“I don’t know, Jason.” She gently pulled her hands back and unwrapped a straw.
“What don’t you know?” Because there were a few obvious things to him.
She pointed to him and then her and then put the straw in her water glass.
“I like you,” he said. “I’ve never stopped liking you, and I know you probably need answers about what happened.” He swallowed, not quite sure he was ready to talk about everything yet. He amended the thought. Of course he was. He wanted Lexie in his life, and he would tell her the truth. She deserved that much whether they were going to be together or not.
Lexie looked at him, and dropped her eyes to the table again. “It took me a very long time to get over you,” she said, her voice barely carrying across the tiny table between them.
“I never got over you,” he said.
She lifted her gaze to him again. “Yeah?”
“Nope. Never did.” He hadn’t tried all that hard, either. While Jason might not have any idea what to do with his life, he did know who he wanted to figure it out with.
“We have to go slow,” she said. “Let me think about things.”
“Lex.” He waited while the waiter served them their food. Once she was gone, Jason continued. “You’ve always set the pace in our relationship. It won’t be any different this time.”
She nodded and picked up her fork. “This does look great.”
“It’s a salad.” He rolled his eyes. “Can’t be that great.”
“Hey.” She picked up a piece of tomato and launched it at him. It flew right over his head and landed on another table. She giggled and covered her mouth with her hand while Jason checked to see if anyone had witnessed the flying fruit.
“Okay, you’re a really bad aim,” he said, reaching for his first slider.
“Mm,” she said, drawing the sound out. “This salad is so good.”
Later that afternoon, Jason stood in his bedroom/living room, sorting through his clothes. Lexie had gone into the backyard, which was really just a big sand box, to make a phone call. Tyler was supposed to be stopping by at any time to return Steve, and Jason still hadn’t packed anything for the dog to come with him to Lexie’s house.
He couldn’t believe he’d told her he’d never gotten over her. “But it’s the truth,” he muttered to himself, looking at a pair of shorts he wasn’t sure were clean or not. And he was committed to telling her the truth. After all, he now knew the consequences if he didn’t, and he couldn’t watch her walk out of his life again.
The front door opened and Tyler said, “Hey,” as Steve’s paws clickety-clacked against the hard floor. He ran right over to Jason, who dropped the shorts in favor of scrubbing down his dog. Lazy Bones, Tyler’s golden retriever, followed, a happy smile on his face.
“Hey, Stevie,” he said. “Were you good for Tyler? Yeah? Did you get to chase a Frisbee? Did you?”
Tyler picked up the shorts and dropped them again. “What’s going on here? You’re leaving?”
“Just going over to Lexie’s,” Jason said, folding the shorts and putting them in the suitcase. She had a state-of-the-art laundry room. If he needed to wash some clothes, he could.
“Oh? Did you get back together?”
“Nope.” Jason popped the P, trying not to think about holding her hand and sleeping with her curled into his side on the couch. “She hired me to be her bodyguard.”
“Ah.” Tyler didn’t press the issue, and Jason didn’t look at him. He’d mentioned in passing once that he’d dated Lexie a long time ago. Nothing specific, and Tyler wasn’t the type to press or gossip. Thankfully.
“Thanks for coming to get Steve last night.”
“Anytime, man.” Tyler sat in the recliner, obviously in no hurry to leave.
Lexie came through the back door just as Jason finished packing and zipped his suitcase closed.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said, turning back to look out the window. “The beach, the trees. I don’t have a view like this.”
Jason did love his beach hideaway. It wasn’t anything fancy—Tyler at least had a separate bedroom at his place—but it was all Jason needed. Or so he thought. One look at Lexie, and he knew he needed more.
“It is nice.” He took two steps into the kitchen and started collecting food for Steve.
Lexie turned to face him. “Maybe we should stay here.”
He abandoned the food bowls and leashes in favor of staring at her. “What?”
Tyler stood, and Lexie’s eyes darted to him. “Oh, hey, Tyler. I didn’t see you there.”
“Just brought Steve back. Let’s go, Bones.” He caught Jason’s eye as he moved toward the front door. “Good luck, man,” he muttered, pulling the door closed behind him with a very final snap.
When Jason met Lexie’s eyes again, he found a flush in her face. It only endeared her to him further, and he twisted his fingers through the leash as he said, “Tell me why you think we should stay here.”
Chapter Nine
Lexie’s pulse filled her whole chest, making her throat narrow and speaking impossible. She shrugged instead, knowing that wouldn’t fly with Jason. It never had. He’d always wanted her to talk to him, tell him what she wanted. And then he thought about it before reacting. It had been one of the most attractive things about him when she’d been with him before.
Still was, and she wondered how long she could fight her growing feelings for the gorgeous man in front of her.
“It’s just,” she started, her voice scratchy and weak. She cleared her throat, reminding herself that she was Lexie Keller, a billionaire heiress who ran one of the largest investment firms in the world.
“Victor already knows where I live,” she said. “But he doesn’t know where you do. Maybe this is the smarter option.” Maybe if she played this about being smart and safe, she could hide how she felt about Jason a little longer.
They hadn’t kissed after their lunch date, but it was all Lexie could think about. Gazing over the bay a few minutes ago, she let herself fantasize about what it would be like to open that door again, walk through it with Jason’s hand in hers, and embrace how she felt.
“This is six-hundred square-feet,” Jason said, his tone unreadable. “Look around, Lex. This is what this is. There’s no bedroom. There are two doors here, and one leads to a bathroom and one to a closet.” He swept his arm around the shack, but Lexie didn’t look away from him.
“Are you embarrassed that this is where you live?” she asked.
“No.” Jason shook his head, frustration brewing in his eyes. “Not at all. I’m just wondering where you think you’ll sleep.”
“There’s a hammock in those trees back there.”
“And you think sleeping outside will be safer than in your fortress?”
Lexie cringed. “Is that really what you think of my house?”
Jason shook his head again, returning to his chore of packing up the supplies he needed for his dog. “This conversation is getting off-track.” He looked at her. “Your house is beautiful. Wonderful. Big, with sturdy locks.” He turned his back on her and bent to get something out of a lower cupboard. “This place is none of those things.”
“But Victor doesn’t know where it is.”
“He wouldn’t know if you stayed in a hotel either,” Jason said, filling a gallon-sized zipper bag with dog food. “And there are dozens of them in Getaway Bay. You could move to a new one every night. I mean, if we’re talking about how to disappear and stay safe.”
Lexie cocked her head, hearing something in those last words. “What does that mean?”
Jason sealed the bag and set it aside, his preparations apparently done. “It means, Lex, that I’ve done that. Moved around. Hopped from hotel to hotel to avoid…certain things. If that’s all you need, let’s get you into a hotel right now.”
When considering Victor, yes, all Lexie needed was to stay somewhere safe he didn’t know about. But considering everything else….
&n
bsp; “I don’t want to go to a hotel,” she said. “I want—” She couldn’t say what she wanted. Could she?
Something dangerous entered Jason’s eyes and he came around the counter which he’d kept between them. “What do you want, Lexie?” He practically purred her name, and Lexie had very few defenses left.
Throwing all caution to the wind, and her hands up into the air, she blurted, “I want you, Jason. Okay? I want to be with you again, and have you tell me everything that happened, and see if we can make a life together on this island.” Her chest heaved and yet she couldn’t get a decent breath.
He stood there, his tiny dining table between them, his expression storming like a hurricane.
“Say something,” she said.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You’re off the clock,” she said. “And maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe we’ll just spend time together, and talk, and Victor won’t be able to get near me.” Win, win, win.
Jason took another step toward her. “You want to talk?” He continued to advance, taking both of her hands in his. “Just talk?”
Lexie couldn’t look away from his mouth. “Yes,” she whispered. “Don’t you think we need to talk?”
Jason swept his mouth across her temple, moving his hands from hers to her waist. “We can talk,” he said, his lips skating down to her earlobe. Everything inside her went weak, and she grasped onto his shoulders, almost desperate to kiss him now.
Lexie’s brain felt slow, sluggish, with Jason’s scent so prominent and his hands on her body. All at once, she realized what she was doing, and she stiffened.
Jason noticed, because he stepped back, taking his touch with him. “So, talking.” He cleared his throat and returned to the kitchen. “I have to work at Sweet Breeze tonight, so I’d love a nap between now and then. But we could order in for dinner and relax in that fancy loft of yours.”
Lexie didn’t think her loft was anything special, but Jason had had one in his place in New York, and she supposed it probably reminded him of that. “That sounds good,” she said. “What can I help you get?”
“How do you feel about taking Steve?” He held out the dog’s leash, and while Lexie had never been that big of a fan of canines, Steve panted on the couch without a care in the world. She had serious doubts about how her cats would get along with him, but they didn’t live in the house and well, Steve obviously did.
“I can get Steve.” She took the leash from Jason without touching his fingers and clipped it to the dog’s collar. “Come on, Steven. Let’s go.”
Jason chuckled as he tucked the food and a couple of other things into a small box and then picked up his suitcase. “Steven? Is he in trouble?”
“He seems more like a Steven.” Lexie glanced over her shoulder to find Jason right behind her. He walked out without locking the door behind him, and Lexie really wished she could spend more time in his little house. It felt comfortable, peaceful, and a distant memory surged forward of how much she’d enjoyed spending time at his apartment in New York City.
Once everyone and everything was loaded into her car, Jason got behind the wheel and eased out of his sandy driveway. She took another look at his tiny house, a pang of longing still pulling through her.
“Should we grab something to eat right now?” He turned onto the paved road and headed toward town. “We could get some of those take-home pizzas for later. Salad.” He cut a glance at her, but she couldn’t see his eyes behind the shiny shades. “You like salad.”
“I do like salad. And the grocery store over on Vine has a take-home salad bar.”
“Oh, that sounds dangerous.” He grinned and reached over to take her hand in his. “Let’s go there. Load up for tonight and tomorrow.”
“Sounds like you’re not planning on leaving the house.”
“I’m not. Well, I have to work tonight.” The light turned red and Jason slowed to a stop. “I think I’ll call in though. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you the first night after Victor followed you home.”
Anxiety crawled through Lexie too, but it wasn’t because of Victor. “Owen made it sound like he really needed you to valet.”
Jason’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. Which meant Lexie was right, and he couldn’t call in and skip work. “Maybe I’ll come hang out with you,” she said.
“Victor is a guest at Sweet Breeze. You think it’s smart to go right where he is?”
“Luke should’ve delivered the restraining order today,” she said. She pulled out her phone and texted him. “I’ll find out.” Lexie couldn’t help thinking she didn’t really need a bodyguard, but she couldn’t bring herself to say so. She wanted Jason upstairs, in her kitchen, at her side.
Drake never got back to me. Luke’s text didn’t settle Lexie’s worries. I’ll call him right now.
But it was almost eight o’clock in New York, which meant the reminder that Victor couldn’t come within fifty feet of Lexie wouldn’t go out until tomorrow at the earliest.
“The lawyer never called Luke back.” Lexie frowned at the shops and buildings buzzing by. “I’ll call Owen. Maybe he can get someone else.”
Jason practically knocked her phone out of her hand. “Lexie, I can take care of my own job. I can call Owen myself.”
A sting pinched her lungs. She got a firm grip on her phone and glared at Jason. “Okay. You don’t have to swat at me.”
“I just don’t need you taking care of my business.”
He’d never liked that, and foolishness raced through Lexie. “All right. I know. Sorry.” And she meant it.
“I didn’t mean to swat you,” he said quietly as he pulled into the grocer on Vine. The tension between them intensified for a moment, and then Lexie released her breath.
“I’m sorry, Lex.”
“It’s okay.” She tried on a smile and it seemed to fit okay. “Let’s go get what we need.” She reached for the door handle, but he put his hand on her thigh. Fire reared and raced through her, though his skin wasn’t even touching hers.
“Let me get out first, okay?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before he got out and closed the door.
“Is he always like this?” she asked Steve, but she already knew the answer. She’d hired him to be her bodyguard, and he was going to do exactly that. He scanned the parking lot, but all Lexie could see were moms walking in or out with their kids. The later crowd on Friday night would be couples and teens, but for now, everything looked safe.
Jason finally opened her door, right when Lexie felt like panting as hard as Steve was. “All right,” he said. “But we stay together in the store.” He moved to the back door and let Steve out, his leash tight around his hand. “Right next to me, Steve.”
The dog complied, and even Lexie wouldn’t have dared disobey him when he spoke in that voice. He hadn’t changed into one of the expensive suits she’d bought, but he looked formidable and imposing anyway.
They moved through the store like they were on a covert mission and continued on to her house. Jason didn’t relax until the garage door closed behind them and he locked the entrance into the house after that.
He unclipped Steve, who started sniffing everything in sight, while she took their groceries into the kitchen.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, his phone already at his ear. She nodded and heard him say, “Owen, hey, it’s Jason Burnes,” before he disappeared upstairs with his suitcase.
Lexie usually liked the quiet atmosphere of her house, but today it felt oppressive. She went outside to feed and water the cats. Steve came with her and if Brownie or Slinky were around, they didn’t come out with the spaniel’s presence.
“You can stay out here,” she told the dog, and he did, happily sniffing her trees, bark, rocks, and fountain grass. She left the door ajar for him and went about unpacking the groceries. When her phone chimed a message from Sasha about meeting at the beach, Lexie’s first inclination was to say Yes! Be there in twenty.
Then
she remembered who was upstairs and what they had planned. She couldn’t make him go sit on the beach at a healthy distance while she chatted with her new beach friends.
I wish I could! she sent instead. I’ve hired a bodyguard and we’re working out some details. That sounded really professional and not like she’d hired her previous boyfriend to stay in her upstairs bedroom, bake pizza for her, and skip out on his job that night because she was afraid to stay in her own house alone.
Who did you hire? Of course Sasha would ask, and Lexie didn’t see how she could keep it a secret.
Jason.
She expected Sasha to call, as the woman wasn’t a fan of texting long messages. So when five hearts in various colors came in, all Lexie could do was smile.
“Who are you texting?” Jason asked, sweeping into the kitchen smelling like fresh cotton and cologne.
Lexie flipped her phone face-down on the counter as Jason walked past. “You showered?”
“I slept in my clothes last night.” He indicated the fridge. “Do you have water in here?”
“Yes, sir.”
He opened the fridge and retrieved a bottle. He offered it to her first, but she declined. He was so strong, so sensitive, and yet so sexy too. Lexie sighed, only realizing when he looked at her and quirked one eyebrow that it had been a very, very loud sigh.
A happy sigh. A content sigh. A come-kiss-me sigh.
“Are we napping first?” she asked, hoping to cover up the sound she’d made. “Or do you want to put a movie on? Go for a walk?”
He took a long drink from his bottle and then set it on the counter. He stalked closer, and Lexie had seen that look on his face before.
“Jason,” she warned.
“Hmm?” He wrapped his arms around her and dipped his head toward her ear. “I heard that sigh, Lex. I’ve heard it before.”
Of course he had.
She giggled and felt daring and like someone she hadn’t been for a long time when she said, “So what comes next, smarty pants?”
Jason somehow brought her closer, his hands hot and tight along her waist. “This.” He brought his mouth to hers, kissing her like he’d been thinking about doing it for seven years. Like he’d never gotten over her, as he’d claimed. Like she was his and would never be anyone else’s.
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