Wild Zone (Rough Riders Hockey 4)

“Honey?” he said.

She forced her eyes open and lifted them to his. Her mind ricocheted for an innocent reason he’d smell like another woman. His mother, his sister…a hug from a female friend. There could be a hundred reasons other than the one tormenting her. “You…smell like perfume.”

His heavy lids widened. Surprise flashed in his pretty eyes, then guilt, and his eyes slid closed. Head lowered. “Fuck.”

Disappointment hammered her stomach, but it was her own damn fault for letting him go in New York. She waited, a sliver of hope still struggling to shine deep inside. “It’s not exactly a surprise. You’re hardly the kind of man who’s going to stay available long—”

“Lex, it’s not like that.” His head came up, gaze fierce, but still guilt-ridden.

She bit the inside of her lip, her past demons trying to force their way into her heart. Her instinct was to push back, walk away, get out of this before he really hurt her. But she’d invested more of herself in Jax than any man in years, so she stayed put and raked her fingers through his hair one more time. “What is it like?”

“I was dating someone…for a few weeks—”

“Okay.” Ouch. Dammit. She shook her head as her eyes fell closed. “That’s all I need to know. You don’t owe me an explanation.” She opened her eyes but stared at his chest. The thought of him with another woman burned through her. “You have every right to see whoever you choose—”

“Then I choose you,” he said, tightening his hands on her arms. “Lexi, I didn’t sleep with her. I haven’t had sex with anyone since you left me.”

“I didn’t leave you. Not the way you’re making it sound. We agreed—”

“You’re right. We did. And when you stuck to your end of it, I tried to move on. My buddy set me up with a really nice girl, but it didn’t work because I haven’t been able to get past you.”

The admission coupled with the imploring look in his eyes made her heart squeeze, then open. But she left one last barrier in place. “Then why do you smell like her perfume?”

He sighed and took her hand, leading her to the bed. Lexi’s body lit with desire, but she pulled her hand back. Jax didn’t let her go. He wrapped her in his arms, picked her up, sat on the bed, and pulled her atop his lap so she straddled him. Lexi kept her weight on his thighs, her hands against his chest. They had to get this other-woman thing straight before she completely caved. This was complicated enough without adding other people into the mix.

He leaned his back against the wall, his feet hanging off the bed. “Because I was with her earlier tonight. We went out to dinner. When we got back to her house and she wanted me to come in and I couldn’t, wouldn’t—again—we both knew it wasn’t working.

“After I left her, I got a call from the director

of the film in New York for more work. And I thought of you, though it’s not like you’ve left my mind very often in the last three weeks, which is when I texted. And was floored you’d even consider seeing me. I thought I was going to get the big brush-off.”

Relief expanded inside her until her entire body felt tight. She chewed on her lip and forced her gaze to blur over his tanned, ribbed abdomen peeking at her from beneath the edge of his shirt.

“Stop that.” He pulled at her lip with his thumb. “It makes me crazy.”

She laughed and lifted her gaze to his. “Why?”

“Because it reminds me my lips aren’t on yours, and they want to be.” His thumb stroked her lip one more time. “What are you thinking?”

She curled her fingers in the soft cotton of his shirt, her gaze on his chest. “That if I was a good person, I’d send you back to that nice girl and tell you to try again.”

His hands closed on either side of her face and pulled her eyes up to his. “If you were a good person, you’d give me that gorgeous body of yours. If you were a good person, you’d love me like you did in New York and put an end to this misery.” He pulled her mouth to his. Kissed her dizzy, then murmured, “If you were a good person, you’d be a very naughty girl right now—with me.”

She huffed a laugh and dropped her head back, looking at the ceiling. “I am a good person,” she reminded herself, knowing she should push him away. Let him find someone far less complicated. “I am.”

His lips skimmed down her throat, pumping banked need through her bloodstream. “Prove it.”

She leaned back, lowered her head, and took his mouth. He opened to her on a groan. Pulled her head to him with one hand, deepening the kiss, searched for the hem of her dress with the other.

“Tell me…” she said as she tilted her head to the opposite side and kissed him again. “She isn’t expecting to see you again.”

“No.” He answered the same way. “I broke it…” His tongue rolled over hers. “Off.”

Lexi sighed into his mouth and sank into the kiss. Fisted his hair. Let go to pull his shirt over his head. Ran her hands over him. So warm. So muscled. She struggled with his belt, her hands shaking with excitement and need.

Jax chuckled. “What happened to those smooth hands, Lex? You undressed me faster than I could undress myself in New York.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”