But something dark had layered beneath the desire and blocked his affection. Jax zeroed in on her face again. This woman might be the Lexi he’d slept with, but this…situation…wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right. He wasn’t sure what, but he’d been screwed enough to know when it was going to happen again.
He pushed off the stool and stood, a flurry of emotions whipping through him, but the one leading was hurt. A deep hurt that signaled Jax had let himself put way too much hope into this woman—a woman he knew nothing about.
“Jax, what’s wrong?” She reached out, put a hand on his arm. The touch spread heat along his skin, and his heart rate sped. Then she laughed, the sound nervous while pulling her phone from a small purse. “You probably have women coming on to you all the time, and I know I’m late. I was so nervous I stood outside… Here, look…”
She turned her phone to face him. His own words from his last text to her letting her know he was at the bar, waiting, stared back at him.
He kept his gaze on them, his insides a total mess. He didn’t question her identity, at least not since he’d recognized that dimple. That smile. He only questioned her motive. But…no…he’d initiated the conversation that had brought her here.
Shit, he was really confused.
She lowered her phone. Her smile flickered, and nerves darkened her eyes. “I guess you didn’t Google me after all. Thought for sure…” A look of fragility hinted in her face. “Disappointed?”
He narrowed his eyes. No, he hadn’t Googled her, but the fact that she’d brought it up meant she’d probably done some digging of her own. Had probably linked Bentley and Jax. Something about her expression, the nervous smile, the look in her eyes…
Bam. It hit him like a horse’s kick in the gut.
The Ferrari outside the airport.
The scene played over in his head in a fraction of a second, and he murmured, “Rubi. ”
The name had struck something with him when Lexi had said it over the phone. He hadn’t thought anything of it. Figured it was someone she’d mentioned when they were together. But that wasn’t where he’d first heard the name—an unusual name that didn’t come up very often.
Her smile fell into a confused frown. “What?”
“Rubi is your friend, the one you mentioned on the phone. Rubi Russo. ”
Her head tilted. “She… How do you know—?”
“She dropped you off at the airport. I saw you. In the Ferrari. ” He stepped back, his entire system reeling with the realization. A Ferrari. Two gorgeous women in a Ferrari. Rubi with her glaring flirtation. They’d had wrong way, Chamberlin, go back written all over them. Something Wes had to remind Jax of when he’d been unable to tear his gaze away from Lexi.
The sensation that flooded Jax went way beyond disappointment. This was a dark, sucker punch of tar. “Fuck. Me. ”
Her eyes flashed with shock first. Maybe a touch of panic. He could see her mind working, putting puzzle pieces together. She put up her hand. “Jax…wait—”
“You’re…wow, you’re really good. ” He pressed one hand against the bar and gripped it hard, picked up his third beer with the other and drank.
“I don’t know what you mean by that,” she said, “but you’re right, Rubi dropped me off at the airport. And I did see you. Then you showed up at the gate, and we started talking. I wasn’t…stalking you. I was flying to New York. It was just—”
“What was your last job?” he asked before downing more beer. God, he was the biggest fucking fool.
Her lips parted, brow pulled. She eased to her feet, coming within easy reach. Her heat, her scent wrapped around him. Jax’s throat closed.
He stepped back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “Last job for what?”
“Acting. What was it? An extra? A minor role? A commercial?”
Her gaze lowered to his beer. Darted toward the bar, then back to him. “I told you I wasn’t in that industry. I told you—”
She stopped suddenly, her lips still parted, words still on her tongue. Her eyes scanned his. God, they were so clear, such a beautiful blue. His gaze lowered to her mouth. And oh fuck, that mouth. What she’d done to him with that mouth…
“It doesn’t matter what I told you, does it?” She asked the question so softly it seemed as if she were asking herself. She slid her lower lip between her teeth and stepped away from the bar. Swallowed, and met his gaze again. “I’m…sorry, Jax. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have… I didn’t realize…” She pressed her lips together and curved them over her teeth. She glanced at him again, her gaze filled with regret and guilt and pain. “I’m sorry…for everything. I’m going to go. ”
She started toward the door.
No. Jax wasn’t ready to let this go.