by Lexi Aurora
Sally sighed and stood up.
“That she will. She won’t be happy that you didn’t come back to work. Instead you were whoopin’ it up with the most eligible bachelor in LA. She will be beyond jealous.”
Jess grimaced.
“I just can’t wait to get to work,” Jess grumbled.
Sally moved to the door.
“It’s a good thing I live one floor up. I don’t have far to go,” Sally grinned.
“Thank you, Sal. You’re a lifesaver. What would I ever do without you?” Jess sighed.
“You won’t ever have to find out.”
Sally gave her a quick hug then left the apartment. Jess smiled as she closed the door. She was so lucky to have Sally as a friend. She then moved down the hall to Tyler’s room. Opening the door she peeked into his room. He was still fast asleep.
“Good. No explanations required…yet,” she thought.
She closed the door quietly and went into her bedroom. As she tossed her purse onto a chair she remembered that she hadn’t gotten her payment from Jax. Darn! She should call him. She opened her purse to grab her phone and stopped suddenly. Inside her bag was a legal sized check. She pulled it out and gasped, seeing that it was made out for twenty-thousand dollars. That isn’t the amount they had agreed upon. My God! The things she could do with twenty grand. She had to call and thank him. She changed into her nightgown and got into bed. There was so much to think about, her mind whirling with the events of the day. Sleep overcame her as she dreamt of Jaxson Cooper.
Jaxson
“Who is the tacky bitch that thought she could take my place!?”
Randi stormed into Jax’s office and slapped her white leather clutch bag onto his desk.
“I’m sorry, Jaxson. I tried to stop her,” Amanda said apologetically as she entered the office behind Randi.
“It’s alright, Mandy. I got this,” Jax said.
Amanda gladly left the office swiftly closing the door behind her. Jax reared back in his comfortable, black leather chair and regarded Randi from beneath narrowly closed eyes. He saw before him a very selfish, egoistical, conniving woman. Somehow he had dismissed these offensive qualities while dating her. Randi was supposedly all about the moment and looking for no commitments which was how he liked it. But after being with Jess last night and experiencing her gentleness, warmth, and kindness, Randi’s inferior qualities came across as abrasive. He wanted no part of them or her.
“Who I spend my time with is no concern of yours,” he drawled. He twirled a pencil between his fingers.
“Why couldn’t you have attended the party stag? It’s not unlike you to do so. There was no reason or need to have a bimbo bitch on your arm,” Randi stated hotly.
Randi’s name-calling was grating on his nerves. He would not stand for Jess to be demeaned in his presence. He snapped the pencil and threw it on the desk. Randi jumped in alarm. He leaned forward.
“You chose to leave me blowing in the wind. From that moment on we were done. Whomever accompanied me as my escort was my business—not yours,” he snapped. “We are no longer an item. It’s over.”
“Darling, my absence was unavoidable. My mother was sick and I had to attend to her,” she hurriedly explained. “You couldn’t expect me to ignore my ailing mom.”
“Your mother is having the time of her life sailing the French Riviera,” Jax said sharply. He had anticipated Randi’s excuse, Eva having given him that storyline last night to explain Randi’s defection. He googled Randi’s mom and found a picture of the woman on Count Edward Locklear’s yacht just yesterday. He opened his desk drawer and removed the 8x10 photo of Randi’s laughing mother, slapping it on the desk. “She doesn’t look sick to me. That pic was taken yesterday and posted on the internet.”
“She is ill. I spent all of last night talking on the phone to her,” Randi insisted.
“You’re a liar. We’re finished. Get out!”
Randi gasped.
“I’m not lying! And we will never be done. We are too much alike. We will never be over,” she exclaimed.
Jax stood up.
“You’re delusional, Randi. Believe me when I say that I am through with you.”
Randi’s face paled dramatically as she stared at Jax in shock.
“You can’t mean that. We are perfect together. We are a better match than peas and carrots,” she protested. “It’s that woman you were with last night. She has somehow got you confused.”
“If by confusion you mean finally seeing things clearly then I guess she has. I now see what I really want. And it is not you. Leave my office and don’t come back,” he said brusquely.
“No. You can’t do this!” she said in raised tones.
“I just did.”
“I won’t let you. We belong together. We’re going to be married!” Randi yelled.
Jax shook his head.
“We were never going to be married and you know it. You’ve been dreaming, Randi, and it’s time to wake up.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere until we’re good again,” she said stubbornly. “We can work this out.”
“Do I need to call security? Leave. Now.” He picked up the phone to dial security.
“Fine! I’ll leave. But you’ll come crawling back to me. It’s only a matter of time.” She snatched her clutch bag from the desk and stormed from the office leaving the door wide open.
Jax resumed his seat as Amanda entered the office, intent on closing the door. She paused and looked at Jax.
“That was a nasty scene. Are you alright?” she asked kindly.
Jax smiled broadly at her.
“I’ve never been better.”
Amanda chuckled then left the office closing the door once again behind her.
Jess
Jess was dancing on the clouds as she went about her work at the bakery. Not even Madeline’s griping could mar her happy feelings. She had called Jax to thank him for his generosity but he hadn’t answered. So she’d left him a voicemail expressing her gratitude. She had used the money to not only pay her rent for the month but several months in advance. She had even given her mother money, not that she thought the woman deserved it.
“Have you had a chance to speak with Jax, Jess?” Sally asked from across the table. They were both busy icing small cakes.
It had been two days and Jess hadn’t heard from Jax. She wasn’t worried though. Not yet anyway.
“No. I’m sure he’s been really busy,” Jess answered.
Sally looked at her with a frown which Jess noticed.
“What’s wrong?” Jess asked.
“I just would have expected him to call you back by now,” Sally said. “His actions smack of love ‘em and leave ‘em,” Sally blurted.
“Jax wouldn’t do that to me,” Jess said confidently.
“How do you know? You really don’t know him.”
“Yes I do.”
“Come on, Jess! I love your optimism but Jax is a player. LA and the rest of the world know this,” Sally objected.
Jess laid aside her small offset spatula.
“It’s hard to explain,” Jess sighed. “It’s more of a feeling that I have. I know of his reputation and his womanizing ways. But it was how he treated me that night and what he said. He wasn’t lying to me when he promised that our night wouldn’t end. He meant it.”
“And you’re sure he was being sincere?” Sally was wary.
“Yes. It’s crazy but I trust him. He wasn’t lying to me.”
“I hope you are right. I really do,” Sally said.
“She is absolutely correct. I would never lie to her.”
Jess and Sally swung around in shock. They saw Jax standing in the back doorway.
“Jax!” Jess exclaimed. He held his arms wide and she ran into them. “I knew I would hear from you,” she breathed happily as she hugged him tightly.
He tightened his arms about her and kissed her deeply. She felt his cock spring to life and he groaned and lifted hi
s head. He smiled down into her sparkling gold eyes.
“In the flesh. I wanted to come see you sooner but there were some things I needed to take care of first,” he explained. “But thank you for trusting that I would not forget about you.”
“I do trust you. More than I have trusted anyone in my life,” she said honestly.
“Can you love me just as much?” he asked. He rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. And the more I thought of you the more I knew that I had fallen in love with you.”
Jess stared at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe her ears.
“The moment I saw you piling desserts on my kitchen counter I knew I had to know you better,” he continued. “I made up the excuse of needing a date for the party. Yeah, Randi had stood me up but it was nothing for me to attend a party solo. I came up with the escort arrangement so that I could spend time with you. I was a bit high-handed but I wanted to ensure that you would do it. I fell in love with you while you slept in my bed. And I have no intention of allowing you to sleep anywhere else…ever. Please tell me you feel a little bit the same.”
Jess looked into his pleading eyes and could not deny that she loved him as well. It was her love for him that assured her that he had not walked away from her. That their time together was not just a one-night stand. She knew what her answer would be. There was only one answer in her heart.
“Yes, Jax. I love you too. With every fiber of my being, I love you,” she said earnestly.
He grinned and swung her around. Jess laughed delightedly.
“Can I begin to make your wedding cake?” Sally called out.
Jax set Jess on her feet and looked at Sally.
“Absolutely. That is if the lady will marry me,” he said. He looked down at a beaming Jess. “Will you marry me, babe?”
“A hundred times if I need to. Yes, I will marry you,” she smiled brilliantly.
“Wahoo! I will bake you the best cake in the world!” Sally exclaimed.
“You are truly my sweet love,” Jax murmured.
He then bent his head to show her just how much he loved her.
The End