Jackson chuckled and sat down on the lounge chair next to me. "I remember," he said.
The waiter approached and I drew a complete blank when he asked if I would like another drink. I stared up at him, trying not to feel Jackson's eyes sweep over my body.
"Are you having champagne? Sounds good to me," Jackson said. He trailed his glance back up to my face and smiled. "Do you mind if I join you?"
"No, thanks. That'd be nice," I replied. I was glad I had on sunglasses as my eyes were wide and blinking was an effort. He appeared out of nowhere the moment I was thinking about him.
"Sorry to sneak up on you, but I never got a chance to ask for your number the other night. We got interrupted," he said.
"Interrupted?" I asked. That was a nice way of dismissing the way Fenton appeared and claimed me. "Oh, yes. That was business, though it ended up being a waste of time. I'm an endorsement agent."
"Really? Wait, are you Kya Allen? You've represented a few of my friends," he said.
I was kicking myself for confessing my profession, so his response shocked a laugh out of me. "Sorry, I just forget that golfers manage to be competitors and friends at the same time. You don't see that in many other one-on-one sports."
"Especially not with MMA fighters?"
I could tell he was curious about my involvement with Fenton. There was a hard twinge in my body every time I thought of him, so denouncing Fenton felt like the right thing to do. "Mixed Martial Arts isn't really my thing. I started out by representing tennis players, but golf is really more my game."
Jackson tipped his head and smiled at me. "I would think you were just saying that if I had not already heard rumors about your golfing skills. I hear you've got a good swing."
"There's a difference between rumors and facts," I sat up and smoothed my hair.
"I like the confidence," he said. "How about a game, then?"
"I'm not really dressed for the golf course."
He let his eyes wander lower for a few seconds. "I don't mind. Actually, there's a mini-golf course just over there. Want to show me the facts?"
Jackson McRay stood up as the waiter returned with our drinks. He took both champagne flutes and held one out to me. I stood up and shimmied into my sundress before accepting the drink.
"I suppose I could have time for one quick game," I said as I scooped up my phone and checked the time.
A message from Fenton blinked on the screen and I felt my stomach drop. He sent it a full 20 minutes after I had left our suite. Did it really take him that long to notice I was gone? I thought of everything he could have done in that time and felt sick.
"I'm sorry," Jackson said. "Do you have somewhere else to be?"
I opened the message from Fenton. "Miss you. Join me?"
I ground my teeth, but forced a smile. "No, not at all. In fact, my whole day just opened up."
Jackson held out his arm and I took it. What exactly did Fenton want me to join? My stomach clenched as the image of the stripper in silver flashed through my head. Whatever he had in mind was no good for me. I had been a fool for long enough. Now, it was time to focus on my career, make up for the costly mistakes I made pursuing Fenton, and get myself back on track.
Jackson McRay was just the man to help me. We joined the line of children waiting to tee-off at the mini golf course. I dropped my phone to the bottom of my purse and banished Fenton from my thoughts.
It did not matter that I could still feel his lips on my skin and the full push of him inside me. Those memories would always bring a wave of heat, but they were in the past. He had
moved on, within minutes, and now was my chance to do the same thing.
I smiled at Jackson and accepted the pink striped club he handed me. "I know you've got a reputation for clearing all the hazards, but you're on my turf now."
"Let's play," he said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kya
I threw myself into the min golf game as if each hole would get me farther from the disaster with Fenton. I knew I hurt, but the champagne and silly game helped. Jackson smiled and laughed and everything was easy. He was not opposed to my job, he even knew some of the same people, and I did not feel like every time I brought it up I was detonating a bomb.