by Skye Jordan
“Ah.” Pete’s grin widened. “Enough said.”
“Baby,” Jax told Lexi, “you don’t have to stay for this.”
“I’m fine. Stitched up my brother’s split knee when I was nine.”
Pete’s hand froze with the needle in the air. His gaze darted to Lexi.
“I’m good with a needle, my mom wasn’t much of a mom, and I didn’t have the money or means to get him to a hospital.” She said it simply, the same way Jax had made the offhand comment about his father and scouting. She glanced up at Pete as he started to stitch. “Jax is still pale and dizzy. How long will that last?”
“He lost a little blood. A day of rest and lots of water, and he’ll be fine. He’s an ox.”
Jax sputtered. “I’m feeling more and more like a lizard.”
“You could always go back to acting. Far fewer casualties.”
Jax winced and sneaked a look at Lexi.
She only raised her brows at him.
The stitches went fast. A nurse bandaged him and gave Lexi the at-home-care instructions Jax already knew by heart. Lexi wrapped her arm around his waist on the way to the car and opened the passenger’s door for him.
Jax decided arguing would be wasted. Before he slid in, he took her face in both hands and caressed her cheeks. “If I didn’t already love you, tonight would have clinched it.”
He kissed her, long and slow. She pulled away with a moan, “Rest and water, Mr. Chamberlin.” He winced at the use of his last name, knew what was coming. But when she got into the driver’s seat, she laughed, then looked at him. “I have no idea where you live.”
“Can we go back to the shop? My house is out of the way.”
“Well, it can’t be in Beverly Hills, because that’s not out of the way.” She sighed and started the car. “Do I want to know where?”
He hesitated. “Malibu.”
She closed her eyes and pulled her lower lip between her teeth. Then stared out the windshield with a shake of her head. “This is what I get for living in LA without a television.”
Twenty-Two
Jax woke to Lexi’s soft voice. She was on the phone but still lying next to him in her bed.
He rolled to his side and lifted his arm to slide it over her waist. Pain erupted from his shoulder to his fingertips, radiated into his chest. He groaned.
Lexi leaned toward him, curled her fingers around his, and murmured, “Stay still, Jax.”
He relaxed back into the bed. Opened his eyes. And knew there was something really wrong. He was sweating. His whole body hurt. “Fuck.”
“He’s taking them every six hours,” Lexi said softly into the phone. “No, he’s steady at one hundred and two. It’s not breaking. Yes, it’s red and swollen around the edges.”
“Who are you talking to?” As soon as he spoke, he realized how dry his throat was.
Lexi sat up, put the phone between her chin and shoulder, and picked up a bottle of water beside the bed. “No, I don’t see any. No, not bleeding.” She turned back to him with a bottle of water and a wet rag. She handed him the water and murmured, “Drink.” Then wiped his face and neck with the cloth. It was cool and felt heavenly.
He held the bottle against his chest and closed his eyes. Slid his hand down her thigh.
“Okay,” she said. “Sure, okay. Thanks.”
She disconnected the call and turned worried blue eyes on him. “How do you feel?”
“What’s this? The flu?”
“Infection,” she said. “You should have gone to the ER as soon as you hurt yourself.”
“Ah, damn.” His brain started spinning. He tried to sit up.
Lexi pushed him back down. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I need my phone. I’ve got a shoot tomorrow—”
“No, you don’t,” she said. “I’ve already worked it out with Wes. He and Troy have at least the next few days covered. The doctor said it will take you that long to kick this.”
He frowned at her, trying to drag their conversations to mind. He didn’t remember mentioning Wes or Troy. “What…time is it?”
She glanced at her phone. “Almost one. Are you hungry yet?”
“One in the afternoon?” His gaze scanned her. She wore a T-shirt and jean cutoffs. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun. She didn’t have a speck of makeup on. And she looked gorgeous. Like one of those homegrown, heartland beauties. He tried to push up again. “You have another wedding today.”
Again, she pressed her hand to his chest. “One of my assistants is covering the wedding. If there is an emergency, she’ll call. The ceremony and reception are twenty minutes away.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He covered his eyes with his good arm. “I keep fucking everything up for you.”
“It’s an infection, Jax. You didn’t plan it.”
No, but he hadn’t been responsible about getting his arm checked either. He’d been reckless with his health, and now it was costing Lexi.
“Whose wedding?” he asked.
“Claire Beaumont.” Lexi stood and redirected a small fan toward Jax’s face and chest. The cool air hit his damp skin, and relief poured over him. “I’ve already talked to her. Told her I had a family emergency. She’s a friend. Rubi and I modeled with her. She’s absolutely fine with it.”
Family. He released. Yeah, he could easily think of Lexi as his family. “Claire’s cool. I didn’t know she was getting married. To…God, what’s his name?”
“David.”
“Yeah.” He dropped his arm. “How did you find Wes?”
“Your phone.”
“But…”
“There are only five guys’ names in your personal phone. The rest are women. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. And by the record of your recent calls, I figured Wes was the guy who’d know you best. I lucked out that he also happened to be a guy who could keep things running while you’re down. Good thing too. If I had to send guys out on stunt jobs, people might die.”
A laugh bubbled out of Jax’s chest. “Christ, where did you come from? And how did I get lucky enough to find you?”
“Kentucky.” She grinned. “And I found you.”
Maybe, but he wasn’t seeing that as particularly lucky for her.
He hadn’t been able to stay awake once they’d gotten back here last night. They’d curled up together on her bed and fallen asleep. It had been the most peaceful moment he’d known in way too long.
“You haven’t had anything but water,” she said. “You might get some strength back if you eat.”
He grimaced.
“I don’t like to eat when I feel sick either.” She brushed her fingers over his sweat-dampened hair. “What about ice cream? Ice cream makes everything better.”
He laughed. “Way outside my diet, babe.”
“Diet?” She looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re joking.”
“No. This body doesn’t come easy.” He made light of it, but he was very serious. He maintained a pretty strict diet to stay fit and healthy. Without those two things, his stunt career would be over. “And I’m not getting any younger.”
“I, for one”—she ran her hand down his chest, leaned in, and kissed him—“greatly appreciate your efforts.”
He sighed into her mouth, kissed her back. “Have I told you I love you yet today?”
She grinned against his lips. But when she pulled back, apprehension dimmed her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Don’t like me telling you?”
“It’s not that. We just…have a lot to work out.”
Yeah. They did.
She kissed him again, then stood. “I have to pick up your prescription down the street,” she said. “If you won’t eat ice cream, tell me what you want, and I’ll get it while I’m out.”
“Toothbrush would be amazing.”
She laughed. “Fine, but you’re going to have to eat something when I get back.”
“You look really tasty. I’ll take a whole lotta…” H
e scanned her body. “All that.”
“Rest and water, Mr. Chamberlin,” she said. “Speaking of which, give me the name of your favorite movie. I’ll pick up a DVD. You can give me a play-by-play behind the scenes while we watch it.”
He hesitated. “One of my favorite movies or my favorite movie?”
“Yours. Why would I want to watch something else?” She squinched her nose up, making her look so young. “But maybe one where you’re not all over another girl. Don’t think I’m ready for that.”
Lexi put strawberries in a basket at the market and moved on to the mangoes. Her cell rang, and she answered without looking. “Think of something you want?”
“Details,” Rubi said. “Lots and lots of details, girl.”
Lexi frowned down at the bright bin of mangoes, discomfort tightening her chest. “About what?”
“I’m at Claire’s ceremony. She said you had a family emergency. Since I’m your only family…” She trailed off, her voice thick with suggestion. “Who’s your emergency?”
Guilt tumbled in. This was the first wedding she’d missed in her career. Jessie’s wedding was the first she’d left before her bride. All for Jax, a man she barely knew.
Lexi released a breath of both dread and excitement. “Jax.”
“Oh my God.” Rubi’s voice was filled with more surprise than true shock like it should have been. “I heard you tangled with someone at Greystone last night, but I didn’t believe… I leave you for thirty-six hours and your whole life changes? Without consulting me first?”
“What did you hear? And from who?” Discomfort edged out her excitement.
“Just murmurings of you having words with some hot movie star. Is this Jax guy an actor or a stuntman? And what the hell happened to my steadfast, no-risk, OCD Lexi?”
“I don’t know, and it freaks me out.” She wandered around the little store, scanning the shelves for healthy, protein-rich food—something she didn’t know much about. “This is going so fast.”
“Tell me about him. What have you found out?”
Lexi pulled a can of cashews from the shelf, trying to remember if that was what he’d eaten first from the last snacks she’d bought him.
She pulled in a deep breath, then said, “Do you know who Bentley Chamberlin is?”
“Uh…duh. Who doesn’t? Does your Jax know him? Work for him? A brother? A friend? Is he as hot as—? Oh. My. God.” Rubi barely paused before she started back in, her voice rising with excitement. “That’s him. That’s why he looked familiar. Oh my God, you’re screwing Bentley—”
“Rubi!” She scolded her friend in a hushed voice. An older woman frowned at her. “Think about where you are and what you’re saying.”
“Wait, why’d he tell you his name was Jax?” she asked, hushed now.
“It’s his middle name, what he goes by. He said he used Bentley for acting, but he isn’t acting—”
“I know. He quit to… Oh, this is priceless. Miss Perfect sleeping with Hollywood’s bad boy in hiding. Hell, girl, when you go bad, you go all the way.”
“I’m not Miss Perfect.” Lexi tossed the cashews into her basket and found a quiet corner of the store. She set her basket down and rubbed her forehead. “And what does that mean? I know nothing about him.”
“He’s… Why don’t you Google him? Or ask him? Where are you?”
“At the grocery store. Would you just give me the freaking highlights, please?”
“His entire family is in the movie business. Parents are huge actors, brothers have directed and produced, sister is an always-in-trouble wild-child wanna-be actress.”
Lexi’s stomach knotted tighter. “What about him?”
“Tabloids say he’s been in an ongoing family feud since he left acting.” Rubi’s voice leveled. “And he gets around, Lexi. Shit, I bet he’s fire in the sheets. No wonder you’ve been so messed up, girl.”
Lexi muttered a curse. That familiar fear rose up her chest like a heating thermometer.
“Don’t wig,” Rubi said. “It’s just sex, Lexi. Enjoy him while you have him. He’s not known for staying with any one woman long. In fact, his last fling—can’t remember her name—was some actress who fucked him out of a huge contract of some kind. Literally fucked him out of it. I’ll have to see if I can find that story.”
“When you do, keep it to yourself,” Lexi said, “I don’t need to hear it. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.”
Lexi wandered down the short aisle of toiletries in a fog. She stared at the toothbrushes until her vision blurred. Family feud. Womanizer. Bad boy. Malibu. “What in the hell am I doing?”
She closed her eyes. Forced her logical mind to churn.
Lexi knew how sensational the tabloids were. She knew what lengths reporters went to for stories. She herself had been pushed to the brink of making shit up just to get them to leave her alone. So she knew it wasn’t all true. But she also knew a lot of the bullshit was seeded with fact.
She opened her eyes and pulled her phone from her pocket.
LEXI: Any preferences on your toothbrush?
She mused over the vast selection as she waited to keep her mind from turning her belly into a four-alarm fire. Bristle types, head sizes, neck features… “This is worse than buying a car.”
JAX: The one that gets you back here fastest. I’m naked in your shower.
“Oh man.” He probably had his phone sitting on the back of the toilet right next to the shower—that was what she did.
She clenched her teeth against the burn of need between her legs.
LEXI: I didn’t need to know that. Now I can’t concentrate. What a visual. Don’t get your stitches wet and don’t faint.
She pulled a toothbrush from the display, tossed it into the basket, and moved on.
JAX: I love the way you take care of me. Next shower will be together.
“Jesus,” she muttered and paused at the ice cream display. Found an all-fruit peach sorbet and tossed it in, grabbed a quart of milk…and smiled as she picked up a can of whipped cream.
“Enjoy him while you have him. He’s not known for staying with any one woman long.”
Lexi’s smile fell.
“Have I told you I love you yet today?”
Her mind spun. Her heart squeezed. She closed her eyes and shook all the confusion away. They definitely needed to talk.
Twenty-Three
Jax paused the movie as Lexi answered her phone. He prayed she didn’t have to go out, and from her end of the conversation, it sounded like his prayer had been answered.
When she disconnected, her blue eyes smiled up at him from where her head lay on his belly. “Claire and David just left the reception for their honeymoon.”
He smiled, leaned down, and kissed her. “Congratulations on your first successful day off in fifteen years.” Then he spooned peach sorbet into her beautiful mouth and kissed her again.
Jax was feeling a hell of a lot better now, eight hours after starting the antibiotic, but he could still feel the drag in his body. He was so grateful Lexi had taken care of covering his shoots the next couple of days. It was good for his guys and for him.
“I feel guilty,” she said, “but I have to admit, it feels incredibly…decadent too.”
She reached up and pressed her hand to Jax’s forehead, then the side of his face, then his neck. And smiled. “Fever’s down.”
He covered her hand, sighed, and pulled it to his mouth for a kiss. “Your touch feels decadent.”
When he opened his eyes, she smiled, but the look was still worried. “What’s wrong? You haven’t been the same since you left for the market.”
“You’re awfully sensitive,” she tried to tease.
“I’m perceptive, and I’ve had enough people pull away from me to know when it’s happening.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. There’s just a lot on my mind.”
“What happened?” he asked again.
“Rubi called. She heard rumblings
about me from Jessie’s wedding and wanted to know what they were about.”
It was starting. Not twenty-four hours after being in public together for the first time, and it was already happening. And they hadn’t even truly been together at the wedding. He sighed, reached over to the laptop she had perched on her thighs where the movie filled the screen, and closed the lid.
“What did she say?” As if he didn’t already know.
“I really don’t care what she said. I’d rather hear about you from you.”
“What would you like to know?”
She lifted her shoulder. “Whatever you’d like to tell me?”
Jax licked the spoon, then put the ice cream on the bedside table. He wound a piece of her hair around his finger and decided to start with what would be most important to Lexi.
“I’ve spent my life working hard and playing harder. Was caught up in the whole Hollywood scene for several years. I’ve been successful but not truly happy. When I started taking different types of roles, looking for that…satisfaction, that…elusive happiness, it caused a rift in my already shaky relationship with my parents.”
“Also actors, I hear,” she said.
Jax nodded. “An ugly web, really.”
“I’ve heard uglier,” she said. “Go on.”
“As the rift with my parents grew, my life got shaky. My relationships with my brothers went south too. And even though my family roots were shallow, they were my only roots. Without that, I kind of…” He shrugged. “I just lost my way.”
“How old were you?”
“Early twenties. Twenty-two, twenty-three. Decent looking with a truckload of money, a famous family, a famous face, and no one who gave a goddamn about me.”
Her thumb cruised over his cheekbone. A small smile turned her mouth. “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”
“Damn straight.” He loved that she understood the deeper meaning. That she didn’t make a big drama out of it. “I met Wes on a movie set. He was grabbing stunt gigs where he could. I loved doing my own stunts but ended up standing by, arms crossed, watching guys like Wes having all the fun because the insurance company on the films wouldn’t let me do them.