“Worried about my well-being?” I ask, my tone sarcastic, but my stomach does somersaults.
He grunts, but remains quiet.
We sit in silence until our drinks arrive.
The shower has offered me a new lease of life, chased away some of the exhaustion, at least for the time being. I pick up my cocktail and take a sip, closing my eyes briefly enjoying the explosion of flavours on my tongue. Perfect. Strong and flavoursome, but not ridiculously overpowering.
I always test the cocktails when I visit our hotels. There’s nothing worse than a poorly made cocktail when you’re paying top prices.
Jax watches me as I return the cocktail to the table.
“Does it pass?” he asks.
“It does.”
“Everyone has to have downtime, Kat, even you. You can’t beontwenty-four-seven.”
I laugh, and he raises an eyebrow.
“It’s not a healthy mindset,” he says, making my hackles rise.
“I love my job,” I say, unsure why I’m feeling the need to defend myself.
“There has to be balance.”
“I have balance,” I snap, but stop myself from expanding as my temper flares.
I’m known for my cool, calm head with everyone else, but this man turns any conversation into a battle.
More couples enter the bar area. Jax acknowledges one who smiles as they pass.
I recognise another, older couple from my visit to the bar this afternoon.
“I have a few more questions on the project,” Jax says.
“You’re giving me whiplash, Jaxson.”
I want to laugh at the irony, but he shrugs as if reading my mind.
“If you’ve got some free time tomorrow,” he adds.
Our waiter reappears before I can say anything else.
“Your table is ready, if you’d like to follow me.”
He collects our barely touched drinks, and we follow him into the dining area. It’s a wraparound balcony overlooking the sea. Lights illuminate the water, which is filled with reef sharks and other aquatic life.
I make another mental note to pass this on to the marketing team as well.
Our waiter pulls out first mine, then Jax’s chair, placing our drinks down and opening our menus.
“Thank you,” I say.
When he disappears to get our preference in water, I look across at Jax.
“Any questions, send them across, or we can find some time to go over them tomorrow afternoon. I have a meeting with the general manager and his team in the morning, but after that, I’m free.”
Jax nods, his attention returning to his menu.
