Page 41 of Find Me

His smile grows. “I’ve been called worse.”

I roll my eyes at him before walking past him to get a glass and fill it with water, once again overly aware of how close my body is to his. I walk away from him, against the pull that makes me want to stay by his side, taking a seat on a bar stool and resting my glass on the island counter. I watch him quietly as I sip my water, slowly feeling more human, as he moves nimbly around the kitchen.

“Coffee?” he asks.

“Please.”

“Sugar? Cream?”

“Both,” I respond.

He pours the coffee into an empty mug, its sides adorned with a floral print, before adding cream and sugar, stirring it slowly.

I don’t know how to act as I watch him, unsure of the dynamic between us, yet something tells me that it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to get used to the sight before me.

He hands me a mug and I take it from him quietly, the ceramic hot against my hands.

He cocks an eyebrow at me, as if he can see my thoughts.

I sigh. “This is weird right?” I ask.

“What, me waiting on you?” His voice is full of playful teasing.

“No. Yes. This whole situation is weird. You’re some big crime guy with probably much more important things to do. And you’re my boss,” I say pointedly.

“Your boss’s boss, love,” he responds with a smile.

“Right, my boss’s boss. And yet here you are, making me breakfast as if you’ve got nothing better to be doing. Surely you have more important things to deal with.”

He pauses for a split second before walking towards me, his steps deliberate until he’s so close our bodies are almost touching. He tucks an errant strand of hair behind my ear, and my breathing hitches at his touch.

“Just because I have other things I should be doing,” he says quietly, “doesn’t mean they’re more important than being here.”

I don’t know what to say as he turns and walks back to the stove, so I sit and sip my coffee until his voice fills the silence between us.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I made myself at home while I’ve been here,” Jax says as he places a plate of food in front of me. The smell of bacon reaches my nose first, and my mouth starts to water at the food in front of me. “I helped myself to your coffee and had a shower.”

Well, that confirms where the towel came from, I think to myself. I try to hide the blush as it spreads to my cheeks, the thought of Jax showering—and completely nude—in my house is enough to make my pulse quicken.

“That’s fine,” I say, trying to appear indifferent, but obviously failing miserably as he cocks his head to the side and smiles at me.

He grabs a plate for himself, loading it with food and coming to sit next to me on the bar stool. It’s impossible to ignore him as I feel the heat radiate from his body, and my nerves tingle with anticipation at his every move.

As I finish eating the food in front of me, I clear my throat, taking a sip of coffee before working up the courage to turn towards him. My heart skips as our eyes meet.

“I just want to say thank you for—for everything,” I whisper quietly.

“Well, I couldn’t exactly leave you to die, love,” he responds casually.

“No, but you did more than what most people would even think to do… checking in on me after seeing me at Heat…” I trail off. “I don’t know how I got so deep into all of this.” I gestured vaguely as my eyes start to sting, tears welling to the surface.

“It’s really not hard,” he says sympathetically. “It’s not hard to get lost in the woods if the people we’re following are encouraging us to stray off the trail.”

“Aren’t you just filled with wisdom today.” I chirp back, as I try to remember the dream I had ages ago, the panic I felt as I strayed into a field of poison ivy, unable to get back onto the path I so willingly left behind.

I sigh, knowing that Jax is right, that the people—person—I had spent most of my time with seemed to enjoy watching me self-destruct as a result of my bad choices.

I take a breath. “What if I’ve been off the trail for so long, I don’t know how to find my way back? What if I can’t?”

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