Page 67 of Reputation
On Sunday, as the team went to morning skate, Eavie and Molly spent the first part of the day wandering Rodeo Drive, and Eavie was in absolute heaven.The white stone, two-story buildings that lined either side beckoned to her love of fashion.
The tree-lined street offered small reprieves of shade as they meandered between stores with the socialites and stars of Beverly Hills.They perused stores of designer brands, had coffee at one of the many cafés that dotted the neighborhood, and stopped for lunch at a little restaurant between Versace and Louis Vuitton.Being on Rodeo Drive was a dream come true for Eavie, and she soaked in every second.The shopping therapy did more for her than the endorphins from her hike yesterday.
Sitting on the patio of the small restaurant called Sapphire and Sage, Eavie took a sip of her lemon water, enjoying the ambiance around her.She and Molly had finished their food, which was incredible.Eavie had devoured her handmade pasta in a brown butter sauce, topped with mushrooms and wild truffles, while Molly had enjoyed her duck with orange reduction on risotto.Between them sat an empty plate that had contained the burrata with pesto and tomato they had shared.
“So,” Molly said after a few moments of companionable silence.“Do you want to tell me what’s going on between you and Jax?”
Eavie’s head turned sharply to look at her.“What?”she asked, surprised at the sharp change in subject.Molly had said it casually, but she heard the disapproval.
“Listen, you can try to deny it, but I won’t believe you.I’ve seen the looks you two throw at each other when you think no one is looking.”
Eavie shook her head, covering her mouth with one hand.“Oh god.Is it that obvious?”she mumbled from behind it.
Molly blew out a heavy breath but shook her head.“No,” she said.Her face took on a contemplative look.“I don’t think anyone else has noticed, but I saw you two last night.”When Eavie gave her a guilty look, she laughed.“Did you really think I couldn’t see you sitting at the bar?”
Eavie rolled her lips between her teeth, not sure what to say.She hadn’t even thought about it, which was a red flag on its own.What if Molly hadn’t been the only one?She hadn’t noticed anyone else from the team there, but then again, she hadn’t been paying attention.
“Then when you two left together, I thought maybe you went to…” She dropped her sunglasses down her nose, giving Eavie a questioning look.
“No!”Eavie exclaimed, sitting up.She vigorously shook her head.“No, no.We did not sleep together.We went and got pizza, and then we came right back.”She left out the part about how he’d nearly had her swooning in the elevator from just touching her.
“I see,” said Molly.
She sat back in her chair, her hands folded demurely in her lap.She gazed at Eavie with an assessing look, one Eavie had no doubt was why she was so good at her job.Molly was incredible at reading people, and beneath her otherwise bubbly attitude was a woman who knew how to get shit done.
Suddenly, she sat forward, propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm.“Okay, so you haven’t slept together.But you can’t tell me nothing’s going on,” she said seriously.
Eavie lifted her own sunglasses off her face, pushing them back onto her head.She met her gaze unflinchingly.“Nothing is going on between Jax and I,” she said firmly.
Molly frowned.“You’re lying.”
With a disbelieving laugh, Eavie replied, “I’m not.”
Molly sat up straight now, holding both hands out, palms down.“Okay, let’s just forget for a second our jobs, the organization, and our… obligations,” she said, subtly referring to the involvement policy.“Let’s just pretend for right now, we’re just two friends chatting.This is a safe space, around people who couldn’t care less about who we are or what we are doing with our lives.”Eavie swallowed but nodded.“You’re seriously telling me that nothing is going on between you and Jax?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”
“Eavie,” she said, a disbelieving puff of air blowing out her lips.“How is that possible?Have you seen how that man looks at you?”
Eavie gave her a confused look.“What are you talking about?”
Molly’s eyebrows shot up so far on her head that Eavie was worried they might fly off.“Girl,” Molly began, leaning forward again.She scooted to the edge of the chair to stare at her dead-on.“That man looks at you like he wants to own you.”She said it without a trace of humor or teasing.
Eavie’s instinct was to laugh at the dramatics of that statement, but she knew Molly wasn’t joking.She also knew that it was absolutely true.
“I…” she began, shaking her head.She didn’t know how to react to someone else vocalizing what she had been trying to deny.“I mean, I don’t know I would put it like that.”She looked down at the table, her fingers picking at the white linen covering it.
“Oh no, don’t play dumb.It’s so obvious that man wants you—bad.Like he wants to take you to his place and fuck you so hard that you can’t walk.”
Eavie’s mouth dropped open as her eyes flew back to Molly.She did not know what to say to that.
Was it true?I mean, she knew he watched her, had seen his eyes darken when they were close.And yes, she knew he wanted her.He couldn’t hide the hard-on he’d been sporting while they were pressed together in the elevator.But could the desire she’d read in his eyes be that…intense?
She wasn’t used to men who could easily fill the role Molly had just described.She was used to softer men, ones that didn’t have a dominant bone in their body.But Jax…well, her mind grabbed onto the image of him throwing her over his shoulder and taking her to his hotel room where he…owned her.Her hormones jumped on board with that idea real fast, and she found she wanted it—to have a man so consumed with her that she gave herself over to him completely.
Fuck me,she thought for the hundredth time.
“Wow,” Molly breathed in disbelief.“You really aren’t used to this, are you?”
