Now she’d peel off the black leather jumpsuit, revealing her soft, porcelain skin inch by inch...
He’d fooled himself into thinking he didn’t want her anymore, when in reality, he’d never stopped loving her. Not that she realized the truth.
When he’d gone home to North Carolina after his mother had broken her hip, he’d recommended Kwon Limited to the clients whose jobs were far from home. The quid pro quo being, those clients couldn’t tell Veronica who’d recommended her company.
She hadn’t just taken the opportunities he’d thrown her way, she’d made her own. The woman had worked at lightning speed to establish her company. His email had blown up with all the Google alert notices about her.
Damn, if he hadn’t already been in love with Veronica, reading about her exploits would have done it. Maybe this was fate giving him a second chance. The idea put an extra spring in his step. He’d find a way to get her to understand why he left. He had to.
Jax turned to his tent, ready to settle in for a long, sleepless night of plotting, but a crunch sounded behind him. He spun toward the sound and, fingers curled around the handle of the knife at his waist, searched the darkness for enemies.
A snapping sounded. This time lower.
Something green on the ground caught his eye.
A vine, three inches in diameter, poked through the dirt.
Chapter 3
Veronica grabbed a handful of thick green vine and pulled herself up, testing how well the beanstalk, so tall she couldn’t see the top of it, would hold her weight. She hung suspended, her boot-clad feet dangling in the open space. Gritting her teeth, she completed five pull ups before dropping to the soft grass below.
“So we know it can hold a pint-sized badass. Let’s see if it can hold me.” Jax circled her and scurried up the beanstalk.
His strong arms curved around the green trunk, biceps bulging. It was too thick for his hands to meet, but he gripped the intertwining vines making up the bulk of the beanstalk. Soon all she could see were the thick soles of his climbing boots. Her heartbeat sped up. One wrong move, one broken vine and he’d plummet to the ground. A fall like that meant death.
Worry stabbed her in the sternum. “Be careful.”
“What’s wrong, darling? Worried about me?” His tight butt came into view as he shimmied back down.
Damn, his Southern drawl used to turn her insides to honey. They’d be having a completely respectable dinner and then he’d lean over and whisper in her ear. It didn’t even have to be anything flirty. He could say pass the peas in that voice and it just did something to her. Hell, who was she kidding? Everything about this man still did something to her.
Refusing to surrender to the giddy feeling, she crossed her arms and shot him a dirty look. “No, I just don’t want to have to clean your blood off my boots.”
“Tsk-tsk. Veronica Kwon, are you flirting with me?”
“Been there. Done that. Have the snot-covered wedding dress to prove it.” Just saying the words ripped the scab right off the wound.
Jax dropped with a thump to the grass beside her, not touching but so close she could feel the current running between them. “About that–”
She gulped down the lump in her throat. “Let’s not. Let’s just pretend it never happened, get this job done and make Antoine a very happy, very rich old man.”
Now he did touch her, tucking a stray hair behind her ear with his fingers. Then he traced her jawline with his thumb. His eyes darkened to an almost inky black.
Her pulse went into overdrive, sending lust on a wild ride through her. Her nipples tightened to almost painful buds and her thighs turned to Jell-O. She wanted to jump him. Right then. Right there.
Jax dropped his hand and stepped back. Lucky for her, he hadn’t given her the chance. “So we start fresh.”
She needed to pull it together, get ahold of her hormones. “That’s not exactly–”
He shoved his hand out. “Jax Taylor, archeologist specializing in magical relics. I enjoy fried okra, cold bottles of beer and sappy romantic comedies. Shh, don’t tell my buddies.” He gazed at her, wide eyed. “And you are?”
“Veronica Kwon.”
He raised an eyebrow expectantly.
Against her better judgment, she played along. Want with a capital W pooled in her belly when she shook his hand. “Veronica Kwon, former spoiled heiress and current treasure hunter extraordinaire. I enjoy my grandmother’s–and only my grandmother’s–kimchi, drinking too many iced coffees and I hate shoe shopping. Definitely don’t tell my mother.”
“A gentlemen never tells.” Jax gave her an exaggerated wink. “So you doing anything special today?”