Congratulations,’ he says, giving us both a genuinely warm smile.
‘Thank you,’ she says, offering him a sweet smile in return. ‘It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘Only the good parts are true,’ Daniel says, making her laugh. His eyes come to me, his expression sobering. ‘I have some news for you.’
‘Um, should I go on in?’ Jessa asks, fidgeting like she’s worried she shouldn’t hear whatever he came to tell me.
‘You can stay, rabbit. No secrets, remember?’ I press my lips to her temple, meeting Daniel’s gaze over her head. Whatever he says to me, he can say to her. I won’t have her feeling like she’s not welcome or trusted, not by anyone.
He nods, reading between the lines. I expected nothing less from him. ‘This actually involves you too, Miss Jordan.’
‘Oh.’ Her brows furrow, her nose wrinkling.
‘Several people saw the two of you together yesterday evening. There’s been…speculation,’ he says, choosing his words carefully.
‘Oh,’ Jessa whispers. ‘That was fast.’
‘Gossip spreads like wildfire among certain groups,’ he says.
‘Employees?’ she asks, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.
‘Gold diggers,’ Daniel says bluntly. ‘They’ve been following his every move since they found out he was Concord’s heir. They’re all eager to know more about the mystery woman who snagged him.’
Her nose wrinkles again.
‘We don’t have to tell them anything, rabbit,’ I murmur, knowing she’s been worried about it. As much as I want everyone to know she’s mine, I’m not going to push.
‘I know,’ she says before turning back to Daniel. ‘If we don’t say anything and they find out I’m an employee, will it be bad for him?’
‘With your fellowship? Possibly,’ Daniel says before I can stop him.
Shit.
‘My fellowship?’
‘Ah…’ Daniel looks to me for help.
‘You didn’t,’ Jessa gasps, instantly putting the pieces together. She’s too damn smart for her own good. She turns those wide, perceptive eyes on me and then narrows them. ‘You did.’
‘I’ll apologize for keeping it from you, but I won’t apologize for doing it,’ I say, refusing to feel guilty for making sure she could follow her dreams. ‘I could fund a million fellowships and still have more money sitting in the bank than I could spend in fifty lifetimes. I’m not sorry for using it to make sure you were going to be taken care of.’
‘We’ll come back to this,’ she mutters to me before turning to Daniel. ‘What if we release a statement? Something that makes it clear we’ve been friends for a long time and this relationship isn’t a product of him becoming my boss?’
I give Daniel a wary nod.
‘Getting in front of it with the truth may stop wagging tongues looking for a scandal,’ he says, grimacing, ‘But I’m afraid it might make you look questionable, however.’
‘Me?’ Jessa blinks in obvious surprise. ‘Why?’
Daniel glances at me, clearly reluctant to answer that question.
‘He thinks they may question the timing of our relationship,’ I growl, irritated I have to say it at all when nothing could be further from the truth. ‘Wonder why we’re only now getting together.’
‘You mean they’ll think I’m a gold digger because you just inherited billions,’ she says, dismayed.
I nod reluctantly. Jessa is the furthest thing from a gold digger. I’m the one who waited to claim her. Had I gotten my head out of my ass earlier, none of this would be an issue now. She’d already have my last name, already be the mother of my kids. No one would have a reason to question her motives then.
‘Let them think it,’ she says, shocking the shit out of me. Her eyes meet mine, full of determination. ‘I don’t care anymore, Jax. Let them say what they want about me, think what they want about us. I’m not running anymore. The people who matter know the truth. We know the truth. If it causes problems with your board, I’ll sign a pre-nup.’
‘The hell you will,’ I growl.
‘If it helps you, you can’t just arbitrarily reject it, Jax.’
‘I can. You’re not signing a fucking pre-nup. We’re not getting divorced.’
‘Of course we’re not,’ she says, rolling her eyes at me. ‘That’s exactly why it doesn’t matter if I sign one or not. It will only ever be a piece of paper that holds no sway in our lives. I don’t care about your money. I loved you when you were just you. If signing it makes your board sleep better at night or makes your life a little easier, I’ll sign a thousand of them.’
‘We could lie,’ Daniel interjects.
Both Jessa and I turn to face him.
‘No one has to know that you haven’t been dating for the past four years,’ he says. ‘I’m sure you have pictures together, and friends and family willing to say they’ve seen you together. Just say you’ve been quietly dating for the last four years, with the intent to wed after she graduated from college.’ He waves his hand as if to say be creative. ‘You’re a billionaire now. You make the rules. If you say that’s the case, people will believe you. No one wants to piss off a billionaire.’
‘We’re not waiting until you graduate to get married,’ I mutter to Jessa when she looks at me like she likes this plan. ‘We’re getting married now.’
‘Can we elope to Vegas?’
‘You want to get married in Vegas?’ I chuckle at her, surprised.
‘I don’t care where we get married,’ she mutters and then giggles. ‘But if you’re going to be a bossy pants man about it, I’m going to have fun with it. You said you wanted to be an eccentric billionaire. What’s more eccentric than having Elvis officiate in a cheesy Vegas chapel?’
‘The board would have a collective heart attack,’ Daniel says.
That’s all the incentive I need.
‘Let’s do it,’ I say, grinning at Jessa.
She throws her head back, laughing loudly.
‘On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you right now?’ I ask Jessa, watching her as she prowls through her closet, tossing things into her duffle bag.
Ruby is in her bed, tucked under the covers with her little head on the pillow like she’s human. I guess she’s still pouting that we didn’t take her with us last night because she looked at me and then flopped back down, all dramatic like when I entered the room.
Daniel just left a few minutes ago. I’m going to meet him at the Chattanooga office later to approve whatever statement he’s about to write.
He thinks we’re nuts. I don’t really care. I didn’t ask to be a billionaire. Jessa didn’t ask for it either. We’re doing this our way. Anyone who doesn’t like it will just have to deal.
‘Mm, five,’ she says, melting into me when I wrap my arms around her from behind.
‘Only a five?’ I kiss all over the side of her neck.
‘Four.’
I grin and tweak her nipple, liking that she grows less mad every time I touch her.
‘Three. I’m mad to three,’ she gasps, making me chuckle.
I place another kiss on the side of her neck. ‘I didn’t want you to feel like you owed me anything,’ I murmur. ‘That’s why I didn’t tell you about it. You’ve worked your ass off. You deserved to be able to finish school without stressing out over the financial side of it.’
‘I’ll make you a deal,’ she says, turning around in my arms. She loops hers over my shoulders, playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.
‘What?’
‘I’ll let you pay for what I don’t have covered for grad school if you’ll agree to give the fellowship to someone else.’
I narrow my eyes at her.
‘It’ll make things easier in the long run,’ she says quietly. ‘I don’t care what people say about me, but I don’t want anyone to have a reason to say that you’re using your money and your authority over me. I worry that they will if they find out that you’re the one who financed my fellowship.’
‘Why do you care so much what they say about me?’ I ask, resting my forehead against hers. With both of us wearing glasses, they clink together and smudge, but I don’t care.
‘Because you’re genuinely good at running the company,’ she says. ‘You care about your employees and you’ve worked so hard the last six months to win their loyalty. I don’t want this to undo any of your work. You deserve for things to be easy for once and to feel like you have a place in this world, baby. Your father might have put you in charge for his own selfish reasons, but you’re the right man for the job. I don’t want anyone to have a reason to doubt that.’
‘Say that again,’ I whisper, a flood of warmth coursing through me.
‘I don’t want anyone to have a reason to doubt that?’
‘No. You called me baby. Say it again.’
‘You deserve for things to be easy, baby,’ she says again, smiling at me.
‘I love how that sounds,’ I mutter, pressing my lips to hers in a hard kiss. I tilt her head to the side to deepen it, losing myself in her and how damn good I feel when she’s pressed this close to me and squirming around.
‘Please?’ she whispers when I finally break away so we can breathe.
‘Fine,’ I agree, giving in because I know this matters to her. ‘But we will be following through with Daniel’s plan. And if anyone even thinks about questioning why you’re with me, they’ll be cut out of my life without hesitation. I don’t care who it is. No one questions you, not while I’m still breathing.’
‘Bossy pants,’ she says, but I can tell by her smile that she’s going to agree…right up until mischief flares in her eyes. ‘I have an addendum too.’
‘Maybe you and your fifty-dollar words should be the CEO.’
‘Addendum is not a fifty-dollar word,’ she huffs. ‘It means an addition, typically tacked on at the end of something.’
‘I know what it means, smart ass,’ I say, chuckling. ‘What’s your addendum?’
‘Igettodrivetothehotel,’ she says all at once.
‘What?’
‘I get to drive to the hotel,’ she says again, slow enough for me to understand her this time.
‘Uh, no.’
‘Jax!’ she cries, stomping her foot. ‘You’re not being very fair.’
‘It’s my car.’
‘And you drive it like a grandma.’
‘Only when you’re in it with me,’ I murmur, kissing her on the forehead. ‘I’m not risking you when I just got you.’
The fight drains out of her, her expression melting. ‘You’ve always had me. You just didn’t know it yet. I love you.’
‘I love you too, rabbit.’ I kiss her softly on the lips and then sigh, giving in to the inevitable. I can’t ever tell her no. I don’t really want to tell her no anyway. Making this woman happy is my greatest joy in life. ‘I guess I’ll let you drive just this one time.’
She squeals, throwing her arms around me again. Her tits press into my chest, her lips landing against my cheek. And somehow, even though it shouldn’t be possible, I fall in love with her all over again.
