“Not a new guy,” she said, hitting the gas. Her car didn’t have much get-up-and-go. Jax’s truck, for all that it seemed huge, had infinitely more power. “The same guy as before.”
“The one who ditched you after you had dinner with his brothers?” Elle paused. “Am I the only one who’s confused here?”
“Um, no.” Kassie approached the infamous red light and stopped. This time, there was no vehicle in front of her to slam into. There weren’t any other cars on the road. She was the only person stupid enough to emerge from the comforts of a soft, warm bed before eight in the morning on a Sunday. “I’m confused too. After we last talked, Jax came to me and we worked things out. We’ve been together almost nonstop for the last week.”
“Wow. It’s too early in the morning for me to keep track of your love life, Kass.”
Kassie grimaced. “I’m sorry. Do you want to go back to sleep?”
“Yes, but I won’t be able to.” Elle paused. “Not when you sound so worked up. Take it from the top. Tell me everything.”
Kassie unloaded all the details on Elle, finishing as she pulled into her driveway and slid her car into park. “So that’s everything.”
“Oh, honey.”
Elle was being unusually kind. That wasn’t her style, which meant that she pitied Kassie. Oh crap. “Am I that bad?”
“No. It isn’t that.”
Kassie cut the ignition on her car, frowning. “What is it, then?”
“Diane is moving on to Random House. She got a great position there, apparently. Which means that her position is opening up. Melissa wanted me to put a bug in your ear. They want to bring you back.”
That certainly hadn’t been what she’d expected. Diane had been Kassie and Elle’s immediate boss. Melissa oversaw their entire department. If Melissa wanted Kassie to come back, that would only mean that Kassie would be in the running to get the promotion she’d always wanted. The one that had escaped her for the last few years.
“Melissa wanted you to talk to me? Really?” Kassie couldn’t help asking. After all, she’d worked very hard at her job. In an industry that was continuously changing because of the altered landscape of technology, she had held her own, doing her best to make it. She’d had goals. Big goals. One day, she’d vowed to be in Diane’s shoes and beyond. But then she’d realized that she wasn’t happy with Adam and she’d needed a change of scenery when she pulled the plug on everything she’d been building for the last few years. Her job had been a necessary casualty.
“Yeah, and I was planning on giving you a call tonight. You beat me to it.” Elle yawned. “But it sounds as if you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment. Confessing your undying love to random dudes and all.”
“Jax isn’t random,” she defended herself. Okay, yeah, the whole story sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears. But that didn’t make her feelings for Jax, or all that had transpired between them, any less real.
“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that this is all coming out of nowhere.” Some of the sleepiness had disappeared from Elle’s voice. “I knew you were having a fling with some hot guy, but I thought it was just a fling.”
Kassie pressed a finger to her temple, attempting to stave off the pounding headache that threatened her. “Not just a fling. Not by a long shot.”
“Okay, hon. I get it. I just thought you were having your rebound romance. That’s all. And when he didn’t call you back after that dinner, I thought it was all over.”
“I did too,” Kassie admitted. “When you and I last talked, it didn’t seem as if I’d ever hear from him again, and I was okay with that.” Well, not exactly. She’d been pretty much devastated by that, but no need to reveal precisely how pathetic she was to her bestie. Right? “But then, he showed up at my door and explained everything to me.”
“It must’ve been good, and he must have an enormous cock,” Elle observed drily.
It was, and he was generously endowed, but Kassie wasn’t going to say any of that. She snatched her purse from the passenger seat and exited her car. “It made sense,” she said. “We’ve gotten to a much better place. I think.” But then Elle’s words came back to her, words that were tempting indeed, no matter how comfortable she was in her current position and her new life. There were some things that didn’t die easily, and her career aspirations were one of them. After all, she’d been building her entire life toward one goal. To take the reins at a New York publishing house one day. “What exactly did Melissa say to you?”
“That with this position opening up, she was hoping it would be enough to lure you back,” Elle said. “You know how much they loved you and how sad they were to see you go.”
She’d had an extremely good rapport with her company. She’d enjoyed her job. Working her way up through the various rungs of publishing had meant switching houses a few times to advance herself. But her last job had been the one that felt right, the one where she saw herself staying for the long haul. Until everything had changed.
She grabbed her purse and exited her car. “Lure me back? I don’t think anything would make that happen. I bought a house here. I’ve finally settled in and things are going great.”
“She told me you’d say that.” Elle sighed. “I figured you would too. Look, think about it. Nothing’s happening for a few weeks, so you have some time.”
Kassie unlocked her front door and stepped inside, kicking off her shoes in the entryway. “I’ll keep it in mind, but I don’t think there’s any way I’ll be coming back to New York anytime soon.”
She had far too many reasons to stay in Atlantic, and the money she’d forked out on her house was the least of them. Jax rose to her mind. The thought of leaving him behind hurt her heart, and she knew there was no place in the big city for a man like him. He needed his truck, his Jeep, his miles of beach, his boat.
“Bummer. I miss you, you know,” Elle said.
“I miss you too.” Kassie smiled, thinking of all the mayhem she and Elle had gotten into in the city. They’d met her sophomore year of college and had been pretty much inseparable ever since. “Who else can I call with harrowing accounts of how I’ve just confessed my undying love to a man I’ve known for a month?”
Elle laughed. “I’ll add that to my resume as one of my skills. So anyway, getting back to the reason for your frantic and way-too-early call, what did he say when you told him?”
Kassie dropped her purse alongside her shoes and ran a hand through her hair. “Nothing. That’s kind of why I’m freaking out. Do you think I scared him away?”
Her friend was quiet on the other end of the line for a few beats. “No. I’m sure he was just taken aback.”
She started pacing. “Yeah right. He’ll probably never call me again. God, why do I screw up everything in my life?” She thought of Adam, of how he’d been devastated by her decision to end their engagement. Devastated and furious. She’d dated a man for years only to realize she’d never cared for him the way she should, and then she knew a man for a month and was hopelessly in love with him. Maybe she needed to see a shrink, because nothing about it made sense.
“You don’t screw up everything, Kass,” Elle reassured her. “I’m sure it’ll all work out. Take a deep breath. Have a margarita.”
“It’s like seven in the morning, Elle.”
“So?”
Kassie laughed, hoping that her bestie was right. That she hadn’t sent Jax running for the hills by telling him she loved him, and that everything would work out. Because this time, she really needed it to.
* * * * *
“Son of a bitch.”
Jax threw the curtains back into place and stalked across his bedroom. Kassie’s car was gone. Apparently, he hadn’t hidden her running shoes well enough. She hadn’t even bothered to wake him this morning. After last night, what they had shared, he didn’t know what it meant. Was she having second thoughts?
I think I’m falling in love with you, she’d said.
The reve
lation had made him lose it. He’d been desperate to be inside her. Had he been too rough? Too hurried? Whatever it was, he’d had to have done something wrong for her to slink out like a burglar this morning. She hadn’t even woken him up.
He threw on his boxer-briefs, socks and his jeans, raking a hand through his hair as he processed last night’s events yet again. It had been the best damn evening of his life, and he’d expected to have the best damn morning of his life. He’d wanted to wake up to her in his arms, make slow, lazy love to her. Spend the day together again.
But Kassie’d had other plans, apparently.
That was just too damn bad, he decided. He wasn’t going to let her wallop him by telling him she was falling in love with him and then disappear in the morning light. He wasn’t going to let her hide or run. Not from him. He was starting to see a pattern with her. She’d run from her ex-fiancé, all the way to another state. When something too big for her to handle was staring her in the face, she bailed.
He pulled a shirt over his head before heading downstairs for his boots and keys. She wasn’t going to bail on him. Not if he had anything to say about it. He was invested in her. He’d never felt this way with a woman before. With Kassie, everything just seemed right. She made him laugh, made him feel whole again. She’d shown him that not every woman was as calculated and selfish as Mandy had been. And he loved her.
He grabbed his keys and stalked out to his garage, firing up his Jeep. He was a man on a mission. He had a stubborn woman to find.
* * * * *
Kassie had just sat down at her computer in an attempt to distract herself when her doorbell rang. Her office reno was complete, and she had finally moved back into her space. It was perfect. Exactly what she’d wanted. Even if nothing else in her life seemed to be going according to plan.
The doorbell rang again. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and after showering, she’d thrown on her typical weekend loungewear. Pajama bottoms and her favorite old concert t-shirt. Not exactly her Sunday best.
But no time to change now. She got up and padded to the door, pulling it open.
Jax grinned at her, those sexy-as-hell dimples on display. His dark hair was slightly mussed, his stubble enough to melt her panties. He held a brown paper bag in one hand and a tray filled with two to-go cups in the other. “Morning, darlin’.”
She didn’t know how he did it, but the mere sight of him was enough to give her warm fuzzies. Every time. She was glad to see him. Relieved, actually. That he was here meant that he wasn’t currently planning how to let her down easily. She hoped.
She smiled back at him. “Good morning.”
His bright gaze slid over her body like a caress. “Why do I feel like I’ve seen that outfit before?”
She looked down, realizing that it was exactly what she’d been wearing the day she’d first met him when she’d rear-ended his truck. “It seems to bring me good luck.” She stepped back, gesturing for him to come inside.
He did, and the delicious scent of pastries came along with him. She suspected he’d stopped in at Atlantic’s bakery, a cute little shop that she’d visited on more than one occasion herself, calories be damned.
“I brought you breakfast,” he told her, following her into her dining room. “Since you ran out on me this morning, I thought you might be hungry.”
Kassie winced as she sat at the table, her eyes on him. He was undeniably sexy. And annoyed with her, it would appear. “I didn’t run out on you.”
He sat too, handing her a coffee cup. “Oh really? What do you call sneaking out without waking me up?”
She bit her lip, flipping open the top of the coffee cup and inhaling deeply of the delicious aroma. She was a caffeine fiend. “Wanting to make sure you got your beauty sleep?”
“Nice try. I call it being a coward.” He raised a brow at her, watching her with that penetrating stare that saw everything she didn’t want him to see and then some.
Great. Maybe he wanted to bring her humiliation full circle. She took a sip of coffee, stalling. It had a cream and two sugars, just the way she liked it. He’d remembered from yesterday morning. “My coffee is perfect,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He opened the brown bag, extracting two giant muffins and some napkins. He handed her one of each. “Apple cinnamon. I saw how much you liked Mama’s apple crisp.”
Damn, in addition to being ridiculously hot and an all-around sex god, he was also thoughtful. “That was sweet of you.”
“I’m sweet,” he agreed, his grin back. “Since I brought you a peace offering, why don’t you tell me what lit a fire under your ass this morning.”
She supposed she could only sidestep for so long. “I didn’t know if you’d want me there.”
“You could’ve asked,” he pointed out. “Because there’s nowhere I’d love you better than naked in my bed.”
Heat swirled through her, and it had nothing to do with the warmth of the coffee. “After last night, I wasn’t sure.”
“After last night?”
Oh God. He was going to make her say it aloud. Again. She’d been right about that whole full circle of humiliation thing.
“When I told you…when I said I think I’m falling in love with you.” She looked down, toying with her coffee cup. “I know it’s way too much and probably way too soon. I didn’t mean to lay it on you like that. I was just caught up in the moment, I guess.”
He reached across the table, his fingers tangling with hers. “Did you mean it?”
She forced herself to meet his gaze again. The urge to lie, to protect herself and save face, was strong. But his expression changed her mind. He seemed almost hopeful. “I meant it.” She took a deep breath. “But please don’t feel obligated. You don’t owe me anything. I know it’s only been a month, and I’m not exactly the poster child for readiness to be in a serious relationship—”
“Kassie?” he asked, interrupting her embarrassed stream of excuses.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
She blinked, taken aback. That hadn’t exactly been the response she was hoping for. “Sorry. I have a tendency to talk way too much when I’m nervous. I’ve been this way since I was a kid. Once, I snuck out the window with Tommy Hoyer and met him to go to a party I wasn’t allowed to go to. The next morning, my mom said I talked so much she thought I was going to lose my voice. Dead giveaway.” Oh God, this was getting more awkward by the minute. She forced herself to stop talking. To just stop.
“Yeah.” He smiled slowly, pushing back his chair to stand. “Dead giveaway.” He caught her hands in his and pulled her to her feet, his strong arms going around her to bring her into his solid frame.
“Oh,” she said, the monosyllabic word virus hitting her again. She linked her wrists behind his neck, recognizing the passion simmering in his eyes. So he wasn’t running then. Thank God.
“I need to tell you something, baby.”
Her eyes drank in his beautiful face. So beloved. So perfect. She didn’t think she could ever grow tired of looking at him. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He lowered his lips to hers, giving her a gentle kiss before breaking away again. “I’m falling in love with you too.”
Kassie didn’t have to think twice. The time for talking was done. Relief mingling with newfound love within her, she pulled his mouth down to hers for another kiss. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d felt so protected. So at home.
Chapter Eight
Jax reached across his truck to grab Kassie’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Her expression was pinched and nervousness was emanating off her as vibrantly as the smell of her perfume.
“Don’t be nervous, darlin’.”
She sent him a look. “That’s a little bit like telling me to stop breathing.”
He loved that she wanted to impress his family. The Taylors were a tight-knit group, and finding a woman who meshed well with them had always been a goal of his. And Lord knew he hadn�
��t found one until Kassie. Well, she hadn’t hit it off with Connor, but that was his older brother being a typical, arrogant prick and nothing more.
Two months had passed, two months of pure bliss. Now they were headed to his mama’s for Thanksgiving dinner, and it would be the first time Kassie would be subjected to the entire Taylor clan all at once. She’d baked two pumpkin pies last night in his kitchen. She’d been covered in flour and completely lovely, and he hadn’t been able to resist taking her right there on his kitchen counter. There were definite benefits to being tall.
“You’ve already met everyone but Levi,” he pointed out to her. “And no one knows whether or not he’ll show.” If he knew Levi, he was more likely to be having Chinese takeout in bed with his girlfriend of the moment rather than coming to Thanksgiving dinner. Levi went where the wind blew him, and that was that.
“I know.” She exhaled. In the three months that they’d been dating, he’d gotten to know a lot about Kassie. She was a perfectionist when it came to her professional life and her love life both. “But Thanksgiving dinner is different. It’s official.”
“I didn’t realize that the other times you met my parents and my brothers were unofficial,” he teased, hoping to calm her down.
“That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “I just meant that Thanksgiving dinner isn’t something you invite just anyone to. When your mother invited me, I was really touched.”
Inviting Kassie to dinner hadn’t been the only thing his mama was up to. She’d also cornered him on more than one occasion, wanting to know if Kassie was The One. He’d brushed her questions off every time. He knew all right. Kassie was it for him. But that didn’t mean they needed to rush into anything. She was not so far off an engagement with another man, after all, and as much as he didn’t like thinking about it, he also knew that it wouldn’t be fair to her to press her into something she wasn’t ready to handle. He intended to keep those running shoes far out of her reach.
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