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“Oh my God.” I hadn’t lingered on the fact that Kane’s skin was dark and Theo’s was light, but learning how Theo had fought so hard for a child that wasn’t even his was incredibly heartwarming. “So Kane, he gets scared Theo will abandon him too?”
“I think so,” Jax nodded. “So we work hard to make him feel loved.”
“Understandable.”
“Anyway.” Jax placed both his hands on my shoulders as I stood from closing the toy chest. “Enough of that. You need to go upstairs and get dressed.”
I glanced down at my jeans and T-shirt in alarm. “Have I been naked all this time?!”
“No,” Jax laughed, “but we want to treat you. We want you to come to dinner with us. It’s a bit of a fancy function because it’s a shareholder dinner, but we get to dress up, drink wine, and relax a little.”
“Me?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t have a fancy bone in my body, certainly not a shareholder party one.
“Of course you,” Jax laughed, squeezing my shoulders then he stepped away. “Think of it as a thank you for surviving the first week.”
“I—I mean, I couldn’t; I don’t have anything to wear—”
“There are three dresses laid out on your bed. Pick one.”
“Jax, I—”
He turned to face me, and I fought with a flurry of thoughts that consumed my mind. Rejection, shock, and excitement all at the same time.
“Thank you,” is what I settled on, and Jax grinned at me.
“Excellent.”
Upstairs, three gorgeous dresses draped over the bedspread and choosing one looked to be impossible. There was a blue wrap dress, a green gown, and a red off-the-shoulder sparkling dress that clung like a second skin to every part of my body. While I tried the other two on and loved them, the red became my favorite the second I slipped into it.
Despite being formfitting, the material was light and breathable. The sparkles glittered at me with every move, and the off-shoulder netting draped lightly across my upper arms like a warm caress. The bodice hugged me tightly, providing support for my tummy and pushing my boobs up enough that I fell in love. Even my ample hips—usually impossible for me to style—flowed neatly under the dress. It was insane, almost as if the dress had changed my body.
Complete with a red clutch and black platform heels, I returned downstairs after dragging a brush through my hair and throwing on some light pink lipstick.
“Jax?” I called, reaching the lounge. My heart began to race, and heat flushed through my chest. None of them had seen me dressed up before; it wasn’t something I did even before coming here, so as thrilling as this was, I also kept comparing myself to an overstuffed glitzy Christmas stocking.
Jax didn’t seem to be anywhere in the lounge, and as I approached the stairs to find the rest of them, a sharp rapping knock echoed around the room.
Someone was at the door?
I presumed catering or groceries as I hurried across the lounge, grabbed the handle, and pulled open the front door.
“Yes? Hello?”
Standing on the other side was a stunningly elegant woman. Her brown hair was curled tightly and gathered to one side of her head, and her sharp eyes narrowed at me, making her angular face cut even sharper under the porch’s light. Her torso was hidden under a large, fluffy white coat, and a light purple skirt spun around her legs as she stepped forward.
“I’m here to see John,” she said sharply. Behind her, several men dressed in black and white suits hovered on the steps.
“I’m sorry,” I frowned, “there’s no one with that name here.” Was this the woman that had called the other day?
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the woman barked, and her voice cut through me like shards of ice. “I know he’s here. John? John!”
As she pushed past me, I clutched at the door to stop falling and barely noticed the rush of cold wind that followed her.
“Excuse me, you can’t be in here—”
“Marina?” Jax stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a glass in hand and his face pale. He could have been knocked over by a feather if I had one on me.
Marina? His soon-to-be-ex-wife? She tossed her head, curls flying and as she sent me a withering glance, it clicked in my mind that I had seen her before. Back at Jax’s house, she’d not even spared me a look when leaving.
