Page 40 of True Abandon

I look at the back of Jax’s head and the white robe he’s wearing on his body, down to the other bed in the room next to mine. When realization strikes, I can hardly believe it, I rise to my feet. “You booked us a couple’s massage?”

He turns around. “What did you think we were doing?”

I spin the front of my body toward the wall putting my back to him. “I’m not wearing any panties!”

He chuckles. “Me neither. Do you really call them panties?”

“What’s wrong with the word panties?”

“Nothing. It’s cute.”

I huff and tap my slipper clad foot on the ground. “We’re not a couple, Jax. Couples have couple’s massages. Not,” I try to think of the right word. Instead, I just come up with, “us.”

I fix my robe, adjusting it, so it’s on my shoulders properly and secured tightly with a belt.

I turn around and scold him, “You’re breaking rule number one. Do not do anything that could cause me to lose my job.”

“Getting a massage in the presence of two masseurs is not going to get you fired. Besides, I cleared it with your boss.”

I squint my eyes at him. “You spoke to Rafael?” That man is making all kinds of bad decisions today.

“Don’t get your panties, or in this case, your lack of panties in a bunch. He doesn’t know we have history.” He uses air quotes around the word history.

He steps away from the door and walks toward me. “I have my own set of rules.”

“You don’t get rules. You’re not even supposed to be here.”

“Six nights,” he holds up his hand to visually show me the number. “I’m here for six more nights. If you want, I can stay longer.”

“The suite is booked. You couldn’t stay here even if you wanted to,” I raise my chin and state defiantly.

“I’ll just take another room. I can stay here indefinitely.”

“With what money? You’re a has-been musician.”

“I’m a Davis,” he says the term not with a sense of pride, but as if he’s been incarcerated by the title. Still, I know what he means.

Not only is he the son of Senator Davis, but he is also the heir to the Davis Family fortune, passed down from generation to generation from growing and then investing in tobacco since the early nineteen-hundreds. Cigarettes may be a taboo subject for many, but for the Davis clan, they relish in the cash it has brought their family for a hundred years. Which means, Jax has cash. And a lot of it.

“Here are my terms.” He waits for me to stop fidgeting with my belt and look him in the eyes.

I give him a sarcastic expression to carry-on with whatever it is he plans to say.

“You make the itinerary, but we do everything together. What I do, you do. What you do, I do.”

“Guess I’ll cancel the lava walk. What else do you want?”

“Actually, that’s it. I just want to spend time with you. Six nights and then I’m out of your life forever. I promise.”

I weigh my options. If he were anyone else, I would call his bluff. But knowing Jax, with his lack of a job, disposable income, and complete ability to follow through with any dare he sets for himself, I know if I don’t go along, he’ll just park his ass in a room on the third floor until I’m forced to leave the island.

Besides, I could definitely use this to my advantage.

“Deal. Now turn around so I can strip.”

His brow is arched, perhaps intrigued by my quick agreement. His tongue darts out and skims his lower lip as he concentrates on my face. He may be wondering what I have up my sleeve, but he just made his own deal with the devil. Too late to change his mind.

With a slight nod of his head, he turns around and faces the door. As soon as he does, I jump on the bed and pull the sheet over me. I shimmy out of my robe while under the sheet and toss it on the floor beside me and then roll over on my stomach to let Jax know it’s safe for him to turn around.