From Rags by

Then no longer was she towel-dried and wrapped in her silk, black robe than there was a knock at the door. Absolutely fricking fabulous. It didn’t take a genius to work out it was Connor. She didn’t have the energy for him and his oppressiveness right now. But wasn’t this her own fault for hanging up on him? She couldn’t exactly ignore the knocking. He’d either keep it up until she answered or pick the lock.

“Hi,” her visitor said nervously as she opened the door.

Not Connor. And had she looked through the peephole like she always did, she would have known that, and then she could have ignored the knocking. “Bruno.”

“I know I’m probably not your favourite person right now, but can I come in?”

While she was wearing only her silk robe? Not bloody likely. “I’ve only just got out the -”

“Two minutes. Please? I promise I won’t make any more lewd suggestions.”

She had to smile at that. “Alright.” He didn’t sit down, which made her a little uneasy.

“First, can I just say sorry again for last weekend? I know it’s no excuse but I was absolutely smashed and -”

Jaxxon held a hand up, deciding to put him out of his misery. “Bruno, I’ve heard a lot worse than that over the years. I know you were rat-arsed and messed up over your ex.”

He winced and tucked his hands in the pockets of his navy jeans. “That’s the thing…”

“There’s a thing?”

He sighed. “I was fuming with my ex, yeah, but that’s not all it was Jaxxon. That’s why I’m here. It’s not going to come as a surprise to you that I like you. As more than a mate.”

Actually it did. She didn’t remember him ever being flirtatious or making hints.

“Jaxxon, I work with beautiful people all the time but you’re different…There’s no vanity, you don’t look down on people, you don’t take it all too seriously. You had me roped in from the start. I didn’t do anything about it because when I first met you things were mad with your new job and I knew it had to be hard for you adjusting to everything. I figured that what you really needed right then was a mate.”

And he had been a mate, she remembered. Always quick to offer help or advice or…well, anything, but she had been determined to find her own two feet. Still, why tell her this now? “Bruno, I don’t understand what you’re hoping I’ll do with this information.”

“I’m not expecting anything. I know you’re with McKenzie. I saw the photos.” It had hurt to look at them, and it was then that he’d realised exactly how much he’d come to like her…and what a dick he had been for not telling her. “I want you to know that when McKenzie’s out the picture…” He trailed off again, realising how corny ‘I’ll be there’ would sound. He was striving for another way to term it when there was a harsh knock on the door.

“Jaxx!” The voice was demanding an immediate response.

“Oh bloody brilliant.” There she was in her slinky robe with Bruno in her apartment with her. No prizes for guessing how this was going to play out. And, to be fair, why wouldn’t Connor think something dodgy was going on? It wasn’t going to occur to him to think through it logically, especially when he thought Bruno was her ex. He was just going to immediately assume the worst and react like a crazy person. “Don’t try to tell him nothing’s going on, it’ll only wind him up more if you speak and he’ll pounce on you like a rabid dog.”

“I’m not scared of him, Jaxxon,” he said, snickering.

She gave him a pointed look. “Then more fool you.” As she had anticipated, Connor barged right in. Then of course he turned to ice when his eyes settled on Bruno. “Connor -”

“What is he doing here?” It was only then that Connor got a proper look at her. And what she wasn’t wearing. A red mist seemed to fall over his vision. Rage was pumping through his veins and his lungs felt ready to implode. His stomach was twisting and knotting and his gut burned. His entire body ached with the need to lash out. He heard a voice behind him say ‘Oh bugger’ and realised Dane must have followed him instead of waiting in the car. Connor didn’t even bother looking, he only had eyes for the ponce…who he was about to kick the living shit out of. With. Pleasure.

“Connor, before you all Hulk on our arses, listen to me.” She put as much authority into her voice as possible, but it wasn’t enough. “Connor!” When he started toward his target she threw herself directly in front of this certifiably insane bloke and did the only thing she could think of to distract him. She whipped her robe open. It worked. His eyes dropped down the length of her body. She knew it would only distract him momentarily but that moment to insert some semblance of rationality into him was all she needed. “Now listen to me,” she insisted calmly as she re-tied the robe. “Yes, there’s a bloke in my apartment and, yes, I’m only in a robe but you and me made an agreement, Connor. You know me. Would I go against that? Would I have made it if I never intended to keep it?”

No, she wouldn’t. Not Jaxx. Another woman, maybe. But not Jaxx. A part of him knew that. A part of him knew that it wouldn’t make sense for her to let him in without hiding the bloke if she really had anything to hide. A part of him registered that although she was na**d under that robe the ponce was fully dressed and didn’t have the look of a man who’d just had the best f**k ever – and he would have done if he’d had Jaxx. But his brain was spitting images at him of her and Bruno together and it was making him want to kill. His fists were clenching and unclenching and he was grinding his teeth.

“You best think through that haze, McKenzie, ’cause I’m not being held responsible for something that didn’t happen ’cause of what other people have made you think about human nature!”

That had his eyes snapping back to her face. Then he saw the strain there. Not just at how he was acting now. She was stressed and tired and he was just making it worse by insulting her like this. His distrust, how easily he found it to believe she’d do this, wasn’t just offending and annoying her, it was hurting her. He recognised something else too: however he acted now would determine whether he was welcome to ever walk through her door again.

CHAPTER TEN

Taking a long, deep breath Connor threw an arm tight around Jaxx and pulled her hard against him, aligning her body to his. The feel of her calmed him like nothing else could.

Bruno saw the question in McKenzie’s wild eyes and shrugged. He wouldn’t let him intimidate him. He didn’t want to look like a wimp to Jaxxon. She needed a bloke who was strong. “I haven’t got an innocent reason for being here if that’s what you’re hoping for. The truth is…I came here to tell Jaxxon that I cared about her.” He heard a groan come from the bloke by the door. It was a sound that said ‘you are one stupid sod’.

Connor snickered. “Oh you did, did you?” If Jaxx hadn’t been right there, he would most likely have charged at the silly little twat.

“You don’t have to worry,” he spat bitterly. “She hasn’t chosen me over you. But I didn’t expect that she would, and I didn’t ask her to. I just wanted her to know. By all means stand there looking smug, but let’s not forget that once this big passion you’ve got between you has fizzled out you’ll drop her like a bad habit. It’s what you do. Something I’d never do to her.”

Connor wanted to growl that it wasn’t like that, that he cared for her. But the ponce was right in a way, wasn’t he? Nothing changed the fact that when the out-of-control need had been satiated he would finish it between them. The situation was still the same whether he was doing it coldly or not. He understood that the ponce wanted him to feel like this, wanted to show Jaxx that Connor wasn’t going to deny it so she wouldn’t be fooled. One more push – that was all Connor needed and he’d be on the ponce no matter what Jaxx said.

“And who knows, maybe me and Jaxxon and will have that passion as well. It’s not always something you know at first glance.”

As the ponce’s words sank in, a frown surfaced on Connor’s face and he glanced at Jaxx. If the ponce wasn’t sure there would be any fire between them, they couldn’t have slept together, could they?

Jaxxon shrugged as he arched a brow enquiringly. “You’re the one who said it, not me.”

She was right, Connor recalled. And he understood exactly why she hadn’t corrected him. Jaxx didn’t explain herself to people, and she especially wouldn’t have to someone who had acted the way Connor had. Besides, he wouldn’t have believed her anyway, he’d have thought she was just trying to placate him or protect the ponce. He returned his eyes to the ponce and it was as though he was looking at him for the first time. He didn’t see a rival or a threat anymore. He saw a pretty boy who hadn’t even been able to bag Jaxx before Connor was in the picture. A deluded hopeful, he decided. “You could never handle Jaxx.”

Bruno ignored him and looked at Jaxxon instead. “You know where I’ll be when he does to you what he always does to women. Whether you want me as a mate or more, I’ll be there.”

A little touched by the sincerity in Bruno’s voice and full of a newfound respect for him for standing up to the red bull beside her, she smiled. “Thanks Bruno.”

“Thanks Bruno?” echoed Connor as the ponce left. She would honestly go running to him?

Jaxx arched a brow and a hip. “What? You thought that once we were done I was going to lay on the sofa in my pajamas blasting ‘All By Myself’ and cry my aching heart out?” A laugh from behind her stole her attention. “You must be…?”

“Dane,” he said, giggling. “I’m a mate of Connor’s.”

“Jaxxon,” she returned.

“Nice to finally meet you.” He thought she was even more stunning in person.

Shaking his head to rid himself of thoughts of Jaxx going running to the ponce to experiment on whether or not there was anything between them, Connor held her slightly away from him to establish better eye contact. “Why didn’t you tell me she came to see you?”

She didn’t need to ask who he meant. “How do you know about that?”

“My wife told me,” explained Dane. “Anita often confides in Niki. She’s actually been staying at my house.”

“My condolences.”

“It’s to keep an eye on her,” said Connor. “She likes to play games and she’s obviously playing them now. What did she say to you?”

Sighing, Jaxxon flopped onto the sofa. Bronty didn’t look too pleased by that. “She said she’s pregnant with your baby.”

“The bitch!”

“I thought it might be something like that,” muttered Dane. He knew there was no way that it was true that she was pregnant. Anita would have been shouting it from the rooftops if it was.

Connor perched himself on the edge of the coffee table, facing Jaxx. He held her hands. “Babe, listen, Anita was planning to try to get pregnant but when I found out I got shot of her so whatever she says -”

“Oh I didn’t believe her,” laughed Jaxxon.

“You didn’t?”

“You honestly thought I’d fall for it? Thanks a lot.”

“Well she is an Oscar Award Winning actress.”

“And she does have that innocent butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth smile perfected,” grumbled Dane as he relaxed into one of the plush chairs.

Jaxxon snorted. “Just because someone has an innocent smile doesn’t make them innocent. I know that better than most people.”

Connor started at that. Was it possible that Jaxx had finally seen through Leah? Come to think of it, Jaxx hadn’t mentioned her and he hadn’t seen her at the apartment. It could be that she had stayed behind in the flat the sisters had rented together, unable to be happy for Jaxx. Or maybe they had fallen out at some point. “So you’re alright?” Connor couldn’t believe that she wasn’t ranting and raving about him bringing a crazy person into her life.

“Why are you fussing?”

“You put the phone down on me.”

“And I’ll probably do it again.”

Dane laughed. “You should’ve seen his face. I thought he was gonna smash his phone.”

Connor ignored him. “What did you say to her?”

“I congratulated her on her ‘fictional pregnancy’ and then slammed the door in her face.”

A huge smirk filled with pride and amusement spread on Connor’s face. That’s my girl. Before he could say anything else a knock sounded at the door. Jaxxon rose to open it but he tugged her back down. “You’re totally na**d under that.”

“As the day I was born,” she verified, smiling.

“So you’re not going to the door. I’ll see who it is.”

Not liking his harsh tone, she snatched her hands from his and rose to her feet. “I know you don’t think I’m going to stand for your crap. Either sit or, I swear, I’ll take off the robe.”

“Please Connor, I beg you, don’t back down,” joked Dane.

Connor didn’t find it so funny. While he was busy glaring at Dane, Jaxx was looking through the peephole.

As much as she felt like enough people had glimpsed her almost na**d today, she wasn’t going to ignore Anna. She nearly knocked Jaxxon over as she scuttled in looking all fretful.

After assessing Jaxxon from head to toe, Anna raised a brow. “You been having a tumble with Connor?”