Her eyes narrowed. “Last I heard, you were taken. ”
He lifted a shoulder. “We’re on a break. ”
“Sorry…Wes. ” Rubi drew out his name in a voice that he thought would make Wes drop to his knees, but his friend just kept grinning. “I’m not a break kinda girl. Besides, I hear you like sweet. And, handsome”—she lowered her lids—“I’m not the least bit sweet. ”
“If Chamberlin can go from sour to sweet”—Wes drew a business card from his wallet—“I can certainly change my tastes to something on the tangy side. ”
“Are you two done?” Jax straightened, used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face and rested his hands at his hips. “We’ve got work to do here. ”
“Ignore him. ” Wes sauntered over to Rubi. “He’s grouchy when he’s not getting any. ”
“Wes,” Jax warned.
When Rubi ignored Wes’s card, he slid it along the edge of her halter and tucked it beneath the fabric at the curve of her breast. “My tastes are changing as we speak. Besides, I know there’s a lot more sweet beneath that tart surface than you let on. I bet you’d set my taste buds on fire. ”
“You bet your rock-hard ass I would,” Rubi returned.
Wes started toward the trailer, yelling at the others, “Is it hot out here?”
He caught the bottle of water one of them threw, uncapped it and, walking backward, grinned at Rubi as he poured the water over his head.
The guys bust out laughing. And Rubi sputtered a surprised chuckle. “He is a character. ”
Jax shifted on his feet. His fear had transitioned into annoyance. “Rubi, is Lexi okay?”
She pulled the card from her top and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans. When she looked back at Jax, her expression had sobered. Her serious gaze seemed to penetrate him. “Lexi’s a survivor. ”
That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear. That made it sound like she was struggling. He wanted Rubi to tell him that she was great. That him leaving her was the best thing that had ever happened in her life.
“Why are you here?”
She pulled a square white envelope from beneath the cross of her arms. “She asked me to deliver this. ”
From five feet away, Jax could see his full name on the envelope. He didn’t like the look of that. Wedding invitations came in envelopes like that.
They’d only been apart six weeks… She couldn’t have found…
But then Jax realized he and Lexi had gone from zero to sixty in about the same amount of time, and a spear of anxiety pierced his chest.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice rough.
“Find out for yourself. Lexi instructed me not to open my big mouth. ”
Jax took the envelope and stared at his name printed in Lexi’s hand.
“And since she’s the sister I never had and I love her more than anyone,” Rubi said, strolling back toward the Ferrari, “I’m not going to tell you that Lexi deserves stability in her life. I’m not going to tell you that she’s worthy of a guy who can merge all his sides into one unique and outstanding person the way she has. ”
She opened the Ferrari door, holding his gaze. Hers was serious, deep, showing a side of her Jax guessed not many people noticed beneath all her flash and beauty. Showing him the side of her that he guessed Lexi loved so much.
“I’m not going to tell you to ignore this invitation if that’s not you,” she said. “I’m just going to keep my mouth shut, like I promised. And, by the way, thanks for taking care of that shit photographer. ”
She turned on the sparkle, blew a kiss to Wes, who dramatically acted out getting shot in the heart and fell to the cement to the laughter of the group.
“What a hottie,” she said, affection and longing softening her voice. “Too bad I don’t go for those mama-lovin’, sun-streaked country boys who adore sweet women. ”
Rubi slid into her sports car, slipped on sunglasses, and turned over the engine.
Jax didn’t move as she roared from the cement canal, and thought about the photograph that had changed everything. He’d hired a private investigator who had gotten to the bottom of it within the twelve hours he’d promised Lexi. Hardly compensation for all the trouble and stress he’d caused her, but all he’d been able to do, other than getting the hell out of her life.