Cheap Shot
Book Four in the Texas Titans Series
Cheryl Douglas
Copyright © by Cheryl Douglas
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Persons, places and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.
Any and all inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to: [email protected]
Cheap Shot © 2014 Cheryl Douglas
Cheap Shot—Book Four
High Rollers president and founder, Jaxon Davis, is a workaholic. He eats, sleeps, and breaths the business, which leaves no time for romance. His friends and partners routinely try to set him up with one beautiful woman after another, but he’d rather spend his evenings working than wasting time with women who are hell-bent on hooking a rich husband. It isn’t until his business partner hires his ex-girlfriend, Sela, to act as a hostess in their V.I.P. lounge that he realizes making time for a little fun might not be such a bad idea.
Sela Richards is used to working hard to put herself through school, but when her ex-boyfriend offers her an opportunity to make more money as a hostess in the V.I.P. lounge at one of his bars, she accepts. She knows that working with her ex might be awkward, but not as uncomfortable as the heated arguments that ensue when he sets his sights on getting her back.
Prologue
Jaxon knew it was past time to let her go. He’d been prolonging the inevitable for almost a year because saying good-bye to Sela would cut deeper than all of his previous wounds combined.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she whispered as her blue eyes filled with tears.
He silently called himself every colorful name that came to mind. He’d promised himself he would never hurt her. Yet another promise he’d broken. “You know it’s for the best.” He tried to remain detached by shifting stacks of paper on his desk as an excuse to avoid looking at her.
She’d come to surprise him with an anniversary gift, but he’d told her he couldn’t accept it. He said they needed to talk, only he couldn’t find the words he knew would break her heart.
“How can you say that?” she cried. “You know how much I love you!”
“Don’t say that, Sela.” He’d told her a long time ago love wasn’t in his vocabulary. He didn’t want to hear it and didn’t intend to say it. When they’d met, he’d told her he wasn’t interested in dating, but she lured him in with her killer body, great sex, and a wicked sense of humor. Before he knew it, he couldn’t get through an hour without thinking about her.
“You think just because I don’t say it that it isn’t true?” She brushed away a tear trickling down her face. “Don’t you know I fell in love with you on our first date?”
He swallowed, telling himself the burning in his throat had nothing to do with the fact she was ripping out his heart. “You can’t love someone who doesn’t love you back.”
Her beautiful face twisted with anguish. “How can you say that? You know you love me. You can’t treat me the way you do and claim you don’t love me.”
That was true. She was his princess. He’d showered her with expensive gifts, but a few kind gestures didn’t amount to love. Love was a myth concocted by those who needed something to believe in. His belief in love had died the day he found his father hanging from a tree in their forested backyard.
“The sex is great,” he said, trying to sound cold. It was the only way he would get through to her. “I won’t deny that. But I warned you not to get in too deep.” He fisted his hands on his desktop. “This thing with my mother will require all of my time and attention now. She needs me, and I can’t let her down.”
Sela’s face softened. “I know you’re devastated about your mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but let me help you. We can—”
“No!” He cleared his throat to soften his voice. “She isn’t your problem. You have enough going on with putting yourself through school and dealing with your own family. You don’t need to add my problems to the mix.”
Sela Richards was one of the strongest, most determined young women he’d ever met. She had been on the fast track to becoming a junior partner in her father’s prestigious law firm when she decided to follow her heart and become a jewelry designer instead. When she told her family of her plan to return to school to pursue a fine arts degree, they told her she’d be doing it on her own dime, with no help or support from them.
“When you care about someone, their problems are your problems,” she said.
The way she described relationships made them sound so simple, but Jaxon knew how toxic and complicated they could be. He’d watched his mother degrade and demoralize his father for years before the old man decided he couldn’t take it anymore. “Think whatever the hell you want, Pollyanna. I live in the real world. You can go on living in some fantasy if you want, but find someone else to build your dreams around. I’m telling you it won’t be me.”
She stared at him in shock. He wasn’t always easy to live with, but he’d never been cruel to her before. “How can you say that?” When he didn’t apologize or try to retract his words, she straightened her shoulders. “You think it will be hard for me to find a man to love me?”
Oh no. She was going in for the kill. “Don’t let me waste any more of your time. Go find him.” Jaxon gestured toward the door. He hoped she would leave. He didn’t know how much more he could take.
She leaned over the desk, giving him a glimpse of cleavage that made most men do a triple-take. “I can walk out of here right now and find someone to take me home tonight.”
He clenched his jaw, trying to suppress his reaction. She’d been his for the past year, and she was talking about sharing her body with another man? It made him see red, just like she undoubtedly knew it would. “You’re free to do whatever you want, Sela. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s over between us.”
She threw the small gold box she’d been clutching at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. “Right, because the almighty Jaxon Davis doesn’t need anyone, does he? You think you can handle this thing with your mother while running a multi-million-dollar business?” She curled her full lips in disgust as she pushed off the desk. “You’re just a man, not a superhero. Eventually everyone needs help. Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn about it? Why can’t you admit you love me? Why won’t you let me help you?”
He placed the carefully wrapped package on the corner of his desk as he tried to rein in his emotions. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I don’t need you. It’s as simple as that.”
She recoiled as though he’d struck her. “Did you ever need me?”
“No.” His heart called him a liar, but he refused to admit it.
“You just wanted me under you when you needed a warm body, is that it?” When he didn’t deny her claim, she said, “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall in love with you. My friends and family all said you were cold, that you’d never be able to give me what I needed, but I was so sure they were wrong. Looks like I was the one who was wrong.”
“I tried to warn you too,” he said, though he should keep his mouth shut and let her say her piece so she would leave. “I told you this wasn’t going anywhere. If you chose to believe otherwise, that’s your problem.”
She stared at him a long time. “Doesn’t it bother yo
u to think of me with someone else?”
Nothing she could have said would have hurt him more, and he suspected she knew that. “Why would it?”
She straightened the hem of her tight black wrap dress, drawing attention to her five-inch heels. She was dressed for a night on the town, hoping to celebrate their first anniversary. Jaxon knew if she walked out into the High Rollers sports bar, men would fight over who got to take her home.
Her eyes drifted closed as she drew in a deep breath. “I guess that’s it then. There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Without another word, she crossed the office, slamming the heavy wood door behind her. Jaxon sunk lower in the leather swivel chair, feeling drained, before a shot of adrenaline propelled him out of his seat. No way would he let some dirtbag take advantage of her while she was vulnerable. Not in his bar.
He rounded the corner and saw her at the bar with a man on either side of her. They leered at her as she downed one shot after another. Sela didn’t drink more than an occasional glass of wine, which meant she’d be on her ass in no time if she kept that up. Jaxon edged his way to the bar, ignoring the people trying to get his attention. He had a singular goal, and no one would get in his way.
“Johnnie,” he said to the bartender when he was only a few feet away from Sela and her admirers, “no more for my girlfriend.”
“I’m your ex-girlfriend, remember?” Sela shouted loud enough for everyone within a twelve-foot radius to hear her.
The men all stopped what they were doing. Jaws dropped as they stared at each other in disbelief. Jaxon knew what they were thinking. Sela Richards was finally fair game? Hell yeah! Hell no.
“You can’t tell me what to do anymore.” She picked up the untouched shot glass in front of her. “So back off!”
He watched her throw the drink down in one deep swallow as a few men grinned. Jaxon could practically see them rubbing their hands together in anticipation.
“I’m warning you,” he said to the poor bartender caught in the middle of their argument. “You serve her one more drink, and you’ll be unemployed tomorrow.”
His partner and friend Dylan came up behind him, wrapping his arm around Jaxon’s neck. “Hey now, you can’t threaten Johnnie. He’s the best bartender we’ve got. What the hell’s got you so bent out of shape?”
“He dumped me,” Sela announced. “Now he’s pissed that I’m making new friends.” She put her arms around the two men flanking her. “And gettin’ my drink on…” She laughed. “Just because I can’t celebrate our anniversary with him doesn’t mean I don’t intend to celebrate. No sense letting this dress go to waste.” She licked her lips as she regarded the men beside her. “Don’t you agree, boys?”
“Hell yeah!” they said in unison, laughing until they saw Jaxon’s warning glare.
“If y’all had another fight,” Dylan said, “maybe you should just go to your respective corners and talk it out in the morning.”
Sela lifted her chin. “I’m so done with him. I’m tired of being with a man who’s so emotionally impotent he can’t even admit he loves me. It’s time for me to find a real man.” She turned and walked away, swaying slightly before a third man helped steady her.
Her two bar buddies were about to go after her when Jaxon stopped them with a hand on their shoulders. “You go after her, and I’ll lay you both out right here and now.”
The smaller of the two looked as though he wanted to argue but thought better of it.
The man who rivaled Jaxon in size was the one to speak up. “She said you dumped her. You can’t stop us from having our shot with her.”
“You wanna try me?” Jaxon asked, going toe to toe with him.
“Jesus, man!” Dylan grabbed Jaxon’s arm. “Are you crazy? You can’t start a fight here. It’ll be all over the front page by morning.”
Dylan was right, but there was no way Jaxon would stand by and watch some loser cozy up to Sela when her defenses were down. “Fine, but I want them gone.”
“Aww, but we didn’t do anything,” the smaller man whined. “You can’t kick us out.”
“If it’s not them, it’ll be someone else,” Dylan whispered. “What are you gonna do, clear the bar out so nobody can get close to Sela?”
That didn’t sound like a bad idea to Jaxon, which proved how irrational he was being. He had to get a grip. He had wanted them to be over; he just had to figure out how to let her go.
Dylan put his arm around his friend. “Come on, let’s go grab a table, and you can tell me what happened.”
Jaxon had no interest in talking about it, but he knew Dylan wouldn’t let it go until he got the whole story. They slid into an empty booth a waiter had just cleared, and Dylan ordered a couple of beers while Jaxon watched Sela fend off the advances of two new men. By the end of the night, he’d either be in jail or the hospital.
“Okay,” Dylan said, snapping his fingers to get Jaxon’s attention. “Please tell me this was some misunderstanding and you weren’t really stupid enough to break up with Sela.”
“I had no choice.” Jaxon glared at her when she let some guy put his arm around her waist. How dare she let him touch her like that! She doesn’t even know him. “Things were getting too complicated.”
“Does this have anything to do with your mother?” Dylan asked gently.
It was no secret among Jaxon’s friends that he wasn’t dealing well with his mother’s diagnosis. He’d always had a complicated relationship with her, and it was his responsibility to be there for her, to take care of her. She’d rather be left alone to slip away in peace, as she put it, but that wasn’t an option Jaxon could live with.
“I can’t handle it anymore.” Jaxon pulled his attention away from Sela when the waiter set two bottles of beer on the table. Taking a long pull helped to calm Jaxon’s frayed nerves until he saw Sela heading out onto the dance floor holding some guy’s hand. Jaxon took another drink followed by another until he’d nearly drained the bottle.
Dylan slid his untouched bottle across the table. “You need this more than I do. You can’t handle what? The demands of the business, the situation with your mother, your feelings for Sela?”
Jaxon didn’t even think about trying to deny his feelings for Sela. Dylan had known him too long to buy his lies. “All of it. I had to let her go. I’m doing her a favor.”
Dylan looked over his shoulder at Sela slow dancing with a good-looking back-up goalie who’d retired earlier that year. “Maybe you are.”
“Shut the hell up,” Jaxon muttered, reaching for the second bottle. The last thing he needed was for his friend to agree that Sela could do better than him.
“We’ve all known for a long time where this was headed, Jax,” Dylan said, holding up two fingers when he caught their waiter’s attention. “Sela wants a real relationship, and you can’t give it to her ‘cause you’re too messed up.”
“We had a real relationship,” he said, feeling defensive. “We’ve been exclusive for the past year. That’s the longest I’ve been with anyone.”
Dylan rolled his eyes. “Sad but true. You may have been sharing a bed with her, but we both know that’s where it ended, don’t we?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jaxon asked, not at all sure he wanted to know.
“Sela loves you. She wanted a future with you, but you couldn’t give her that, could you?”
“No.” Jaxon tipped back the beer, chasing pain relief in the bottom of the bottle. “And you know why.”
“Jaxon, I know how hard it must have been for you to find your old man like that, but it wasn’t your fault. You gotta know that.”
“I do know that,” Jaxon said through clenched teeth. “It was my mother’s fault for being a bitch and his fault for being a coward who took the easy way out instead of standing up to her.”
Dylan looked at him for a long time. “Are you listening to yourself? You have so much rage. It’s not healthy,
man. What’s worse is that you’re taking responsibility for the care of a woman you blame for your father’s death.”
“She took care of me, kept a roof over my head and food on the table when my old man checked out,” Jaxon said, shrugging off his friend’s comments. “The least I can do is take care of her now.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you had to break up with Sela.”
“I barely had time to see her. In case you haven’t noticed, I work twelve-hour days. Now I have to drive to the home after work and on weekends. I have a lot of decisions to make regarding my mother’s care.”
“You could let Sela help you,” Dylan said before thanking the waiter for setting down their beers. “You know she wants to help you. Let her.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“She expects too much from me. I’ll only disappoint her down the road. It’s better to let her go now… before she wastes any more time on me.” It killed him to watch another man touch her. The goalie had always had a thing for Sela, and he’d probably asked her out already.
“You’re going to lose her,” Dylan said, slinging his arm over the back of the bench seat. “That doesn’t bother you?”
“Weren’t you paying attention?” Jaxon asked. “I broke up with her.”
“And this time tomorrow night, she’ll be out on her first date with Riley. You know he’ll do everything in his power to make her forget you.”
It hurt like hell to think Sela would be able to move on so quickly. “Nothing I can do about it.”
“Are you crazy?” Dylan leaned forward. “Every guy I know would give his right arm to trade places with you, to have a girl like Sela, and you’re throwing her away like she means nothing. All because you can’t man up and admit you’re in love with her.”
Jaxon stood. “We’re done here. I’m gonna be up at my cabin for a couple of days.”
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