WILD ZONE, A Rough Riders Hockey Novel

by Skye Jordan

  “Lexi.” A hand closed over her arm. She turned and faced Stan Love. “I haven’t gotten that dance you promised.”

  The musical quartet assembled near the fountain started playing “Somewhere in Time,” a piece that always reached into Lexi’s heart and tugged. She smiled, took his hand, and walked to a small area alongside the band.

  “One of my favorite pieces.” She sighed as the older man took her smoothly into his arms and picked up an elegant, slow waltz.

  “For one of my favorite women.” He smiled down at her, his gaze she could only describe as paternal, even though she’d never known her father and had never had a paternal source in her life.

  They danced for a few moments in comfortable silence. Stan was strong, well-built, and smelled of spice and citrus.

  “What a beautiful day, Stan,” she murmured. “You must be so proud.”

  “She’s my baby,” he said. “They’re all gone now. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.”

  Lexi laughed. He was one of the busiest producers in Hollywood. “I’m sure Claudia will keep you plenty busy,” she said of his wife. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. With no more of your babies to marry off, I might go out of business.”

  He chuckled. “I happen to know of a young man who would like to take up a lot of your time.”

  Oh Lord. She’d had two dozen people try to set her up in the last twelve hours. Still, she feigned mild interest.

  “Jax asked me to put in a good word for him.”

  Lexi stumbled. Stan smoothly carried her through the step until she’d fallen back into the rhythm.

  “He thought that might be your reaction,” he said, grinning down at her.

  She lowered her gaze to Stan’s open collar. He’d taken off his tux’s bow tie the second they’d left the church. Lexi’s gut burned with an automatic flight reflex. And when all she’d been able to think about or want for the last three days was Jax, the reaction both confused and troubled her.

  “He mentioned that he’d worked for you.” She finally managed to say something coherent. “He had great things to say.”

  “It’s mutual.”

  She glanced up, tried to read his clear blue eyes. They were sparkling with amusement. Lexi relaxed. “That’s it? He asked you to put in a good word for him and that’s all you can manage?”

  “He said not to overdo it.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Do you always take direction from your stuntmen?”

  “From this one, always.”

  “Stan, you look like a cat that just emptied the canary’s cage.”

  He laughed, head thrown back, eyes closed. The sound bounced off the mansion’s stone walls and drew every gaze on the small patio. Stan stepped back, turned her in an underarm twirl, then swept her right back into his arms.

  “What is so funny?” she asked, grinning up at him, wishing he had been her father. Or wishing she’d had a father half as wonderful. Or had a father at all.

  “Nothing, nothing. I admit, I had hoped Jessie would catch Jax’s eye, then Connor swept her off her feet and, well, there’s no accounting for who you fall in love with, is there?”

  That comment knocked her on her ass. The song ended, and Stan released her, but Lexi held fast to his hand.

  “Wait…what…? You can’t just say that and walk away.”

  Stan cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close for a kiss on her forehead. He whispered, “Try not to let this place run your life, Lexi.”

  She pulled back and found his blue gaze filled with affection and…wisdom. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “I’m telling you what I’ve told every one of my kids—as long as you rule LA and LA does not rule you, you’ll find success.”

  Claudia stepped up to them, then wrapped an arm around her husband’s waist and Lexi’s shoulders. “Don’t try to make me jealous, you two.”

  Lexi stepped back, and Stan pulled his wife into his arms but kept his gaze on Lexi. “He said his plane came in late, but promised me he’d show.”

  Then he pulled his wife into a spin, a dip, and kissed her. Applause erupted around them. Someone’s hand slid over Lexi’s arm. She startled, glancing up into Emilio’s rich brown eyes.

  “I got a break. If you’re not going to have dinner with me, at least let me have one dance.”

  Lexi did her best to be mentally present for the dance with Emilio, but a new fear had taken root. Jax would be here. In the midst of her biggest, wealthiest client pool. And now, her apprehension over being associated with a bad-boy type dimmed, as her other bigger fear took shape—the confirmation of Jax’s power in these circles. He was far more capable of taking her business under than Steven had ever been, and in a far more subtle way. A few targeted comments and the word would spread. Rumors would grow.

  Even as she tried to tell herself Jax would never try to trap her that way, never manipulate her that way, her damn flight reflex had Lexi searching for excuses to escape. But she’d never left a reception before her bride. Never. And she certainly wouldn’t desert her largest client of the year thus far over an irrational fear.

  The song ended, and Emilio switched topics from his security detail for the mayor to Lexi. “I’d like to get you away from all this. Be able to talk to you when you’re not so distracted.”

  He kept an arm around her waist well after they’d cleared the dance area. She didn’t mind the touch when they were dancing, but now, it made her skin tight with discomfort.

  “I’ve got to check on my bride,” she said, smiling up at him. “Thanks for the dance.”

  Emilio reluctantly released her with a grin and a soft, “Someday you’re going to say yes.”

  Lexi paused in a quiet area of the gardens and shook out her arms. Suddenly, pins and needles stabbed her neck and spine. Her heart beat a little wildly. She couldn’t think straight. Her mind, always so open with the big-picture view at an event, narrowed to pinpoint focus, and she couldn’t widen it past Jax. Past seeing Jax at an event like this. Past what he might do when he saw her. Past how he could try to control her if he chose.

  She was sweating. So nervous she was shaking.

  Lexi walked to the edge of the balcony that looked out over Beverly Hills. Lights sparkled in the distance. She pressed her palms to the concrete banister and breathed long and slow. Tried to assure herself he wasn’t that kind of man. That he’d promised he wouldn’t hurt her.

  In her clutch, her phone vibrated. She swallowed, unzipped the bag, and pulled out her phone.

  JAX: You look mouthwatering. I hope you don’t have a gun in that little purse. I have a feeling if you did, you might use it on me.

  Lexi stared at the message. She couldn’t even lift her head to search for him but slid her eyes closed and swallowed a ball of nerves rising in her throat.

  She felt him come up next to her. Smelled him—that mix of subtle spice and leather. Unbearably sexy.

  “No one’s around.” His voice touched her ear like a caress, low and rough and familiar. Delicious. “It’s safe to talk to me.”

  “Don’t.” She shook her head. “I love being with you. Don’t make it sound like I…”

  She couldn’t say the words.

  “Like you’re embarrassed to be seen with me? Baby, it’s not a new situation for me.”

  “This isn’t fair. Just ambushing me like this.”

  Her frustration overflowed. She wanted to love him and hate him with equal parts. Then she made the mistake of looking at him and knew she could never hate him. His hair was still too long, still mussed in that terribly sexy way. His jaw still covered in a couple of days of beard growth. And he sported a new cut down the left side of his jaw. A bruise high on the same cheek.

  She ached to throw herself into his arms. Kiss him until they couldn’t think. This mental straitjacket binding her forced all her air from her lungs in one gust. She reached up to touch his face. When she stopped herself and drew her hand back
, Jax’s smile turned sad.

  “Did you have that looked at?” she asked.

  “Medics on the set said it was okay.” He sat on the banister, angled toward her, wearing another leather jacket, this one all black. His jeans were also black. His boots black. The only concession he’d made toward dressing up was the light blue button-down shirt under his jacket and the tear-free denim.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were invited to the wedding when you told me you knew Stan?” she asked.

  “If you’re reacting like this now, imagine how I thought you’d react then.”

  She felt tears rising to her eyes. Tears of excitement and relief to see him. Tears of fear for what he brought. What he might still bring.

  He extended one hand, offering her a glass of champagne. “This will help.”

  “I never drink when I’m working.” She took the flute and downed the entire glass in one swallow. Barely without tasting the expensive alcohol. And murmured, “Never.”

  Jax’s laugh was low and smooth. “Seems I tend to make you do all kinds of things you’ve never done before.”

  She hissed air from between her teeth. “I’m not ready, Jax.”

  “We both know you’ll never be ready, baby.”

  “That’s not true.” She turned her head to look at him. “I was going to talk to you about it this weekend when we saw each other.”

  “Somehow, I had a feeling that no matter what I told you, you’d need reinforcements from others you respect. So I made a call.” When she started to shake her head, he said, “One call, Lexi. Stan would never say anything to anyone. I knew you’d have to see that I’m not a total outcast to believe it, so I decided this was as good a place as any.”

  But her fear wasn’t focused on his lack of social standing now; it was focused on his power within those social circles. One call now. When things went bad, how many calls would he make? Even as she thought the worst, another side of her mind refueled her belief in his character. And her mind continued to ping between past bad experiences and the desire to believe Jax was different.

  “Chamberlin!” The call came from a pathway nearby, and Lexi recognized it immediately as the groom’s. “It’s about fucking time, dude.”

  Lexi clenched her teeth as Connor neared.

  “Oh, sh-shoot,” he amended his curse. “Didn’t see you, Lexi,” Connor said, grinning the euphoric grin of a man who’d just married the love of his life. “Sorry. I’m sorta—”

  “Smashed?” Jax finished with a smile for Connor so filled with brotherly affection, it tightened Lexi’s throat.

  “Shut up. And get rid of that frilly stuff.” He gestured to the champagne. “My new father-in-law gave me a case of Ladybank at my bachelor party.”

  “No shit.” Jax laughed the words.

  “No shit.” Connor wrapped his arm around Jax’s neck in a drunken bear hug. “Get me over there and you’ve earned a bottle. And leave Lexi alone.” He gave her a drunken wink. “She’s way out of your league, troublemaker.”

  Jax tossed back the champagne, set the glass on the railing, and wrapped an arm around Connor as he stood. But his gaze was steady and intense on Lexi, reminding her of the first time they’d looked at each other through the windshield of Rubi’s Ferrari.

  “You may be right, bro,” Jax said, his voice impossibly disappointed. “But a man can hope.”

  “I know I’m right,” Connor said.

  Jax broke Lexi’s gaze, turning Connor toward the pathway. “Like you know you’re going to pass out before you make it to your bride’s bed?”

  “Shut the fuck up.” Connor laughed, wrapped his other arm around Jax’s neck as if trying to wrestle him to the ground.

  Jax winced, but gently pried Connor’s arm away from his left shoulder and guided the groom across the grass. “Take it easy there, bro. I had a disagreement with some rocks this week.”

  Lexi’s chest felt like a hurricane. “Jax—”

  He kept walking. “I’ll find you, Lex. Let me get this man back to his bride.”

  Jax wasn’t all that unhappy when Connor’s bride pulled him onto the dance floor, because he wasn’t all that anxious to have this talk with Lexi anymore. He’d been trying to talk to her about it for days, but she kept avoiding the conversation, as if she already knew what he was going to say. She claimed she hadn’t done her own research already, but somehow she believed whatever he was going to say would interfere with what they had…and where they were going.

  Jax stepped back and held Jessie’s hand loosely as she turned under his arm, then took her back into the step.

  “You’re almost as smooth as my dad,” she said. Her big brown eyes were made up heavily but tastefully and shone up at him.

  “I take that as the highest compliment.”

  “Connor and I are having a barbecue at the new house when we get back from Bali next month. Will you come? He misses you.”

  “He just called me a bunch of names that says different.”

  “You took away his scotch on his wedding night.”

  “Only so you can get lucky later. And no guarantees. He may have already imbibed too heavily.”

  She laughed. “We’re married. I already consider myself lucky. And we’ve got many, many years of luck ahead. One night won’t make a difference. But thank you for trying. So, will you come?”

  Jax was thinking about years and years of luck with Lexi. First time that thought had ever crossed his mind. He pushed it away.

  “If I’m in town, I will absolutely be there.” He pulled back and gazed down at her dress. “That’s some gown, Jess. Did your daddy leverage the Maui vacation home for that thing?”

  She laughed. “Probably. But Lexi’s designs are amazing, and she made my sisters’ dresses. My parents said it was tradition.” She pulled back, made another slow twirl, and came back to him. “Mom says they’re heirlooms. I like to think my daughter will wear it one day. Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”

  Jax pulled Jessie into another turn and scanned the crowd for Lexi. She stood beside a table talking to five different men Jax recognized as financial wizards from Silicon Valley. His entire body warmed to life at the sight of her.

  He smiled back at Jessie as she returned to face him. “Absolutely.”

  She laughed. “You’re so full of shit.”

  “That’s why you love me.”

  “Absolutely,” she echoed.

  Jax pulled her close to finish the dance while watching Lexi. Two other men had joined the conversation, both riveted to her, even though she wasn’t doing more than responding to whatever someone else said. One of the men Jax knew as an up-and-coming actor. The other was a friend of Connor’s. An investment banker. Jax loathed the insecurity welling in his chest.

  He soaked in the sight of Lexi. Her dress was cream, almost entirely heavy lace. Cut low in the front, the design was both tasteful and sexy, showing just the inner curves of her breasts. A band of beaded lace circled her slim rib cage, and the rest of the simple design needed nothing but Lexi’s body filling it out to look perfect. It molded to her flat belly, slim hips, cutting off at a respectable midthigh. The back created an open diamond exposing her delicate shoulder blades and the indention of her spine.

  Just looking at her made an ache burn deep at the center of his body.

  He was just about to drag his gaze away from her when Lexi looked over. She could have grabbed him by the collar, he felt her pull that intensely. Her eyes seemed so crystal blue in the darkness. Maybe it was the makeup that made them pop, but as soon as they touched his face, Jax’s heart skipped and he couldn’t look away.

  “Do you want me to introduce you?” Jessie’s voice pulled his gaze back to her face. “She’s single.”

  His chest burned. “Who?”

  “Lexi LaCroix. That’s the woman you’ve been staring at since you got here.”

  He sighed. “You’re worse than my little sister.”

  “I’m more of a l
ittle sister than your little sister ever was.”

  “You’re right.” He grinned and grabbed the tip of her nose between his fingers.

  She cried out a soft complaint and slapped his hand away. “I can’t believe you did that to me at my wedding.”

  “You’d have been disappointed if I didn’t.”

  “Do you want to meet her or not?” she asked, rubbing her nose, still laughing. “She’s totally sweet, obviously gorgeous, has her own successful business.”

  “Your husband thinks she’s way out of my league.”

  Jessie made a scraping sound in her throat. “My husband is fall-down drunk, and he’s always been jealous of you. He probably just doesn’t want you bagging a woman prettier than his.”

  “Oh, stop. No one is prettier than you.”

  “You’re a lousy liar. And I’ve never seen you not go after a woman you want. What’s up with that?”

  “She seems pretty…classy, you know?” He looked down at Jessie. “I think your husband might be right.”

  Jessie stopped dancing and gazed up at him with a what-the-fuck look. “Bentley Jaxon Chamberlin, don’t make me flog you at my own wedding.”

  Jax laughed, but he wasn’t feeling the humor. And as he looked down into Jessie’s eyes, he was reminded that even she had chosen Connor over Jax one night long ago. Something Jax never thought twice about. Never regretted. In fact, he’d believed in a lot of ways Connor had taken a bullet for him. He’d felt pushed toward Jessie because of her father’s not-so-hidden wishes and Jax’s own drive for Stan’s fatherly approval. Once Jessie had chosen Connor, Jax had been so relieved in so many ways, he’d never cared why she’d chosen Connor.

  Only now, it was clear. Connor had respectable family, an outstanding Hollywood reputation as an upstanding guy. Walked the walk. Talked the talk. Shook hands and kissed babies.

  A sick gurgle of a laugh came from Jax’s throat. His mother would get such a thrill out of this moment. She’d always told him he’d lose out big someday, because in Hollywood, image was everything.