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“I do understand.” If that was all, this should be cleared up in no time.
She glared at me even harder. “Then why are you calling it a lost cause, acting like you don’t care at all if it gets torn down?”
I swiped my palm down the front of my face. “How are those two things linked? I can understand why you want to save it, and even sympathize, but that doesn’t mean I’ve all of a sudden lost touch with reality.”
“You really are the worst,” she sputtered.
God, she was so sexy, turned from a pageant princess into a fiery, wild beast I only wanted to tame. If she didn’t hit me first, because all of her goodie-two-shoes energy was currently balled up into a fist and aimed right at me. She was still raging at me, but I couldn’t hear her, too mesmerized by her mouth and thoughts of getting her back in my arms.
I managed to get close enough to put my hands on her shoulders again and gave her a little shake. “Luna,” I started, still focused on her lush lips.
The next thing I knew, those lips were colliding with mine, her hands snaking around my waist as she dragged herself closer to me. I tangled my fingers into her hair and pulled her head back so I could kiss her more deeply. We grappled with each other until we bumped into her car. I was so frenzied with need for her, I was moments from leaning her over the hood.
Just as suddenly as she launched herself at me, she shoved away. Her cheeks blazed red, and she licked her swollen lips, shaking her head vigorously.
“No, we can’t do this again.” She turned and saw we were in front of the house and moaned. “Oh my God, outside of all places.”
I reached for the waistband of her jeans and tugged her flush to my body, wrapping both hands around her backside. “We can go inside.”
I ground my hard length against her and she leaned into me, tipping her head back as her eyes fluttered shut. Before I could part her lips with my tongue, she shoved away again, shakily reaching for her car door.
“We can’t do this, Jax. This isn’t how I am.” She dug in her pocket for her car key and slammed herself inside.
“Luna,” I said loudly, so she’d hear me through the window.
The engine started and she backed up. I stood there, feeling increasingly more idiotic, until she was all the way at the end of the drive, where she did a skidding three point turn and hauled ass as if she had just robbed a bank.
I actually felt like I’d been robbed. The longer I stood there, unsatisfied, disgruntled, and embarrassed, the more pissed off I got. The more pissed off I got, the more grateful I was that she left. Yes, my pride was dented, but I didn’t come here for an entanglement. I most assuredly didn’t mean to end up like Silas. It wasn’t so odd that Silas came back to his old hometown and reconnected with his high school sweetheart, but I was a New Yorker through and through and Luna was… well, she wasn’t nothing. But she wasn’t someone I was willing to give up my life for. Sure this place had clean air and blue skies, but it was still in the middle of nowhere, with nothing going for it. Except Luna. Everything always came back to Luna.
That was why it was dangerous to stay here any longer, the fact I couldn’t go half a second without thinking about her. The fact that even though she’d rejected me so thoroughly that she nearly ran the mailbox over to get away from me, and I still wanted to get in the rental and go after her. That was definitely not going to happen.
I headed inside and found my phone, sending a message to my assistant to book me on the next flight back to New York.
This damn vacation was over.
Chapter 14 - Luna
After tossing and turning all night, the next day I deep cleaned the exam rooms at Dr. Keller’s, bullied Helen into deep cleaning the waiting room, and then bought her lunch out of guilt. We used a professional cleaning service from Bayberry, but I didn’t think they did a great job and always ended up scrubbing things myself every few months. It was the perfect therapy, keeping my hands busy and my mind blank. By the time I got home that evening and settled in front of the TV with a nice glass of white wine, I was able to think clearly.
I had overreacted big time with Jax. I probably owed him an apology. No, I definitely owed him an apology. I had jumped down his throat for no reason, because he didn’t really lie to me. He just didn’t share my passion. I could get past that.
Deep down, he had a good heart, or he wouldn’t have been able to write that sweet note to me. I didn’t want things to end the way they did, but I wasn’t strong enough to go seek him out. Not when my heart yearned for him the way my stomach yearned for fried chicken after two weeks on a diet. He was far more dangerous to my heart than cholesterol laden junk food, and I needed to keep my distance, at least for a day or two.
I ruthlessly kept up my normal routine for the next few days, going on my regular jogs and pretending I wasn’t hoping he’d show up on the trails. It was futile to pretend I wasn’t disappointed when I didn’t see him there, or when I sat in the square and ate my lunch. He was probably spending time with his friends, taking advantage of the resort. He wasn’t avoiding me. That was insane.
I hadn’t seen Harper for a few days, either, but knew she was busy with work and her custody battle. If I could hold out a little longer, I’d see her at our scheduled meeting to work on the gala, and I was sure she’d invite me out to the resort again. I didn’t want to seek her out, sure I wouldn’t be able to avoid bringing up Jax and giving away how eager I was to see him again.
It was when I found myself continuously checking my phone that I realized I was in way over my head. Jax and I had never even exchanged phone numbers, but I kept hoping to see a message from him. It would have been easy enough for him to get mine, but the fact I expected him to call after I’d acted like such a banshee let me know I was truly living in a dream world. And hopelessly enamored by him, to the point I was obsessing over my phone, wondering if I should call Harper and finagle an invitation to the resort. It was pathetic.
And also something I couldn’t run away from anymore. I wanted to see Jax and make things right. Maybe continue where we left off, but at least get back on friendly footing with him. If we didn’t run into each other by the next day, I decided I’d make the first move and invite him out for lunch. Or maybe dinner. I turned off the TV since I couldn’t concentrate on it, and went to bed, thinking about making reservations at the nice restaurant in Bayberry, and what I was going to wear.
The next morning, I ran around the town square instead of the trails, hoping the guys might have gone to the diner for breakfast, but there was no sighting. After work, I decided to give up trying to be stealthy and enact my plan to ask Jax out. Just as an apology, nothing more. Of course, I didn’t have his number and didn’t feel comfortable just showing up at the resort without knowing if Harper would be there, so I called up my oldest friend. She was sure to see right through me, but it was high time I admitted to how much I liked Jax. Especially if things went like I hoped, and we could get back on track.
I got through the chit chat, commiserating with her about another visit by her social worker, and finally asked for his number. “Since he doesn’t think there are any good restaurants around here, I wanted to tell him about the steakhouse in Bayberry.” My voice sounded so stilted, she was sure to pick up on it, but thankfully, she was distracted by the social worker’s visit and didn’t tease me mercilessly.
“He got called back to New York unexpectedly,” she said. “Silas is pretty bummed about it.”
Back in New York? “When did he leave?” I asked.
