Page 144 of The Jaded Notes

“Promise me something,” he murmurs into my hair.

“Anything.”

“Promise me that when things get rough, when my world tries to pull us apart, you’ll remember this moment. Remember how we feel right now, standing here with nothing between us but honesty.”

The request sends a chill down my spine despite the warmth of his body. There’s something almost prophetic in his words. It’s as if he knows something I don’t, like he can see a storm coming that I’m still blind to.

“Jax, you’re scaring me.” I pull back to study his face,searching for answers in the depths of his dark eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I don’t want to lose you, and there are—” But before he can finish, the wind shifts suddenly, whipping my dress around my legs with a ferocity that makes me shiver.

The temperature drops as clouds gather on the horizon, turning the sky from gold to pewter in the span of heartbeats.

“We should head back.” Jax’s shoulders go rigid, and it makes my chest tighten with unspoken questions.

I want to ask what’s bothering him, why his jaw keeps twitching like he’s grinding down thoughts too frightening to voice. But something in his posture warns me to let it be, to give him the space he needs to work through whatever demons are chasing him.

Instead, I squeeze his hand and let him lead me back toward the house. The glass walls glow like a beacon against the gathering storm.

“I’m taking you to dinner tomorrow night.” He opens the sliding door and ushers me inside, his palm hot against the small of my back. “There’s this little bistro tucked away in the hills where no one will find us.”

The promise in his words makes my pulse flutter. The idea of being completely alone with him in some hidden corner of the world where we don’t have to pretend this is just business sounds divine.

We can go to a place where I don’t have to worry about anyone who might want to dissect what we mean to each other. A place where I’ll let down my guard and tell him there’s no possibility that he’ll lose me because I’m in love with him and want to go public with our relationship.

“Sounds perfect.” I kick off my sandals as he wanders toward the kitchen. I already miss the warmth of his touch. “Should I dress up, or are we talking about the kind of place where they don’t care if I show up in jeans?”

“Dress however you want. You never get it wrong.” His smile is soft. “You’re beautiful no matter what you wear.”

The compliment settles over me like a childhood blanket, warming me from the inside out. I curl into the corner of his massive sectional, wrapped up in a throw that smells like his smoky, leathery cologne.

The fireplace crackles to life with the touch of a button, casting dancing shadows across the walls while soft music drifts from hidden speakers. He disappears for a minute and comes back out with two drinks in his hands.

“This place is too perfect.” I accept the cup of jasmine tea he offers, inhaling the delicate fragrance that somehow matches the peaceful atmosphere he’s created. I remember the moments before out on the beach. “What are you hiding, Crowne?”

He settles beside me with his own mug, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body. “Nothing but skeletons that need to stay buried.”

There’s a seriousness in his tone that I don’t like. I frown but shake my unease away. Nothing is going to ruin this evening.

Takeout containers from an impossibly expensive Thai restaurant are spread across the coffee table. The remnants of a meal that tasted like heaven but feels secondary to this moment of quiet intimacy.

It’s one of those rare instances where peace doesn’t feel threatened. Where I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop or for someone to remind me I don’t deserve this kind of contentment.

I want to tell Jax I’m in love with him now, but I need a little more time to brace myself for his reaction.

“Let’s play a game.” I tuck my legs beneath me, suddenly feeling playful. “Twenty questions but with actual honesty. No lies, no deflections, and no corporate speak.”

“That sounds dangerous.” But there’s intrigue in his voice,the kind of curiosity that tells me he’s in no mood for surface-level conversations.

“The best games usually are.” I take a sip of my drink. “I’ll start. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?”

“Trusting someone I shouldn’t have.” His answer comes without hesitation, but there’s pain in his gaze that suggests the story runs deeper than he’s willing to reveal. “Your turn. What does love mean to you?”

The question hits like a grenade, stripping away all my carefully constructed defenses in a single moment.

I stare into the fire as the flames dance and flicker while I search for words that won’t make me sound like a broken little girl who trusted and was destroyed because of it. That is until now.

“Feeling safe enough to fall apart.” My throat tightens with unshed tears. “Knowing that someone will still be there when I’m an ugly mess and nothing like the person he fell for. Even if I screw it up and take something precious from him by accident.”