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Jaxon thought fast and answered. “No, not yet.”
“Then bring her. Just to keep me honest. Oh and come to the usual place. Around three, we’ll say? Bit late for lunch, but what can you do?”
He knew better than to believe a word Eric said. He wanted Teagan to come alone because he was going to spill the beans and try to watch Jaxon’s world come crashing down.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Just to be clear. If I don’t bring her…”
“No photos,” Eric said. Jaxon could practically hear his smile. “Plus, she’s got something of mine, I do believe. I’d like it back. I could have called the authorities on her for nicking it, but I’d accept it back with a bit of an apology. Why don’t you pass that along to your girlfriend?”
Jaxon didn’t answer. He simply ended the call with Eric and made his way back inside Brad’s kitchen. Everyone seemed a bit more lively now that Dave’s frying up breakfast.
There was a greasy plate in the center of the table and a lingering smell of salty smoke. He wasn’t at all surprised that they hadn’t saved any for him.
“Don’t look so low, Jaxon,” Teagan nudged him with her elbow and picked up her napkin to reveal a rasher of bacon underneath. “I had to fight Shea off physically to keep that for you. Even hungover, she’s a bit of a shit, so…”
“So I should share it with you?” he asked, taking a bite from the first piece.
“I already had mine. That’s all yours.”
“Mmm, I love you, Teags.”
“Ugh, I think I might throw up now,” Shea gagged from her seat. “And eat that fucking bacon before I do.”
“I just sat down. Calm yourself.” Jaxon took another slow bite from his first piece of bacon, and Shea growled from her seat. “Fucking animals.”
Teagan rested her head on his shoulder and he again offered her some, but she shook her head. “What kept you?” The way she asked indicated she might already know the answer.
“Just got off the phone with Eric…” Jaxon said softly, reaching out to brush his fingertips over her forearm. She clasped his hand tightly.
“How’d it go? Was he agreeable? Fuck it, I know he wasn’t. What happened?”
“No, no, he agreed to the terms,” he said slowly. “He did. But he wants something in return.”
“His phone?”
“Yes, but more than that.”
“I suppose the promise of ruining your life isn’t enough, is it?”
“He wants to hand the photos over to you,” Jaxon said slowly.
“Why?” she asked. “I mean, I’ll do it if I have to, but why?”
“He asked me if you knew about what I’d done. I lied and said yes. I believe he wants to tell you what I did. In an attempt to hurt me more. And you, I’d wager…” Jaxon bit down on the second piece of bacon, the crunch almost deafening. “If we’re going to get those photos, you’ll have to pretend as if it’s the first time you’ve heard.”
Teagan was silent, nodding slowly. “If I want them back, that’s what I’ll have to do?” she asked. An odd question, given their conversation, but Jaxon nodded all the same.
“Yeah. if you want them back, you’ll have to act.”
“Alright. Good to know,” she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. After that, she didn’t bring up the matter again.
The rest of the breakfast came in pieces. A plate full of scrambled eggs. The swearing when only three people ended up with eggs from that plate. The promise of another plate. Teagan getting up to help Dave. Everyone groaning because Jaxon and Brad got Teagan’s eggs, and they all had to settle for Dave’s.
Dave ended up glaring at the lot of them while he made the toast. Teagan made the beans.
And then Dave remembered belatedly that he’d bought sausages. And Teagan shook her head and sat back down because she refused to cook sausages, citing a nasty burn on her left hand as a reason.
