Page 57 of Then Came Love
Chapter Eleven
THIS IS SHIT.
Jax tore the mediocre sketch of Penelope Price’s wedding gown in half, crumpled it up, and threw it at his office wall. He leaned back in his chair, fists to the ceiling, gritting out, “Fuck.” His elbows hit the desk, and he let his face fall into his hands. It was early Tuesday evening, three of the longest days of his life since Jordan had said she didn’t think they should see each other for a while. Respecting her wishes and not contacting her was torturous. What the hell constituted a while? Because he was losing his fucking mind.
He heard something and looked up to find Glenna tiptoeing toward his desk, holding the jar of candy she kept on hand for Jonathan. “I’m just going to leave this here, and then I’m gone for the night,” she said quietly as she set the jar on his desk.
“Have I been that bad?”
“You didn’t hear it from me, but the word intervention has been tossed around the break room.”
Shit.“I’m sorry.” He needed to get the hell out of there before he lost the team he’d worked so hard to build. “When you get in tomorrow, I need you to cancel my appointments for the rest of the week. Then call my cousin Treat and ask him which of his resorts offers the most privacy, and book a bungalow or a suite for me and Coco. I’ll be working remotely for a while, and I don’t want anyone knowing where I am.” He pushed to his feet and grabbed his jacket. “Glenna, that goes for my family, too. Don’t share the information with anyone. Got it?”
“Of course.” Her brows slanted. “For how long?”
“I don’t know. Leave it open ended for now.”
“Are you all right?”
No. I fucking suck.“I’m fine.”
“You’re worrying me. You never take time off when you have so many projects in the works. What about Jordan’s dress? You told the team they were getting the designs this week, and the timeline is already short.”
“It’ll be taken care of.”
“Am I rescheduling your appointments?”
“Only phone and video appointments for now. Schedule them a week or two out. I’ve got to go.”
He left the office and called Jillian on his way to pick up Coco.
“Did you get my birthday present yet?” Jillian asked far too cheerily.
Damn it.He’d forgotten about their birthday and their party. “I need a favor.”
“Is that a no? Because I can give you a few ideas.”
“Jilly, this is serious,” he said sharply.
“Sorry. What’s up?”
“I need you to listen and not ask questions. Can you do that?”
“If I have to.”
He knew better, but he had no other alternative. “I need you to finish the design for Jordan’s gown. She just needs to make a few decisions and then it’ll be ready to go. My team is expecting the designs this week.”
“What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter. Can you do it or not?”
“I have a huge project coming my way later this week, but you know I’ll do it.”
“Good. Thanks. One more thing. How pissed will you be if I miss our birthday party?”
“Jax. You can’t ditch me on our birthday. We came into this world together, and we celebrate together every year. We made a pact.”
“I know, but—”
“Unless you’re about to tell me that you have the most important client of your life breathing down your back for an appointment on our birthday, you can take your excuse and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”
He gritted his teeth as he drove toward Heidi’s house. “Damn it, Jilly. I can’t stay here knowing Jordan is right around the corner. I need to go away for a while or I’m going to ruin everything I’ve built.”
“Jax. We lost two of our brothers for a decade and we just got them back. I am not losing you for some undetermined length of time. What happened that has you running for the hills?”
He considered not telling her, but if he didn’t tell someone, he was going to explode. “I fell for someone else’s woman and thought I could handle it.”
“You did not think you could handle it. You thought you could change her mind.”
“No, I didn’t. I thought she’d change her own mind if we spent more time together.” And I fucked myself over, because now I know what it feels like to spend time with her, to hold her in my arms when she cries and soak in the sweetness of her laughter when she’s happy. I know her every smile and those little sexy sounds she tries not to make. A stabbing pain sliced through his chest. That pain had become all too familiar the last few days and made him want to tear something apart. He hadn’t believed Zev when he’d told him there was no greater pain than a broken heart, but now he knew the truth.
