“You bit me,” I said laughing.
“Yeah, I did.” His lips turned into a smile against my shoulder. I ran my fingers through his soft hair. “That was,” he paused.
“Amazing?” I supplied.
“Long overdue.”
I smacked at his shoulder and giggled. His hand cupped my breast as he turned on his side to face me. Arching my brow, I tried to wipe the smile off my face. A grin tugged at his lips as he softly kissed where his teeth had nipped at my skin.
Somehow the news broke that I had given birth. Our wonderful agents suggested we do some kind of interview and reluctantly I agreed. We found ourselves on the same damn talk show we had been on before. I tried to hide my contempt for the idiots fawning over us. It soured my stomach to think these people enjoyed placing us on a pedestal and lived to get every detail from our lives. Jax and I deserved privacy.
The worst part was that they kept saying they had a special treat for us. There was no doubt in my mind they had something up their sleeves to make drama in our lives. One of the green room doors stayed shut and locked, but several people kept slipping in and out before we went on stage.
Jax gripped my hand during the interview, making small comforting circles on my lower back. The questions were awful and the high pitched squeal from the female co-host was giving me a migraine. My suspicions were confirmed when they tried to blindside us by calling Silver out right before a commercial break. These idiots only thought of their ratings. They didn’t care about our feelings or have any concern for what I might do to Silver if I got ahold of her.
Jaxon’s hand pinned me to my seat or I might have gone flying at her when she walked on stage. His grasp on my hand was the only thing keeping me from swinging my fist into her smug face. There was one thing circling in my head and it took everything I had not to giveaway what I had planned.
Silver Cunningham was about to go down in flames and she wouldn’t even see it coming.
My palms itched as I gripped the edge of the chair. Jaxon’s hand still rested on my back, but all I could focus on was trying not to scream at the dumb bitch sitting next to me. Jax squeeze my thigh tightly as he tried to distract the hosts from the fact I was about to come unglued on Silver. It was so bad I couldn’t even hear the interview questions they asked over the roar of anger in my head.
“Talk about Harper as much as possible,” I whispered into Jaxon’s ear. He shot me a confused look, but nodded. The airhead host caught us and switched her attention from Silver’s babbling.
“What are you two lovebirds whispering about over there?”
“I was just telling Jax that his mother texted me a picture of the baby right before we came onstage. She’s so big now. It just blows my mind at how fast she’s growing.”
“How old is she now?”
“She’s three months old now.” Jax grinned as he answered, pride showing all over his handsome face.
“Oh wow! You guys will have to get us a picture to show during the commercial break.”
“Sure, we can do that.” I turned towards Silver and tried to keep a straight face. “Do you plan on having any kids?”
“No, I don’t really like kids.”
“Huh, that’s funny? I thought you told Jax that you loved kids and you wouldn’t mind helping him raise Harper if anything happened to me. He told me all those selfless things you said you would do to— I mean for him. You know, while you two were finishing up the promotion on your last movie.”
“You must be mistaken, Violet,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Maybe.”
My voice dripped with contempt. Jax looked back and forth between us with his eyes questioning what I was doing. I felt bad I couldn’t tell him my plan, but he would understand why I did it when everything was over. Angling my body towards the airhead, I continued.
“Silver was just so concerned about Jax during my pregnancy. Early on I passed out on set one day and Silver came to check on him. Lucky for us, one of my best friends is an OB/GYN, and she came to take care of me. I don’t know why, but she wasn’t very fond of Silver though.” I narrowed my eyes. “But, it might have something to do with the fact we heard Silver tell Jaxon I was probably faking my pregnancy to get him to stay with me.”
Jaxon’s cheek ticked as he fought back a smile. The idiot co-host stared at me slack-jawed. Silver looked like she wanted to jump me, but I was ready.
“Oh, she also said it wasn’t Jaxon’s baby either. She was just so concerned about his well being. The producer on their movie is one of my good friends. He said she wanted every touch to be documented between them because she was so convinced that it was the beginning of their relationship. She was very adamant that every single moment be captured. It’s just ironic that during that time period all the photos leaked to the media were taken by the crew.”
“So you believe Silver had something to do with the photo of the kiss that was leaked to the media during the premiere?” The guy co-host narrowed his eyes at Silver.
“Your producer had a video to show.”
Thank goodness I thought ahead and made sure everything was in place. I had been afraid something like this might happen.
Silver blanched as the screen behind us showed a few moments before she kissed Jax. He had been speaking to someone behind her, and when he looked down she grabbed his face and pulled it down to hers. Jax pushed her back and took several steps away from her shaking his head and holding his hands up to ward her off. The video stopped and everyone stared at Silver, except Jax. He was looking at me.
“How?” Jax asked.
“James is a good friend. When he found out she had gone off the deep end and tried to mess up our relationship, he sent me everything he could find. I only spoke with him last week. It took him that long to get the video from the interns and track me down.”
Jax turned towards the hosts. “I hope everyone believes me now when I say how much I love Violet. I would never cheat on her.” He turned towards Silver. “Thank you for trying to fuck up my life, but as you can see it didn’t work. Leave me alone and get it through your head that I don’t ever want to see you again.”
I choked out a laugh and Silver glared at me. Jaxon pulled me up against him, capturing my lips in a searing kiss. Silver made an indecipherable sound next to us.
Jaxon stood up and tugged me up beside him. “I’ve tried not to speak ill of you, but for everything you’ve done, you deserve what you have coming. You almost cost me my marriage and my family, but if you think I would have come running to you, you’re out of your fucking mind. You will never be half the woman she is.”
Game over, bitch.
Jax grabbed my hand and led me offstage. Ripping the microphones off, he threw them to the side like they were nothing. We were in the car and halfway down the block before our phones starting chiming. Lexi’s text was the best.
Jaxon is a fucking God.
Jax looked at me when I barked out a laugh. I showed him the text and his laughter filled the car with mine. We would be just fine, and I felt so much better showing the world Silver’s true colors.
Violet, are you ready? The party starts in five minutes, we should get going.”
Jaxon stood behind me, his reflection staring back at me in the mirror. I turned towards him and ran my fingers along the lapels of his suit. The crisp lines of the jacket would complement my ruby red cocktail dress. Turning back, I finished putting my diamond studs in my ears.
His lips ran up the back of my neck while his hands held my hips in place. My body shivered in response.
“Jax, if you start that now we will never get out the door.”
“You look amazing, I can’t help myself.”
“Taylor will be mad at us if we’re late.”
“I can deal with that,” he said smirking and spinning me around in his arms. His fingers traced the slope of my breast. I swatted at his chest playfully. It had already been an afternoon full of hot sex. Alice had taken Harper
earlier so we could go to Stephen and Taylor’s house for their party. Stephen had landed an amazing new role and there was a huge celebration.
“You are relentless, Jaxon Garrett.”
“I guess we have something in common now, don’t we Mrs. Garrett.”
I turned back to fix my lipstick. He caught my gaze in the mirror and winked at me.
Walking into the foyer, there were tons of friends milling around the house. Gage had his arms wrapped around a stunning brunette I didn’t recognize. He caught my gaze, and I smiled and waved at him. We hadn’t spent much time hanging out since the premiere and I wanted to catch up with him at some point tonight. He’d started a new movie immediately after we wrapped filming and I missed him.
Amanda stood next to another crew member on the deck. She was too far for me to catch her attention, but she had some major gossip to explain. Rumor was she had been seen running around with a certain actor named Scott. I hoped it was true; she needed a good guy in her life and he really had changed over the past few years.
Jax led me through the crowds of people as we looked for Stephen or Taylor. Neither was mingling with their guests from the look of it. I turned towards the back hallway to see if they were in a bedroom. Halfway down the hallway, Taylor came barreling into me as she stormed out of Stephen’s office.
“There you are,” I started. She looked as pale as a ghost, but before I could ask her what was wrong she cut me off. I let her go on about my dress. My eyes narrowed, but now wasn’t the time or place to question her.
Taylor shook her head slightly as we walked back towards the party. Her face wasn’t as pale, but her hands still shook lightly. I quietly watched her try to shake off whatever it was that had startled her.
“Quit staring at me,” she snapped. “I’m going to get a drink and I swear if I come back and you’re still staring at me like I’m a lost puppy, I will smack you.”
My jaw dropped as she turned on her heel to walk away. Amanda walked up next to me and quietly asked, “What’s her deal? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like that.”
I winced. “You heard that?”
“Only because I was coming up to talk to you.”
“Hell, I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out. Something is wrong.”
Taylor got a drink and downed half of it in the first gulp. I had a funny feeling something was about to happen with Taylor, but all I could do was stand back and wait for the storm to hit.
Amanda and I talked about her new mini-series she was filming in Canada. She also admitted that she was dating Scott. They had spent a lot of time on set talking and hit it off. I was happy for them and I hoped it worked out.
She asked about my plans and I explained that I planned to apply for law school. Jaxon pushed me to finish what I started and with his encouragement I would start in the next few months. He claimed he wanted to take time off to be with me and Harper, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t last for long. His itch to work would take over soon.
I sipped a glass of red wine and stared off the deck into the sea. Stephen walked up beside me and leaned back against the wood railing. Reaching over, he grabbed my glass and took a drink. He smirked as I grabbed my glass back from him frowning.
“Some things will never change, Davenport.”
“Nope.”
We stared out at the changing tide. Stephen’s expression changed as we stood there.
“We did pretty well for ourselves didn’t we, Vi?”
“I believe so. In less than a year, I got remarried and had a baby.”
“Certain things changed, that’s for sure.”
“You mean the fact that you’re living with my little sister?” I smirked.
“Yes, but that started out as a roommate situation.”
“Stephen, she’s never just been a roommate to you. When are you going to admit it?”
He stared at me for a second before turning his gaze back out to the ocean. “I’m scared; I’ve got this feeling she’s going to run. I can practically see the panic rising up in her, but I can’t stop it.”
I sighed. Now wasn’t the time to tell him I had that same feeling. “We just have to keep reminding her of why she’s here. She’s got issues that you’re helping her with. If it’s meant to be, it‘ll work itself out.”
He turned to walk back inside the house.
“Stephen?” He paused but didn’t turn back around. “If she runs, it’s not because she doesn’t love you.”
He nodded, but said nothing. I hoped we were wrong, but I couldn’t help but think we were right. Something was off with Taylor and she wasn’t talking about it.
Stephen continued into the house and I turned back towards the beautiful sunset. The oranges and pinks streaking the sky were mesmerizing, and it reminded me of the sunset the night of my first date with Jax.
The vivid colors bounced off the reflection in the water. Once again someone lean against the railing. This time I was wrapped up in strong arms. Jaxon’s cologne filled my nose, and I shivered at the kiss he placed the side of my neck.
“Did you miss me?”
“Always,” I answered.
“It’s beautiful out here. I don’t know that I’ve ever watched a sunset this amazing.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
I sighed as I leaned back into Jaxon’s strong arms. We watched the sun fall behind the horizon. Everything in that second seemed perfect.
Romance writer. Wife. Mother of two. Avid reader. Queen of multitasking.
Originally from the south, Alyson likes to incorporate what she knows into her books. She's lived not only on the east coast, but the west coast and a few places in between. Alyson loves sharing stories about her crazy family to anyone who will listen. Her guilty pleasures consist of coffee, country music, brunch, breaking the rules, and pedicures. And she will always be a daddy's girl.
When Alyson isn't chasing around her two kiddos, she's normally writing. Or reading. Her Kindle library is out of control. Alyson writes mainly contemporary novels and novellas with a bit of new adult mixed in.
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www.authoralysonreynolds.com
I want to thank my husband first and foremost. Without his support, this book never would have happened. He put up with my crazy muttering when my characters were acting up and made me endless cups of coffee or poured me endless drinks when I needed them most.
My beta readers are amazing! Thank you Ashlie, Dawn, and Holly. You guys are amazing and I appreciate everything you do for me! I can’t wait until next time, which with any luck will be soon. Thanks for putting up with my cranky moods and endless questions.
Thank you to all the blogs: New Chicks on the Blog, Books & Boys Book Blog, Itsy Bitsy Book Blog, and countless others that have helped me get my feet wet! I’m so excited to work with everyone in the future.
To the readers, you make everything possible. You allowed me to tell you a story that I wanted to read. Thank you.
Relentless (Relentless #1) Page 16