She said, “Mr. Alexander would like you to meet him downstairs in five minutes. Four at this point, actually.”
She assisted Jax into his jacket as she had Lex.
Jax straightened his tie and turned to her, flashing his devilish grin. “Perfect, right?”
Her stomach fluttered. “Almost.” She went to the oversized, raised sink, flipped on the tall, twenty-four-karat-gold-plated faucet, and collected a few drops of water on her fingertip.
Returning to Jax, she dabbed at the very minuscule crease in his collar, which likely no one but her would notice, because that was what she was paid for. She tugged gently on the material and said, “Not enough starch. I’ll speak to your cleaner about the appropriate blend to keep this from happening again. This will dry before you’re even downstairs.” She stepped back to take him in with a professional eye. Nodded and told him, “Now you’re perfect.”
Lily smiled up at him.
Jax said, “It’s really too bad I have someplace to be.”
“Lex felt the same way,” she daringly said. For better or for worse.
“I’ll bet he did. You sizing us up with a critical eye because it’s your job doesn’t keep us from wondering what’s really going through your mind.”
“You already ascertained that—and told me so at the party.”
“Mm, true. Which means I’d better get the hell out of here or you’re going to end up naked and in my bed in two seconds.”
Excitement burst between her legs, stealing her breath. Making it damn difficult to say, “Don’t get me in trouble for not getting you out the door in time.”
His pewter eyes smoldered. “That’s not at all what you want to say to me, is it?”
“Not at all. But I’m saying it anyway.”
He let out a low groan of frustration. Then leaned in close and murmured, “You are a temptation harder to resist with every passing moment.”
And oh, God how she wanted to feel his hands on her body now!
Despite the exhilaration humming through her veins, she crooked a brow and said, “Tick-tock.” Unfortunately, this time she wasn’t talking about him making a move on her.
“I’m going,” he grumbled. And shook his head as he disappeared through the archway.
Lily inhaled deeply, trying to get all her raging hormones under control. The stellar orgasm Lex had delivered should have helped to quell her desire, at least a tiny bit. But no . . . she was more lit up than ever before. Hotter for both men. And starting to feel a desperate need that had her inner thighs flaming and her stomach flipping.
Focus!
She straightened up the bathroom and went about her other activities, grateful for a reprieve from the sexual innuendos and tension bouncing off the walls of this wing of the mansion. Though she was still wound insanely tight.
Something had to give . . .
Chapter Seven
Every time Lily passed through the entryway of the music room, Jax thought she couldn’t be more beautiful. But every night, she proved him wrong.
The music was coming along fluidly, mostly driven by Lily’s reaction to it. Jax and Lex felt much more optimistic about the outcome of the CD. And had Lily to thank for it.
This evening they intended to play a new arrangement for her. One that had fully come together in the wee hours, when they’d sent her off to bed and were alone.
The composition featured Jax’s violin. The notes held a mysterious, eerie quality to them. A hint of wanting, but also the fear of losing. Emotions he’d once seen in Katarina’s eyes, when she’d first met Jax and Lex. The look that had been in Lily’s eyes from that first time they’d stumbled across each other in his bedroom.
She had thoughts and maybe even secrets that she had not been inclined to divulge since she’d come to the mansion. Both Jax and Lex had dropped a few questions. She’d deflected, turning to her work as a means of escaping any sort of personal inquiry. Jax wasn’t wholly sure what that was all about, especially given the nuances of their arrangement, the sensuality and intimacy of their evenings together. He surmised, however, that because this was a temporary assignment for her, she didn’t want to become too emotionally invested.
But he could see that she already was.
She strolled into the room wearing a full-length, sparkling silver gown. Strapless with a structured bodice that plumped the tops of her breasts over the material and revealed a teasing glimpse of the inner swells at the dip in the middle. The dress clung to her curves and then pooled slightly at her ankles in a short train. The jewels were a perfect complement. Along with the loosely knotted hair at the nape of her neck, a few silky strands left softly curled at her temples.