After waking up, I stayed in bed staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what had happened the night before with Jax. I was at a loss as to what had made him shut down so quickly.
One thing I knew, me staring at nothing was never going to give me answers unless I overheard Jax talking to himself, and that was unlikely.
Padding down the hall to the kitchen, I stopped short when I found Jax leaning against the wall looking outside, lost in thought. When he didn’t immediately notice me, I took advantage and finally got a better look at him with the morning light shining on his face.
It was as I thought, Jax was gorgeous from head to booted toe. His hair was black, and it looked as if it was a few months late getting cut but in a good way. In a way that made me want to run my fingers through his hair and clutch it tightly with his head between my legs. His dark eyes, even from a distance, looked out longingly, but with a hint of loneliness that made me want to soothe his soul. Yesterday’s dark scruff was longer and sexier.
Jax had to be at least six foot tall. His broad shoulders and sculpted chest filled out his long-sleeved, white Henley flawlessly. It was obvious that he took care of his body and treated it well. Muscular thighs and an ass that I wanted to squeeze filled out his jeans in all the right places.
Everything about the man before me turned me on, but with the distant way he was standing there, and after last night, it didn’t bode well that I would get a hint of what was underneath his clothes.
“Are you going to stand there all morning looking at me?”
His quiet voice shocked me. How long had I been staring? I shrugged. Surely, he had to be used to women ogling him. “It’s not a bad way to spend my time. You’re easy on the eyes.”
Jax shook his head and let out a deep chuckle. “You might be the only one who thinks so.”
My head shook on its own accord. Jax was crazy. “Are you searching for compliments?”
Letting out a deep sigh, Jax moved away from the window and headed into the kitchen. “I don’t have a lot to offer for breakfast. The milk is still cold if you want cereal, or I have granola bars. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company.”
Halfway through whatever Jax had been saying, I stopped listening. My entire focus was on the scar that started at his left eyebrow, moved down to his eye, and curved around his cheekbone.
Clearing his throat after catching me staring at him twice in under two minutes, his lips turned downward. “Not so eye catching, now am I?” he turned his back to me and opened a cabinet. “Do you want anything to eat?”
“Not right now. I’m not really a breakfast person. Normally, I drink two or three cups of coffee, but thanks for the offer.”
“Until the power comes back on, I can’t offer you any coffee.”
“That’s okay,” I said softly as I took in his demeanor that had changed from languid by the window to now stiff. I had made him uncomfortable with my staring.
He sighed and said in a flat voice. “You can ask about it. I know you want to.”
I hated to ask, but he was right; I did want to know what had happened. Jax’s eyes darkened and filled with pain. All I wanted to do in that moment was to reach out and make it all better, but I had a feeling that Jax wouldn’t be receptive. He’d think I was doing it out of pity; when really, it hurt to see him in pain.
“I… well… okay. How did you get that scar?”
His eyes locked on mine. “It was in a bar fight.”
Even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t hide my surprise. My mouth formed a silent ‘O’ as my eyebrows shot up. “Really?” I had no idea how I thought he would have gotten his scar, but it certainly wasn’t in a bar fight.
“I hate to disappoint you, but it’s not that exciting.”
A dismissive sound escaped me, but I wanted to know too badly to care. “Let me be the judge of that.”
Jax stood quietly for a moment before he started to leave the room. Was he trying to get out of telling his story? I followed only to end up in the living room, where he started working on the fire.
Instead of crowding him, I sat on his plush black leather couch. This was the first time I was getting a good look at what Jax and his house looked like. The sky was still gray and dark, and the large Christmas tree was blocking a good portion of the window, but it was better than what I had gleaned last night with my head lamp.
It was clear that the house was indeed old. The rooms were small but had been renovated; everything looked brand new. It was a little surprising for a single man who wasn’t even in his thirties yet, or at least he didn’t look it. The furniture was black or dark woods that were stylish, but also comfortable. An extremely large TV hung above the fireplace in typical manly fashion. His Christmas tree was nicely decorated in whites, reds, and golds, with each decoration strategically placed, or at least that’s what it looked like to me. If I had seen the same tree in LA, I would have assumed it had been done by a decorator. Who the hell was Jaxson Stone?
He stood after stoking the fire. Seeing me waiting patiently, Jax smiled ruefully and gave his head a slight shake. Sitting down in the chair by the fire with the scar side to me, Jax gazed into the now blazing fire.
“Two years ago, my girlfriend and I were at a bar. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back out, this asshole was harassing her. Even from the hallway, I could tell that she was uncomfortable. I did what any guy would do; I got in between them and in his face.”
My breath caught knowing something bad was going to happen, and I wrung my fingers together.
“When I asked him to leave, he pushed me, but I held my ground. I hadn’t been in a fight since grade school, but I knew I could hold my own and stayed calm. When he realized that he wasn’t affecting me, he became irate.”
He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up and making him sexier than he should be while telling me his horrible story.
It was obvious that opening up to me was difficult for him, and I didn't want to dredge up old memories that would make things more awkward between us, and I really didn’t want to hear about his girlfriend. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have asked.”
He waved a dismissive hand with a slight upturn to his lips. “I’m fine.” He took a deep breath in and continued his story. “I told my girlfriend to grab her purse and to take my wallet out of my back pocket to pay our tab. She grabbed my wallet but then dropped it. I wasn’t thinking, and instinct kicked in, I leaned down to pick it up for her. The second I stood up, he smashed his beer bottle to my face and wrenched it down, causing this.” His fingertip traced along the scar in such a way that I knew he had done that motion many times before.
I laughed at the absurdness. “You call that not exciting? If so, I’d like to hear what you think is.”
His only response was to shrug and look back to the fire.
“So where is this girlfriend of yours? What’s her name? Won’t she mind that you have a woman staying at your house?” I asked, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Was she going to stop by? Maybe I should have him take me over to Alex and Luke’s before she showed up. There had to be a way to get passed their gate during the day.
“MacKenzie. Her name’s MacKenzie, and I don’t know where she is now. She broke up with me a couple of months after the incident, then moved away shortly after.” Jax’s body tensed with every word he spoke until his back was rigid with tension; his back curved away from the chair.
“Are you shitting me?” I whisper-yelled in outrage.
“I shit you not,” he answered back with humor; some of the tension in his body eased away.
I knew I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help myself. “Why would she break up with you?” Once again, I couldn’t help from raking my gaze over his body. From what I saw, Jax was the whole package.
Staring down at his boots, Jax answered, crestfallen. “She said that every time she looked at me and my scar, which was pretty gnarly at the time, she had flashbacks to that night, blood dripping into my eye and running down my face. I was a bloody mess.”
“She’s a bitch then,” I cried. “Plain and simple. That was a shit move on her part, and even if it was gnarly, she should have stood by her man. In the long run, in my opinion, it only made you hotter.” My body vibrated with anger. What the fuck was wrong with that girl?
With a sad smile, Jax looked at me. “Gabi, you don’t have to say that. I know what I look like.”
I moved to stand directly in front of him. Wanting to grab his face with my hands, I put them behind my back. I wasn’t sure he’d appreciate me manhandling him. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? Because if you had, you’d know that you’re smoking hot, and that scar only adds to it. Jax, don’t let what that bitch did to you mess with your head. I promise you that I’m not lying. You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever come across.”
Jax looked up at me, eyes wide, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before a smile slowly spread across his face. “Thanks, Gabi.”
We stared at each other for a few moments. Each second that passed, I could feel my body flush and the sexual tension build between us.
Breaking eye contact, I looked around the room when my eyes caught on the mistletoe that hung above the front door. Earlier, when I had come out of the bedroom, I could have sworn that I’d seen mistletoe hanging from the doors to the backyard and the side of the house where we’d come in last night.
“What’s the deal with all the mistletoe?”