New Year Second Chance

Chloe lets out a long, loud sigh. “Whatever happened to the sweet Dax I knew? Did you leave him behind in London, too?”

I narrow my eyes in warning. “Chloe.”

“Fine.” She releases a softer sigh. “I’ll leave, but not before I relay a message from your father.”

I should have known he sent her.

“He says he’s proud of what you’ve accomplished and that he misses you,” Chloe tells me.

I snort. “Did you really think I’d believe that?”

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Fine. He says he wants his bloody money back.”

That sounds more like him.

“What money?”

“The money he paid for your education.”

“You mean the money he owed my mother? Don’t worry. I’ll write him a check.”

“Also, he’s going to sell your bloody horse,” Chloe adds.

Son of a bitch.

“Because he needs the money?” I ask.

“Because it’s your bloody horse.”

Of course. I shouldn’t have asked.

He’s still mad at me and he’s been trying to get my attention, but I haven’t been giving it, so now he’s doing things just to spite me. That’s how childish and despicable he is.

“Fine. He can do whatever he wants with it.”

I’ll just buy it from whoever he sells it to.

“Anything else?”

“Let’s see.” Chloe touches her chin. “He said he should never have fucked your mother’s bloody cunt.”

At once, my temper reaches the boiling point. I go over to her with clenched fists.

“Easy.” Chloe puts up her hands. “I’m just the messenger, and you did ask.”

Still, my jaw clenches. “Why, you little – ”

“Dax,” Jenna calls my attention.

At the sound of her voice, my body goes still. My mind clears. I draw a deep breath and step back.

Chloe puts a hand on her chest as she lets out a breath of relief. “Thank you, Jenna.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Jenna says.

“No.” Chloe looks at her. “You did it for Dax. You care about him. And here I thought you were just after his money. Or his gorgeous body.”

Chloe bites her lower lip as she turns her gaze to me.

“No, Chloe,” I tell her. “Those are your motives for sleeping with my father.”

She shrugs. “Guilty.” Then she looks at Jenna. “But I’m not the devil. I needed the money because my niece was sick.”

I lift a hand. “Spare us the drama.”

“Of course, people will believe what they want to,” Chloe says. “Unfortunately, people usually prefer to believe the worst. You should keep that in mind as Dax’s girlfriend. The more successful he becomes, the less private his life will be. You’ll get dragged into the public eye, put under a microscope where your every flaw will not only be seen but magnified.”

“That’s enough, Chloe,” I tell her.

“Why? Do you think I’m scaring your girlfriend? Do you think she’ll run off?”

“Jenna has no reason to be scared,” I answer as I put my arm around her. “She’s flawless.”

“Only in your eyes.”

I squeeze Jenna’s shoulder. “She’s a NASA scientist trying to change the course of the future. That’s a fact.”

Chloe smiles. “Then you’re lucky.”

“I am,” I admit. “Now, can you please go?”

I gesture to the other end of the corridor where I came from.

Chloe smooths the front of her dress and nods. “Fine.”

I hear her heels clack away. Finally.

I take my arm off Jenna and take both her hands in mine as I look into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you were coming here today.”

“I thought I’d surprise you,” Jenna tells me. “I wanted to see you, so I had Mike pick me up and bring me here.” She shrugs. “But it seems I’m the one who ended up being surprised.”

Chloe.

I let out a sigh. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting her, either.”

“She really is one of your father’s… women?” Jenna asks.

“Yes.”

One of too many.

I let go of Jenna’s hands. “Did you see those rubies she was wearing?”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Is it possible not to see them?”

“My father gives every woman he sleeps with rubies. They’re like his signature gift.”

Jenna shrugs. “At least he’s generous.”

Not to the people he should be rewarding, though.

“Chloe seems to have more of a thing for you, though,” Jenna remarks.

“Are you jealous?”

She leans on the edge of a table. “Should I be?”

I put my hands on my hips. “Jenna, if you’re asking if I slept with Chloe, the answer is no. Definitely no.”

“But she tried to seduce you, didn’t she?” Jenna asks me. “Don’t tell me she didn’t. She was doing it just now.”

“She did,” I admit. “But I’m not a man who’s easily seduced.”

“No?”

I place my hands on her hips and look into her eyes. “Except by a certain woman.”

“Hmm.”

I bring one of my hands up to stroke Jenna’s cheek. Then I plant my lips on top of hers. She kisses me back but then pushes me away.

“Did you kiss her?”

I frown. She’s still jealous?

“No.”

“Did she kiss you?”

“She tried.”