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“Callie! Wait. You’ve misunderstood this whole situation,” Jax said, his voice firm and impassioned. “Again…neither your father nor I knew anything about the specific inheritance.”
“I can’t believe you came here asking about buying Savannah House.” She placed her hands on her hips. Her nostrils were slightly flaring.
“Callie, you need to calm down. Your father asked me to look into Savannah House. To see if it was for sale. Inquiring into a property like Savannah House is par for the course for a businessman like your father. That was before I knew what was in the will. Before I found out that Hattie left it to you and the girls.”
“So he sent you to find out what? Who she left it to? How quickly he could purchase it? She hasn’t even been dead a week…and already he’s ready to pounce on her property.”
Jax winced. “I know it sounds cruel, but in business sometimes you have to act quickly. You’re not even speaking to him, so obviously he didn’t know you inherited it. He, and even I, assumed it was going to be put up for sale.”
“I’m not sure I believe that. He has ways of finding things out.” Callie let out a snort. “It’s practically grave robbing. I don’t respect you or the work you do for my father’s almighty empire!” Callie growled.
Instantly he felt his pride rearing its ugly head. She’d hurt his feelings by saying she didn’t respect him. Or the work he poured his heart and soul into. Even stooping so low as to calling him a grave robber! Even though he had come here with the best of intentions, his temper got the better of him.
“Spoken by the pampered princess of Savannah,” Jax scoffed. “The last time I checked Callie, you don’t have a job, so it’s not very nice to dismiss mine.” Ouch. He hadn’t meant for those words to slip past his lips. But she’d made him so angry.
Her green eyes flashed like emeralds. “Well, I do now. I’m the proprietor of Savannah House. And now with my inheritance from Hattie I’m going to help put Savannah House back on the map.”
“That place is in sad shape,” Jax said with a rueful shake of his head. Did she have any idea of what it would take to refurbish it? Did any of them? For their sakes he prayed this wasn’t a lark. Fixing up Savannah House would be a massive endeavor, not for the faint of heart. It would take heart and grit and perseverance and strength.
Callie lifted her chin up high. “It won’t be for long. We’re going to make sure that it’s renovated in time for next year’s summer season. Better make a reservation now, Jax. Within the year you won’t even be able to buy yourself a stay there.” She leaned in and made a flicking motion against his shirt with her finger.
It was clear. Callie Duvall was dismissing him. The simple act enraged him. Why did she insist on treating him like an adversary when they could be so much more to one another? Why was she always putting up emotional roadblocks? He had thought that they were moving toward a more tender relationship. They had shared such sweet moments in the past few weeks. The kiss they had shared had been out of this world. He had honestly, truly begun to believe that she was falling for him.
Why did she always end up pushing him away?
&n
bsp; “I should kiss you senseless,” Jax said. He reached out and grabbed her by the arms and pulled her against his chest. “This right here is what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? Getting close to someone. You don’t want to believe in me or trust me because the rug might be pulled out from underneath you. Isn’t that right?”
“No. It isn’t,” she whispered. Her lips trembled and he found himself unable to take his eyes off them. Pink. Heart-shaped. Perfect. All he had to do was dip his head down a little bit and press his lips against hers. Tears shimmered in her brilliant emerald eyes.
He let out a groan. She was upset because of him. He felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. He loved Callie. And he’d been loving her for the longest time. And all he saw in her eyes was fear. Of him. He let her go and stumbled a few steps backward. What was wrong with him? He’d acted like a fool, all because he was sick and tired of hiding his feelings for the most beautiful and feisty woman he had ever known. He had wanted to shout it from the rooftops for years.
And now he’d lost his cool. All because she had told him to his face that she didn’t respect him. Because she was pulling away from him and putting up road blocks where there shouldn’t be any.
Jax took a few steps backward. Judging by the way Callie was glaring at him, they were at a standstill.
“I’m sorry. But you’re wrong about everything. You’re so invested in thinking that your father is a monster that you’re jumping to conclusions and making accusations that aren’t correct.” He shook his head, in disbelief that everything had exploded in his face without any warning. He had come here today on Duvall Investments business. He’d gotten way more than he had bargained for in the process.
“You’re so eager to tell me what to think about my father. What about your father, Jax? Preach to me after you’ve seen him or spoken to him.”
Now she was deliberately trying to hurt him. Why? Callie wasn’t a hurtful person. Not by a long shot. She was sassy, but as sweet as nectar. She had always been kind. The only thing that made sense to him was that she was frightened.
He stood in front of her, looking her straight in the eyes. It was well past time for this conversation. “What do you see when you look at me?”
“Is this a trick question?” she asked.
“No,” he said, his heart feeling deflated. “I’m as serious as a heart attack.”
Jax reached for her hand and pressed it against his heart. He could feel it thumping against her palm. She tried to pull away. He sensed that she felt uncomfortable. Suddenly it seemed as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and he could no longer breathe. Jax held her hand there for a moment longer. “Do you feel that?”
Her green eyes studied him. “Of course I do. Jax. What are you trying to prove?”
He held her gaze. “I’m trying to show you what you’re doing to me. What you’ve always done to me.”
“What are you talking about?” Her brows were knitted together.
“This heart of mine belongs to you, Callie Duvall. It always has.”
