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He appears in the room, a pair of pajama bottoms slung low on his hips, his torso solid muscle that can only mean good genes and hard work. His gaze slides over me, and we meet in the middle. “I like you in my shirt, Emma,” he says, a mix of warmth and concern in those beautiful blue eyes.
A hot spot forms in my chest. “I was cold and—”
“I’m glad you made yourself at home.” His hand settles on my hip, a sizzling branding that does more than light up my body. It has me settling my hand on his chest.
I’m falling for this man. I’m falling hard, but I can’t ignore what happened tonight with Brody. I yank my hand away and step back from him. He doesn’t move. His eyes watch me, his jaw ticking. “What just happened? No. What happened back in the bedroom that is still happening now?”
“If any part of you wants revenge on my family through me, I need you to let me go. Like now. I don’t tell people even a little bit of what I told you in that bedroom. I mean I know I told you nothing really, but I let you see how affected I was. I don’t do that.”
“And I will not betray that trust, Emma.”
“You don’t understand, Jax. I’m emotionally involved, and that wasn’t my intent. But I am, so if you want revenge, you got it. It’s done, but please let me go now.” I twist away and round the ottoman, walking to the sink and pressing my hands on top of the stone counter. Jax appears behind me, his big body crowding mine, his hands coming down beside mine, his eyes meeting my eyes.
“Turn around, baby,” he urges softly, “and talk to me.”
I inhale and twist around, my hands falling to my sides. “When I told you it was just you and me,” he says, “that wasn’t me telling you I wanted a booty call, Emma. That was me telling you that I’m emotionally involved.”
“Yes, but—”
His fingers flex where they rest on my neck and he eases me closer. “No but. Nothing that happened tonight changes that. Nothing we find out about the past changes that. We aren’t them,” he repeats. “I don’t know what this is. I damn sure didn’t expect it, but you are the best thing in my life. You make me a better person.”
“I just met you.”
“And you already pulled me back from the dark place I’d let myself go.”
“Because of your brother?”
“Yes. Because of my brother. I want you in my life. All in, Emma. I am. Are you?”
Any hesitation would be a lie that defies all that I just said and showed him. And we both have too many lies in our lives right now. “Yes,” I say. “I’m all in.”
His eyes warm, and he lifts my hand to his lips, kissing it. “Then come to my bed where I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you.”
A few minutes later, together, with my head on his chest, we just start talking, about everything and anything, and we don’t shy away from family. I tell him about the silly nickname “Bird Dog” and my brother. He tells me about learning to fight by beating up Brody, and the stories of their fights are both gasp-worthy and comical. If he’s trying to humanize Brody, it’s not necessary. I know the man in that tower with me was in pain. I know Jax is in pain. I feel it when he’s talking about his family. I feel this man in so many impossible ways.
Ways that will either be the best of my life or the worst. I choose right now to believe he will be the best thing that ever happened to me. Because he feels like more than a lover. He feels like a best friend I’m just getting to know. The kind of best friend a girl could fall in love with.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jax…
Emma’s body eases against mine, her breathing growing steady. I lay there, with her head on my shoulder, me on my back, listening to her breathe. I don’t bring women to my bed. I damn sure don’t lay awake talking to them for two hours that felt like fifteen minutes, because I enjoyed it so damn much. I shared things with Emma about my family, and even after what Brody did to her tonight, she laughed, she smiled, she teased, and she shared her own stories.
What we didn’t talk about was her near-death experience, which came about in direct relation to Hunter’s death. Nor, did I press her about her fear of being tied up because I know where that leads, damn it to hell, I know where it leads. It leads to her ex, York Waters. It leads to me wanting to kill that bastard. Emma has hell in her background and what does Brody do? He pushed his bitterness on her when she already has her own baggage to deal with, outside of ours. Part of me wants to whisk Emma away to someplace luxurious and give the two of us time to figure us out before we deal with family.
