Before You(44)

“This,” she said, then she kissed him lightly again, letting her fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. “Has nothing to do with him.” She kissed him again. “This is about us.” She looked down for a moment and returned her gaze to his. “I want you, Jax.”

He wanted to believe her, but if he had any decency or loyalty to his friend or the band, he would call her a cab right now and walk not run to the airport to catch the next flight out of town. He wanted Bre from the moment he laid eyes on her from across the bar in LA, but he wanted her to want him, not as rebound, but for a relationship, because one night with her wouldn’t be enough.

Turning his head, he looked around the bar and he noticed that they were attracting some attention. They needed to get out of the bar. Cam and Bre had friends in town and pawing at Bre in public wasn’t a good idea.

“Let’s leave,” he announced, releasing his hands from her waist and throwing his leather travel bag over his shoulder.

“Jax, what’s wrong? Are you mad about what I said?”

Jax grabbed her hand and pulled her to his feet. “Far from it, but we have an audience.”

Her eyes widened as she looked around the bar. “Oh. Do you have a room here?”

“No. I didn’t make any reservations.”

“Then let’s go to my house,” she said, pulling on his arm.

Stepping closer to her, he rested his forehead against hers. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She looked around the bar, avoiding his eyes, and he momentarily regretted questioning her.

“Yes,” she answered, biting on her bottom lip. “More than anything.”

“Wait here. I’ll have the doorman call a cab. Meet me out front in five minutes.” He brushed his finger against her lips. “If you’re not out front in five minutes, I’m going to come in here looking for you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”





Chapter Eighteen





Rolling over, she curled herself around the warm body in her bed. It hazily registered in her mind that it felt good not to be alone for once. Cam was back. Smiling without opening her eyes, she remembered that he said he couldn’t make it, but he must have changed his mind and all she could think right now was thank God he caved. She couldn’t bear three more months of making excuses for her absent boyfriend. She had a hard time dealing with the pitying looks and not so subtle comments about Cam’s absence.

Burying her head in the crook of his neck while she ran her hands over his chest, she inhaled his warm, spicy scent. “Mmm, you feel so good,” she mumbled. “I’m so happy you’re finally here with me.”

She heard him make a low, contented sound in the back of his throat as his teeth lightly nipped her earlobe and she held her breath. She couldn’t believe that she was actually with Cam, that his hands were touching her, moving all over her. Feeling like she couldn’t get enough, she lifted her leg and curled it around his waist, arching into him. She usually wasn’t this forward, but she couldn’t help it. The way he touched her—as though he couldn’t get enough—erased all the relentless paranoid thoughts streaming through her head for the past few months.

He pressed her onto her back, and her body nearly hummed with pleasure. Then she opened her eyes and screamed. “Jax, what in the hell are you doing in my bed?” Her eyes frantically ran over his body. “Oh my god, you’re naked!” She gasped. “And I’m naked.”

Hyperventilating, she hysterically slapped and pushed at his chest until he rolled off of her. “Tell me this isn’t real.”

“Bre, what the hell is your problem?”

Almost certain her mouth was bobbing like a fish out of water, she clamped her mouth shut, leaving her lips pursed into a thin line. “What is my problem? Are you fucking serious? How can you ask me that?” He just stared at her, completely dumbfounded, acting as if she were the simpleminded person in the room. “You, being naked in my bed, is the problem. Isn’t that obvious?”

Jax jumped out of the bed, tossing the blankets from his side of the bed in her face. “I didn’t hear any complaints last night.”

For a second, Bre remained completely and blissfully oblivious to what he meant, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks, and it wasn’t just the memories that made her feel as though she had been blindsided. It was also that sneaky raging hangover that she hadn’t even felt ten minutes ago. Alcohol, remorse, and unadulterated mortification swirled together in her stomach like a vengeful bitch, and she ran for her bathroom, hoping she made it before she hurled the contents of her stomach onto the floor.