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“I get it, I get it.” Jaxxon sighed. “Well I am pretty bored…”

Instantly Bruno threw an arm around her, but it was an embrace full of gratitude. Jaxxon managed to refrain from wincing at the physical contact. “So, I’m thinking that we basically just keep murmuring in each other’s ears and laugh now and then at absolutely nothing…?”

Anna giggled. “You two look so cute.”

The first thing Connor had felt on spotting her was shock. It was not at all an easy thing to shock someone who had seen the unexpected so many times in his life. It had just never occurred to him to even wonder if Jaxx would be at the event. He’d have to get used to the fact that she was now part of the celebrity world. A world that had him gritting his teeth and rolling his eyes a lot of the time.

It was an instinctive reaction to want to go to her, but he’d resisted – taking a moment to drink her in as she talked with that pain-in-the-arse actress and producer. Gorgeous. Entrancing. In that dress and with her hair gathered up, tendrils dangling around her shoulders, she had almost every bloke admiring her. Not that she noticed. So she still didn’t see how attractive she was. Still didn’t realise what she did to people. In Connor’s opinion, with her unique appearance and her incredible inner strength, there was no one to equal her.

Mine.

The thought came from nowhere and everywhere. He shrugged it away, wondering what was wrong with him. He wanted her, yeah, but only in the physical sense. In which case he had to ask himself how he could honestly have thought that he could have met up with her as a mate and expected not to want a little more. He didn’t have an answer. Apparently his brain was a bit scrambled tonight.

Just as he had been about to approach her, a bloke had appeared who was now touching and whispering to her. A feeling so black and unfamiliar that he didn’t at first recognise it travelled through his veins like wildfire – jealousy. He tried to shake off that odd feeling but couldn’t. At that moment he didn’t know what he wanted to do more; yell at her or f**k her within an inch of her life. He supposed that his anger over the situation was hypocritical considering that he hadn’t come alone either, but this intense feeling of possessiveness had driven out all rational thought.

Almost as if she had felt Connor’s gaze boring into her, Jaxx turned her head. The second her eyes met his, a raging need slammed into him with the force of a freight train. What passed between them as their eyes locked was a frighteningly fierce and primitive need. He felt stripped bare under that powerful, smoldering glare, but he didn’t try to hide anything; not even his feelings of possessiveness or jealousy. He doubted that he could have anyway, it was all too potent.

He picked up on her surprise, and something he hadn’t expected to see: anger. There was something else as well but she had suppressed it too quickly for him to process it. She was holding back? Oh she had a lot of explaining to do.

Neither Jaxxon nor Connor was aware that the people in close proximity to them were caught up in the spell as they watched the intense, silent exchange. They all felt much like voyeurs and yet were too mesmerised to look away. Cameras were soon clicking as the sexual tension just kept on increasing.

His eyes still holding hers, Connor slowly made his way toward Jaxx, doing his utmost best to contain his jealousy-induced-rage. He could have sworn she looked a little nervous for her ponce of a boyfriend. Good. So she remembered exactly what he liked to do to any male who went near her. On reaching her he stood still for a few seconds, just breathing in her amazing scent and enjoying the simple fact of being close to her. Then he leant in and gently kissed her cheek, not hesitating to invade her personal space; communicating to both her and her ponce that he had every right to. A small part of him pointed out that he actually didn’t have such a right, but again the possessiveness drove out the thought.

“Alright Jaxx,” he said in a low, intimate voice. He didn’t acknowledge the ponce or it would have given him the impression that Connor thought him important enough to notice.

Why did he have to be so gorgeous? Jaxxon inwardly moaned as a profound yearning rushed through her. Everything about the bloke was dark; his eyes, his hair, his masculinity. Still it all called to her. The good Lord had been having a very creative day when he made Connor McKenzie and, to her annoyance, she was more susceptible to his appeal now than what she was before. The young teenager in her who had been infatuated with him thrilled at his presence and wanted to fling herself in his arms. But Jaxxon quickly shut the door on that traitorous part of her and withstood the power of the caress in his voice, which was helped along by how annoyed she was that he spoke so intimately. It was a clear message to anyone close enough to hear that they were already well-acquainted. More specifically, it was designed to encourage Bruno to back off. “Connor,” she greeted simply.

Yes, she was angry, Connor realised. There was no hint of it on her face or in her tone, but it was made apparent by her indifferent reaction to him. A reaction he knew to be faked. Connor gave her a look that said she looked good, knowing better than to give her a verbal compliment as they made her feel uncomfortable. “How’ve you been?”

She shrugged a little. “Alright.”

Noticing that the ponce was still lingering too near her for his liking, Connor hovered over her a little, bringing them both into their own private cocoon. “I never thought you would ever be interested in modelling. You don’t even like cameras. But I can’t say I’m surprised that you’re good at it.”

“Thanks.” She wondered if Connor was aware that she knew what game he was playing. What she didn’t understand was why he was playing it. She didn’t need a big brother to chase away the boys anymore. Equally confusing was the undisguised lust in his eyes, a lust that had intensified with every step he had made towards her. The sexual tension was so thick it was almost visible. But it wasn’t real on his part, she knew that. Maybe he was still intent on playing his other game of leading her to believe he wanted her. The stupid sod obviously didn’t know that Leah had told her all about the two of them. And to act like this when he had a fiancée for God’s sake!

Her one-word answers were starting to rile him but Connor held himself in check. Clearly if he wanted to snap her out of her attempt at indifference he would have to skip straight to the point, give her a push. “I left you a message.”

“Yep.”

“You didn’t phone me back.”

“Nope.”

“Why?” She shrugged again. He allowed a small amount of his frustration to leak into his voice. “Jaxx, why?”

“I’m trying to make a fresh start, forget about my past. You’re part of that past.”

Connor smirked. “That’s bollocks.”

“What?”

“I said, that’s bollocks.” He only leant forward very slightly but the level of sexual tension rocketed. “You’ve never run away from what you’ve been through. If you don’t want to see me, you must have a reason for it.”

“Don’t think looming over me will intimidate me, McKenzie.”

He had to smile at that. She had often called him by his surname when he ticked her off. “Just tell me what I want to know, Carter.”

An outburst was on the tip of her tongue: ‘You want to know what reason I have for not wanting to see you? Take your pick – there’s the fake kiss, there’s what happened between you and Leah, there’s the fact that you have a fiancée, oh and let’s not forget that after you left and never came back everything went to shit and you weren’t there!’ But before she could say a word, a pale, slender arm threaded through Connor’s.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” said the tall, slim blonde to Connor, all the while looking at Jaxxon.

So this is the fiancée. Jaxxon waited for him to at least acknowledge the woman on his arm, maybe even introduce her – which would be painful, but she’d grin and bear it. Instead, he continued to stare at Jaxxon with questions in his eyes. She wanted to be away from both of them so she could alone enjoy the fantasy of slaughtering them in their sleep. However, because of Connor’s wild nature he had to be treated like a wild animal; never show them a sign of weakness or they’ll pounce. If she were to back away now after it was him who had entered her space, he would interpret that as her being intimidated and that would only encourage him. With anyone else it would be shocking that they would act like this with someone while their fiancée was stood there, but Connor wasn’t normal.

She suddenly wondered if he liked the idea of waving this woman under her nose. Bruno must have been thinking the same thing, or maybe it was that his ex was nearby, because he placed a gentle hand on her back. It felt supportive. Connor’s eyes tracked the movement and then suddenly he was nearer. “Any closer and you’ll be wearing my dress.”

He smiled but it wasn’t nice. “Nervous?”

Of course he made her nervous when he was like this! The man was a walking red button – push it and bad things happen. But she would never admit to her anxiety just as she would never admit that the closer he stood to her the harder it was to ignore the hunger she had for him. What concerned her the most was that there wasn’t just lust and agitation in his eyes now, there was darkness there. He was on his way to losing it. She spoke in a whisper. “Why are you really in my face like this? No way is it just because I didn’t phone you.”

How could Connor explain to her the muddled, intense emotions that were suddenly circulating through him when he didn’t even understand them himself? All he knew was that he needed the ponce away from her. Almost as if the silly twat was provoking Connor – or had a death wish – he whispered something into her ear. Connor couldn’t contain a growl.

Jaxxon swallowed her gasp. She felt Bruno stiffen. Shit, this could get out of hand very fast; she hadn’t seen Connor this territorial since that day she had been cornered at school by a gang of boys. Jaxxon very discretely used the hand at her side to lightly touch his fingers. “You need to go now,” she said calmly, trying to infuse that sense of calm into him. “Normally I wouldn’t give a shit where we argue but this is a charity event.”

Connor took a deep breath and shuddered. Her touch was like a drug. She was right, he needed to move away before he did something he wouldn’t necessarily regret but that would piss her off. “I won’t be far, Jaxx.” Just as discretely as she had been, he ran his fingertips along her sleek, outer thigh before, with extreme effort, tearing his eyes away from her and stalking off.

Anna’s mouth was still gaping open after having just watched from a front seat as the two alpha personalities clashed. Neither had shown any sign of submission or exhibited fear of the other. It was a match that might to anyone else have seemed hopeless, but Anna believed that if anyone could handle Jaxxon and her strong character, it was Connor McKenzie. A man-man. Once he was gone, the sexual tension quickly dissipated, but Anna noticed that Jaxxon’s agitation levels were so high that her frustration was almost pulsating in the air. There was one way that Anna could think of that would distract her best mate from everything else.

CHAPTER FIVE

With the foul odour of Anna’s vomit clinging to her dress and shoes, Jaxxon was surprised that she hadn’t been sick herself. Usually the acidic smell would set her stomach rolling. Why was it that when people vomited there always seemed to be carrots in there? She had spent the entire night nursing a drunken Anna who, shortly before reaching dreamland, had asked – well, slurred – ‘Did it work? Did looking after me take your mind off the race driving man?’

To think that the girl had purposely put herself in such a helpless state in the hope of diverting Jaxxon’s thoughts was, in a strange way, touching. But Jaxxon was still resolved that she would kick Anna’s boney backside for making herself near catatonic.

As for whether Anna’s idea had actually worked…It had. Sort of. Connor wasn’t a person you could easily ignore. His eyes had continued to bore into her back all evening, sending shivers and tingles and sensations of prickly heat down her spine. But not once had she dared to look back at him. If she had, not only would there have been a very good chance she wouldn’t have been able to break the eye contact, but it would have only given him encouragement. His odd behaviour had her mind reeling. A mind that was too worn out and confused to reel any longer. Now all Jaxxon wanted to do was shower, have a nibble on something bland – her stomach was not going to accept a decent meal anytime soon – and then catch up on her sleep.

The first thing she did as she entered her apartment was relieve herself of the high heels. She allowed her feet to sink into the lush hallway carpet, groaning with pleasure. Jaxxon saw that the light on the landline phone that sat on the hallway cabinet was flashing. No, she wouldn’t check her messages. The outside world was going to be blocked out for a while, she didn’t want to think or hear about anything. In fact, she’d even switch off her mobile phone.

She saw the figure in her peripheral vision a mere second before she heard the voice.

“Late night with the ponce?” It was said with bitterness.

Jaxxon’s heart skipped a beat and her jaw dropped; there was Connor lounging comfortably on her sofa with Bronty sprawled over his lap. The dog lifted his head and looked at her. “Traitor,” she mumbled at him before turning her attention back to the intruder. “What the bloody hell are you doing here?” She needn’t bother asking how he got inside. Picking locks had always been a talent of his. She noticed that he was wearing the same blue shirt and black trousers that he had been wearing at the event.