Jaxson(28)

Olivia searched for Jaxson’s face, just to see for herself he wasn’t as bad off as his shirt portrayed. She found his brilliant blue eyes locked on her from across the room. He beamed a smile for her that made her shoulders relax. Just as he took a step in her direction, Terra popped up between them, cutting off their line of sight. Then she threw her arms around Jaxson, catching him off guard, judging by the startled look on his face.

Olivia’s heart sank… but of course Terra would want to thank him personally. A set of smirks flitted around the room. Olivia’s face grew hot, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the pair of them. Jaxson patted Terra’s back and whispered something to her while she clung to him, jabbering away with something meant for only Jaxson to hear.

Then Terra pulled back and kissed him.

It was no small kiss either—this was a full-body embrace, tongue-to-tongue, Terra’s hands clutching Jaxson’s head and pulling his mouth to hers with what looked like all her shifter strength.

Olivia dropped her gaze to the carpet by her feet. Her face was on fire with embarrassment. She should leave. Immediately. That much was clear.

Jace was suddenly at her side. “Okay, then. Time for us to go.” He threw an arm around her shoulders and steered her away from the front entryway, around the corner to the main part of the office. Olivia let him, simply because she was numb and couldn’t think of anything to say or do differently.

Once they were around the corner, she pulled out of his hold. “I… um… I should get my things.”

“Olivia,” Jace said, voice laden with apology. “You have to understand, they’re supposed to be mates. It’s nothing…” He stopped, looking stricken.

It’s nothing personal. That’s what he meant to say before he stopped himself. Olivia was sure of it. Her heart was banging itself into pieces inside her chest. It physically hurt. She pressed a hand over her heart, sure that something was actually happening inside there. Like she was having a legit heart attack over this. Over a gorgeous man who kissed her twice but never belonged to her.

She fought back the tears and slowly looked up from the floor.

Jace’s grimace turned even more pained at her expression.

“It’s all right,” she said, as much to herself as to him. “I’ll be fine. I just need to… get a few of my things.”

“Olivia—” Jace tried to stop her, but she evaded his arms and stumbled toward her office.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jaxson striding in from the entryway, but she just ducked her head and kept going. The only way she could make it through this was to get to her office, pull herself together, gather up her things, and get out. She could break down, have a good, long heart-breaking sob-fest over ice cream in her apartment, where no one would see.

But not until then.

The tears receded as she reached her office door and strode inside. She swung the door shut behind her and kept walking, but then she stopped short when it didn’t bang closed. She turned to check, but Jaxson was already there, catching it before it could slam shut.

“Olivia—” He had a horrified look on his face.

She put up a hand to stop him. “It’s all right. Really.” She dropped her gaze to her desk drawer so she could fish out her wallet, keys, and phone. There was nothing else she needed to take with her, and she certainly wasn’t coming back.

“It’s not all right—”

“No, you’re right,” she cut him off again. She could feel the anger rising, but she fought it back down just as she scooped her things out of the drawer and straightened up to face him.

He had closed the door behind him, but the stricken look was still on his face.

“You completely went off plan,” she said, mock-chastising him with a shake of her finger. “Dating Terra wasn’t supposed to happen until next week.” She had to look away because the pained look on his face was too much for her. She stared at the images of the three shifter women still open on her computer instead. “Anyway, brilliant work. You didn’t need me after all. Not when you could be a hero and save Terra’s little sister. I mean, who could resist that—”

His hand was on her elbow. “Olivia.” His voice was soft and close.

She couldn’t do this much longer. She set her things on the desk, turned to him, and stared up into his gorgeous blue eyes with as much fortitude as she could muster. “It’s all right. I won’t embarrass you.” She was proud that her voice wasn’t trembling as much as she was afraid it might, especially with him so close. “It’s obviously time for me to leave, but I’ll be okay. Trent’s offered me a job, so you don’t have to worry about that.”