He met his gaze, then slowly nodded. "Me."
"Exactly. I wouldn't be pushing this if I didn't think it would be good for you." Clay got to his feet. "And, yes, it would be good for me, too. I won't lie about that. I'll call you in a few days, and I'm hoping you'll give me a different answer then."
He was happy when Clay finally left. Unfortunately, the chaos in his head and his heart that Clay had brought with him remained, and he had no idea what to do about it.
Kaia got up Sunday morning, feeling as tired as when she'd gone to bed, which hadn't happened until after midnight. But she was happy to have the day off, and she couldn't wait to see Jax again. Not only did she want to hear Reina's music, but she also wanted to find out who Clay Henning was and why Jax had been so angry to see him at his door.
After showering and throwing on shorts and a T-shirt, she made coffee and scrambled an egg with some avocado and cheese. She'd just finished eating when a knock came at her door.
Since her friends dropped by all the time, that wasn't unusual, but she was surprised and also excited to see Jax on her doorstep. He was dressed in gray shorts and a black polo shirt, which showed off his broad shoulders and fit body. His handsome face and striking blue eyes sent a compelling wave of desire right through her. She felt as if she'd just been crushed by a rogue wave at the beach, and now she had to get her bearings.
"Morning," he said. "I missed you last night."
"I missed you, too. Come in."
"How was work?"
"Long, but nothing too serious."
As he moved into her apartment, she saw his gaze taking in the artwork on her walls, the soft white couches accented by colorful pillows and throw blankets, the coffee table holding a pile of books, and the empty coffee cup and chocolate wrapper.
"You like to read," he commented as he picked up a fantasy novel that was almost five hundred pages. "Or do you use this as a paperweight?"
"I like to read," she said with a laugh. "And I drink coffee and eat chocolate, so there you go. You know three of my favorite addictions."
He grinned. "Coffee, not wine?"
"Sometimes there's wine," she conceded. "I'm part of a book club here in the building. Some of those books were my choice, some were not. But I'm really enjoying the fantasy novel. I'm only halfway through, and it's rich and complex. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. Do you read?"
"I like biographies about people I never heard of—people who did amazing things and were often unsung heroes."
"Were any of those people musicians?"
"No. I spend enough of my life in that world; I don't need to read about it."
"Speaking of musicians, I'd still like to hear Reina's record. Did you listen to it?"
"I did. The quality is fairly poor, but her voice and her passion still comes through. Her sister's record is good, too, but I preferred Reina's song. It felt less commercial."
"Well, Anita probably had more people forcing her to be commercial."
"I'm sure she did. What's your plan today? Do you want to come downstairs and have a listen?"
"I would love to do that. I don't have any plans beyond relaxing." Her words were cut off by the buzzing of her phone on the counter. "Hang on. Hopefully, this isn't work with an emergency request." As she picked up her phone, she said, "It's Ben. He wants me to call him. That doesn't sound good."
"Do you want me to go?"
"No," she said immediately. "Could you stay?"
"Sure."
She picked up the phone and punched in Ben's number. "What's going on?"
"I just brought Dad to the hospital, under protest, I might add," Ben said.
Her stomach dropped. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. He was tired and grumpy yesterday and wouldn't tell me much of anything, so I stayed the night. He got up this morning, felt dizzy, and fell in the bathroom. When I got to him, he was slurring his words and seemed confused. I don't know if he was half asleep or what, but when we got here, his blood pressure was also very high, so they're going to run some tests. He's also having X-rays taken of his wrist, which he might have broken. Luckily, he doesn't seem to have hurt his back or hip."
