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Jax turns to face me, his intense gaze sending my heart beating harder than the climb up the mountain did. “What do you mean?”
“Are you really a bodyguard, or do you usually bring women up to this cabin for extended stays?” Maybe you call them pretty too.
His eyes flare with something I can’t decipher as he starts for me, forcing me to back up against a wall. “Don’t you think you should have asked that before you followed me to a secluded cabin in a dense forest?”
He’s right. I should have asked when I met him this morning, but everything happened so fast that I found myself just going along with it all. I admit that was pretty careless of me, but a part of me immediately trusted Jax with my safety, and the fact that he’s related to a cop helped with whatever reservations I might have had.
“I trust you,” I offer shakily, conscious of the man standing so dangerously close to me. “I was just wondering if you bring people here a lot, is all.”
“Are you just . . . curious?”
Jealous too, but I don’t voice that crazy, unbidden thought. “Yes.”
“Fine, I will tell you what I am, Gwen.” His voice is rough as he backs up a step, leaving me more air to breathe. “I served in the Marines for sixteen years before taking an early discharge last year. I work as a consultant for security companies and sometimes take short contracts when they need to outsource, but nothing beyond that.”
“So, like, you don’t bring people to the cabin to hide them away from vengeful psychotic gangsters?”
“This is my retreat when I need to get out of the city,” he says gruffly. “And no, I don’t bring strangers into this place. You’re the first.”
“Okay,” I whisper, hiding the relief in my voice. “I was just, uhm, curious. We can carry on with the tour.”
Jax grabs my arm before I can walk into the bathroom he was showing me, and he pushes me back against the wall. My eyes widen in alarm when he steps back into my space, his vanilla and woodsy scent sending my head reeling. “You have asked your question, now it’s my turn.”
“What—”
“Why does the thought of me bringing other people here seem to annoy you?”
My cheeks flush in mortification at being called out as I hurry to defend myself. “You’re wrong, I wasn’t annoyed—”
“Tell me the truth!”
Because the thought of another woman having access to your hot-as-sin body, feeling your bulging muscles pressed up against them, and tasting your perfectly curved lips—all the things I will never get to do—sends murderous thoughts swirling through my head.
But I can’t tell him that. He would look at me like I have gone out of my mind, and quite frankly, he wouldn’t be far off. I feel like I am losing my mind, but I choose to blame it on the traumatic experience I had a few days ago and not on this perfect man.
“Perhaps what you saw on my face is exhaustion. I haven’t had a wink of sleep for days, scared that someone will attack me while I’m asleep.”
He doesn’t call me out on my bullshit this time. Instead, he runs his intense gaze over my face before finally pushing back, leaving me space to breathe.
“Then let’s get you settled, Gwen,” he says. “I’ll make sure you get all the sleep you need.”
Chapter Four
Jax
Wake up!
Jax, you need to wake up!
I wake up with a start, my head still ringing with the sound of gunshots and pained cries from the nightmare. This one was worse than the one I had the night before. I can still hear the echoes of the worst night of my life. I can still see it all in my mind.
Fuck!
I jump, startled when I feel cool hands press against the damp skin of my bare shoulders, and when I look up, it’s to find pretty hazel eyes staring back up at me, wide with concern.
“Hey, are you okay?” she whispers, pressing her hand to my forehead, and for a second, I imagine I died in my sleep and went to heaven with how pretty and angelic this girl looks in her white nightgown. Reality hits hard as everything slowly starts sinking in.
“Gwen,” I choke out, my voice sounding rough even to my own ears.
