Page 51 of Hendrix

I curled my fingers around his nape and brought his forehead down to meet mine. “I’ve missed you.”

He kissed my temple and smiled. “I was always here. I never left, and I never will.”

Not for the first time, I wished with all my heart that Tristan was into women because I would’ve snapped him up so fast that nobody would’ve seen me coming.

This man had stuck by my side through thick and thin, good and bad, and in sickness and in health. He’d been a protector, a champion and when the chips were down, the best friend I’d ever had.

“Love you, Tris,” I whispered.

His arms pulled me in again, and he hugged me tight. “Love you too, Anna Banana. Now, a certain long-haired ex-lover of yours has been watching us like a hawk. Men who don’t care will always show they don’t care, and I’m telling you, Miss Thang, Jameson ‘Hendrix’ Quinn cares a hell of a fucking lot. Hold on tight, girlfriend, ‘cause that biker boy wants another shot at your holy grail.”

Without thinking, I craned my neck and saw Hendrix’s stare glued to me and Tristan. His eyes met mine, and his forehead furrowed.

A flash of red hair appeared in the corner of my eye, and I shifted my gaze toward the club girl who had been cozied up to Hendrix when I walked into the bar with Freya a few minutes before. Her eyes narrowed and flicked over my face before drifting toward Hendrix, who still had his stare fixed on me.

The way she looked at him made a bad feeling settle in my belly.

I knew that look well, because it was the same way I used to look at him. If Hendrix had been fucking that girl, she’d have hooked her star to him; he was that good. He had something about him that could pull you in and make you believe you were the only girl in the world before you fell hard on your ass. I’d been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale.

I didn’t want Hendrix, but I also recognized that Tristan was right. Drix’s gaze was lingering on me as if he was seeing me for the first time. Where it wasn’t lingering was on the club girl, which meant he was done, and I knew this because I’d been there and done that, too.

My chest twisted painfully.

Well hell, talk about an awkward position, and I wasn’t talking about the butter churner, which, incidentally, was another thing Hendrix excelled at.

Hendrix’s raw charisma pulled my eyes back toward his like he had an inbuilt tractor beam, and his beautiful, soft, full lips twisted into a knowing smirk. He knew the effect he had on me as well as I did. It was why I loved him so long and hard, even after I should’ve given up.

But what Jamie hadn’t factored in was that everything had changed. My life wasn’t about me anymore, and it certainly wasn’t about him. Now, I had an obligation to do the best for my son, something I knew would spook him—yet again.

It had taken me too long, but I did give him up, and I did walk away. I married another man, and although my marriage and the way it ended was a disaster, I’d proven I could break Hendrix’s hold on me and put myself and my sanity first.

Hendrix may have been used to getting his own way when it came to women, but I wasn’t a pushover anymore, so if he thought he could take us back to the same place we were before, where Hendrix called all the shots and blew hot and cold on me, he could think again.

This time, Jameson Quinn would have a fight on his hands.

CHAPTER TEN

HENDRIX

“Who’s that?” Daisy asked, tipping her head toward Anna, who was deep in conversation with Tristan.

I sucked in a breath and exhaled hard ‘cause I could not be bothered with this bullshit.

Daisy had been getting more and more territorial over me, proven by the fact she’d snuggled up to me just before Anna walked in with Freya, probably because she saw and heard them coming while she was in reception a few minutes before.

I didn’t need it, I certainly didn’t want it, and it was about time I made my feelings about this shit clear.

Folding my arms across my chest, I declared, “That’s Anna.”

Slowly, her face swiveled toward me. “TheAnna?” she asked flatly.

“Yep,” I replied, popping the P.

“Just like that?” Her eyes squinted, and she mimicked, “Yep. That’s Anna.”

“Yep,” I repeated.

“So,” she said breezily. “That’s the reason you made me dye my hair a few shades darker, and that’s why you used to call me Anna while you were fucking me.”

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