by Cat Johnson
“Those men from Italy are all…” her mother searched for the word, “sexual maniacs and womanizers.”
“Mother, I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“What is the problem, Jacqueline?”
Her mother honestly didn’t know, that was the problem.
“You’re embarrassing me in front of Mr. Stein.” Jax felt her face grow warm and quickly glanced in the lawyer’s direction.
Both her father and lawyer had barely breathed as they watched the exchange in silence, obviously hoping to stay below her mother’s radar and avoid being pulled into the fray. Smart men, but they needn’t have worried. Jax had a feeling she would be her mother’s main focus of attention for the foreseeable future.
“Why? Mr. Stein isn’t Italian. He’s obviously Jewish.”
“Oh my God, Mother!”
“What? He knows he’s Jewish. Isn’t that right, Mr. Stein?” Her mother turned to the man as if she’d just politely asked him if he’d like cream or sugar in his coffee.
Poor Mr. Stein nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I do. The bar mitzvah when I turned thirteen was a big clue.”
Her mother ignored, or perhaps never even heard, his droll reply and turned back to Jax. “Once we’re done here, I’ll decide what you’re going to wear tonight to the club. We need something that makes those breasts of yours look larger. You certainly don’t get your figure from me.”
Red-faced with shock and anger, Jax was suddenly transported back in time. She felt thirteen again, under her mother’s thumb, being told what to do and when, what to wear, who to befriend. She hadn’t liked it the first time and she was sure as hell didn’t like it now. Unfortunately, with limited funds and the expense of Gio’s settlement, for the next year, Jax was as powerless as when she was thirteen.
God help her, she’d find a way out of this situation. She had to.
Chapter Five
“I’ll walk you out.”
Jax nodded and let Arthur lead her by the elbow, down the stairs to the member parking lot. The valets had all gone home. The remaining cars, fewer than half a dozen, were lined up in front of the building, the keys stashed inside the visors for the night owls who stayed late at the bar when the rest of the diners had gone home directly after decaf and Baked Alaska. They stopped on the sidewalk.
“Arthur, I don’t know how to thank you for tonight. I know I sprung it on you last minute.” Jax found that pulling the wool over her mother’s eyes was so satisfying she had almost been able to forget about having to financially support her lying, cheating husband for the next year. Almost, but not quite. She still retained the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “But I really think it went well.”
Standing awkwardly in what was probably a typical stance for him, Arthur shoved his hands into the pockets of his expensive but wrinkled, pleated-front khakis. Maybe if this fake relationship with Arthur continued, she could take him shopping. Get him into a nice flat-front, wrinkle-free pant and a shirt that didn’t look like his grandfather loaned it to him.
He smiled shyly. “I concur. I haven’t seen Grandpapa look so happy since George W beat Gore. And I have you to thank. It was a brilliant idea.”
“Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without you. When you invited me out onto the terrace to look at the moon, the expression on Mother’s face was priceless. I bet she’s home right now planning the guest list for our wedding.”
Meredith Monroe hadn’t looked that joyful since she’d beaten her archrival in the annual club tournament ten years earlier, if even then. Apparently Jax dating the freshly divorced heir apparent to the Johnston fortune was even better than whipping Bitsy Nahoum’s butt on the courts and bringing home the club trophy. Too bad for her mother it was all a well-orchestrated sham—the dinner at the club, their sitting at a private table for two rather than with either family, their slow-dance together—all of it.
The light breeze rippled Arthur’s open navy blazer away from his thin torso as he tilted his head to one side and looked at Jax. “Would it be inappropriate for me to tell you that more than just getting the fam off my back, I really did enjoy spending time with you tonight? You are an amazing woman, Jax.”
“Arthur.” Jax considered her words carefully, not wanting to lead him on. “I’m not even divorced yet, and the ink on your own divorce papers is barely dry…”
He pulled one hand from its seemingly permanent lodging in his pocket and held it up to silence her. “I know, Jax. I’ve heard all the excuses before. Believe me, I’m very aware that women like you don’t fall for guys like me.”
The last thing she wanted to do was show her pity for him, but Jax couldn’t help the wrinkles of sympathy that crossed her brow. “Arthur, I honestly had a wonderful time tonight with you. I consider you a valued friend. Around here, that’s rare. Do you understand?”
“I do.” He let out a short laugh. “In fact, I haven’t enjoyed a date this much…ever. It was nice to not have any pressure. To just be out as friends.”
Jax smiled. “You’re right, it is nice. Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever had a male friend before. You don’t talk about fashion incessantly, or diets, or club gossip…or men.”
He laughed out loud now. “No, not usually. I’m glad we’re friends too, but, Jax, just for the record, if someday you find that prematurely balding, geeky, rich men who are controlled by their grandparents are your type, keep me in mind.”
Smiling sweetly, she agreed. “When I’m ready to fall for a sweet, sensitive man who does a hell of a foxtrot and knows more about golf than I ever will, I’ll think of you first, Arthur. I promise.”
He nodded. “Good. So, shall we make plans for a second date to keep the families happy?”
Sighing, Jax ran a hand through her hair. “Is there some event coming up here at the club this weekend? I’ve got so much on my mind right now with the divorce, I can’t even think.”
Arthur touched her arm. “Is there anything I can do?”
She laughed. “Can you find a way so my cheating ex doesn’t take all my money for the next year so I can move out of my parents’ house?”
“I wish I could. Jax, you know if you need a loan so you can move out…”
“No, Arthur. I have to come up with a way to do this on my own.” Going from being dependant on her parents to being dependant on him wouldn’t solve anything. “But thank you. You are incredibly sweet to offer.”
Jax reached out and touched his face softly, planting a kiss on one smooth cheek while avoiding bumping his wire-rimmed glasses. In the dim moonlight, she could swear he blushed before pulling back from her and saying, “Let me walk you to your car.”
“Actually, I think I’m going to wander around the rose garden for a little bit. It’s such a beautiful night and I don’t think I can face my parents’ interrogation just yet. Maybe if I get home late enough, they’ll be asleep.” Jax felt a lot like a teenager again, trying to sneak into the house to avoid running into her mother.
In spite of looking exhausted, and the fact that Arthur had told her he had an early tee time the next day, he offered, “Do you want me to stay with you?”
“No. Really, I’ll be fine. I think I could use some time alone. It seems as if I haven’t been by myself for one second since I moved back home.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” He smiled. Grabbing her hand in his long slim fingers, he gave it a quick squeeze. “Goodnight, Jax.” Then he was gone with the accompanying purr of his Jaguar’s engine.
She watched him drive away with a sigh. Wouldn’t it be nice to fall in love with a man like Arthur? Stable. Kind. Predictable. Likely to treat her like she was the only woman in the world and probably pretty damn unlikely to cheat on her, as well. Perfect.
So why did the thought leave her cold? She felt nothing but a comfortable kinship when she thought about Arthur. Not like how she’d reacted when she had first seen Gio at the art show. Then, she’d felt her blood heat. Jax had decided immediately she would die
if she didn’t have him, so she proceeded to get him. As her mother had said in the lawyer’s office, they could all see how well that had worked out.
Nice, kind, calm Arthur. When he was around, her skin didn’t tingle or her heart speed. It would be so much easier if it did. Instead, as much as she hated to admit it, her body apparently reacted only to men who were totally wrong for her. Men like sexy bad boy Shane the bartender who’d slept with Seekie and who’d willingly went with Jax for her one and only one-night stand.
Jax had been very aware of Shane’s presence in the next room all through dinner tonight. She’d done a good job keeping her eyes and her mind mostly off of him during the dinner with Arthur. It helped they’d been seated directly in the dining room instead of spending time in the cocktail lounge next to the bar. Otherwise, she doubted she’d be able to hide the fact she nearly salivated when he was near. Still, even in the next room, knowing Shane was there had been ever present on the edge of her consciousness.
She’d sensed him watching her a few times tonight and even let herself imagine he might be thinking about a repeat of last night. It was stupid of her to think about that. She’d had her mindless sex and now she needed to heal and move on to a nice guy. The last time she had fallen head over heels ended with her in a lawyer’s office. Her near obsession with Shane showed she obviously hadn’t learned her lesson.
A familiar, deep male voice directly behind her startled Jax out of her ponderings. “Aw. That was sweet, giving him a peck on the cheek before you sent him away. I was afraid I would have to hide here in the dark and wait for you two to finish making out against his car like you and I did last night, but apparently I needn’t have worried.”
Jax spun to find Shane and smiled. Maybe one more night of mindless sex wouldn’t hurt, as long as she didn’t let herself get attached. Didn’t she deserve a little fun after all she’d been through?
She took a step forward and ran her hands over his chest. “Hi.”
“Are you kidding me?” He grabbed her hands and held them, his eyes wide open and raring for a fight. “You think you can hop right from your date with rich boy back into my bed?”
“Shane, could you at least let me explain what you thought you saw while you were out here spying on me?”
He let out a snort and dropped his hold on her. “Oh, relax, Ms. Monroe. No explanation needed. I’m just the help. Remember?”
The entire speech reeked of condescension.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She noticed for the first time exactly how frightening a man his size could be when he was angry. Funny, last night his size had been a huge turn on. Now, he just seemed huge. She wished this conversation had happened with a nice, wide, sturdy bar between them. Even so, she challenged him by looking directly into his eyes and not backing down even when he spat horrible words at her.
“I know exactly what I’m talking about, Jax. Apparently I’m good enough when you’re in the mood, but when it comes to dinner and dancing, it’s rich boy who does it for you.”
His comments hurt. She used the only thing she could to retaliate. “That’s really funny coming from you. Tell me, Shane. Exactly how many members of this club have you fucked?”
“Apparently, one too many.”
To her horror, the confrontation, his anger, her own, all released the pent up emotions over Gio and the divorce settlement. She hated the sobs that she couldn’t even begin to hide once they started. At least the sudden torrent stopped his angry tirade.
He hung his head and ran one hand over his face. “Jax, I’m sorry.”
She wiped at her tears angrily, willing them to stop. “Why? Afraid I’ll get you fired?”
“No. I’m kind of hoping to get fired from this job, actually.” Shane dragged in a big breath then released it. “I could use a drink right about now. How about you?”
Jax half laughed, half sobbed. “Oh, yeah.”
“I’ll meet you at the lounge chairs by the pool in two minutes. Okay?”
“Are you going to continue to act like a Neanderthal asshole?” she asked.
Shane smiled. “No. I promise. I may even apologize again which is pretty rare for me. So, how about it?”
“Okay.” She nodded.
He hesitated. “I just realized I’ve never poured you a drink except for that wine. What’s your pleasure?”
Ha. He had no idea. Big and obnoxious though he was at the moment, Shane was still hot enough to make her blood boil. “Scotch. Single-malt.”
Nodding once, he grinned. “Take after your daddy, I see.”
“God, I hope so,” Jax answered with intense conviction. As she turned toward the path that led to the pool area, Jax heard Shane’s deep laugh behind her.
Chapter Six
Bottle in hand, Shane poured them each a drink. He handed one to Jax. “Listen, you’re right. I was wrong.”
She accepted the drink and laughed. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a man say those words before.”
“Yeah, well, that’s because we’re not usually wrong, but I’m man enough to admit it when I am.” He joked even while his stomach twisted. Jax and Arthur Johnston. That sucked. A lot.
“Funny man. Ha, ha.”
“Seriously, Jax. Last night was just like you said. Mindless sex. Really great sex, but still, just sex. I have no right getting mad at you for dating the Johnston boy now. Okay?” Too bad he didn’t believe his own crap.
“No. It’s not okay that you jumped to conclusions. The wrong conclusions.”
“Then enlighten me, Jax, because I really want to know.” The moon had risen high above them. Shane watched the mix of emotions cross her face as he warred with himself over his own feelings about her.
“No. I’m still mad at you.” She pouted in her lounge chair without even looking in his direction.
“Fine with me.” Shrugging, Shane held up the bottle from his reclining position in the chaise next to hers. “Ready for a refill?”
She thrust her plastic cup in his direction. “Yes.”
He sat up and splashed more scotch into her cup and watched as she took a big gulp and then flopped back in her chair, staring at the star-strewn sky.
“Men suck. Gio sucks. You suck.”
“Okay.” He probably deserved that, so he let it go.
“What’s wrong with me?”
That question from a woman was always dangerous. “Um…nothing?”
She sat up now, swung her legs so they bumped his, and leaned forward. “No, I mean it. Am I sexually attractive?”
He’d spent a considerable amount of time admiring Ms. Jax Monroe’s high, shapely butt and tiny perky boobies. In fact, positioned the way she was, the thin fabric of her silky dress gapped just enough that he could see the darkened tip of one braless nipple in the moonlight.
“You are one of the most attractive woman I’ve ever met. I’m pretty sure that last night, all three times, proved I find you very attractive. Why are you even asking?”
“Because my lying, cheating husband couldn’t keep his pants zipped after only ten months of marriage.”
Ah. The cheating husband. Just the thought of him pissed Shane off almost as much as seeing her with Arthur Johnston had.
She leaned forward even more and he smelled the scotch on her breath, mingled with some no doubt insanely expensive perfume. “Gio and I had really good sex. I mean, incredibly good. And lots of it, too.”
He really didn’t need to hear the intimate details of her sex life with her soon to be ex-husband when all he wanted to do was kiss her. His eyes dropped away from staring at those tempting lips, only to find instead two nipples, both erect from the chilling night air, poking through her too thin dress. Luckily, she continued to talk so he didn’t have to form a sentence.
“It’s not like he could have been bored. We did anything and everything, everywhere. Things I’d never done with another man, ever.”
Taking another slug of his own scotch, Shane though
t what the hell and asked the question uppermost in his mind. “What kinds of things?”
“Well, for one, he was an artist, so I let him paint me.”
Shane immediately conjured the tempting image of Jax draped nude over some elegant velvet loveseat, posing as the artist stood behind an easel, taking in every detail. Only the artist in his mind was himself, not her husband. Damn, that was hot. He struggled to comment. “Well, it’s understandable he’d want a painting of his wife…”
“No. I mean he painted me. Put the colors on my body and then we had sex. Let me tell you, that paint was a bitch to get out of certain places.”
Shane swallowed hard, imagining those places.
“And that’s not all. He liked to do it in public, like the rest room in his favorite restaurant or the movie theater.” Impossibly, she leaned even further toward him until he now felt her warm breath on his face. “I even let him do it…back there.”
“Um, back where?” Shane suspected he knew damn well where, but he wanted to hear her say it as the image reeled through his head.
She hissed the revelation in the exaggerated whisper of a woman who was starting to feel the effects of the whisky. “You know…anal sex. Lots of it. All the time.”
Oh, boy. Now his dick was awake and taking notice.
“In fact, the only thing I ever said no to was when he wanted to bring another woman into our bed. That should have been a warning I guess.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know, perhaps my mother’s correct. I don’t do anything well. Maybe the sex wasn’t as good as I thought. I guess I can’t even do that right.”
“Your mother’s wrong. I should know.” He hadn’t had the pleasure of sampling off as wide a menu as her husband had, but what they’d done had been more than memorable. Good thing his pants were black and it was dark because otherwise she’d see exactly how fond he was of those memories.
“Thanks. Please, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Tell me about your night.”