Chapter 16

Jax Fascination.

I couldn’t explain it.

I couldn’t explain how Reine occupied my thoughts, I couldn’t explain how much I wanted to strip her of all her defenses and know all of her thoughts. I knew it was impossible, given how long we had known each other. But it would happen eventually.

I still didn’t even understand why I wanted to go beyond business with this girl. And I didn’t know if I was trying to console myself when I thought the fascination was nothing but novelty and that it would disappear with time. I was going to hang on to that hope anyway. The last thing I needed was an emotionally unavailable woman with lots of baggage.

We were supposed to meet in the evening, and it dawned on me that we had been seeing each other each day for about a week and not once had I gotten tired of her. No matter how reserved she could be, Reine was a great conversationalist and her honesty was refreshing. I knew she was on the verge of breaking her defenses—or maybe not. But I was waiting patiently.

I looked up at the clock then back at the stack of papers in front of me. I had chosen to work from home that day, for a reason I couldn’t explain. Maybe it was that I was in no mood to face those men, even though it was doubtful that they would be present. I didn’t want to downplay how important they were for the company, but I had to admit that the past few years they had been nothing but figureheads. No relevant ideas. All they did was say yes or no.

I sighed and looked up as I heard footsteps. There were only two people who had the keys to my apartment and since the cleaner had already left, I knew it was Dylan. I leaned back in my chair and sighed, already knowing the onslaught of questions that were going to come. And knowing that he was going to try and make me hear whatever he had found on Reine. Even after I had told him I wanted none of it.

Dylan had my best interests at heart. But he had not learned, in all the years we had known each other, to listen to me.

He appeared in the doorway and went straight to the bar. I watched him as he poured a drink before coming to sit in the chair opposite me. I raised my brow. Dylan took a swig of his drink then stared at me with his hands crossed.

“Are you sure you don’t want to know what I found?” he asked.

I chuckled.

“Dylan, I didn’t stutter when I told you that.”

“I found a lot, Jax. A lot I think you should know. You might be making a mistake.”

“Then let me make it,” I said simply.

Dylan was my friend, and I trusted his judgment. But my gut was also pretty reliable. And so far, there was nothing weird about Reine that I had picked up. Maybe I was being biased. But I still didn’t want to know a thing about whatever Dylan had found.

He lifted his hands in surrender.

“I would have warned you.”

I felt kind of miffed by his words, but I decided to brush the feeling off. It was one thing to not listen to him at all (which was a very rare occurrence when it came to Dylan and me), but it was another thing to resent him because of a woman I had met barely a month ago.

“If things get fucked up, I have only myself to blame,” I said, and Dylan raised his glass in agreement.

I shook my head and chuckled. Knowing Dylan, he was hoping that things got fucked up so he could turn out right. And his next words confirmed that thought.

“You know I’m going to turn out right eventually, don’t you?”

I laughed. “We’ll see about that,” was all I said.

***

I watched Reine as she stared at the menu. I had picked her up from her friend’s apartment and the ride had been pretty silent. She was a lot more withdrawn than usual and I wanted to know why. I didn’t want to scare her, though, so I had stopped my questions. But I was sure she had felt my gaze stop on her more than once. I couldn’t stop myself.

And even now, as she was reading through the menu, I could see the stress lines on her forehead. I wondered what exactly she had done to put herself in a situation where she needed so much money. But I had said I would not ask, and no matter how tempted I was to know what exactly it was that Dylan had found, I found myself unwilling to break the promise I had made to her—and to myself. So, I watched her, and I had to hold in a chuckle when she looked up. She looked so startled, and it was adorable.

“Why are you staring at me?” she asked. Her voice was perfect, smooth like melted butter, a little husky and it sounded just right to my ears.

“I don’t have the right to stare at you?”

I laughed when it seemed like she didn’t know what to say. It was always nice to catch her off-guard. The expressions on her face were always so pure and honest. I didn’t think for one second that Reine could lie seriously. She was too honest. Or maybe I just had a very innocent image of her. And I was going to turn out wrong just like Dylan had predicted. She put the menu down and cocked her head at me before answering my question.

“I don’t think so. I mean…” she faltered.

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” I asked. I was not a predator. The last thing I wanted was for her to be uncomfortable. A little on edge, yes. Uncomfortable, never.

Reine paused for a bit before she answered. “No.”

Her voice was tiny, and I had the feeling that it had taken a lot for her to say no.

“Good,” I said then I leaned back in my chair. “Did you already decide on what you wanted to eat?”

She nodded.

I called the waiter over with a gesture and we rattled our orders off. Then he left and I continued staring at Reine. She turned her head away when she noticed.

“Now you’re making me uncomfortable,” she said.

I chuckled. “Why am I making you uncomfortable, Reine? Why does me staring at you make you uncomfortable?”

“I don’t know… it just does.”

I decided not to push the issue and I steered the conversation to safer topics. Like when we were going to meet up with the board of directors. “I told them you were my longtime girlfriend,” I informed her. “So, I was thinking four years.”

“One and a half,” Reine said. “It sounds much more believable. Plus, four years ago, I was 18.”

There was that. I would be tagged a pedophile, and it wouldn’t matter that she had been legal at that time. The only thing that would matter was that I had been 25 and chasing an eighteen-year-old.

“True,” I conceded. “One and a half it is.”

“So how did we meet?” she asked, and my mind went blank. I had not thought far yet.

“I have no idea. But let’s keep it close to how we truly met so there are not a lot of lies and confusion,” I answered.

“Okay, so I was on vacation here. And Sandra introduced us, at a lunch.”

At the mention of Sandra, I remembered how jealous Reine had been when she had seen her friend and me talking. My mind blanked a little as I reflected on just how jealous Reine had been when she had seen Sandra and me talking. No matter how much I wanted to refute it, it had been a good feeling. It meant the attraction I felt for her was not one-sided. Or maybe I was just reading too much into all of it.

“Jax?” she asked, and my mind came back to what was at hand at the moment. “What do you think?”

“Don’t you think involving Sandra would be a bad move? We would have to tell her everything.”

With the guilty look on Reine’s face, I knew that wasn’t a problem. The cat was already out of the bag. I wanted to ask but I decided that I would let her confess herself. So, I took a sip of the water in front of me and waited.

I had learned one thing while getting to know Reine. Silence was the best means to get her to talk. Asking a lot of questions would just make her balk and she would never give you the answer you were looking for. It was much easier to wait for her to give you a concrete answer.

“I’m sorry. But she wanted to know why I had not told her anything about you. And she saw the ring. Sandra knows everything about me. I couldn’t lie to her and tell her it was love at first sight. She knows me well enough to know it’s not the truth.”

Perfect.

Just like I had known she would.

I leaned forward. “You do know that’s a breach of the contract, right, Reine?” I asked seriously.

I could see the fear on her face, and I decided to stop the joke before it went anywhere. Reine looked like she had a lot to unpack, and even if I were willing to offer her help, I knew she would never willingly accept it. So, I didn’t ever want to push her into a corner that would have her pushing her defense buttons and closing herself up even more.

“I get it. So long as she’s the only person you’ve told, and you trust her enough not to get the word out, it’s good,” I said before she could get a word in.

The relief on Reine’s face was astronomical and it made me wonder who exactly had hurt her. She seemed too pure for anyone to hurt. Or maybe I was basing myself on appearances a little too much.

“Thank you,” Reine said, then she looked away.

She looked at me again and opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, the waiter came in with dessert. I watched as her expression closed up and I wondered what exactly she had wanted to tell me. It seemed deep.

“Do you have something on your mind?” I asked.

Reine looked at me then placed her spoon down.

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Just say it.”