“Jax?”
“Hmm?” Tearing my eyes from her, I stared across the water at what was maybe the most iconic landmark in New York. I didn’t look at her as she took her place next to me, her bare arm brushing against mine. That minor touch sent goosebumps erupting all over my flesh. My shiver had nothing to do with the breeze coming off the water and everything to do with her closeness. With the feel of her skin against mine. And I wanted more.
I wanted to be skin against skin and see the heated look in her eyes when I pressed my lips against hers.
“Thank you for today.”
Her words came as a shock. I opened my mouth to tell her she was welcome and snapped it shut again.
“I mean that it’s good to be shown around by someone who has been here before.”
One small hand came down to land on my forearm and, for a split second, I could do nothing but stare at it. “I’ve never done the whole sight-seeing thing before, Elodie,” I admitted. “This is the first time for me as well.”
Her eyes widened. “How many times have you been here?”
Shrugging, I grinned. “God knows. I don’t usually get the time to wander off and enjoy the sights. Especially not with a beautiful woman with me.”
Elodie sucked in a breath. She turned her head sharply to where my bodyguard was loitering, trying and failing miserably not to be part of our day. I knew I needed the back-up, even when I was sure no one would recognise me or even bother me if they did. I knew it was his job. But God, I wished he wasn’t there. Because I wanted to kiss her, or at the very least, I wanted to put my arm around her.
Did that make this a date?
I didn’t know. It had been a long time since I had dated anyone. Or even been tempted to ask someone out. There were women, of course. Usually one-night stands whose names I didn’t bother to learn. Sometimes I casually hooked up with someone more than once, if I was in town and they were available. But there were no relationships, no commitment, and no dates.
This felt like a date to me.
“Want to get out of here and lose him?”
“Wha—?”
Sliding my hand down her arm, I entwined my fingers with hers. I didn’t know what made me do it. It just felt right, and it felt even better when she didn’t pull her hand away.
Lowering my voice, I grinned. “Fancy losing my shadow and actually doing some real sightseeing. Like average people?”
Elodie paused for a moment, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth as she mulled over her options. The corners of her mouth twitched, and then she nodded.
ELEVEN
Jax
Idropped her hand a second before we stepped from the street and back into the air-conditioned coolness of the hotel lobby five hours later. It was the first time in the five hours since we had escaped security that I hadn’t been touching her, and my hand felt empty without hers in it. Half of me expected her to kick up a fuss at me dropping her like that, but when I glanced at her, there was no judgement on her face. Her smile was small, sure, but she didn’t look angry.
She looked like she understood.
Which all by itself was a marvel, because I sure as hell didn’t. I didn’t understand any of the feelings that were racing through my body. She made my heart speed up and my cock ache, and I hadn’t even kissed her yet. All we had done all day was hold hands, that was it. Which shouldn’t have been enough to make me pant after her like a horny dog. But I was.
I wanted her with a need that shocked me.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
I stepped away from her guiltily as Tate swept towards us, like the proverbial bat out of hell. His long hair was wild around his angular face. Tate was the calm one out of us all, the serene one, but there was nothing calm or chilled about the twist of his face as he barrelled towards us, with Chance and one of the other Savage Sons we hired for security bringing up the rear.
Elodie’s smile died on her lips as he came to a halt a few feet from where we were standing. “Hi, Jax was just—”
Tate’s eyes snapped to her and narrowed. “Don’t much care what Jax was doing to you.” The scathing in his voice couldn’t be ignored, and I scowled at him. Out of all of them, Tate was the one least likely to treat a woman like a total asshole, and yet there he was. A wave of protectiveness washed over me, and I hooked my arm around her shoulders before I could think better of it. I may have treated Elodie like dirt since she had been with us, but that didn’t mean he got to talk to her like that.
“Watch your tone, brother.”
Tate didn’t even look at me. His eyes were firmly on the curly haired woman at my side. He eyed her up and down with a curl of his lips. “Erik has been phoning you for hours. You do remember Erik, right? He’s your boss.”
